I finished a house portrait this morning. I spent some time the other day remodeling my website and I think I’m going to regret not putting this house portrait on there. I’ve got a second one for the same client which should be done by Wednesday. They’re due the 21st so I’ll have enough time to finish and let them dry before delivery.
Although I’d like to get more commissions I’d also like some time to work on some stuff of my own. I went to an open house last Saturday of the high school near my house, which is an historic building. It’s pretty incredible looking. I took some photos that I want to paint, so when I finish my last commission, which is due by December 6th, I’m going to focus on them. Hopefully some local alumni will want to buy them. Either way, I am passionate about historic buildings myself, so it will be fun for me to paint it.
Yesterday I watched Little Women with Winona Ryder and Susan Sarandon. It’s a beautifully done movie but I got ticked off a few times when they put stuff in that wasn’t in the book. I guess that’s par for the course. I’m definitely not as much of a movie fan as I am a bibliophile, but this was well done. I can see why people watch it every year during the holidays.
I’ve got the newer version, directed by Greta Gerwig on hold at the library. I saw it when it came out and at the time I was impressed, but I hadn’t read the book yet. I know they changed up the storyline, so I may freak out even more than I did with the 2000 version.
I am still on a Concord, Massachusetts kick. I finished my 600 page history book the other day. It was hard to get through, being a history book and not a narrative, but it got me thinking about a lot of things. Mainly that life doesn’t change much. Ralph Waldo Emerson lamented about the new train. Apparently, it barreled into town several times a day like a tank and the whistle ruined his morning reveries. Change can be a double edged sword. It got him to Boston in an hour instead of five by carriage, but it had its drawbacks.
I also noticed that having three political parties instead of two really didn’t make much of a difference. If anything it added to the confusion. They had the Whig party along with Democrats, and Republicans and they fought relentlessly.
From 1790 to 1850, the citizens of Concord, MA debated and argued over religion (fundamentalism vs. reform), politics, economics, industry, technological changes, how to educate children, and what to do about alcoholism, among other things. Women and free slaves had little power, if any, and many people were passionate about respect for its citizens. At times I felt like I was reading about current events.
Along with the history book, Transcendentalists and their World, I read Nature, Emersons essay that kicked off the Transcendentalist movement. I read Little Women, written by Louisa May Alcott, the daughter, of Transcendentalist, Bronson Alcott. I’m also reading a book called The Dharma Bum’s Guide to Western Literature: Finding Nirvana in the Classics by Dean Sluyter. In it he discusses writings by both Emerson and Thoreau and compares Transcendentalism to Eastern religion and philosophy. He even calls Thoreau the first American Yogi.
Walden is next on my to-read list. I put it on hold at the library along with a biography of Emily Dickinson and The Last of the Mohicans. When I set out to read about Transcendentalism I wasn’t expecting it to feel so relatable. I think that’s why I’m so fascinated with the 19th century in general. Maybe I can use history to help make sense of today. And maybe some movement like Transcendentalism is on the horizon.