I just finished this portrait of my longtime Charlottesville pal, Newby, and my oldest terrier, Kate. I must have taken the photograph on which this is based at least 10 years ago….because the old girl (Kate, not Newby) is sitting beside me now, nursing a torn toenail and being generally grumpy…..and she’s at least eleven now (hard to believe, but true).
This is the kitchen table at Newby’s old (as in OLD, not “former”) house, which has always & basically been (at least during the twenty-nine years I’ve been regularly staying there, off and on over the years) command-central….where the infamous goldfish bowl, catching the direct morning sun, once set fire to a pile of newspapers on a more than usually dramatic morning in that household.
In any case, here it is….along with the song most appropriate for it. go to:
“Step Inside This House”
oil pencil, watercolor pencil, and a lot of time….
12″x1`3″
2013
“That picture hangin’ on the wall
Was painted by a friend
He gave it to me all down and out
When he owed me ten
Now it doesn’t look like much I guess
But it’s all that’s left of him
But it sure is nice from right over here
When the light’s a little dim
Step inside my house, girl
I’ll sing for you a song
I’ll tell you ’bout where I’ve been
It shouldn’t take too long
I’ll show you all the things I own
My treasures you might say
Couldn’t be more’n ten dollars worth
But they brighten up my day
Here’s a book of poems I got
From a girl I used to know
I guess I read it front to back
Fifty times or so
It’s all about the good life
And stayin’ easy with the world
It’s funny how I love that book
And I never loved that girl
Hold this piece of glass
Up to the light comin’ through the door
It’s a prism glass I found on the road
Can you see that little rainbow?
Well, it’s not really a prism I guess
It just broke in a funny way
I found it on my way from Texas
When I was headed for L.A.
This guitar was given me
By old man Thomas Gray
It’s not too much to look at
But I play it every day
It’s been across the country
Four or five times I guess
Between me and old man Tom
It never got much rest
Well that’s about all I own
And all I care to I guess
Except this pair of boots
And that funny yellow vest
And that leather jacket and leather bag
And that hat hangin’ on the wall.
Just so it’s not too much to carry
Could I see you again next Fall ?”