vow

I was first introduced toAandrew Wyeth's work in college. this chance meeting was not unlike a lovers tryst. i was leaving my drawing class when i happened to pass by the visual arts gallery. casually glancing over my shoulder, hair in my face, i caught a glimpse of a man lying down in a small boat, set adrift in a vacant sea of gray ripples, beneath a receding horizon. something inside of me moved. i can't define exactly what it was without saying that at that very same moment i was both empty and full.

Now, it is common knowledge just how rare an occurrence it is for an individual to be stopped dead in their tracks these days. however i can attest that this image will freeze any person in place for the potential of all eternity.

My eternity must have lasted for a few minutes or at least until i could feel my feet beginning to place themselves one in front of the other, until i had made my way to the building. for some reason there was a pit of nervousness that built up inside of me with each step; as if i knew this experience was going to brand me for all of eternity.

For the following two hours i wandered my way through Wyeth's world. visually, i was being destroyed. no other time in my life had i witnessed such honest moments laid out in paint. i sat in front of far away and sketched for over an hour -meticulously rendering every blade of grass and fur follicle present. my attempts were pathetic but my hands urged me on.

So often i find myself inspired by others but stilted by their greatness. wyeth's work is no doubt colossal, with every brush stroke he commands repute, and yet somehow the viewer is left feeling a sense of undaunted pride in this experience, in this becoming of his story. i wish i could convey a true likeness of braids or anything from his helga series... maybe subconsciously i am still trying. somewhere deep down at the heart of all of my artistic endeavors is a small wyeth impression burried beneath the surface.

Please enjoy these images. they are only a supplement to his quiet grandeur.

P.S. I just got two of his books in and both are mind blowing. highly recommended for visual imagineers: magic and memory & three generations.