Night of Depature July 7, 2010

Robert Eringer and his family were here and gone.

I'd never met anyone like him before. (At that time, I had no clue what Eringer did for a living, his spy stuff and all, and I wouldn't learn for another three years).

Our organized trip to Iceland seemed quite esoteric--like a fantasy! It was just what a nocturnal artist needed. Lucky me-- I'd attracted a patron who saw in me my ability as an artist. Eringer also had the means and interest to help make something extraordinary happen for me and my art career. Mixing my art with his writings, how cool was that? It was a meeting of the minds.

Our friendship: alchemical, syncronistic, serendipitous.

I didn't know if the Eringer's would ever be back. I thought, who in their right mind would ever want to leave sunny Santa Barbara-- especially to live in loony London?

All I knew was that I was feeling bummed.

So, I did what I felt was the best thing for an artist to do; I needed to create...

I went down to Butterfly beach, to the place where I'd painted the 4th of July sketch, and all I saw when I was there, was darkness. There was no moon, and except for a few lights, it was a somber scene. It was perfect, devoid of meaning!

I painted away with detachment, and purged myself of sadness.

That night, I left it all on the beach, yet I sensed something out there--just out of reach.

As far as Robert Eringer and his family was concerned, I decided I would send them one post card per week, depicting beautiful, sunny Santa Barbara in a, "Wish you were here" idealism. My motive was to tease them, and to get them to realize they'd made a big mistake by moving back to London.

What else could I do? A year later, my conspiracy plans paid off; they moved back!!

Night of Departure
8x8 oil on board
Collection of Robert Eringer

For more Motional Blur, see the Surreal Bounce Blog: http://surrealbounce.blogspot.com/