July 19, 2015

A LIGHT IN THE WINDOW

Come to think about it, I don’t ever remember

stopping outside my house in Brooklyn as a kid

to see if a light was on for me. Did I? Does

everyone stop to see if there is a light in

the window for them - to let them know,

“All are welcome in this place,” as the church

hymn puts it? Well, I don’t remember ever

not be welcomed. So is it only when a light

was not on that we notice lights in the window

for us? Maybe it’s only the negative that we

notice - the solid dark - and that long afterwards.

© Andy Costello, Reflections 2015

On top is a painting by Andrew Wyeth. It’s entitled, “Evening at Kuerners”. Andrew Wyeth did over 1000 paintings and drawings of buildings, people, and objects on this farm in Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania. It was about a mile from his home growing up.

Next, I found the some comments about his painting by Andrew Wyett. I found them in another blog - Bloffinger by Paul Goldfinger.  Here are Andrew Wyeth’s comments about this painting,

 “There are few studies for this because that was the year that Karl was very ill. Many evenings with the light burning there quite late, I had a foreboding that this might be the end. I’d go over there evening after evening and just watch. I’d hear the water and see that light in Karl’s room, and I’d lie in bed at night thinking about that square house sitting in that valley with the moonlight casting such a strange liquid light on its side. The light in the window, which is pure paper, by the way, seemed to me to be Karl’s flickering soul. For me it’s very emotional picture. I saw Helga for the first time when I was doing this.” Andrew Wyeth

Comments about that light in the window triggered this piece for my blog.