Balloons, paint, pen & ink on vellum, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, December 2010, photo © 2010 by Louis Robertson. All rights reserved.
While we were digging out from a December blizzard in Minnesota, my brother was painting in Pennsylvania. His transplant recovery is going well. He’s driving again, working full-time, and almost able to lift as much as he could before the surgery. We chatted a little about his painting when we talked on the phone this morning. I asked what it meant. He said, “What does it mean to you?”
I see layers. Color. Community and separation. Vellum, which resembles parchment paper, is an unusual medium which was once prepared from the skin of a young animal, like calf or lamb. The word is derived from the Old French Vélin, for “calfskin.” These days paper or vegetable vellum is commonly used for technical drawings and blueprints. I always look at paper and media choices when I look at art. Process is important to me.
Maybe it’s a piece about process. On the other hand, the painting could simply be a bundle of balloons. What do you see in his painting? What does it mean to you?
-posted on red Ravine, Sunday, December 12th, 2010
yes…all of it
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It looks like one of the members is leaving. Probably permanently.
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Being the season of joy and hope, the single balloon reminds me of the angel that is watching over us. Merry Christmas.
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I think balloons represent celebration. Perhaps the single balloon is for the celebration of life that he has been given, and the bundle is for the gratitude to the donor & his/her family. No matter the what it means, I absolutely love this.
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Fun to read everyone’s take on the balloons. Utzer, welcome to red Ravine. So great to see you here. Merry Christmas to you! diddy, I have a similar take. But it incorporates part of Sinclair’s idea, too. Something about standing alone….but together. I like this painting. It makes me want to get out my sketchbook and doodle.
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I remember velum, but I’m trying to recall what types of projects I used it on.
I knew your brother was creative, he takes great photos and generally has one of those spontaneous minds, from what I know of him, but I’m not sure that I ever knew he painted. That is so cool!
I think of the French movie, The Red Balloon (LINK), in which a red balloon follows a little boy all around Paris. I think of childhood and lightness, how much a bunch of balloons can still brighten a space and how we still get a dozen for my daughters’ birthdays.
I saw a large decorative balloon floating free in the sky the other day, one of those that has a birthday message written on it, and when I followed my eye down to the ground level, I saw a woman carrying two more balloons. Either she let one go or one got away.
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ybonesy, thanks. I’ll let Louis know. I didn’t know he painted either. He is a man of many surprises. I fell in love with this painting. Now I want to see The Red Balloon. Looks like it’s from 1956? I’ve never seen it. Also love that you get a dozen for your daughters’ birthdays. I like to have a bottle of blowing bubbles around the house. They make me feel the way balloons make me feel. Kind of the way you describe, a lightness, a brightness.
I just saw a story on the local Minnesota news about a hunter that found a popped balloon with a note from a little girl to her best friend who died last year from a rare bacteria she got swimming. He didn’t know who the note was written for but was so moved by it that he ended up tracing it down through a local newspaper editor. Really moving story. Teared up when I saw it. I’ll have to find the link and come back and post it.
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Wow, what an amazing story. Please do post the link. I’ll want to read it.
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When I looked at the painting I thought about how the single balloon floats outside the balloon bundle at the same level as the other balloons. It hasn’t floated away or sank to the ground. It’s holding it’s own at the same level as the others, but it has separated from them.
Then I thought of the situation Lewis finds himself in. Maybe he realizes that his experiences had set him outside of the group, but not above or below anyone else.
The painting would make a good card.
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Bob, that is an insightful interpretation. In fact, I talked a little about that with my brother on the ride to Philly last time I was there. I noticed this, too, when we were in the Transplant Coordinator’s office waiting for his check up appointment. A man who had had his first liver transplant was outside our door and he started talking to Louis. Since Louis has had three transplants, he was able to talk calmly to this man and let him know what to expect. You could tell that he and his wife were afraid and a little fearful at how slow the healing process was going. My brother had an immediate bond with the man and could tell him what to expect. Something I could not relate to at the same level. Though I could relate to the wife as a family member who goes through the process slightly outside. They are different experiences. All valid. BTW, one thing my brother did say to the man was that a lot of it was up to him how fast he healed. That he had to push himself and not be fearful. That’s Louis all the way.
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[…] year, my brother nearly died, before receiving a liver transplant at the 11th hour. It’s an experience that pulled our […]
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