Progress...

Brimfield Post   oil/canvas   20 x 16 x 1.5

The notion of progress is a sticky wick. Sometimes we humans resist change as the simple inertia of the process challenges our comfort zones which I compare to "the body at rest". Last night before falling asleep, we watched an art show where the art was designed on a computer....after that, teams of colorists came in to correctly mix and match colors which were then put into tubes and numbered. Other teams of painters worked for weeks to fill in the huge painting surface which had been greatly magnified....just like a giant paint-by-number. Wow....talk about a mental shift. The notion of solitary artists morphs into a creative team to create giant paintings where the end product becomes all. I am not sure how I feel about all of this....will need a while to think on these things. Paint-by-numbers starting within the realm of craft, for the not-as-creative, and morphing into the highly desirable. Such is change. Our Brimfield post office will be going out of business in November. This small business was a combination sheet metal/gift and card shop/post office for as long as I can remember. Each patron was greeted with a smile and a story. It was personal. It was a feel-good experience. The owner Cheryl Rexrode is an energetic woman with energy to spare and an admirable world view. Talking with her is a pleasure. I regret that I have never drawn or painted her. Sometimes she hires Mark part-time to fill in. He bleaches his long beard at Christmas-time to play Santa and slips outside to puff on his ever-present cigars. This whole scene is how "post office" is defined for me in my brain. That is about to change. I picture a long line of postal patrons anxiously awaiting to hear the word "next". Progress is sometimes hard to swallow.