This post doesn’t have much to do with art, but perhaps
speaks to the passion.
In 2009 I spent 6 months in Dallas, subletting an apt from a
fabulous artist who introduced me to her friends and family.
My last week there, I had dinner with her
brother, sister and some of their friends; one was a photographer Will
Pattison.
By the end of dinner, I was in
awe of his talent, experience traveling around the world, fearless sense of
adventure, but mostly because he was someone who seemed to get 110% out of life.
After our dinner, I started following his
blog to get regular doses of inspiration from his photography.
Three weeks later the blog entries just stopped.
I kept checking back and soon learned that he
suffered a spinal cord injury in a dirt bike race.
His blog entries continued, with the help of
his girlfriend, but the inspiration I received was not from his photography but
from his drive and determination to beat his injury,
His posts documented his incremental improvements, much like
tracking the movement of a glacier. After
one year, significant accomplishments included eating a sandwich and walking 700
feet while having a conversation-exhausted afterward. Many posts talked of how his girlfriend was
by his side. But, two and a half
years after his accident, he wrote a “fairytale” about his princess, with whom he shared his home
and life for many years prior to the accident.
She no longer had the strength to fight the “monsters” who took over his
life. She was exhausted and saddened by
the loss of who she once was and had to go her own way. And, I
cried as if they were my friends.
Last July, three years after his accident, he wrote of being able to balance on one foot, drive a car and button his jeans. He was still in constant pain and his nervous system still was not processing information correctly, so a cool breeze could be unbearable. But he hasn't posted since that anniversary date. I like to think it is his way of saying "I'm done making you feel better; better about yourself, your life, your situation." Time to do something with that inspiration.
F2point8 - Will Pattison
http://www.barpfoto.com/blog/
The commissions I've been asked to do for Christmas gifts both have a fun aspect. The gift of the house portrait will be presented along with the history of the house. An historian researched the home, the builder, original and subsequent occupants, along with the history of the neighborhood. (This is a package offered by New England Farm and Artist in W. Greenwich RI)
The second commission, of two huskies, were to be set in a "castle." The client is a fan of the King Arthur stories and wanted them to look "arthurian." We played around with backgrounds from the internet and added their favorite toys. More importantly, I decided that I would only use colors that might have been manufactured during that time period. Yellow ochre, terra rosa and blue black. Yes, only three colors, and white. The limited palette and color selections help keep the painting looking as if from that era. They were also a nice "kingly" size of 2 feet by 3 feet.
