“Taking Pictures” (October Fog; Paris)
Pencil, Pastel, and watercolor
October 2023
(please email dterrydraw@aol.com or private message if interested in purchase)
The title is taken from Jo Lawry’s wistful song of the same title (she’s most widely known in the USA for singing backup for Sting at venues such as the Umbria Jazz Festival).
I was fairly transfixed the first time I heard this song, a few years ago…..had this woman been reading my diary from the previous year (during which Herve had requested that useless, needlessly prolonged “separation”)?
I’ve painted this several times (so to speak) over the past five years. I finally got it right last night and today, by simply getting rid of everything extraneous (people, a postcard view of the Eiffel Tower, etcetera). I think I finally got the tone right.
You can hear the sorta-heartbreaking song at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S8yHhTMZqkc
““Oh, the house got quiet in the fall
And a chill hung in the air
I pretended not to notice it
And you pretended not to care.
   Since I couldn’t find the words to say
I booked a window and an aisle.
I hoped we’d find the key in Paris,
And I could take some pictures of Mona Lisa’s smile.
   Oh, I made a noise, I made a fuss
I made a list, I made a plan.
But I forgot to make some time for us
To take a walk through St. Germain just holding hands.
    ‘Cause I was so intent on making sure
That I made the trip worthwhile
That I missed your face in Paris
While I was busy taking pictures of Mona Lisa’s smile.
    And in that ratrace I was always running round,
I never let my feet touch solid ground
And I got so caught up the day to day
That I never even saw you slipping away.
    Now I’ve returned again to the City of Light
And I’m in front of her again,
And the curving corner of her mouth
Tells me she knows what I should have known back then.
    So I watch the tourist bus outside
While I stand here for a while…..
And I think of how I miss your face
While they’re all taking pictures of Mona Lisa’s smile…….
Oh, they’re all taking pictures of Mona Lisa’s smile……”