These artworks are from 1983, sharing some thoughts as I continue to celebrate my 50th year as an artist. It is clear to me how influenced I was by Henry Miller, not only as a writer but also unbeknownst to me, an artist. There was a Washington Post story that featured some of his paintings before his death in 1980.
His descriptions of the light in Greece in The Colossus of Maroussi (1941) literally vaulted me into a new dimension of my imagination. His vivid writing transported me to Greece in such a way that creating felt like breathing fresh air. When I would bring out the paper to paint, his words led me to choose a lighter, more vibrant palette;
“…the vault of blue spreads out like a fan, the blue decomposing into ultimate violet light that makes everything in Greece seem holy, natural and familiar.”
© Kathleen O’Brien, “Vault To Ultimate Violet”, oil pastel, 1983
This book became an operator’s manual of sorts. I wanted to have what he had experienced: His humor, wisdom and permission to write run-on sentences are but a fraction of what kept me reading:
“But for the first time in my life I was happy with the full consciousness of being happy. It’s good to be just plain happy; it’s a little better to know that you’re happy, but to understand that you’re happy and to know why and how, in what way, because of what concatenation of events or circumstances, and still be happy, be happy in the being and the knowing, well that is beyond happiness, that is bliss, and if you have any sense you ought to kill yourself on the spot and be done with it”
A Swim in the Sky was a solo art show. I made an invitation from this linoleum print.
© Kathleen O’Brien, “A Swim in the Sky”, linoleum print with Henry Miller quote from “Colossus of Maroussi“, 1983
His words soothed me even in the dream state:
“Millions of years may pass and I may come back again and again on one planet or another, as human, as devil, as archangel (I care not how, which, what or when), but my feet will never leave that boat, my eyes will never close on that scene, my friends will never disappear. That was a moment which endures, which survives world wars, which outlasts the life of the planet Earth itself. If I should ever attain the fulfillment which the Buddhists speak of, if I should ever have the choice of attaining Nirvana or remaining behind to watch over and guide those to come, I say now let me remain behind, let me hover as a gentle spirit above the roofs of Poros and look down upon the voyager with a smile of peace and good cheer. I can see the whole human race straining through the neck of the bottle here, searching for egress into the world of light and beauty. May they come, may they disembark, may the stay and rest awhile in peace.
He wrote an astounding amount, some of which I have re-read several times, but so much that I haven’t yet, but that’s something to look forward to.
© Kathleen O’Brien, “A Swim in the Sky”, pastel, 1983
In equal measure I was influenced by Joseph Cornell, I’m noticing with these drawings, through subject matter; swans and ballerinas. I was visiting the Joseph Cornell Study Center and attending ballets at the Kennedy Center. Ballet is fascinating to me, weird but sublimely beautiful, so beyond reach, something that represents to me aspiration.
One get rich quick scheme was to win the Duck Stamp Contest, I could win and become a millionaire, besides, I was in Washington, and I could attend the judging. The rules are stringent, must be exactly 5×7″, a migratory water bird, etc. etc. The hundreds of realistic art work displayed at the judging were the most stunning I had ever seen. Systematically the handlers would put one piece on the easel in front of the three judges, and they would hold up a paddle that said yes or no, visible to the audience. It was so humbling to experience the 5 seconds it took to see the NO! for mine. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.
© Kathleen O’Brien, “Trumpeter Swans for the Duck Stamp contest”, drawing, 1983
© Kathleen O’Brien, “Pavlova”, drawing, 1983
© Kathleen O’Brien, “Karsavina as the Firebird”, pastel, 1983
I continued to be drawn to portraits. I did all my family members, and this one of my grandfather, even though he had died twenty years before. Since I had this in my portfolio, I must have drawn this for myself, my adored hero whom I missed very much.
© Kathleen O’Brien, “Grandpa”, pastel, 1983
It was a bonus to live close to the ocean and eastern shore, another inspiration for art.
© Kathleen O’Brien, “Eastern shore”, drawings, 1983
© Kathleen O’Brien, “Ocean”, pastel, 1983
Back to the Greek influence with the series that ended the Washington phase. One example, the Metamorphosis triptych has three tiny (3×4″) oil paintings. They are set in Greece, feature dancers, a Minotaur-like figure, Vanessa Redgrave as Isadora Duncan, and Isadora Duncan. I had started to use the format of the Golden Rectangle, as taught by Pythagoras, almost exclusively beginning at this time.
© Kathleen O’Brien, “Metamorphosis”, Triptych”, 3 oil paintings, 1983