* "Long ago, I held a photograph...."
I copied a memory into my imagination. The scene shifted from lush full summer into early autumn then arrived, in painted form, in snow bright December.
I first experienced the "real" view up close and personal standing still in the summer of 1969 in Upstate New York. The "path," visible above but snow covered, was an unpaved road flanked by pines and leafed trees in fullest green. The mountains called me. I deeply love mountains and feel their power of energy and stillness.
Later I visited New York State again to experience the same path in early autumn, as the leaves were beginning to shift and blow over the narrow road.
In summer and autumn, I can still re-live the feelings and colors in vivid detail, the weather conditions of hot humid summer then a bit of chill in the air as an autumn preview appears. THEN~
Memory Makers
Much later, the time came to paint the path! It was December 1981.
Living in the mountains of Tennessee at that time, I grabbed my colors, brushes, and blank canvas to paint the December view, the snow scene developed quickly and effortlessly.
** What Makes a Memory? Where is the memory? Can I anticipate, experience, recall, then store and retrieve memories? Everyone memories take unique paths. Can memories be embedded, shifted, and erased? What is the power of music and how does it help memory, recollection, and creativity?
I visualize images then paint, usually, although not always, after some contemplation. I store and retrieve memories though painting and recalling scenes and events.
*** Alan Gilbert, New York Philharmonic Orchestra Conductor, mentioned music's effect on your life as "artistic magic....So many ways to be a musician." I always write and paint with music. Music also helps stimulate and store memories.
**** Recently I saw an interview with Conrad Shawcross, an "Out of Box" sculptor who combines science, art, and music in vast array. Outdoors we view "musical forms," and "tetrahedrons" suggesting growing trees. An indoor display shows geometric moving shadow patterns cast on gallery walls. Some sculptures move like clock work, others stay stark still. Each one is different.
Recall and Retrieve Memories
As I watched the interview, I thought of Alexander Calder! I instantly recalled seeing a Calder show in Chicago and watching the hypnotic gently moving mobiles dance up and down, too and fro brushed into action by onlookers as they walked by, stirring up currents of air. I enjoyed again the stark white walls and simple solid blond wood benches in the gallery. I was "there" again.
I got a second memory! In Pittsburgh Pennsylvania Carnegie Museum, I walked near a Calder, the air swished, and the sculpture came to moving life~ "just for me."
Now
Winter Shadows snow painting, painted with light and life, has a new home in New York State! The new owner is a musician! I always knew and felt that this special gift would find just the perfect home~
Home Again
The painted path is an invisible one," God put it there."
Blogger Search Key Word: Mountain
Resources:
** Total Memory Makeover, book by Marilu Henner, actress, author. Store and retrieve your memories.
** NOVA Memory Hackers, PBS.org, Feb 10, 2016, "Researchers study how memories can be implanted, changed, and erased."
**60 Minutes, CBS, "A Story You Will Never Forget" HSAM memory, April 16, 2015
***Alan Gilbert, Music and its Effect on Your Life, interview with Charlie Rose, Feb 11, 2016. PBS.org or Bloomberg TV.
**** Bright Idea, Conrad Shawcross, U.K. sculptor and scientist, creates musical forms, life forms, geometry in motion and stillness.
Music:
* Simon and Garfunkel, Old Friends/Bookends
Gymnopedia by Erik Satie
Dahlis Roy: Visionary Artist, Author, and Tai Chi Instructor
Oil painting by Dahlis
Winter Shadows
