How Long, How Long Blues

This week's topic was on Country Blues, and it was full of really slow paced music that was also so soulful and mellow. However, what I have the deepest memory from this week was Tony's comments on my pieces. My main project this week was the one of the road, inspired by the song "How Long, How Long Blues." Listening to the song reminded me of the longing and anticipation I felt for school to be over and break, particularly Thanksgiving break, to begin. The main verse goes:

How long, baby how long

Has that evening train been gone?

How long, how how long, baby how long?

Went to the station, didn't see no train

Down in my heart, I have an aching pain

How long, how how long, baby how long?

There are definitely tones of heartache and craving in this, and I imagined it would feel look looking at a long, long road ahead feeling like there are so many obstacles and barriers to get what you want at the other end. The top piece I made while listening to the song, and as I was tearing the papers apart, I had a faint idea of what I wanted to final product to look like. So I just went along with ripping and painting and glueing and drawing until I felt it was about done. Then, when I brought these pieces and pinned them up in class, Tony gave his positive comments to the second painting-- the blue one of the "anthropomorphic skull." That was a funny turn of events, because this piece was just scratch paper from the making of the first painting, as I was using that sheet as a base layer to paint on. I had brought it to class that day because I thought why not, it looks kind of cool and it'll be a funny story about how it was made. I was really just playing around, aimlessly adding more paint and doing whatever came to mind. Then the end result was nothing like I had expected, because I had no expectations at all. And yet, it really struck me as both amusing and insightful that this is what Tony had meant about "opening up" all along. It just isn't the same thing when I am actively dictating myself to be more free- it's oxymoronic. Art just really has a different look and feeling when you just do it for the hell of it with no ulterior motive. I do still like the first one for the physicality and roughness of it, but still the stark contrast between these two pieces will always make me half smile and remember this happy accident.