an anecdotal glimpse

"Unknown Journeys"

And then I saw him. I saw him from halfway across the gallery, a guy zooming in on one of my tee-shirt designs, the one titled Yeux Noirs Self Portrait. I was still drinking the first of
two night's glasses of red wine. I approached him and introduced myself as the creator, "my name is Maxime," as the artist whose artwork design he was shooting. He then hurls the camera video around upon my unexpectedness asking me "what's my work about?"

The camera is practically kissing on me for an interview. I quickly shoo-flied away the usual petite swell of shyness, the immediate self-query of "oh what do I say and do I look a bit retarded behind the camera?!" and dived upon the opportunity and embraced the sharing of who I am and the ideas and emotions that excavate my work. I speak say words of memory and loss, something I know to be true for me, but that I now have no actual memory of what I said. Then I tell him I have 4 designs hanging on display in the exhibition...he says, "Where is another one?" I responded, "down the other end, follow me please."

He and camera video trail my excited nervousness to my drawing of three feet titled in Italian and French, Abbozzo _Trois Pieds through the tightly packed plethora of bodies smiles nodding, the buzzing of energy and the subtle frenzy of hands reaching for delicious hors d'oeuvres walked around by a lovely perpetually smiling woman in a black veiled thing wearing red or carmine lips, russet titian hair up on high or above shoulder. I can remember seeing her eagerness for all to partake in her delicacies.

I say, "This one is mine." My mouth opens something about the body, the figure in transience and that the image being a detail of a large figurative drawing I'd just completed; a comment about time. Only then do I ask this blond tall quite good looking Aussie surfer type man what's his name, who is he and where from, what, newspaper or whatever and why is he videoing some of the works, and mine in particular? Dylan answers that he's with the Gallery and that a video is being made documenting the variety in styles of the tee-shirts in the exhibition and that my work struck him as very different from most of the others and stood out striking his attention.

I can testify that you never know where something will lead. Have courage, spread wide and leap off the mountain even in despite of the fear, following your joy with unknowingness,
anxiety and uncertainty! But you may know this and by your life can testify also.

Joseph Campbell

It is only by going down into the abyss
that we recover the treasures of life.
Where you stumble,
there lies your treasure.
The very cave you are afraid to enter
turns out to be the source of
what you were looking for.

- Joseph Campbell

The possibility of the heart bending
breaking from too much.
A tender thud.
Weight to yearn and cherish.

--9 sept 2009

Guts of grace

Every face you meet the cusp of a story.
Thousands exist in the bowels of the city.
Grief happens. It is passive.
Mourning a thing to be dealt with.
Oblivious you fall open the door feel the wind.
Walking into the ordinary terror of your life.

Guts of grace.

---9 sept 2009

somewhere between blood and rust
--8 sept 2009