Monday, April 23, 2007

the lapwing flies


image taken from...


sigh.
i'm having extreme seller's remorse...
this is one of the pieces that will be at the sfmoma artist's gallery big hoo-haw warehouse sale. The title comes from a fragment of text on the page "the lapwing flies". when I titled it, I wasn't sure exactly what a lapwing was. I imagined those lacy winged mayflies that hover over quiet water.
(I usually don't read the text while I'm painting, not until afterwards.)

I painted this last week - researching today, I discovered a lapwing is actually a bird, and, much to my delight, there is a type of lapwing that has markings much like the painting.

the poem, the deserted village is by oliver goldsmith
(the book I used was a beautiful discarded rag-paper replica from the 1920's- I would never destroy an actual book in good condition). this book had never actually been read..the pages were still uncut.

looking up oliver goldsmith right now,
I found that he was..
"a likeable but disorganised character who once failed to emigrate to America because he missed the ferry".
also, that the term "goody two shoes" derives from a children's story he wrote.
(sometimes, it's delightful to let oneself be tugged through one rabbit hole after another on the internet)
...."No more thy glassy brook reflects the day,
But, choked with sedges, works its weedy way;
Along thy glades, a solitary guest,
The hollow-sounding bittern guards its nest;
Amidst thy desert walks the lapwing flies,
And tires their echoes with unvaried cries."...

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