The minimalist pool of a few posts back has grown more particular. The sentinel trees are green now. The pool is longer, though still at one’s feet. But the world sort of stops on the right and the left.
I think I need to go swimming.
[Top of the post: Drawing of an Empty Pool in Summer, by Aletha Kuschan, colored pencil]
A fictional girl I know is working on writing a book — or, no — doing a blog. Her name is Meghan, and this is a page of notes on her forthcoming work. The woman in her picture has beautiful feet, don’t you think? I like the dress too.
I don’t know the name of the girl in the picture, but the artist’s name is Meghan.
[Top of the post: Drawing of a Girl under an Apple Tree, by Meghan, ballpoint pen and colored pencil]
To explore the idea of the elephants in the river, of my strange and marvelous dream (see previous post), I decided to make drawings of plastic toy elephants balanced on the shoulders of others. They look like elephant acrobats.
[Elephant Acrobatics, by Aletha Kuschan, pen and ink]
I’ve had many dreams where magnificient events took place at the water’s edge. In one dream of many years ago, I was living in a splendid house with a large French door that opened onto a view of a deep river. As I looked out at the river, I was startled by an amazing sight. I saw elephants swimming in the river with the current.
While I watched, I became aware of something else even more startling. The elephants at the surface were not swimming, I discovered. In the crazy narrative logic of dreams, I was able to see into the depths of the water to discover that the elephants at the surface were actually standing on the shoulders of others that were underwater. And somewhere under the layers of standing elephants a herd of elephants in contact with the river’s floor were walking.
And I wondered: how can this be possible? How do they breathe? How can they survive? But somehow this was something that they do, something we didn’t realize about them, some ancient knowledge they possessed, a way of survival that was powerful and mysterious and strong.
I’ve always wondered what the dream might mean. Sometimes a symbol has communicative power that transcends cultures and eras. Might some scholar of India or Africa be able to interpret my dream of elephants for me?
[Elephants in the Deep River, by Aletha Kuschan]
Art is something that embraces the whole of life. It’s so hard to define because it’s so big and varied. Still we learn by attempting to make distinctions and definitions, taking them as paths to discover where they lead. I hope that readers are enjoying this blog. I’m having so much fun writing it, and I am continually trying to extend its range.
Meanwhile, I invite everyone to share their ideas and insights through comments. Or through questions. If anyone has a question about the topics discussed here, please let me know.
Peruse some of the earlier posts, too. There might be topics farther back that will interest you! I want the blog to be like a comfy couch where people can relax and read, look and muse.
[Drawing of a dark blue couch, by Aletha Kuschan]
