"Oh bother. . ."

Charleston Couple . oil on panel . 11" x 14"







I ask you now, who hit the "pause" button?  A trick played upon me mid-July brought on by a meandering malaise. . .to paraphrase something I recently read that so brilliantly fit my mood: 

" - she sank into a sort of exhausted apathy that was beyond all time and reason." 

Yes dear readers, those of us with thin skin can barely slog through when people are killed at a midnight movie or at worship, or when outright lying becomes the fodder of national election campaigns and cable TV.  When violence is depicted as a way of life in America. . .tell me, have you ever seen so many murders as there are on TV. . .being committed, being solved, being investigated?  Bodies on every channel being dissected for clues. . .in freakish blue rooms!  What's that all about?  Whose lives are they depicting?  I can't relate and I don't think I'm living some exalted, protected life.  There's nitty gritty, it's not all cakes and ale, but seriously, that's not all that goes on in life.  Need I mention the summer movie selection? 

- Deep breath -

Another thing. . .since when is everything a competition leading to subsequent humiliation?  The cooking channel, for heavens sake, has become a battleground.  Why?  Is this the dumbing down?  Is it all about money and nothing else anymore?  Okay, I'll stop - must.not.go.down.that.road.  I see my roadside chat with a neighbor this morning did not get the rant out of my system!  We solved the problems of the world then drove off.  Oh if it could all be so easy. . .

So, I've become bookish, while the hellish weather and news cast its capable hands over my area and this country.  On the positive side, it rained here last night (first in ages) and there's a glimmer of change in the air.  Oh, and it's Friday and though I don't operate on the normal M-F/8-5 routine (the life of an artist), I still can get a thrill on Friday.  

I will admit that working on the painting featured in this post has been somewhat of a downer, and the contrast between it and the nimble, beautiful bodies of our Olympians came to the forefront simply due to timing.  Over the years I've become a "healthy" foodie and have serious, deep concern for our future generations and how we fuel them.  The move towards local, farm to table enterprises featuring "fresh" versus "a box" is encouraging, and I so hope the trend grows in getting the unnecessary additives out of food and, most importantly, out of our SCHOOLS! 

In defense of this lovely couple, in their bright summer shirts. . . they were out on a hot July day in downtown Charleston, cooling off in the welcoming shade - they were people watching while the fountain in the background was playing host to children dancing in the water - gleeful shouts sailed on the wind.  I'm sure the sound alone touched a long-ago memory of how utterly freeing and wonderful it was to play in the water on a hot summer day.  It is, after all, the small things that give us the greatest pleasure.    

Wishing you many small things this weekend...