fight

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appalachian, beauty, coffee, Hillbilly Elegy, JD Vance, literature, poetry, travel, west virginia, writing

Joseph E Bird

I didn’t want to hit him.

I had nothing against him. No malice, no hard feelings of any kind. He had done me no harm.

It surprised me when he took that first swing. His eyes wild, hopped up on something, sweat running down his forehead and into his eyes.

I leaned back a little, dipped to the right and easily dodged his looping attempt to take my head off.

It surprised me even more how quickly he took his second swing, this one coming from his left. It caught me in the neck and knocked me back. It didn’t hurt, but I knew right then I’d have to hit him.

He kept coming at me, wailing away as I covered my head, his punches landing on my arms. Then he stopped.

I peaked out between my arms and saw him standing there, his hands by his side, gasping for…

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Donnie Burford

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art, artists, beauty, blogging, coffee, fashion, fitness, food, painting, poetry, writing

 

 

Inasmuch as Shelton College is a liberal arts institution, we recognize not only local writers but also – as of today, at least – visual artists as well.  Our first hat tip goes to Donnie Burford, a young man I know from church.  He’s a Saint Albans dweller and has been painting for a little while now and – as I think he would admit – is still in his formative stages as an artist.

I don’t recommend every local artist I see and I don’t recommend every artist whom I know, but Donnie caught my eye through a recent Facebook post.   That post featured a painting of a man sitting on a rock in a trout stream, fixing some tackle to his rod.   The work in general is very pleasant and praiseworthy – it catches the subtle light and color tones that are unique to mountain streams.  I think one of the reasons so many people love trout fishing is the immersion in the beauty of these hard-to-reach environments and it’s a credit to Donnie that he’s captured a bit of that rare world in this painting.

 

Here, with permission, is Donnie’s painting:

 

 

 

Around the same time I first saw this one, I was taking another look at some of Joni Mitchell’s paintings.  She did one of Charley Mingus that is famous and I’ve got to say that Donnie’s work here compares favorably to it.  In fact, I see a similarity in the color shades and the forms.

Here is Joni’s painting of Mingus:

 

 

But the thing that most impressed me about Donnie’s painting was the detail of the fisherman’s face.  You see, I know that guy.  He’s Donnie’s father and I would have recognized him in the painting, even if I had not known who painted it.  It’s just something about the lines in his face, particularly his mouth, which Donnie got just right with one stroke of the pen or brush.  For my money, the ability to do that is what separates the real artist from the wannabe.  Joni Mitchell could do it, of course.  In just a few lines she could give us a portrait of Neil Young that was immediately recognizable.

 

 

 

Donnie’s painting of his father is evidence that Donnie has that same talent.

Let’s have more.

From Joe Bird

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beauty, blogging, coffee, creative writing, creativity, dreams, family, fatherhood, painting, poetry, travel, writing

Do your thing.

This young man is my father.
The photo was taken in the early days of his career as an electrical engineer.

In many ways, he is the stereotypical engineer.  He’s analytical.  He’s a logical problem solver.  He pays attention to detail.  He would be considered a left-brain thinker.  Creative types – your artists, musicians, actors, dancers – are generally considered right-brian thinkers.  If you think with the left side of your brain, you’d make a good engineer.  If you think with the right side, you might be a good writer.  And for much of what I remember about my father, this would seem to hold true.

When I was growing up, I never remember him doing anything very creative.  He was very much an engineer, and was a great (if sometimes intimidating) teacher of math and science to me and my sisters.

Most of his career he worked for Union Carbide and when they began to build new production facilities in Texas, he was transferred to Houston.  My family moved to Texas twice, and when he was sent to Houston for a third time, he opted to go it alone and not put the family through another move. So what does an engineer living by himself do in his spare time?

Golf?  Maybe jigsaw puzzles?  No.  He took up painting.  When he returned home we were astounded by what he had done. Among other things, he painted this scene of the old Morgan homestead near Winfield (WV), across from what is now the John Amos power plant.

As far as I know, he had never painted anything before.  There were other paintings, including a very lifelike portrait of Pittsburgh Steeler great, Mean Joe Green.

But when he came back home, he was done with painting.

In the 4o-some years since, he’s completed home improvement projects and done some woodworking, but not much that would label him as a creative type.

Then last year, my sister suggested to our then 86-year-old father that he should do pencil sketches of his great-grandchildren. He agreed.  Here’s one of the twins, Bear.

For most of his life, my father has played the role of engineer.  He is still very practical and analytical, and his fondness for logic would make Mr. Spock proud. And then he’ll surprise us with those sparks of creativity that seem to come forth every forty years or so.

Lessons in all of this?

Don’t sell yourself short. You may not even realize the potential within.  Do your thing.

Too old? Nope. That just doesn’t cut it. Do your thing.

It will make your life better.

 

 

 

 

Joseph E Bird

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