VILLAGES Series

I drew my first village sitting on a balcony overlooking the old city of Nice, France.  My black sharpie morphed lines, squares, rectangles, triangles, and squiggles into a composition of the houses and buildings laid out below, the sun striking the white buildings and a sea of red rooftops ending at the glittering blue Mediterranean. The Matisse Museum was up the mountain, Chagal’s at the bottom, and Niki De St Phalle’s somewhere in the middle of this city, rich in its blend of French and Italian cuisine and architecture.  I have long been fascinated with European history and traveled throughout Europe, often viewing these ancient villages on mountaintops, hanging from the sides of cliffs or down in the bowls of mountain ranges - almost all had red rooftops.  Sometimes, it seemed impossible that these old buildings did not topple into the valleys below.  They looked so precarious hanging there, the old stone walls where I often placed my hands, felt the texture of the stone, the energy of the past, the resonance of the present.  I am drawn to these places that stay the same, a sense of permanence in a fast-changing world.  Those old villages have seen many changes and still, they cling to life,  supporting generation after generation as they hug the mountainside, not knowing what tomorrow may bring.  The foundation is strong and remains undeterred by all that goes on around them.  After all, they have seen things come and go and come again.