A Safe Place


One of the saddest things about divorce is that you have to split joint possessions .
I managed to keep my beloved grandfather clock and sort of swapped it for an antique writing desk I bought years ago with money from my mother's estate , but on reflection it is the loss of several of the  paintings bought during our early years together that smarts the most.
Buying paintings together is something intensely personal and indelibly shared
And so the watercolour of the Bluebell wood in Derbyshire and the gentle 1930s painting of rolling wheat fields of Kent I still grieve for.
Not because of their monetary value
But because of the memories and feelings about how they were acquired.

All this talk stems from my chimney sweep
He returned yesterday morning as promised to give my flue a bit of a going over after I had experienced so many smoke problems a while ago.
" I'm one of those hidden key workers" he told me cheerfully from behind his face mask " No lockdown at home for me!!" 
Winnie blew him kisses as he beavered away with his brushes and as he walked through the kitchen on the way home, he noticed an oil painting sat against my art wall.
It was a painting I had saved up to buy for an age after seeing it in exhibition at Theatre Clwyd
" Now I like That!" he said brightly " May I?" he gestured to pick it up.
I nodded

He chose a study of a woodland scene in autumn by Irene Goodier 
"A Safe Quiet Place" he read from the label on the back of the painting"We all need one of those !"
He made a note of the painter saying that he needed something similar for his living room only larger
I told him it was my first purchase of my new collection.
" Hedy Lamar the actress, said that "a good painting is like a friend it keeps you company and inspires!" he added.......
Not something you expect a chimney sweep to say for sure
But he and Hedy nailed it
They do keep you company
And they do inspire!!!

ليست هناك تعليقات:

إرسال تعليق