Contemplating – or do I feel memories?
I draw from the bank – nooks and crevices in my mind and soul. Though the physical synapses are always changing – probably re-shaping my memories, an image emerges from the fog and depths. Images of places I’ve been, arousing my senses and reminding me of my experience in that moment.
Though it’s been years, I can still hear footsteps on the rue St Honore-Faubourg where I walked and saw this vintage Mini Cooper in the “designer shopping district” of Paris. Voices, cars, horns, accelerating scooters…bouncing and echoing off of the stone walls. Timeless in a way – when we walk anywhere that is made of this Earth – even places man-made of stone, soot, lumber and mud – with hundreds of years ground into the surfaces before us.
Before I go too deep, I will say that when I walk through a city like Paris, my senses are heightened – aware of the grit and history, but aroused by the soaring art and design that rise up on almost every street and bridge! A well-turned piece of iron work, head-turning bronze sculpture…massive and ornate…all staged with a back drop of luminous pink-gray granite and limestone. (and concrete)…exclamation points of great human design.
Running through the 1st and 8th arrondissments (districts) of Paris, rue St Honore holds store windows with some of the best avant garde and tongue-in-cheek window displays…more exclamation points! Most Parisians are proud of their city and think it is the best city on Earth. I think they have a sense of humor too!
Here’s to living with our memories…and painting them.
This painting, “Haute Couture” (high fashion), recently completed, is now hanging at Le Panier French Bakery in Seattle’s Pike Place Market. It is framed in a matte black floater frame. If interested, or comments or questions, please contact me.
©Teri Capp All rights reserved