Revival

Fry up the chicken and get out your hymnals it’s time to gather at the river for a good old-fashioned tent meeting.

But wait, it’s Thanksgiving and there’s a turkey to cook and folks to meet at the airport and nervous waiting for the family coming from the other side of the snow covered passes who can take a minute out for a revival?

You can fellow artist.

This is the time of the year when wonderful themes are everywhere and every room holds a subject for painting, sculpting, potting or photography, maybe two at once.

Sure Christmas brings the family together and there’s food on every table and presents everywhere and new cameras to unwrap but can you really step back and find the Artist’s eye in all of the merry making? Not a chance. If you aren’t stressed out from shopping and wrapping and fooding and merry making there’s the lights for the tree and unwinding them after a year of being stored in the attic or the cellar or boxed and stuffed in a closet, who has time to take a breath much less think about art? No Thanksgiving is much better.

Norman Rockwell knew what an opportunity the turkey day feast brings, there’s food on the table and family gathered ‘round, make a warm and cozy portrait.

Speaking of portraits, every try to get a family member to hold still long enough to capture a likeness? Just think, sixteen uninterrupted hours of football on every channel and all of the guys staring like slaves of the lamp just waiting for you to grab the sketch pad or camera or palette and work away.

Even if you are a painter and think photography is what people without talent do to make themselves feel better about being mindless drones, that camera can freeze the image for the long winter months ahead.

All that food sitting on the groaning table, perfect for still life just waiting for you and what are you doing? Hiding on the back stoop grabbing a smoke in the leper colony? Why aren’t you moving the pie onto a green background for a close up of holiday feast at rest? Turkey before makes a wonderful subject but a ruined bird after the kids have gotten at it? Try to find a way to make that work for a wall in the old museum.

Holidays can be the time of the year when families gather to open old wounds and bring out all of the reasons why they don’t live in the same town much less the same state or they can be the time when an artist can find subjects for the next six months. What will you be doing when the dishes are done…