Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Art Can Be Dangerous



























Hi To Y'All,

Art can be dangerous. This morning I had a prickly awakening reminder of this truth. The alarm clock sounded. I rolled and crawled out of bed to turn it off. Generally it is a good idea to keep the alarm clock out of easy reach. As I was doing this I put my knee on a pin cushion full of sewing needles. They went into my flesh. I hope you are not eating as you read this {:~DDD. It was a prickly rude awakening...OOCH, OUCH!

I pulled at least one out but there remained a self threading sewing needle stuck in my knee like a porcupine quill stuck in a dog's nose. It was the blunt end that pierced the skin. The self threading needles have barbs on them to keep the thread from coming off the needle. Under a magnifying glass they look very nasty. I tried to determine if I could remove it myself with some needle nosed pliers but one slight pull revealed that to be a painful prospect. The walk in medical clinic was my option. It is located around the corner from my apartment. I would have to roam about with the sewing needle dangling out of my knee flesh until they opened at 8 a.m.

My tale of woe continues. Having arrived at the walk in clinic just before 8 o'clock I was signed in and asked to sit and wait. Unknown to me the receptionist seems not to have had enough morning coffee. She did not put me in the line up. A longish wait is not abnormal at the walkin clinic so I was not surprised by my wait until I realised everyone was seeing the doctor before me. Hey folks. Wazup? "OOps, sorry," she said. It was an hour and a half from the time of my arrival before I was finally called to see the doctor. The kind doc fumbled around in his cupboards searching for his tools. (did ya have morning coffee sir?) He froze my knee with a needle injection and used his sterile doctor pliers to pull the quill from my abused joint. Hopefully it will not be too sore when the freezing agent wears off. The doctor admitted that he had to give a good strong yank to remove the 'foreign body'. 'Removal of foreign body' was the note he scribbled into my medical record - 'right knee'.

You might be wondering why the needle cushion was there on the floor. Here is my lesson in art technique. I use sewing needles to remove hairs, long specs of dust and unwantd paint globs from my paintings as they dry. Dust specs can be very long! Globs are annoying. If such things remain on the canvas the wet paint will be drawn to them and a mark is left. A certain amount of this is does not matter if it does not interfere with the final look of a piece. It is, afterall, abstract painting. I generally monitor the painting while it is drying to remove what I can. A sewing needle or two come in handy for this purpose.

I keep the needles in a little red cushion. And I do put it out of the way so that I will not step on it as I walk around my work area. Last evening I was working on a couple paintings and used the needles. I did put the pin cushion in a 'safe' out of the way spot. My knee encountered the prickly demon despite my caution.

So dear friends here is the message. Art can be sublime and art can be dangerous.

Now for today's painting. This one that I have posted photos of today is a lovely abstract reminiscent of clouds blowing over water. The horizon line is low creating a big sky. Colours dance through the air.

The dimensions are 24'' x 24'' x 1/2'' on stretched canvas.
Click on an image to view an enlargement.
Scroll down this page to the froggy and click to hop to my online store with links direct to eBay. Today this painting is posted on eBay.

Enjoy your day but beware; Art can be dangerous {:~DD

ciao,

john redmond
in Ottawa, Canada

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