We have been treated to a delightful offering from club member Sebastien C., who took a few minutes out of his recent birthday celebration to make the following drawing. And (thankfully) a few more minutes to share it with us.
Sebastien’s drawing came with no explanation, which is good, because so much of the fun of looking at a piece of art is deciding what it means. And the best thing is, the same drawing or painting or sculpture or inadvisable performance art piece can mean different things to different people.
To figure out what Sebastien’s drawing meant to me, I sat down and looked at it for a few minutes. I “took it all in,” as they say. I let it wash over me.
And here’s what I saw.
A family consisting of one tall person (a father) and three small people (his children, Janet, Hortence, and Ivor) were surprised when their wife/mother decided to celebrate her 34th birthday by taking a hot air ballon ride without them. She loves them, mind you, but frankly, she just needs a day to herself. In the balloon she will read a light novel and eat olives. She is so happy with the sudden peace and quiet (other than the blaring of the open flame that keeps her craft aloft) that she cackles to herself in a way that might be described as slightly unhinged (at some point, it seems, she starts cackling in Mandarin or possibly Sanscrit). Her family, distressed at the implications of her sudden departure, feels a little yellow (this is a metaphor; Sebastien is clearly comfortable dabbling in allegory). The cryptic words on the balloon are meant to be confounding. Her actual destination is Arby’s (she does love a good roast beef sandwich), but she wants her family to believe that she is going somewhere more exotic. Their best attempts to find her using Google Maps is thwarted when no destination matching “TROTAIN” is found. Oh, and it’s sunny.
That’s what this drawing means to ME. But what does it mean to you? Please share your thoughts in the comments below.
And THANK YOU, Sebastien, for drawing it and sharing it with us.
And HAPPY, HAPPY birthday to you.
I’m pretty sure the balloon says “B Hot air,” which is what the person in the hot air balloon is saying to himself in the hopes that, when the flock of evil birds that has flown out of the tree to destroy his balloon (as some of them maniacally screech “HA HA HA”), he will be able to gently float to safety in a zen trance. The family below is trying to form a human chain to catch him when the time comes. This is a piece that’s all about mind over matter, Matthew. In the words of the Matrix, “there is no spoon.”