I was visiting New York with a friend from Israel. She suffered a strong pain in her leg and that pain, like all pains, grabbed our attention and made us follow it. It carved our days. We were forced to walk slowly, stop and rest on benches and coffee places. There was a lot of sitting and talking and that brought on a lot of drawings.
New York skyline as seen from Williamsburg, Brooklyn:
Waiting for the ferry:
Brooklyn bridge (a quick sketch because the ferry just arrived):
I enjoyed the tension between my continuous desire to paint and the boundaries of circumstances- It made me create with greater attention to details and opportunities.
By noon we were at the Metropolitan Museum, where it was significantly less hot, less humid and less crowded. We sampled each and every bench and that gave me time to carefully observe paintings, and not always the ones I would choose if I were there by myself. It is amazing how one small leg can make such a big difference.
I also had time to observe Bonnard – how he placed light – yellow and orange brushstrokes underneath the actual landscape. Then he approached each part of the landscape independently, giving it its own identity. Like a very colorful bright airy quilt. An extraordinary quilt that has no stitches, and no evidence of labor or effort.
When I came back home I decided to further explore this method – having Bonnard in mind, I sat down in the garden and painted our home:
And then I made another one, from a slightly different angle:
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On the bus from New York I observed the lovers. I could see how for them, each moment unfolds into eternity.
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