Yesterday I went to the woods
no regrets, not fooling
I hiked five and a half miles. When I got back home I could barely crawl into the shower. No ticks. Thank God.
I sat a minute at the computer. Edith Piaf came to mind. I listened to Je ne regrette rein.
Meanwhile I finished a painting for a small works exhibit. Heavyweight. An exhibition curated by Jason John.
To Edgar. Alas, You Were Correct. 11”x11”. Acrylic on Canvas
I came up with a convoluted scheme. Lately, I’ve been expanding ideas about making images that are a part of a larger work. The expanded piece exists at various levels. So, you look at a painting, this one for example. OK, it’s an OK painting. A dead bug. Looks as if it might be gold.
Dead Gold Bug. photographic image Jim Draper
In the photograph I took of the bug it is obviously gold. I did my best.
With the images side by side now, I see what I can do to make the surface of the scarab seem as metallic as it did in real life.
While working on the painting I read Edgar Allen Poe’s The Gold Bug. The lively short story is a tale of treasure and wealth. It is certainly an entertaining read and probably significant as it relates to the stories of the day. It’s a tale of fortune lost, fortune gained. Luck. Compulsion. Resolution.
A side note, the story contains some delightful descriptions of the South Carolina Low Country. Below is a link to a copy held by the Library of Congres.
The Gold Bug by Edgar Allen Poe
Remember, I was exhausted from my hike.
Selfie with dwarf Pawpaw photographic image. 2025. Jim Draper
The Dwarf Pawpaw (Asmina parviflora) were putting on quite a show. The ragged white flowers look as if they were white tee shirts ripped off and waved in an act of surrender. The slight breeze added to their metaphor. Love those flowers. They are one of the early harbingers of soon-to-be Spring.
As I walked I sang a little tune from childhood. Link below (skip the ad.)
My walk was at Julington-Durbin Penninsula. A treasured slip of preserved land in the midst of urban sprawl. I’ve hiked there for years. The property is maintained by fire so the Longleafed pines and Wiregrass ecosystem is well preserved.
Julington-Durbin Trail.
One special note about this particular trail is that it takes the walker through various land formations. The upland pine area is quickly flanked by a lovely marginal forest of Oak and Magnolia before it drifts into wetlands. Bald Cypress canopies fields of Blue Iris in bloom.
I realize this article is as varied as my saunter, but I will get to the point. This writing is the verbal manifestation of the fact that I wasn’t paying attention to the trail markers and wound up sinking to my ankles in the black muck of the margins of these two tributaries of the St. Johns River.
Somewhere between Edgar Allen Poe and Burl Ives I heard a chatter and crunch. Knew it had to be a squirrel but a large form in a scrub oak caught my attention.
Dang! A Black Faced Fox Squirrel (Sciurus niger) swung from the tree trunk just over my head. I can’t remember the last one of these impressive creatures I had seen. They are three to four times larger than our urban grey squirrels. Impressive. His tail was at least 18” long and I would guess that his body weighed more than seven pounds. A monster.
I do have video and will post later in notes.
All in all it was a great day. Early spring was pushing up all over. I was glad for water and some added nourishment when I got back in the car.
My evening went fairly quickly. Worked an hour or so. Listened to a bit more of Don Quixote. Then bed.
This morning I woke, looked at my calendar. Took a final check of the Gold Bug painting. Today is the due date to deliver works for the exhibition.
I looked at the show invitation and the times to make the delivery. OH SHIT.
The invitation said that the works were not only figurative but were images of the human form. Dang-it. 6:00 am and I have nothing ready.
OK. Last minute is nothing new for me. Genius flies when the heat is on. I work best under pressure.
Flipped through some half-realized paper pieces. I have hundreds. Found a piece of Rives BFK paper to which I had attached a small dried muscadine leaf. Hummm, I thought. This would work.
For years I have developed a body of work I refer to as my, Book of Shadows. Nothing necessarily metaphysical, the images are of my shadow. They place me in a particular place at a significant time.
After the Fall, No Regrets. manipulated image on paper mounted to canvas.
The Adam and Eve story has been a constant theme for me. I’ve worked on it for years. This little work makes me chuckle. I’m not sure why.
I’ll work on it a few more hours before I take it to the gallery. Will listen to Edith Piaf while I work. Maybe will take a break and re-read The Gold Bug. Maybe I’ll edit the Fox Squirrel video.
Je ne pas regrette rien.
With love to Edith and Edgar. And, of course, Burl.
Heavyweight. An art exhibition curated by Jason John will open April 5
Look for link on Facebook.
If you like this, you might like Shantyboat Stories. Twenty-three tales.
Avec mes souvenirs / J'ai allumé le feu.
This is really good. Thanks Jim!