Oversouth Willow

2015

16" X 12"

Oil on Panel

Original SOLD...but Prints are Available

As is true of so many of my paintings
the muses pulled on some pretty wild threads
to bring this not-so-still-life together.

I’ll say it started with Jane
because of the teacups
hidden among the many other artifacts
which she and her sword fishing husband, Herb purveyed
in their antique shop in Menemsha.

This is Jane’s 40th year,
in that treasure shack, Oversouth Willow
and the last season of her tenure behind the desk.

And that is where we found her, last summer
the film crew and I
when we were parading our cameras, and mikes
around the island, and we stopped to visit with Jane.

The team of David and Barbarella Fokos
renowned artists/writers/film makers/Emmy winners
were setting out to make a documentary film
to add to their growing collection for the new website

TAO – The Artist Odyssey.

The results of which are almost complete
and Herself and I are picking out our gowns for the premeire !

(Check my blog for details)

While the crew set up and Pat and Jane chatted
I searched around and found these three porcelain gems.
Jane told us the story of the “Blue Willow” pattern
which I believe was captured on film
but what I remember most clearly
was the sparkle in her eyes…and she in her element.

Fast forward a month or two and we are getting ready
here in my Pennsylvania studio
for the Fokos Team to arrive for another session of filming.
I needed to have a painting in progress so I brought out those blue vessels.
And then the muses stepped up.
They rifled through the linen prop drawer for something blue
and the feather that Saren had brought me the day before
drifted down from the teacup shelf
they fingered around in my back pocket
for the tiny shard of blue tile that I had found
in the pebbled lane the last time I walked up to Camp Sunrise
and they sent me climbing up to the “old studio”
the shed on stilts by the creek
which is now the overflow prop room
and I opened the door…

the blue door.

Bam, I’m in.

I had climbed those rickety stairs
and opened that door every day for I don’t know how many years
and inside was…my bliss.

My first real studio
after 40 years of dreaming.
I remember when that paint was new.
Around here they were not sure how to mix Nantucket Blue.
There are a couple of paintings which feature the other side of this old door
but if you stepped back far enough to get some perspective on the outside of it
you would be swimming in the creek thirty feet below.

Opened to the inside
with my hand on that wonderful doorknob
and the light raking over the blue chips of paint
well, that was interesting.
It was quick work to find something to use as a support
and the red cover of the old faithful, “Iron Woman” book
was the perfect accent…think Jane.

When the Fokos’ arrived
the painting was well underway
but David wanted to recreate and film the set up part of the process.
You should have seen us cramming into the tiny space by that door
with cameras and crew…remember what I said about that one step backwards.

No one was harmed in the filming of this movie
and now this painting has a great story to tell.

And I’ve got to go dye my eyes to match my gown.