No Borders No Boundaries – Sunset, Tuesday, 26 April 2016

William Van Doren, NO BORDERS NO BOUNDARIES. Sunset from Stony Point, Albemarle County, Va. Oil on canvas, 28 x 28.

Title sounds like a pretentious manifesto, and maybe it is (although I might prefer Van Morrison’s “No Guru No Method No Teacher” for that purpose), but is taken from Paul Simon/Simon & Garfunkel’s “Cloudy” ... because ... it was cloudy.

Put the Wheels in Motion – Sunset, Wednesday, 11 November 2015

William Van Doren, PUT THE WHEELS IN MOTION. Sunset from Stony Point, Albemarle County, Va. Oil on canvas, 28 x 35.

Ventured in the Slipstream – Sunset, Friday, 16 October 2015

William Van Doren, VENTURED IN THE SLIPSTREAM. Sunset from Stony Point, Albemarle County, Va. Oil on canvas, 28 x 35.

‘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” ...

Sunset, Friday, 11 December 2009

William Theodore Van Doren. Painted at Stony Point, Albemarle County, Va. Oil on watercolor block, 16 x 20.

Not to get things totally confused – only just a little confused – the following refers to the song titled, depending on where you look, “Have I Told You Lately” and “Have I Told You Lately That I Love You,” written by Van Morrison. The former title helps distinguish Morrison’s 1989 song from the 1945 standard (“Have I Told You Lately That I Love You?”), which it resembles in outward form although not so much in essence.

In addition, the version that inspired me to write is the one Morrison does with The Chieftains, a performance with a lot less orchestral decor than the better-known record.

There’s a love that’s divine
And it‘s yours and it’s mine
And it shines like the sun
At the end of the day
We shall give thanks and pray to the one

I’m not sure if Van means “the one,” “the One” or “The One,” but – it’s all the same to me.

Where the song really kills comes right after this. Just like the old standard, the song opens with the title line, “Have I told you lately that I love you?” – in the usual from-me-to-you format. But at the end of this verse Morrison adds two words – barely noticeable, just there if you want to notice them – that connect back to, and transform, the title.

. . . At the end of the day
We shall give thanks and pray to the one
And say
Have I told you lately that I love you?