The Busy Corner

One of the things essential to both my nature and my art is a sense of place, as I have written before in several posts. It helps me get my bearings. Evidently my deafness plays no small part in this trait, as research as proven that background sounds create orientation and comfort for hearing people. While I do hear a certain amount with hearing aids, especially digital ones, it takes me a long time to recognize sounds, and they never quite orient me in the same way as the "vibe" of a space, it's composition, light, texture, and of course the genius loci, if any, that I often rattle on about. But it also takes quite a while to really know a place.

We've lived here nearly three months now, and it is still the early stages of getting to know the place in the deeper sense. A friend once said that it always takes at least six months before a new house feels like home, no matter how much you like it to begin with. There might be something to that. I mean, I felt at home from day one in this house, but it's going to take a little longer for me to internalize it. In the meantime it is definitely challenging to paint despite not having a truly deep sense of place yet.

It is no surprise that my first painting features a house on a corner. A sense of whirling but without much detail pretty well sums up what I feel and the little I yet know about this place. It's a bit of a throwback in style, as I relied on familiar technique to express the (internally) unfamiliar setting. In time, especially when spring comes and I can learn about the yard and begin to do some gardening, I'll get more in touch with the elemental nature of my new home and studio. It's kind of fun, though, not yet knowing what will turn up!