You guessed it, didn't you? That with a stretch, I'm using this mosaic snail and his house to signal a return to the Maison d'Etre series, first introduced here.
This time, I decided to focus on the verb tomber which means "to fall" or "to drop" – or to do a whole bunch of other things, when combined with other phrases. By the way, if you've studied French and never heard of "la Maison d'Etre" you're not alone. The three best French speakers I know, one of them speaking her native tongue, have never heard of it. It seems to be a pedagogical tool that caught on in some quarters after its introduction in the 1960s.
I collected my source material – for which photos of dancers and drawings from my life classes were so useful -- and then did some small studies.
I started with one of those earnest ideas I'd picked up from a class – to begin each gesture with indications of the stresses or weights on the figure.
Typically, my earnest ideas don't last long once I begin splashing with colour.
Funnily enough, at this early stage I remembered my "Frolick and Detour" painting – and how that wild scene might be hard to shake off.
But "Frolick and Detour" isn't solely to blame. Back in the early 1980s, I'd produced this entanglement – from a collection of swim goggles.
Hmm. Something of a resemblance. Well, let's move right along to the final version of "Free Fall – Tomber - House of Etre Series" (copyright 2023).
What do you think of the outcome? Is this a case of bien tomber (to be lucky) or mal tomber (to be unlucky)? Check here to see if any of a dozen or more other possibilities apply. (I'd looked for "to fall asleep" but that's a different verb entirely).
Back to "Frolick and Detour" for a minute. I've realized that my mania for lively interacting figures goes way back. A long way back – to my first artistic choice! I hadn't reached kindergarten when my mother entrusted me for a day to a rural neighbour who had kids a little older than I was. It was a weekday so I trotted off with them to their one-room schoolhouse. There, the teacher kindly gave me crayons and suggested that I choose and copy a picture from one of their storybooks. YES!! What better way to spend a day?
I can still visualize the view out that schoolhouse window as I earnestly settled to my task. And then -- My first show! My first review! The teacher was blown away (okay – I know; good teachers are the ones who make you feel good about yourself) by my copies of the six poses in a sequence that showed a pig falling down a flight of stairs! And what do you think I've always remembered when I see Marcel Duchamp's "Nude Descending a Staircase"?
This is getting rather silly, isn't it? And who's laughing loudest? The sleek fellow who drops and falls fearlessly and makes a soaring recovery every time. (Hmmm….if pigs could fly??)
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