There is a lovely little art gallery in Banff that Jacob and I discovered on one of our trips where we had enough time to do a little window shopping. A treat that isn't possible if we have the twins with us. Jake was only five or six and a painting in a window caught his eye. We ended up spending at least 20 minutes, staring at the piece entitled 'Faery Tales' by James Christensen. My understanding is that there are 24 different stories hidden within this painting and Jake managed to identify at least 19 of them.
Two trips back to Banff and we were drawn back to the gallery to stare at it again. Jonathan and I have gone to Banff for our every wedding anniversary since we've lived in Calgary and on our first such trip, Jonathan bought the piece as a family anniversary gift. VERY uncharacteristic of him, because it was most definitely an unnecessary expense. But it has brought us great pleasure and I never thought I could say that about a piece of art. It now proudly sits in our library room, above our comfiest sitting chair. You'll often find one of the kids standing in the chair, staring up at the vibrant colours and intently studying all the different recognizable characters from childhood favourites.
Christensen has a unique style that I have fallen in love with. I don't know why. I just love the hidden meaning and references. I love his appreciation for traditional family values and his respect for women. I love his quirky sense of humour and his depiction of fairies, angels, trolls, Shakespearean characters, religious figures, etc.
Isn't this one dreamy?
A Place of Her Own
Responsible Woman
The Unopened Letter
This one reminds me of a story I recently watched on a morning news show. Five year old Elena Desserich, dying of cancer, left secret notes for her family to find after her death. Her parents compiled them in a journal of sorts, Notes Left Behind to leave as a legacy to her younger sister, to remember her by. In an interview with her mom, I heard her say that they had found two particular notes that were sealed in envelopes. She and her husband had decided that they would never open the envelopes, because (I'm paraphrasing) "they wanted the insurance that they would always still have a letter from Elena. It would never end." Incredibly sad and incredibly touching.
Back to Christensen, here is my gift to you.
Back to Christensen, here is my gift to you.
The Listener
I will leave you to interpret this last one on your own. But please tell me that you understand why it so reminded me of you.
xo
your timing is impeccable, coming off two consecutive VERY intense work days with 9 clients on each day. 18 hours of listening to heartwrenching anguish/sorrow/fear/hope is such an honor & so humbling, but exhausting. So yes, i get it and yes, I love the painting & his others too. Responsible Woman is a hoot, sort of surprises me (pleasantly) that it is a by a male artist. Kind of reminds me of Wally Lamb's gift for writing in a woman's voice. Thank you Stace, I hope he has book. And the "unopened letters" book - it makes me feel lightheaded. I cannot imagine.... JKO xoxoxox
ReplyDeleteI am so thrilled that you like him too. I have one of his books: http://tinyurl.com/ygchddc. And his painting of the Responsible Woman was a gift to his wife.
ReplyDelete"The reason it isn't called The Burden of the Responsible Woman is that she's so busy she doesn't have time to be burdened! When I asked my wife, Carole, about her burdens, she gave me a funny look and said, 'I don't have time to be burdened.' When you've got so many things going, you might not have time to ponder."
"Specifically, what you have here is 'woman as a spiritual leader,'" says Christensen. "She has a candle, which is my way of showing that she is carrying the torch, leading the way. You notice that she has spare candles. Candles are symbols of light and wisdom. She also has a many-handed clock, which could mean several things, and then there is a compass, I put that in at the last minute, because today's woman really has to try to find her direction. The compass is there to help her figure out which way she's trying to go." - James Christensen.