Carrie’s Painting of the Week – 07/11/13
Thursday, July 11th, 2013
Safe at Anchor
Oil on canvas, 12×48
By Carrie Jacobson
The storms move in, and with them comes the promise of relief, a cooling off, a waning of humidity.
In these thick days, the slightest effort leaves me slick and stained with sweat. I train myself to consider it cleansing, a gift, a way to chase the toxins out. Native Americans use sweat lodges. Norsemen use saunas. This year, all of us on the East Coast simply use the summer.
Even painting raises perspiration. And it is OK. What I don’t like are the bugs, the ticks, the wasps, the huge green flies that take chunks out of me.
So I use the bug spray, and I use the sun screen, and I use deodorant, and I drink water All The Time, and I remember to be grateful.
This summer, I am outdoors. This summer, July’s heat has crept into my skin and into my bones. This summer, the long arcs of evening aren’t wasted on me. I am out in them, and savoring them, and sweating in them.