“Celadon” (Andrae family portrait #3)
Pencil, pastel, & watercolor
2023
The portrait is of Nathalie Andrae’s mother. I think (I’ve never met these folks in person and have never asked over the telephone) that she and her daughter are of Japanese ancestry (P.S. 2 days later…..turns out they’re Vietnamese, not Japanese). I know, however, that this is a genuine smile (I regularly find myself saying that, at this stage of My Brilliant Career,I can spot an affected, “Say Cheese!” smile from a mile away). I wondered, as I was painting/drawing this today, whom she was smiling at as someone took the original photograph. I was also aware (having had to deal with the opposite sort too many times) that this is a lady devoid of silly vanity. So, I didn’t “flatter” (Whiten the teeth, get rid of stray, grey hairs, etc), as I might have done with a less interesting subject.
“The Secrets of Poetry”—–
“Very long ago when the exquisite celadon bowl
that was the mikado’s favorite cup got broken,
no one in Japan had the skill and courage
to mend it. So the pieces were taken back
to China with a plea to the emperor
that it be repaired. When the bowl returned,
it was held together with heavy iron staples.
The letter with it said they could not make it
more perfect. Which turned out to be true.”
——-Linda Gregg
