Comment on RC deWinter READHEAD READING A BOOK painting BOOKWORM poem

REDHEAD READING A BOOK and BOOKWORM
by Ms RC deWinter

http://fineartamerica.com/featured/redhead-reading-a-book-rc-dewinter.html

Once again I am amazed at RC deWinters total all-around artistic talent. So often when an artist posts a poem along-side a painting (or vice verse) one or the other is very liable to be -- or to become -- secondary as an accompaniment -- say, what a pianist might do behindsingers, dancers -- or an illustration to hold the attention of young minds while a poem or something is read to them; or to fill out what the artist thinks the description may lack, or to add more pages for more pay or to meet the publishers requirement (Just how tight and skimpy WAS his swimming gear). In short, an artist may choose to present a poem and a painting together for quite a few reasons besides their MUTUAL ARTISTIC ENHANCEMENT! Thats the only ARTISTIC REASON for posting them in some way together. Think about how featuring on a program together two singing stars or all-star athletic performers: there likely will be more individual attention and gimmickry than a strengthened team. Or perhaps an artist may have a lesser painting or poem to get rid of -- hence, let it ride along with another but better of the same or contrasting topic: beach, waterfall, sunset, old barn. . . . Maybe no one will scrutinize their artistic techniques!

So I want to comment on how this intriguing painting of Ms RC deWinters and her accompanying poem, BOOKWORM, work together to create a deeper, and wider, aesthetic experience than either one of them does alone. The emotion is reinforced by a contributing functional form of its own. Just read, for instance, down the poems solitary left-margin words and notice how most of them relate to -- emphasize, reinforce, harmonize with -- the feelings in the Redheads thoughts (the internal monologue), or and how they serve as emotional -- rather than grammatical -- punctuation. Its a poetic, emotional train of thought, people; not an explanatory essay! And it tends to be jumpy because of how the Redheads mind is moving, in spurts, at that moment -- perhaps increasing the evident uncertainty and confusion, one might wonder? We eavesdropping readers are presented with, perhaps, the major concern of her or his current life, and the manner in which the thoughts are working is based on and displays a characteristic of that. You might even notice that, if you look at the whole poems shape, how a roughly solid middle of full-length lines is vaguely balanced, top and bottom, by a similar (not perfectly matching, mind you!) amount of these brief lines. I think all of this supports the preparation of a surprising jolt with the single final word.

Moving on back to the painting now, on my first encounter with it I noticed the book on the table and thought: A ha. This should tell us literary detectives a lot about whats what here. And immediately I noticed that clearly the book had never been read more than about half-way through, and then I noticed that the book was open about half-way through the first-half, the already-read pages. Why would Redhead have it open there? Perhaps Redhead really has not been devoting so much attention to the books contents. Then I noticed something that interests me even more: Redheads hands are out of sight! What can we make of that? I have sometimes heard a non-literary and insulting explanation: a painter will arrange for items that are difficult for him or her to paint to be out of sight! Ears, toes, and others, but especially hands! Well, if you look at a few of Ms deWinters paintings you will soon see that she shirks neither hands nor anything else that I have been able to find missing. Surely Redheads not, as some women and men have been reported to do, keeping a nuptial ring out of sight. Maybe Redhead fears that some random hand movement might be mistaken by Outsider as a welcoming gesture; maybe there is a concern of losing self-control and actually waving! Probably there are other possible speculations, but I cannot get further than to notice how I miss seeing the hands, and I think it is a bit unusual to sit at the table that way and also for the broken-spined book to remain open at that place.

Notice that the Redhead (ignorant, of course, of our perfect thought-eavesdropping) provides us very little knowledge about the Outsider. Evidently Outsider is interested in meeting the Redhead -- perhaps hopes the Redhead will make a move-- but neither of them is eager enough, or self-confident enough, to make a first move. Of course, either one of them could end this stalemate just by moving away from that window!

Without the poem we would not even know that the Outsider is there! We see,know, the viewer outside only through Redheads monologue, which is identical to the poem! It is a fine example of a character in the story narrating it -- as if we could listen in to Redheads reasons for (at that time) avoiding another heart-felt relationship. We hear Redheads privately-intended thoughts, explaining as if to us in a manner that reveals some of her or his own characteristics and current state of mind. We learn about how Redhead talks, the style, the word choices, and thinking, in addition to what bits of details actually are said (thought) -- and what are not! Perhaps that lack of certainty at this time means more to us than attempted descriptions with words. AND we also have the picture! The painting of the Redhead functions as a photo showing us what the Outsider can see.

Notice that the Redhead gives absolutely no consideration to the possibility that the Outsider might be a stalker,or
physically dangerous! -- The Redheads negative reasons consist entirely of avoiding another broken heart. (Not
to underrate what pain that can be for many people -- the rest of her or his life strongly affected, even destroyed!) I think
that the loss of his or her heart overcoming -- or crowding out any mention or concern for serious physical dangers may
indicate that the love loss is quite recent.

So then, will the Redhead or and the Outsider eventually choose to let down and connect? What information does
either the painting or and the poem provide to consider that question reasonably? Is it even either possible or impossible?
Can a viewer reader separate the actual evidence provided by either work of art, or even of both of them together, from the
personal beliefs, attitudes, hopes that we each bring to them, as we do to all our experiences, including works of art?

But just play think Happy Ending for a moment: suppose that a bit later, or maybe tomorrow, they do both change their minds,
say nearly simultaneously (-: (First time I ever typed one of those characters!) Okay! So they could find each other on opposite
sides of the glass entrance, both of them alternately pushing or pulling at the same time: maybe then they both sort of fall to their
knees, laughing, rubbing noses against opposite sides of the glass door. Maybe soon a game of hand motioned After You. No After you!
You pushed first! ;-D (-;

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Peace, etc., Bruce Combs
Williamsburg VA USA,
July 2014

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