There’s never been a time, at least not in my lifetime, when this country and planet seemed so destined for total chaos.
The day-to-day can be overwhelming and frightening at times, with limited healthy options for relief.
I summoned my neighborhood kids, siblings Beulah, age eleven, Hans, eight, and Scott, five, to help gather the sticks I would need to create the still-life formulating in my head.
Down to the creek we went on a hot summer day, walking the bank, scouting for unusual sticks or roots. They took the task seriously, and I can still hear the squeals of joy and laughter when they’d find a beaver stick or a gnarly root embedded with stones, shouting “John, John - look at this cool stick I just found.”
We carried them up the hill to my studio with feelings of great accomplishment. We finished our adventure with pancakes and popsicles, and I headed into the studio to play.
The sorted and arranged sticks became the essential backdrop to the Buddha, peacefully meditating, surrounded by a pile of bones, with a bowl of pills in front of him, - a not-so-subtle message of some of life’s choices laid out in front of us.
I shot in black and white - the roughly hewn and deeply textured sticks juxtaposed against the fine wooden grain of the Buddha.
The photograph which I titled “Choose Your Bliss” was specifically created for “Finding Solace In This #&%#*@ World”, a group exhibition at Brews, a coffee shop\gallery in Eureka Springs.
The custom framed photograph was leaning against a chair, ready to take to the gallery, when I heard a knock at the door. It was the neighbors, hoping to get another popsicle and hang out for a while.
Scott, the youngest, noticed it first. “Oh wow, John, those are the sticks we found. It’s really beautiful.” Those words, coming from this five-year-old art critic, profoundly touched my heart and at once I realized this image was partly their creation.
That beautiful day, immersed in nature, walking the dry creek, the calls of a kingfisher and the sound of children’s laughter was inspirational, and every time I gaze at our photo, I’m reminded there is bliss to be found even in a chaotic and frightening world.
