Painting again
It took longer than I expected before I was ready to paint again, but I am back into it with energy and excitement. Here are three new works. Each is acrylic on paper and about 9 inches square. One of the paintings is titled Cerulean Blue, The painting contains a color that I think of as cerulean blue, but the title is also a small tribute to Daniel Hoffman who was a beloved professor of literature at Swarthmore College. He also was a wonderful poet later to be honored as Poet Laureate of the United States. In 2005, at age 82, he was given an honorary degree by Swarthmore. I was asked to give the "reading" that began the commencement exercises at which Hoffman's honorary degree was conferred. It gave me an opportunity to honor my teacher more than 40 years after being his student.
In advance of the Commencement I read through volumes of Hoffman's poems hoping to find an appropriate passage.
In his book length poem titled Brotherly Love I found these words:
And they shall come together in a city,
City of lovely purposes
upholding balconies
espaliered on walls
and windows
reeling with cerulean light -
where each breath's an anthem and each glance a
hymn,
here is the spirit's home.
— Bennett
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