After work late one summer afternoon, I was walking to Union Station for my daily commute home. Found myself crossing the Randolph Street Bridge over the Chicago River. There was a construction site on the west end. From the bridge looking down I could see a tangle of dirt, cement and equipment. In the center of it all was a bright yellow workman’s shed where everything inside was dusty and dirty but neat and orderly! I really felt compelled to do a painting of it. Loved the angle looking down from the bridge. Loved the challenge of painting the orderliness and details of the shed’s contents etc.
As I was getting closer to finishing the painting, I found myself getting a bit emotional every time I picked it up to work on it which I thought strange. I’m a sensitive person, admittedly, but why was I having such a reaction over a dusty clothes in a shed? Didn’t make sense at first but over time the answer came … my painting reminded me of an illustration in a book I use to read my sons when they were little – over 20 years ago! (Couldn’t believe I actually made the connection it was so long ago. Surprised myself!) It’s “Scuppers the Sailor Dog” by Margaret Wise Brown, illustrated by Garth Williams, published in 1953.
“He put his hat on the hook for his hat, and his rope on the hook for his rope, and his pants on the hook for his pants and his spyglass on the hook for his spyglass, and he put his shoes under the bed…”
I am still in disbelief that a time in my life I hold so dear in my heart, when my sons were so little, would call to me later in life through my art. I cherished the times I cuddled up and read to my little ones<3 Now, every time I glance up at my finished painting, I am taken back in time and experience the same warm, wonderful feeling, holding them close as if I were reading to them once again. The human experience is overwhelmingly wondrous at times!
All images on this page are copyrighted even though the Scuppers’ images were published so long ago.