Thursday, October 16, 2008

Art, light and life

I love light, how my eye moves to it in art and in life. I love lights aesthetics and its energy. Like the curve of a smile, I am drawn to it. Like my new favorite painting by Van Gogh (Enclosed Field With Rising Sun), it bursts in my heart and awakens my soul.

I am now most aware of light. It is October, and each day it swings more quickly into the horizon. But in fall light seems extravagant in sight and feel. It frames colorful leaves and ripening apples, and falls softly on fields of golden stubble. Like a cake dripping in chocolate, it is rich in taste and texture.

Light can come unexpectedly. Two clouds part. A trio of quaking aspens filter the shimmering sun by a park. The moon outlines the curves of whitecaps on the river.

Sometimes light comes in the pages of books. I like what Marilynne Robinson says in Gilead about light within light, a flickering candle set in the warmth of a rising sun. I think of my soul within all of humanity.

The other night, the light-soul of life began to creep into the pages of Henderson the Rain King by Saul Bellow. 'Grun-tu-molani," says a character from an African tribe. It's the desire to live despite challenges faced.

We battle our humanness, looking for light in our lives, feeling our way through darkness. A poet I am reading (Charles Baudelaire) says it's natural for people to fail and lust and envy. He says sinning comes naturally. That is darkness. It is work to be good. Truth and honesty, compassion and hope come at a price. That is light, and light feels so good.

I want to open a favorite red wine, a Mondavi merlot and gently fill my glass. I'll wait for a gripping sunset, one that steals my eyes. I'll stand guard for the perfect occasion, waiting to see the jagged horizon in the distance and feel the wind. Then I'll lift the deep color before me into the light of the sun and fill the red lips of my soul.

How I long to be like the titan Prometheus. I want to steal fire from Zues, and bring light to all lives.