(re-evaluating “a”)

13 years ago, I painted a burning letter “a” on one side of a salvaged window whose glass looked into another world.  On the other side, the letter appeared in the sky above a deep valley where its unique light fired the rods and cones in the eyes of a typeface designer named 53947. The sublime vision “opened their mind to the possibility of everything” and granted them profound “omniscience.”  10 years later, I watch as they attempt to capture the essence of this enlightenment in a new design, inspiring a journey that encourages them to re-evaluate their perception of what is known. 

The result for me was a revelation that time is indeed relative in our communication, and that their “possibility of everything,” contrary to my assumption, was not omniscience, but an awareness of each potential moment bound to a previous moment’s choice.

Three years later, our world changed by pandemic, I return to notice something different.

If one were assess the entirety of a person’s life, one might reduce it to the exceptional moments. We are conditioned to look for these notable moments as we grow.  Some are actually marked on a calendar to be exceptional by their place in time; some so common to us all that they become expected.  

But in your solitary existence, the moments you will remember as exceptional are often not marked with cake and candles. They will appear in random sparks of memory, vivid with detail as the remembered experience materializes into something that fires all of your senses.  They will be mundane moments colored by the light of day at that time of year, and a deep breath will summon a recognizable scent and a feeling in your muscles.  It will be triggered by a song, perhaps, and will be the most affecting, yet inexplicable, experience when it does—a moment in time wired into your brain at a critical time in its growth. 

Sometimes the notable moments of a person’s existence don’t look exceptional.

Sometimes the exceptional moment is cloaked in simplicity.

bluebirds in their natural environment.

three of my paintings join an incredible gallery of artists in waukegan, il.  check it out during the artwauk!

i won best in show for my painting “many eyes” at the exhibit.