‘Sinister Kid’ Sunset, Wednesday, 4 August 2010

William Van Doren. Sunset from Stony Point, Albemarle County, Va. Oil on watercolor block, 13 x 19.

This was one of the craziest sunsets I can remember. Fifteen minutes earlier we were drowning in a violent thunderstorm and heavy downpours. Just at sunset, with rain and lightning still happening here in the foreground, the horizon lifted. I had a difficult time believing it, much less facing how to handle it.

I needed music. The I-Ching (iPod) was obliging, starting me with Van Morrison’s “Tore Down à la Rimbaud,” which pretty much describes my psychological starting point. Next, “Smoky Places” by The Corsairs – exactly. By the time I was finishing and signing, “Sinister Kid” by The Black Keys was somehow really the signature for the piece, not in a literal way, but better, in the energy.

Then, while wrapping up, it was nice to have Clarence Carter, “Slip Away” ...

Metaperspective

The ground is a sky in disguise. The sky is a ground in surround. Over and under, let no man put asunder, yet any may turn them around.

Sunset, Friday, 30 July 2010

William Van Doren. Sunset from Stony Point, Albemarle County, Va. Oil on watercolor block, 13 x 19.

The sky said, Welcome to my dark spaces. The sky said, Welcome to my light spaces. It seemed to suggest maybe I couldn’t tell the difference. I try not to argue with the sky.

Heat Map. Sunset, Thursday, 22 July 2010

William Van Doren. Sunset from Stony Point, Albemarle County, Va. Oil on watercolor block, 13 x 19.

The kind of heat we’re having, in a non–air conditioned farmhouse, can make a painter want to attack the canvas without thinking, without waiting, without mixing, without preparing – without caring. It may not be quite the same as the Zen of no-mind, but it’s the Zen du jour for sure.

In other developments, Moment & Horizon has a new Page on Facebook.

The White Band. Sunset, Saturday, 17 July 2010

William Van Doren. Sunset from Stony Point, Albemarle County, Va. Oil on watercolor block, 13 x 19.

Tonight’s painting illustrates at least two principles. (1) If you paint sunsets alla prima in real time, anything can happen. (2) If it makes me uncomfortable, it might be O.K.

Sunset, Sunday, 11 July 2010

William Van Doren. Sunset from Stony Point, Albemarle County, Va. Oil on watercolor block, 13 x 19.

One of the things I look for in the sunset is a way to represent the underlying energy, the angelic or divine presence, the larger reality that we might not literally see with our eyes but that may account for the depth of our experience when we look at the sky.