CTM RSS Feed
Help Support this site!
Limited Edition Print
"All in One"
CTM Store
Paper, Pen and a Horse
© 2005 Rebecca LeaStepping outside my usual schedule, I journey off the freeway, away from the busy urban streets and head for a quaint coffee house. Felt like sometime last year when I came to this place with other artists, but it was over three and half years ago. I can mark the time when I force myself to recall; it was after “9 -11” and before the planes returned to the sky. I had promised myself to return and today I wander down the brick laden streets of this old Frisco town. Overcast and misty days suit my creativeness and here in front opens a parking space. I am ready for a good cup of coffee. I sense a good story. I have no time restraint today. Stepping outside of familiar environments clears my senses for new perspectives. My life entwines with people, places, and events, which define my adventures.
So here goes, I open the door and step in for another unprepared journey through life's little menagerie of events. Two men sit alone at the counter, each are eating cake and drinking coffee. They stare straight ahead with no acknowledgement. Two other men sit at a table near the front door drinking coffee. I sense they are warming up from working outside. One writer sits at a back table alone and he appears uncomfortable. Must be guy day; a young man comes from the kitchen and I order a dark cup of house coffee, a bowl of Santa Fe black bean soup and half a vegetarian sandwich. I tell him I am headed upstairs to write and ask if he can bring my lunch up. He smiles and tells me that will be alright. What a relief, a talking guy and with a warm smile.
Often I have passed the afternoon away writing or sketching. I usually have a pen or pencil but sometimes spontaneity finds me with no paper; so I write on napkins or placements. I've spent many afternoons in coffee houses, bars, restaurants, parks, and museums across the country and today, I've returned to the Iron Horse in Rogers, Arkansas. Traditional artists, interior decorators, art historians and antique collectors; Let loose here. The funky décor with a mix of time wraps up ambiance and births the next generation eclectic.
Knotty pine floor, brick wall, lime- green wall and a beige wall with exposed aluminum duct work creates the perfect “Installation.” The aluminum wraps the wall in a geometric line, which appeals to the eye. The silver line runs down the stairs, which ties up to down – down to up. American glass artist Dale Chihuly, the master of “Installations,” would be impressed with the courteous thought of inclusion instead of elimination. At the loft's edge sits an old pine dry- sink. Memories, of pumping water up from the well at my grandma's, come flooding into my head. Over- stuffed chairs covered in orange naugahyde sit in the corner with the 60s egg lamp, which is now covered in purple paint and adorned with a new black accordion shade. Bring the boas and stretch out in the 1800s parlor sofa replaced with faux leopard skin.
The loft contains a gallery show and includes work by David Early, a University of Arkansas student. His canvas with various shades of washed red captures my attention. I recognize the jar in the painting, but I am trying to focus on the subject. I know what it is, but I just don't want to admit it. What was he thinking? Probably isn't relevant. I just have to admit, I like the composition and the colors are balanced. But only David Early, whoever he is, would create this painting of two pickled cats in mom's bailed canning jar.
What a hoot; my concentration breaks when Smiley announces loudly from below, “We don't get paid worth shit. Yeah, we get free sandwiches and coffee.” As I peer over the banister, only the lonely writer remains downstairs. He sits on an old green 40s sofa in the window alcove. I suspect the book he reads comes from the bookshelves, which run along the wall downstairs. I wish the Frisco would come chugging by.
Essay:
Posted: 15-jan-07
Paper, Pen & a Horse
by Rebecca Lea
all rights reserved
© 2005
CTM email
| Editor | Blog | About Us | Contact | Webmaster | Advertisting | Intellectual Property |
all rights reserved Cultural Transmission Magazine™ :: © 2004 - 2009 Rebecca Lea
