A Painting List

Sometimes you get a to a place where you ask yourself where’s the inspiration and if you have something to paint? So after watching a program about a folkloric artist who painted striking paintings about his personal history, I asked myself what is my history? What is my heritage? Immediately a series of images started racing across my mind. Here’s my list:

1. Plantains lined in long straight rows in a field, and me looking up seeing the green leaves in contrast to the blue sky and the light at the end of the row

2. Running on the edge of a small river being chased by a big frog in the hand of a distant cousin

3. A natural rock slide with gushing water that I swam at one summer

4. A little wooden house we rented during that same summer

5. My grandparent's house in Naranjito, long gone

6. The old large musty tobacco drying barn

7. Don Manuel’s boots

8. My father’s hands

9. Titi Sarita’s fan

10. Some ripe plantains frying in an iron skillet over a gas stove

11. My son sitting under a rattan table

12. My children and I dreaming about clouds or fishing for stars

13. My grandmother teaching me to play briscas or squeezing my hands

14. Saying good bye to my brother

15. My mom in her teens during the 1930’s teaching herself to type using a cardboard card

16. The women in my family all together around a table making pasteles

17. Edwin playing the guitar


This is what I would paint if I were to paint my heritage or history. They are complicated and simple. Let’s see if I can do this.

Comments

Ana said…
Beautiful list...
Anonymous said…
What a very cool list. I would like to share my own thoughts regarding my childhood growing up in Boriken, the memories that stir in my soul...
http://wp.me/p4p3p-uL

I hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoyed yours....

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