|
|
|
ALTHOUGH I FULLY APPRECIATE MY PLACE IN THE WORLD AS A WESTERNER WITH ALL ITS RAMIFICATIONS, A STRANGE BALANCE WITH THE AFRICAN LANDSCAPE WAS TO PREVAIL OVER ME. |
| SPIRITS OF AFRICA /BY ROBERT BUTLER | |
|---|---|
| AMERICAN’S APPEAR
TO HAVE A SPECIAL NEED TO RETURN TO THE ANCESTRAL LANDS OF THEIR BEGINNING. THIS PRIMEVAL
INSTINCT TO EXPERIENCE FIRST HAND THE IDEA OF PLACE OF ORIGIN IS ROMANCED IN PART BY
DREAMS OF CROSSING VAST OCEANS TO A FAR AWAY ANCESTRAL LAND. MY TRIP TO AFRICA WAS NO DIFFERENT, THE CLOSER I GOT TO THE CONTINENT MY VERY GENES QUICKENED TO A RHYTHM UNFAMILIAR TO DAILY EXISTENCE. FROM THE FIRST DAY I AWAKENED TO THE AFRICAN SUNRISE, UNTIL MY SOUL SEARCHING DEPARTURE, A WILD SYMPHONY OF SIGHT AND SOUND SOOTHED ME EACH DAY. YET IT SEEMED I WAS SUSPENDED IN THAT ETHEREAL WORLD OF A POETIC EXPRESSION I’VE CHERISHED FOR LIFE “ STAND IN THE PLACE YOU CAN NEVER BE. ” BEFORE I CONTINUE , LET ME STEP BACK TO SOME THREE WEEKS PRIOR TO AUGUST 12, 1993 WHEN THE IDEA OF VISITING AFRICA WAS FIRST ENCOUNTERED. I WAS IN THE ORLANDO, FLORIDA OFFICE OF O.L PEACOCK, A FORMER RANCHER FROM SOUTH FLORIDA AND NOW A NEW FRIEND AND COLLECTOR OF MY ART. FROM OUR FIRST MEETING WE HAD MUCH IN COMMON TO SHARE ABOUT OUR NATIVE FLORIDA. ON THAT FATEFUL DAY AS THE CONVERSATION CONTINUED, IT TURNED TOWARDS THE BEAUTIFUL PLACES HE HAD TRAVELED TO IN AFRICA, WHEN HE ASKED HAD I PAINTED ANY AFRICAN SCENES? MY REPLY WAS TYPICAL FOR PLACES I HAD NEVER VISITED “NO” I SAID, “AND I WILL NOT PAINT ANYTHING FROM AFRICA UNTIL I CAN PERSONALLY SEE THE PLACE WITH MY OWN EYES .” I ALSO POINTED OUT THAT I DID NOT LIKE PAINTING SUCH AN IMPORTANT SUBJECT FROM PICTURES, HE AGREED. AT THIS POINT IN THE CONVERSATION HIS FACE CHANGED AND REFLECTED WHAT I INTERPRETED AS PLEASANT CURIOSITY, BUT EVEN MY KNOWLEDGE OF MR. PEACOCK AS A MAN OF REFINEMENT DID NOT PREPARE ME FOR HIS NEXT QUESTION, THE ANSWER TO WHICH WOULD UNLEASH A CYCLONE OF EVENTS THAT WAS TO CHANGE THE VERY FABRIC OF MY ARTISTIC PERSONALITY. THIS PART OF MY STORY WOULD ILLUSTRATE TO ME THE VALUE OF SEARCHING OUT THE LIMITS OF
OUR PERSONAL POTENTIAL BY SEIZING OPPORTUNITIES AS THEY PRESENT THEMSELVES. LIFE AS AN
ARTIST HAD TAUGHT ME THE POSITIVE REWARDS OF PERCEIVING THE SUBTLE BEAUTY LOST AMID THE
GLARE OF THE OBVIOUS...THAT MOMENT TURNED OUT TO BE PIVOTAL TO MY ARTISTIC LIFE, WAS I
PREPARED TO SEIZE IT! |
|
