Stillness In Motion Seeking inspiration from driving on the open road
oil on panel, 5×5 inches.
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I love to drive.
Well, maybe not so much doing errands around the suburb where I live.
Certainly not into the nearest large city, where I only go if I absolutely have to.
But… driving on the open road is another story.
Recently I took a long drive to be with family in Michigan – a trip I take several times each year, which is the better part of 1000 miles each way.
I generaly take the route through central Pennsylvania, driving through the northernmost parts of the Appalacian Mountains, and then into the flat, seemingly endless expanse of rural Ohio.
There are faster routes, but this way has fewer trucks, better views, less of a sense of traveling, more a sense of voyaging – sometimes through landscape so vast it seems like I’m hardly moving.
I’m a careful and attentive driver, and always stay attuned to what’s happening around me on the road.
But, there’s a certain state you can fall into on a long drive – almost like daydreaming.
All the thoughts bursting like fireworks in my head start to fade away.
Then it’s just me and the road and the land and the sky.
Then it’s just me and the road.
Then it’s just the road.
Then it’s just…
Magic things can happen when your normal thoughts cease, and you let your mind be as it is, without thinking, trying, or doing.
These paintings come from that place.
It’s also the experience I want to share with viewers: The sense of everything else falling away, leaving just what is in front of you.
Sometimes, that’s all we really need.