The Perfect Watercolor

Jim Hamil (1937-2022)

Foreword: 

The year is barely half complete, and Kansas City has lost several well-known artists. I wished I could have spent time with all of them, but I consider myself lucky for getting to know Jim Hamil in the latter years of his life.

Many thanks to Alex Hamil for helping me with some facts for this memoir, and thanks to Melanie Werner for helping set up the meetings with Jim as I got to know him through our visits.

 The Perfect Watercolor

A memoir of my time spent with Jim Hamil

by Gregory E. Larson

          It’s always sad to lose someone who’s had an impact on your life. Jim Hamil was one of those people. Before I knew him as a friend, I would find time on a cold, rainy Kansas City night to slowly turn the pages of his “Return to Kansas” book that he and his wife, Sharon, published. It is full of paintings from all around the state in which I’ve lived my entire life. His watercolors were complex and I spent long hours thinking how he constructed them with color washes and details.

Print of watercolor of "Plaza Carriages"

          We first met in 2013. I bought a print of one of his famous Country Club Plaza scenes – one with the horse-drawn carriages in the nighttime snow – and had him sign it for me. When Jim discovered that I had worked at Hallmark as an architect, he briefly shared the story that in 1961 he gave Dwight Eisenhower a watercolor lesson in the private penthouse apartment in the main Hallmark Headquarters building, while overlooking the downtown skyline.

          When I discovered that the event had never been documented, I was determined to write a magazine article and get it published. He agreed to have me come to his house and interview him about the Eisenhower experience.

          Being a process-driven person, I developed a long list of questions, thinking that I would get all of the pertinent information in one meeting. I was so wrong. He took me on an adventure. We spent several sessions at his house, and I realized I was a better person for listening to Jim’s stories and advice. With each question on my list, Jim would backtrack and tell me several anecdotes that would eventually lead to the answer.

          The best part of the time spent with him was walking around his house, which was overloaded with paintings on the walls and stacked against the walls and furniture. He had a story about every painting, especially the ones he painted plein-air style, or outdoors on-site. I was amazed at how he was able to capture farm scenes with animals and the always changing weather. Some of his best paintings have the Kansas storm clouds reflecting the sunlight while the thunderheads are billowing upwards.

          In 2017, I started doing watercolors – something I hadn’t done in 40 years. I took some Kansas City Art Institute classes. Some of the paintings looked pretty good, so I decided to show them to Jim. His one sentence response was classic mentoring. He cut right to the issue, without “beating around the bush.”

          He said, “Greg, I really like your compositions and style, but all you need to do is put more pigment on the brush.” His comment was worth all the classes I had taken. I rushed home and went right to work on the watercolors. From that point on, the paintings took a significant leap forward in quality.

          Upon hearing that Jim had passed away, on January 14, 2022, I stopped to reflect on our friendship. With tears in my eyes, I thought back to those visits when Jim was full of tales. I dug through my stacks of art and found an art print he had given me and remembered the story behind it.

          On one visit, Jim seemed to have more energy and wanted to take me to the lower level of his house. He said there was much to see downstairs. I feared that he might trip and fall as we worked our way down the steps, but he did fine, conversing all along the way.

          He found a stack of prints, pulled one out and said, “Here, take this. I want you to have a print of this painting I did while on a sailboat in the Caribbean (St. Maartens, 1983). It’s titled Under the Jib." He talked about artists always wishing they could improve their paintings. In the artist’s mind, there is always something in each painting that isn’t quite perfect. He told me he was given the opportunity to sail on a wealthy Kansas Citian’s boat and decided to do a plein-air painting while on the deck. As he talked, his eyes began to twinkle and I could feel his energy.

"Under the Jib" 1983 watercolor painting by J.R. Hamil

          “This is one painting where everything seemed effortless. The selection of color, the brush strokes – it all went down as I wanted it. Since the boat was moving through the water, I had to visualize how the white water was to look in the painting.”

          I couldn’t imagine how one could effortlessly paint on-site in a moving boat, but if anyone could do it, I’m sure it was Jim. He continued, “It was amazing. I couldn’t believe that every brush stroke was exactly as I wanted. It was a rare moment that I’ll always remember. When I thought I was finished, a splash from one of the waves hit the watercolor paper and created a bloom spot. I decided that made the painting even better because it came while I was on the deck of the boat.”

          To me, his comment about the “perfect painting” is part of the essence of a life well-lived. There are moments in many professions, from scientists to athletes, and from artists to attorneys. It is a “sweet spot,” sometimes at the apex of a career, when experience, talent, and opportunity create a moment in time when the professional becomes one with his/her profession. It all comes together so well that it seems effortless. A perfect painting . . . a perfect race lap . . . a perfect closing argument in a trial.

          Jim had a storied career as a professional artist, and he accomplished so much. I am glad he shared the story of the “perfect painting.” It was created on a day when he was outside, at peace with his task. He made me feel like I was right on the deck of the boat with him, sensing his joy of that moment.

          The hours would melt away as Jim shared his life stories with me, and I will have great memories of the time spent with him.

Singapore Primer

'Merlion' fountain in downtown Singapore

Singapore Primer

travel memoir

by Gregory E. Larson

 

Map of Singapore

          When I shared with friends that I had just returned from Singapore, the most common reply was, “I confess I don’t really know much about Singapore.” That was my same thought before I visited the island nation. Here are some basic facts:

·       Singapore has a population of 5.7 million people.

·       The form of government is listed as “Unitary Multiparty Republic with one legislative parliament”.

·       The island of Singapore is eighty-five miles north of the equator and located at the tip of the Malayan peninsula. It is adjacent to some of the islands of Indonesia. The area of the island is 281 square miles and it is approximately 25 miles long by 12 miles at its widest point.

·       The equatorial climate has daytime high temperature around 90°F and nighttime is about 80°F. Average annual rainfall is 95 inches per year. During my visit, the sun was shining about 20% of the time and the rain was constant about 20% of the time, with the remaining 60% being some form of cloud cover.

·       Worldwide shipping is the economic engine of Singapore. Miles upon miles of gigantic shipping docks line the shores of the island. The cranes are working 24 hours, 7 days a week, to load and unload the containers. I read one fact while I was there: During each year, one out of every five shipping containers, worldwide, goes through Singapore.

·       The island became a British colony in 1867, and gained its independence in 1959. Today it has a very diverse population made up mainly of these three groups: ethnic Chinese (74%), Malay (13.4%) and Indian (9%).

·       Military defense of the island is an agreement between the U.K, Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia and Singapore.

[information source: Britannica.com/place/Singapore]

International Shipping is the economic engine of Singapore

          At the time of this article, Singapore continues to keep a tight COVID policy. I was able to visit because the U.S. is one of nine countries that have Vaccinated Travel Lane status with Singapore. I had to apply to Singapore for a Vaccinated Travel Pass, and was required to prove that I had all three available COVID vaccinations. A COVID test was required prior to leaving Los Angeles and another test was needed upon my arrival in Singapore. The U.S. required that I take a COVID test prior to leaving Singapore. While in Singapore, the government regulation required everyone to wear a mask in all public spaces and outdoors (with the exception of swimming, jogging or riding a bike). The government had signs on public transportation that no talking was allowed while riding the buses and subways.

          On the morning that the plane approached the island, I looked out the window and saw hundreds of ships anchored offshore, waiting to load and unload cargo. At the end of a 17-hour and 50-minute flight from Los Angeles, the plane landed. I quickly went through customs and boarded a taxi to my daughter’s condominium on the west side of the island near the National University of Singapore, where she and her husband have research positions and my four-year-old granddaughter is in daycare.

          The humidity hit me like a wall as I walked between the airport and the taxi. The next impression I had was the thick jungle growth along the highway as we sped west towards the downtown. The taxi entered a long tunnel that went under the harbor, so I wasn’t able to get a good look at the downtown until we came out on the west side. It was a blur of skyscrapers, condos, ship docks, green parks, double-decker buses, and fancy cars. I learned from my son-in-law that car ownership is allowed once a very expensive permit (thousands of dollars) is obtained from the government.

          The tourist venues seemed surreal, since very few tourists were in the country at the time of my trip. I felt like I was in a movie where most of the people had disappeared. The people that I did see were wearing a mask, so there wasn’t much interaction between people in public. The few times I did talk to those around me, it was hard to understand the Asian accents from under the masks.

One of  the 130 sparkling Metro stations in Singapore

          I developed a routine of sightseeing on my own during the weekdays in the morning, lunch and early afternoon. That allowed me to move about, using the extensive and well-maintained subway and bus system before the afternoon rains came. Once back at the condo, I swam laps in the pool, making sure I finished before the rain started. After three or four claps of thunder, I retreated inside for espresso and a snack.

A nice pool for swimming laps.

          On evenings and week-ends I spent time with my family, either sightseeing or trying out some of the local Asian food. Western fast-food places abound and sometimes that was the simplest solution for the granddaughter and for me.

          I felt like I was in an architectural candy land with all of the intriguing buildings and landscaping. It seems that all the architects try to outdo each other with eye-catching buildings and details. The landscaping and the trees are everywhere and sometimes they are growing on the buildings.

Singapore is an "architectural candy land"

          My favorite tourist activities were in the downtown area where the main river meets the bay. Skyscrapers abutted the river and were adjacent to a small area where old shops and restaurants catered to the business people. The downtown river cruise helped me get oriented to the dense city area. As I boarded a touring boat that normally held forty people, I noticed that only eight people had come onboard. There were rows of tour boats moored on the river, unused during the pandemic. As we floated towards the inner bay, I was mesmerized by all the buildings; the skyscrapers, hotels, museums, malls and condominiums.

Singapore skyline view from the inner bay.

          Across an inner bay is the famous Marina Bay Sands Hotel (with cantilevered gardens and pool on top) and the Gardens by the Bay with the Super trees, Flower dome, and Cloud Forest building. 

Marina Bay Sands Hotel

          On a separate outing, I toured the Cloud Forest, which is climate-controlled to simulate a jungle, with the sprinklers creating rain every two hours. The man-made mountain has tropical and jungle plants over the entire surface. As you enter the building you are confronted with the highest man-made waterfall which cascades from the mountain – all encased in a massive glass structure. Elevators take the visitors to the top of the mountain where paths and bridges lead pedestrians to the bottom. Orchids, foliage plants, Asian pine trees and shrubs all give the moist air a fresh outdoor fragrance.

Man-made waterfall in the Cloud Forest building

One of the many Super Trees in Gardens by the Bay

          After touring the Cloud Forest, I ventured out into the Gardens by the Bay to get up close to the Super tree structures and to experience the suspended walkway above the growing trees and gardens. As I walked above the gardens, I remembered the movie, “Crazy Rich Asians,” which I recommend that you watch. It takes place in Singapore and one of the key scenes in the movie is a wedding party that occurs in the Gardens by the Bay.

View of condominium towers from the gondola ride

          Another fun outing was with my family and granddaughter. We rode on a gondola which was suspended from the highest point on the island all the way across a bay to the resort island of Sentosa. The embarking point was on the fifteenth floor of a building at the mid-point of the ride. We first went out over the bay to Sentosa, and eventually took the gondola all the way back to the top of Mount Faber (a hill of 358 feet in altitude). My four-year-old granddaughter was as excited as she could get as we boarded the gondola for the first time and rode several hundred feet above the bay. What a memory to see her so full of joy.

The gondola ride was a real adventure for my granddaughter.

          I had many other fun times and places – too many to recall in detail here. The zoo, the botanical gardens, the linear parks, the harbors with massive container ships, the rental-bike ride, and the explorations to different parts of the island. It was sad to say “good-bye” to family as I left in the taxi for the airport.

Flowers in the Cloud Forest

Journeys in Watercolor - Art Exhibit and Reception

 

Journeys in Watercolor

Gregory E. Larson - artist reception

Thursday, April 21st  5:30 -7:30 p.m.

St. Michaels and All Angels Episcopal Church

6630 Nall Ave.

Mission, Kansas 66202

This group of 34 paintings and prints is the largest exhibit of Mr. Larson's watercolors to date. Greg has developed a large collection of paintings that are landscapes and cityscapes from his extensive travels. He always has a story to share about each of the paintings and excited to share his art with family and friends.

Iconic Symbol of LAX

 

Theme building surrounded by construction at LAX

Iconic Symbol of LAX

travel memoir

by Gregory E. Larson

          How many times have you been watching a movie with scenes at the Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) which show the spider-like structure with an observation deck, which is now called the Theme Building? It looks like a spaceship that has landed from The Jetsons. The very modern-like building was designed in 1957 by James Langenheim of the design consortium of Pereira and Luckman, and dedicated in 1961 by Vice-Persident Lyndon Johnson.

          The most recent movie scene that included it was Ford vs Ferrari, showing Carroll Shelby using an airplane hangar in the 1960s to develop the GT40 race car and then test driving the prototypes on an unused runway. In the background, the structure is lit up at night, shimmering in the dry, summer air as the cars are test-driven around some cones. I’m guessing the movie editors were able to use some digital trickery to show it in the distance, because today it is almost hidden behind the growing and changing airport.

Reconstruction of Terminal 2 at LAX

Today, several items at LAX are under construction:

·       Reconstruction of Terminal 2

·       Pedestrian walkways across the entrance streets

·       Overhead bridges for mass transit

Over the years, when flying into Los Angeles on business, I always glanced at the Theme building as the taxis or shuttle buses sped down the exit streets. During a recent layover day before an international flight, I decided to walk to the iconic building from the hotel on the edge of the airport. It wasn’t easy getting there. I had to navigate huge crosswalks at Sepulveda Boulevard and other access streets. Once at Terminal 1, I found a crosswalk that wound its way through a construction zone and to the Theme building. Google maps listed a Bob Hope USO lounge and an observation deck, so I walked around the structure. The landscaping was well-maintained by volunteers tending to the plants. All the doors were locked and taped with notices that said “Closed to the Public 24/7.

Theme Building with well-tended landscaping

I found the entrance doors to the USO canteen and pulled on them. No luck - the door was locked. I turned away and a man opened the door and hollered "Hey, don't go away."

I turned around and said, "I'm not from the armed services, so I am not able to come in, but I was trying to see if the observation deck is open to the public."

He laughed, then said, “The observation deck has been closed for twenty years. The space was used as a nice restaurant for several years, but it is now closed. There’s talk about opening it as a public space for the 2028 Olympics, but it is only talk.”

LAX control tower dwarfs the Theme Building

I thanked him and continued to walk around the base of the structure. One of the lobbies was used as a COVID testing area but it was now closed. I found a spooky-looking sign for the restaurant titled "Encounters."

Exterior courtyard at the Theme Building

          As I walked away, I had the sad feeling that what once was an iconic landmark was now becoming overrun by giant construction all around it. The famous building now seems to be a forgotten senior citizen as thousands of people stream in and out of the airport 24 hours a day.

Let’s hope this ‘modern antique’ gets a new life.

I thanked him and continued to walk around the base of the structure. One of the lobbies was used as a COVID testing area but it was now closed. I found a spooky-looking sign for the restaurant titled "Encounters."

The 'modern antique' somewhat survives

From Another Time

 

Fox Creek School

(located on K-177 at Tallgrass Prairie Preserve)

2022 watercolor by Gregory E. Larson

From Another Time 

memoir

by Gregory E. Larson                                                                                                 

          The car rides from Wichita to Emporia in the 1950s were long and arduous — that is, before the Kansas Turnpike was built. Our family made that trip at least once a month when I was a little kid. There were times on U.S. Highway 50 when I felt trapped in the back seat, especially when Dad was following a slow farm truck or a big semi, and the smell of diesel made me feel sick to my stomach. One of the few things I enjoyed about the trip was looking at the countryside, especially in the Flint Hills. The fields, hills, cattle and farm buildings were all fascinating, seemingly strewn about for my viewing enjoyment.

          I thought the trip would never end, but when we drove into to Strong City, I knew we were on the last leg to Emporia. We joked that the city was named after the odor of the feedlot on the west side of town. Dad would talk about how he worked odd-jobs in the summer during college, and when he helped re-roof the courthouse in Cottonwood Falls.

          Once past Strong City, my anticipation heightened for the trip to end. In my mind, I would check off the familiar roadside elements: Saffordville grain elevator, the sign to Kahola Lake, then past the egg-man’s farm where we would usually go after we arrived in Emporia so my grandmother would have fresh eggs to scramble for our Sunday breakfast. When we passed the sign to Americus, Kansas (where my dad was born) I knew we were on the outskirts of Emporia, and my grandparent’s driveway would quickly appear on Garfield Street.

          Now the only time I’m on U.S. 50 or K-177 is when I want to pay homage to those days that seem from another time. It’s usually on a sunny day when I have time to visit the Tallgrass Prairie Preserve or if I just want to get out of the “fast lane.”

          I also look for things of interest that would make a good watercolor composition, such as the grain elevator in Saffordville along the Santa Fe tracks and U.S. Highway 50 on the east side of Chase County. The structure has always intrigued me. It looks aged, abandoned and alone. Recently I pulled off the highway and drove onto the railway property, hoping to get a close look at the building that won’t be around much longer if the forces of nature and man continue their assault on it. Once out of the car, I walked to the south side and looked up. That’s got character, I thought. Out came the cellphone and I took a few photos, thinking of some watercolor possibilities.

          I continued to walk where the rail spur once was. The ground was full of tractor tire ruts, and weeds had grown up in the undisturbed spaces around the building. I wondered what had transpired on this spot over decades of farming, ranching and railway activity. What type of grain was stored here? What did all the old trucks and the farmers and ranchers look like? When was the last time the place was in business?

          Once home, I began the painting. As the building took shape, the watercolor began to consume my time and thoughts.

          If only the building could speak and tell its stories. That’s the intriguing part.

Saffordville Relic

2022 watercolor by Gregory E. Larson

Monhegan Island - A World All Its Own

 

On the Rocks at Monhegan
2021 watercolor by
Gregory E. Larson

Monhegan Island - A World All Its Own

travel memoir

by Gregory E. Larson

          It was a dreary, gray soup of fog off the coast of Maine when the D.T. Sheridan met its demise on November 7, 1948. The diesel-powered tugboat was hauling two barges of coal from Norfolk, Virginia, to Bangor, Maine. It struck the south, rocky shore of Monhegan Island, even though there was a working lighthouse at the top of the island, which is about a mile from the south shoreline. This was not a tragedy of Edmund Fitzgerald proportions. The outcome was better than most would think. A nearby seaman heard the crash, rescued the crew from the frigid waters, and got them to solid ground. Not sure what happened to the coal barges. Who knows, they might be floating somewhere in the Bermuda Triangle.

          The tugboat remained in pieces on the shore of Monhegan, until a storm in 1970 (probably during high tide) pushed a portion of the bow and hull up onto the rocks where it remains to rust and decay, and is visited by artists and the curious who happen to be on the island.

View of Monhegan Village from the overlook at the lighthouse
photo by the author

          There are sixty-four permanent residents on Monhegan Island, but I can only imagine the winters create a cold, bleak existence. In the warm summer months, the population increases tenfold. Artists, writers, and naturalists mix with tourists and wedding parties and they fill the little village to overflowing. The one-hour ferry ride from the Maine coast does a brisk business all summer long. It seems like a hobbit-land with a small village, lobster boats, evergreen forests, and granite cliffs with gulls swirling above the crashing waves. It would make a great setting for a whodunnit novel, and since the island is full of writers and artists, I’m sure there have been numerous stories about the quaint island where strange things can happen.

Forboding cliffs on the east side of Monhegan Island
photo by author

          On a summer trip to Monhegan in 2019, I was able to attempt to do some plein-air watercolor painting. ‘Attempt’ is the key word. I learned that I paint much better in a studio, so I took numerous photos while on the island and have completed watercolors of the D.T. Sheridan on the rocks and of the Monhegan Lighthouse. The sun, wind, and circumstances beyond my control all conspired to make outdoor watercolor painting a difficult and harrowing task. One morning, after several of us set up our easels on a beach, a crabby lobster-boat fisherman backed his pick-up truck towards my easel, then yelled, “You’re gonna have to move.” Three of us quickly gathered our things but felt dislodged in mind, body, and spirit. After backing his truck over our vantage points, the crabby guy got out and walked back towards the buildings on the shore. In another instance, I was on the lawn of the B&B where our instructor was staying, and I was deep into painting the ferry dock and the boats in the harbor when the proprietor hurried out the front door and yelled, “My mowing guy says he is going to be here in thirty minutes, so you’ll have to wrap up what you’re doing soon.” Oh, the travails of a plein-air artist.

Monhegan Lighthouse
2019 watercolor by
Gregory E. Larson

          So, if you ever have the interest to visit the island, take the Port Clyde Ferry, which travels past Marshall Point Lighthouse and ten miles into the open water of the Atlantic. After an hour’s ride you’ll pull up to the small village of Monhegan and disembark to find your hotel or B&B. The island is about two miles long and a half mile wide, and has numerous hiking trails running along the coast and into the forests. If you want to hike to the lighthouse and museum, you’ll have to turn north to follow the signs and trudge uphill, all the way to the top of the island.

If you walk south through the village, past the church, you’ll eventually end up at Lobster Cove, which has a pungent, fishy odor during low tide. Past the marshes and up on the rocks above the south shore is where you’ll find the rusting pieces of the D.T. Sheridan. I’m sure the gulls have been feasting along the shore for centuries and they’ll always be there. The view is timeless. Out towards the horizon, amongst the colorful, wooden buoys, you’ll see the lobster boats with the men working their traps in the brisk winds on the open sea . . . unless it is foggy, and who knows what can happen then.

 Information Resource: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/d-t-sheridan-shipwreck

Monhegan Village near the ferry dock.
photo by the author

Selection to National Watercolor Exhibition

"Down the 'Great Unknown'"
2020 original watercolor by
Gregory E. Larson
(selected to National Watercolor Exhibition, Mark Arts Center, Wichita, Kansas, 
December 10, 2021 through January 29, 2022)

Selection to National Watercolor Exhibition
announcement by Gregory E. Larson

It gives me great pleasure to announce that the watercolor "Down the 'Great Unknown'" has been selected for the National Watercolor Exhibition in Wichita, Kansas from December 10, 2021 thru January 29, 2022. The jurist who selected the painting, Stephen Zhang, is a nationally known watercolor artist.

The exhibit is sponsored by the Kansas Watercolor Society and will take place in the Mark Arts Center, 1307 N. Rock Road, Wichita, KS 67206.

I was pleased with the outcome when I completed the painting shortly after my rafting trip through the Grand Canyon in the summer of 2020. The goal was to show the variety of colors in the water, rocks, and sky, and to provide depth for the viewer to feel as though they were on the raft with me.

I want to thank all of you who have continued your interest in my writings and paintings. The time spent at the laptop or in the art studio is a time of joy for me.

Sincerely,

Greg

P.S. I also want to share a short 3-minute video of some of the paintings. I owe much gratitude to fellow artist Catharine Deever for creating and editing the video, along with William Edward Williams for graciously allowing the use of his music as background.

Link to Video: https://youtu.be/GabEcPgfGQc

Link to online gallery: https://larsoncreativellc.com/#/down-the-great-unknown-rafting-the-grand-canyon/

Pérouges - A Medieval Village

Pérouges - A Medieval Village

a travel memoir by Gregory E. Larson

          I discovered one of France’s best kept secrets through a suggestion by my French son-in-law, Michel. He recommended a visit to Pérouges, a well-preserved, medieval hilltop village in the Ain River Valley just northeast of the city of Lyon. There have been numerous films made in Pérouges that have taken advantage of the historical setting.

The village was built from the 12th century through the 14th century.

          The history I was able to dredge up on the Internet says the stone village was established in the early 12^th century by settlers that came from Perugia, in the current Umbrian region of Italy. My curiosity was piqued and I wondered if they left as outcasts or on peaceful terms, just wanting to find a better life. Their village was on a trade route between Lyon and Geneva, and flourished due to the skilled craftsmen, linen-weavers, farmers and wine-makers. The original builders erected the stone walls of the buildings without any significant foundations, but all appear to remain quite sturdy and strong. Stone, tile, and brick are everywhere. Even the thick and bumpy cobblestones telegraph a message to the feet with every step that everything is made of stone. The only wood in the construction appears to be the roof timbers, the doors and the windows.

Stone was everywhere

          The tourists fill the streets during the summertime and on weekends in the fall, visiting the museum, shops and restaurants, or just wandering the small streets and alleyways. A favorite bakery delicacy are the Galettes des Pérouges, giant pizza-sized cookies. I saw a man carrying a half-dozen large boxes as he left the village on a Sunday evening, and assumed he wanted to enjoy the galettes long after his visit.

The Liberty Tree, a linden, was planted in the 1790s

          There was a small square in the middle of the village, with a linden tree that was planted in the 1790s, after the French Revolution. The Tree of Liberty is still alive, although its long branches are propped up with timbers. The restaurant/hotel had an outdoor dining area where people enjoyed their coffee, wine and local cuisine. It was the weekend, and there were groups of people in medieval costumes, including a small band playing songs with their flutes, stringed instruments and drums.

Medieval peasants dancing on the cobbles.

          I doubt that many Americans have visited there. None of the townspeople I met spoke English, so all of them had to endure my broken French. When I checked into the hotel, I was given a large skeleton key and a map to the room, which was in one of the stone buildings about a block away from the square. After a careful walk on the cobbles, I inserted the key into a lock on a thick wooden door to the room, which had an eerie, musty ambiance that screamed “old Europe.” There was an outdoor patio on the rear, overlooking the valley and the countryside.

Early sunlight filters through a window

          Early the next morning, I arose at the crack of dawn to walk the cobblestones and take pictures of the streets – a travel habit of mine, mainly to take advantage of the silence and the beautiful colors of light created by the rising sun and shadows. It’s a type of meditation to walk through a historical village in the silence, broken only by the birds singing in the morning. I looked out across the valley where patches of early morning fog clung to the trees on the hillsides.

A weathered lintel at an old doorway

          As I walked the narrow street that circled the interior of the village, I could smell the bakeries making their fresh creations of galettes and pastries. The light filtered through colored-glass windows and reflected off the patches of stucco, bricks and stones of the walls surrounding me. Weathered wood-beam lintels showed their age through the coarse-grained and sun-bleached surfaces. The green plants and vines gave a sense of life to the hard surfaces. A weathered and abandoned well was overgrown with flowers and vines.

Vines and plants at the old well

          I traversed the oval route around the village, and came to the Fortress Church at the far west end. The narrow street was almost dark, with deep shadows created by the doors, windows and large roof overhangs. The church tower appeared in all its splendor, with sunlight reflecting from the roof and cross. The image became my inspiration to do a watercolor, and I added two monks walking toward the church to give the painting some scale and sense of timelessness. It was another travel moment for safekeeping. Painting the scene with watercolor helps me do that.  

Perouges - A Medieval Village
2021 original watercolor by
Gregory E. Larson

                   

Pictures in a Picture

KC Crossroads
2021 watercolor
by Gregory E. Larson

Pictures in a Picture

memoir

by Gregory E. Larson

          It was a late Spring evening on Main Street in the Crossroads District, just south of downtown Kansas City, Missouri. The pandemic was beginning to wane, but masks were still required to board the streetcar. I hopped on at Union Station and rode north to an intersection near a restaurant where I was to meet friends for dinner.

          Being a bit early, I walked around the block to look at new apartments and condo buildings, outdoor coffee bars and pubs. With a lot of young adults moving into the Crossroads, there is finally a critical mass of population to create a successful inner city with a nice mix of businesses.

          I stopped at the restaurant, did not see my friends inside, so I sat at an empty set of tables on the outside on the Main Street sidewalk. That’s when I noticed the buildings on the west side of the street. The windows had the most unusual reflections of some of the colorful new condo buildings just to my east. My fascination grew intense because each window had a reflection that made it look like an abstract painting. Each building looked like a wall with a collection of modern art. And, oh, the bricks had a texture and color worth remembering.

I took some cellphone photographs and noticed the streetcar coming by, so I took a photo of it. The reflections from the front of the streetcar were even more abstract.

I thought there might be a painting in the scene, a collection of abstract pictures within the picture, so to speak. When I decided to begin the watercolor, my goal was to have the viewer feel the bricks, not just see them. I want the viewer to feel the movement of the streetcar and the notice the reflections off the walls and the windows.

While I worked on the painting over the course of  two weeks, it made me think of one of my favorite movies: Rear Window by Alfred Hitchcock. The entire movie took place in an urban courtyard of an apartment building. Jimmy Stewart was confined to a wheelchair, so he spent most of the day as a voyeur, watching the comings and goings of the apartment dwellers. He shared his thoughts with Grace Kelly, who came to see him from time to time, and she was stressed with his voyeurisms, and couldn’t believe the stories he shared about what was going on in the other windows of the urban scene. The buildings never changed but the people dynamics were what made the movie so interesting. People dynamics – that’s what makes cities interesting. The buildings just become the backdrop.

If you are an afficionado of Hitchcock movies, you know that the old man, Alfred himself, finds a cameo scene somewhere in each movie, on the sidewalks or in the crowds moving about. In that spirit, I’ve begun to paint myself into different urban scenes, walking incognito, blending into the surroundings.

I have to confess that sometimes I dream that I am in a painting, walking around, trying to get a better look at the surroundings. Sometimes the best real way to do that is to go back to the location. If that is not possible, I move around on Google Streetview to inspect details from a different angle. When I finish a painting, I have a feeling that a little bit of my spirit is left on the spot where the view takes place.

I almost forgot – the dinner and conversation with friends that evening was very good. As we left the restaurant, the city had begun to darken. The windows, the car headlights and the shops were now the light sources – maybe there’s another painting down the road, an homage to Edward Hopper and Nighthawks.

 

Postscript

 

Amelia Earhart Home - Atchison, Kansas
2021 watercolor
by Gregory E. Larson
Third Place Award

I recently completed a watercolor of the Amelia Earhart Home in Atchison, Kansas. It was selected to be in the exhibit, Home, at the Buttonwood Art Space. I went down to see the paintings after they were hung. To my surprise, the little Amelia Earhart Home painting has a cameo wall in the lobby at the beginning of the exhibit, which is titled “Home,” and includes approximately 150 paintings from 80 artists. The exhibit ends Sept. 23, 2021.