Offbeat Memento Mori

Consider light without shadow, orange without blue, pleasure without pain, life without the threat of death.

Still Life sketch with orange peel, grape vine, and a crushed can; drawn with my trusty Sharpie pen. 

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Still life. How to define still?  Quiet, idyllic, peaceful?  A still as in a snapshot?  Or still as in continuous, enduring, persisting— like the memory of a good thing?  Or the way matter can neither be created nor destroyed?  Still, there is life, still it remains.  I like that.   

The above drawing is a bid to find beauty in a thing that’s had its life force consumed; a search for meaning in the things that still remain. It’s making a record of darkness defining light. It’s a memento mori; a reminder that death is inevitable (so be worthy of this fleeting life).

All of us have experienced the shocking crash of a rock hurled into our pool of serenity, the ripple effect moving us out in concentric circles. We look back toward the epicenter of the chaos as the currents of life take us farther and farther out.  Each wider ripple grows calmer as moments slide and elide seamlessly from one into another; time passes, the world spins, matter changes form, and life goes on. The crash itself becomes a memento mori in the mind, compelling one to grasp how contrasts create the richness we treasure. Consider light without shadow, orange without blue, pleasure without pain, life without the threat of death.

My own life stretches out behind me and—God willing— before me.   I still remain; and while I’m here, I’ll make the most of it.  So, here’s to you, Number Two, I know you would have found something to admire in a crumpled up can and scraps of lunch.

There are no do overs— either in life or in sketching with a pen.

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In our art class today we will be studying Jacob Lawrence, David Hockney, and Chuck Close. Art practice will possibly be an intro to the human figure. One of my kids wants “to learn how to draw people real well…I can’t draw like Leonardo DaVinci…”. Well, neither can I, but hopefully I can send these kids in the right direction to study and practice and learn and grow.

Thank you for checking out my scribbles today; I hope your weekend is excellent and filled with all the things and people that make life so sweet and enjoyable.

- Jenn

*All sketches were drawn by me from life observation with a sharpie pen. To see more of my art, you can browse my Etsy or there are a several links here.