Monday, April 12, 2010

THESE ARE THE PUMKINS



Meet Helen Whitehead. We met over the garden gate. I had admired her circular raised beds from my dear friend, Tom Condon's, back porch....I love Richmond VA for its porches, for the views from its porches. After chatting at her alley compost pile we became fast friends.... as fellow artists, gardeners, hooligans, and lady's who share the name Helen.
On of the things I love about Helen is that she is completely irreverent.
I happened upon her, during a 24 hr visit to RVA in March. As usual, at twilight she was to be found a wee bit tipsy in her garden. She had sprouted some pumpkin seeds for me (from now forth referred to, as she does, as 'pumkin'), even though she didn't know 'where in the hell I was'. Fortunately I showed up for her to give them to me to take back to Key West.
It was my first time on the second floor of her home. I was lucky to see some new-to-me paintings. She explained their idea foundations in sound, how she transforms a sound into an image, to an abstract painting. How the sound a bugle makes can be stretched out linearly into a mathematic form....