In the summer of 2001, we were living in Evansville, Indiana. Vicky had just received an offer to work in Paris. We were excited about moving to The City of Lights but equally sad about leaving Evansville. What we once thought was a kiss of death – a relocation from Buenos Aires, Argentina to Evansville, Indiana – we now viewed as our home, sweet home. We loved our house, our neighbors, friends and co-workers. I had a one man show of my work and I was beginning to place roots out in the artistic community…
In my last few remaining weeks in Evansville, I stood before a large, blank canvas with only the idea that it was going to be a painting of explosive color. I had a CD playing – George Martin’s (former producer of The Beatles), “In My Life”, a tribute by various artists to the music of The Beatles. The title track is buried at the end – and it is read, not sung, to background music by none other than the actor, Sean Connery. Up until this moment, I was very sentimental about leaving friends and loved ones for a strange, new adventure across the ocean. We were also very connected to our house, a quirky, 1920’s, Mediterranean styled home in the middle of a Victorian neighborhood in downtown Evansville. We immediately fell in love with it the moment we walked through its doors. A few weeks after we purchased the house, I found out that the original owner who built it in the 1920’s was born on my birthday and died the year I was born.
When I listened to Sean Connery reading the song, “In My LIfe”, I heard it for the first time as poetry and not as a pop song by The Fab Four. Not to take away from the wonderful, creative artistry of The Beatles – I just had never heard this song as I was hearing it now. Sean Connery reads it with much sensitivity and it is a beautiful, poignant piece of poetry. It blew me away.
When I begin paintings, specifically, large, canvas works, I normally like to throw in a spirit of some sort; Something that won’t necessarily be seen from the surface or finished product. Something to break the ice for me in the physical process of painting. As Mr. Connery read, I wrote the lyrics on the blank canvas with a piece of vine charcoal. I played the piece over and over while I painted the majority of my painting, “In My LIfe”. While I painted away, I thought about my life up until now. I thought about friends and family and lovers too. I thought about my life with Vicky.
Then I woke up and there was this terrific painting before me.
Here are the lyrics to The Beatles’ song:
There are places I remember
All my life, though some have changed
Some forever not for better
Some have gone and some remain
All these places had their moments
With lovers and friends
I still can recall
Some are dead and some are living
In my life I’ve loved them all
But of all these friends and lovers
there is no one compares with you
And these memories lose their meaning
When I think of love as something new
Though I know I’ll never lose affection
For people and things that went before
I know I’ll often stop and think about them
In my life I love you more
Though I know I’ll never lose affection
For people and things that went before
I know I’ll often stop and think about them
In my life I love you more
In my life I love you more
– John Lennon & Paul McCartney
1965
