Condensing to the essence
I’ve often wondered what it is about the simple figures in cave paintings and the stick figures of children that is so appealing–at least to me. The above image is from Diablo Canyon just outside of Del Rio. These paintings are slowly fading away but they retain the energy and vitality of their origin.
The canyon itself is magnificent with sweeping views of a tributary to the Rio Grande, lots of rocks, and dry weather adapted foliage sparsely arranged on the hillsides. Our tour guides detailed suppositions about the life led by the people who created these images–always male but can you not imagine the determined little girl who snuck out at night and painted a figure or two.
More photos of the paintings, the canyon, Amistad Resevoir and downtown Del Rio are on my smug mug site here: https://sylviaweirphotos.smugmug.com/Texas/Del-Rio-and-Amistad-Reservoir/
I was asked to return to Del Rio in a few weeks but I had to turn them down–September sounds a better month and I can return to the canyon to see it again.
The question remains–how do you condense a feeling, an experience, an event to the very essence of it–and should it be a piece of visual art or maybe it should be a song.
Sylvia Weir Art 