Every weekday when I come home from work, I see my mother-in-law's oil painting hanging on my living room wall. I've titled it "The Boy On The Fence," which annoys my mother-in-law to no end. She's in her 80's and hasn't painted in years, but she thinks this painting is aesthetically pleasing. I'm no art critic, but I've tried to explain to her that the dock lacks depth. She disagrees, so I've learned to let it go, to back off; her eyesights failing anyway.
My wife has been trying to get her to clean out her house. There's art supplies up the kazoo stored in her basement--easels, canvasses, brushes, paints, and art books/magazines. Unfortunately, it has become too much of an ordeal. Some things we're just not allowed to do.
A few years back, I helped my wife paint my mother-in-law's kitchen a nice off-white with golden-yellow details sponged on top. Two months later, my mother-in-law responged the golden-yellow with a flourescent lime-green. We were utterly in shock when we saw it. She also took scrap pieces of wallpaper and cut out the flower patterns and glued them along the border in a haphazard way. I've learned over the years not to say anything, to just sit back, and be quiet. It's not worth the agony. Call me "The Boy On The Fence."
15 comments:
Jim, Hey young man on the fence. I totally understand what you mean. Best to say nothing, otherwise creates stress in the family! I like the pic on the left. There sure is depth! --Bro, Ron
JR,
I had to chuckle at what your mother-in-law did to her newly painted kitchen. In her defence, did y'all check her color preferences beforehand?
The dock does lack depth and the boy appears to be on a fence. Don't tell her I said so. lol It is a lovely painting nevertheless.
Enid
The view from the fence is not that bad, JR. At least you get to see both sides. c",)
It's a great painting. And I didn't have to pose very long, either.
The creative eye sees things differently from "regular" folks, so I would imagine your mother-in-law thinks her kitchen is now "new and improved". There really is no accounting for taste.
The picture is really not a half bad painting, except for the lack of perspective. It does look like a fence.
(BTW - I have the Charlie Watts CD, and it is wonderful.)
Oh, from this I know! We spent 10 months (millenia?) living with my folks last year as a result of a lost job and years of autism having wiped us out. I had no idea an elderly person could be so attached to mold, mildew and memories. My secretive purges of the basement led to WWIII -- I couldn't bare the thought of having to do all that cleaning following a funeral. I think my Dad saw it as an early funeral, a dumpster full of his mortality. I have a painting my Grandmother made when I was a kid - a copy of a Mary Cassatt, two girls on a beach. The perspective stinks - the sailboat in the distance is no different from the seagulls in the sky - but it hangs as a reminder of dear Grandma Yoli in my youngest girls room and I'll never part with it.
Could you sell the painting and get cable with the proceeds? :)
KS
It does make you wonder how people see things so differently. Taste is an odd quality. But good idea to fight battles selectively. Very taoist approach, like water's flow -- pour through the cracks, but retreat when crashing against walls.
There is a storm a brewin'. Shiver me timbers. Sounds like your playing it right. Great pics.
Enjoyed the post. MW
Yeah, a great storm a brewin! The Tigers are going to the World Series after today's sweep of the A's. Yeah!
3K a comin! Three strikes and your out! Go D.Tigers!!!!!!1
You have the seed for a great personal essay here. I think you perfectly express (through the title and the details) that feeling of passivity and misery that exists in family relationships. Great post, Jim!
I say keep planting the seed.
Thought-provoking. How much should we communicate and how much should we keep to ourselves? Good question.
Sittin on the dock of the bay, oh how time slips away........... Or is that sittin on the edge of a fence, och it hurts....
shit. i am your mother in law when she was 32.
Post a Comment