Vision-Deco Street

Deco Street
8.5" x 11"
acrylic on cardstock
black, white, and silver
"Deco Street" is one of six black, white, and silver acrylic paintings I did on cardstock. The idea for this series came when I was watching a black and white movie on tv. It was a western and there was a street scene. The stagecoach had just passed. There was a sign post on the street, a woman stood near it, wearing a dress with a silver bodice with silver spangles on it. There were two men also on the street, with dark suits on. To me, they were blurred and it was hard to make out details. I intended to show the blurry characters and buildings, but, as I worked, these art deco type characters appeared in glamorous poses, with tuxedoes, slicked back hair with a shine in it, and a woman in her silver dress. These images of a city scene were more distinct than what I saw, and, for some reason, I added a ghost-like figure in white lace. Sometimes, figures and features just happen in my work. They take on a life of their own.
The other paintings show a progression from the very blurry images that I actually see, to the more detailed, decorative pictures.
The silver does show up more in the original than in the scanned copy of the picture. Here, it appears more as gray.
I have posted one in this series earlier in my Vision postings. I thought that you might enjoy seeing another in the series.

If you read "GretaWire", Greta Van Susteran's blog, you can find a discussion there today on Macular Degeneration. Greta is a Fox News anchor, with her show "On The Record" on Fox News tv at 9:00 p.m. Central time, and 10:00 p.m. Eastern time. I had to add my two cents worth, of course.
http://gretawire.foxnews.com/2007/10/08/macular-degeneration/#comment-26340
http://gretawire.foxnews.com/
I'm not sure what comment started the discussion, but I couldn't help but wonder if it was what I said. She said she read the comment last night, but I posted mine a few days back. I told her about the time when I was at the George Bush Library to see Tony Snow and had to sit in the overflow auditorium. We were moved around to make more room and my grandson and I were separated. They directed me to the wall area, but I asked to sit on the aisle because I couldn't see very well . (Because of the AMD in one eye, and cataracts in both of them.) I stayed put. Snow and Bush 41 came into the auditorium and told us they would be back after the presentation in the main auditorium to answer questions. Meanwhile, we had to watch on a big screen. (Which probably worked better for me because I could see more than a doll sized person that way!)
When Bush and Snow returned, I leaned out into the aisle to see them , with several Secret Service men facing us and standing in front of the two celebrities. I thought that Tony Snow looked so much better than he had when he had been so ill. And I was suprised that he had brown hair instead of the gray that I was used to on tv.
"Whoops!" I thought. "I had better quit doing that!" I caught myself closing my bad eye, the one with the Macular Degeneration, and trying to see better with my good eye. Something that I noticed I was doing more and more.
I could envision myself being thrown on the ground and hauled off somewhere. No telling what they all might think that I was doing, winking at the former president and the Press Secretary!
That didn't happen, of course. They probably didn't even notice me due to the stage lights, but I felt like I was right in front of them and didn't want to appear weird.
Anyway, I'm glad that Greta started the AMD discussion today. So many have struggled and suffered from it, and so many more are going to have it. Maybe, with some national exposure, more help with be forthcoming. I had never heard of it before I was diagnosed with it months ago.
It's been about a year since I noticed the first symptoms of Macular Degeneration, wavey venetian blinds, a wavey handrail down a hall, and wavey telephone poles and street signs.
Look at my older posts that are prefaced with the word "Vision" to see my other posts on Macular Degeneration. And notice the links under "Eye Sites" for more information on this disease.

Saturday afternoon turned out to be a pretty good time. Lots of memories of a Saturday afternoon at the Eloia in Calvert, Miss Mollie's hamburger place, and Henry, the man who sometimes brought a sack of hamburgers to the picture show to eat while he sat on the front row with the little kids. Two Tim Holt movies, "StageCoach" and "My Darling Clementine" on tv, and I made myself a hamburger for lunch. Pulled my chair right up to the tv set, and it was like the old movie screen.
I clearly remember seeing "My Darling Clementine" and going back to my grandfather's dry goods store (Conitz Dry Goods Store, now Mud Creek Pottery), across the street, and spending the rest of the afternoon in the men's department, standing by the men's blue jean jackets and blue jeans, trying to get up nerve enough to ask Grandpa if I could have one of those men's jackets, like Tim wore in the movie. Of course, when I did, I got a big "No" from Grandpa, Grandma, my uncle, my dad, and my mother.
"Girls don't wear those kinds of things! Go to the ladies department and find yourself a nice pair of girls' jeans!"
That just wouldn't do. I envisioned myself, someday, riding the range, checking fences, and all with Tim-a sidekick, kind of like Chito, even if I was a girl. I could ride a horse, too, if I had one!
There was another Tim Holt movie this afternoon, "Fifth Avenue Girl", and "Treasure of the Sierra Madre" will be on in the next few days. Today I just made baked potatoes to enjoy with the movie. Any day with a Tim Holt movie has to be a good day!
Hope that you are having a nice Columbus Day! I just can't imagine how anyone could be so brave as to get on those little ships and sail on the ocean into the unknown. I would be terrified to even get on a big ship, or an airplane, today! I guess that it is good that some people are brave and adventurous, or we would all still be living in caves. Unlike when we were in school, it was just another school day here, and a day of sales when stores try to have Columbus Day specials. Kids probably didn't even get a special coloring sheet to color today, like we used to do for any special days that taught us about history. I know that they did math, though! Oh, those times tables! (And, if you read my blog, you know how I feel about math, and why.)