“Last Bridge Before Home”

This monoprint pour was one of 6 created for a commission. I chose what I considered the best two and created works for some friends of mine. It is really sweet when paintings can so directly and swiftly find a home…. “Last Bridge Before Home” came as an afterthought while doing some demonstrations with my Marco Polo sumi-e buddies. Slowly it has grown on me— the exquisite feeling of being on the final stretch of road, the familiar path, the last bridge before arriving home. This is common to all of us…”country road take me home” it has been crooned many a time, right? But for me in the midst of all the pandemic upheaval and racial unrest in our communities at this time, this feeling has taken on new meaning. I don’t mind facing problems and trying to find creative responses to crises— this can be engaging and rewarding, and it is especially exhilarating when everyone senses that an answer is around the corner! That said, when long-term uncertainty about a solution settles in and the options and understandings currently being tossed here and there don’t seem promising, this is unsettling, and I find myself longing for crossing that last bridge — the expectation of home and happiness felt at the end of a long journey… I don’t want to lose heart but I do find myself straining toward that final bridge…

“Last Bridge Before Home”

“Last Bridge Before Home” (close-up)