Anticipated RETURN

I used to paint on sweat shirts. I had a chance to do it again yesterday.

I have been reading about artists who are using a variety of materials - whether to emphasize the transient nature of the environment or some other kind of statement - I'm not sure I get it. But yesterday, I dribbled a bright Alizarin on my favorite pale green sweatshirt. The one which matches my favorite Crocs. ® I hope this is one of those transient art pieces, but I'm not sure how well blood will wash away.

Yep. I was walking my little dog, jogged a few steps and hit the sidewalk. It's very undignified to crash on the green in my historic neighborhood, so I managed to get up, pouring blood from several places. I spread blood down my shirt and all over my iPhone as I called for help.

A visit to the emergency room in the hospital where I was born assured me that I have a bruised chin, forehead, hand and knee (BTW carpet burn is more fun than concrete burn.) The big ones are two black eyes, a sprained wrist (now in a splint) and . . . a broken nose!

I'm hoping that these colors will go away as well.

When I selected my word of the year, painted sweatshirts and the old hospital were not how I anticipated RETURN."

Phone photos: : My Spattered Shirt; My ER close-up
Anticipated RETURN

text & photos of BushStrokes (c) AAB

Just Not Real Soon!

Emergency Room visits with little ones are always scary. So when we had to take Lucy for a late-night-spiking temperature, it was reassuring that someone had decided that the Pediatrics rooms could at least be cheerful. Flowers and bugs and butterflies fill walls in hallways -- spots of color which the artist seems to have added as an afterthought.

The signature confirms that it is the work of Richard Worth who has filled many walls in our town with his brush strokes. He is very good at meeting the requirements of homeowners in matching their colors, periods or peculiarities. And he is FAST!

At University Hospital, he has created the illusion of a tree house in the children's waiting area. He has tucked a friendly black and white dog behind picket fences and peeping around doorways in the exam rooms. He splashes birds, clouds and trees in unexpected places.

Although the diagnosis of a simple ear infection may have affected my emotions, I think I like these better than any of his other work. He has given a sense of joy and spontaneity to a place of fear and crisis. I think they're Worth seeing again. Just not real soon!

BushStrokes @AAB