On a winter chilled rainy Saturday, I ventured into a flea market that smelled of dusty clothes, rusty metal and things long expired from the past. I happened upon a permanent vendor booth who had a dresser filled with thousands of old black and white photos.
"Dollar each," he said.
Who would be interested in someone else's old family photos, but, what the heck, it was only a buck if I found something.
I spent an hour sorting through, completely enthralled with the memories of others and created a stack and started to count them out. I was at 80 photos with a few left to count-in, thinking of what value to haggle him with, when he leaned in and said, 'Ah, 25 is good for the lot you got there.'
I met Ken in the parking lot and he looked in the little white bag and raised his eyebrow.
"What are you going to do with those?" he asked.
"I have no idea," I said, shaking my head in resignation. "They moved me."
Life moves you in directions you don't expect and you can choose to respond or not. My mother is 90 years old this year and I have dedicated these last years to asking her intimate details about her life before I was born. She was a sassy one before she was a mother and so were the cast of characters we call the older generation. They were tough buggers that paved the way for our privilege's.
This painting has taken me on a journey that lead to appreciation. There are so many unsung heroes from our past and also, continue in our midst today. With all the constant turmoil we experience today, when you stand back you will see that the cycle is just a continuation and nothing more. Troubles come and they go. This piece is for the generations.
On this painting there are 74 photos and no matter how closely I worked on it, I still see something I never noticed. Art is about conversation and that was my intention this time.
If you wish to see a few of the individual photographs, go to the Encaustic Gallery and there is a link to a page where I have posted 14+ close-up photos for you.
Thanks for stopping in.
All the best.
Angela Tahara
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