I'm actually curious to know if these held-spots would work with her like they do with me. I have my camera ready and give her a sketchbook and pencil, just in case.
She's uncertain of the whole process but agrees to give it a go.
As we drive through the city streets, I tell her to tell me if anything jumps out at her and I'll stop the car.
The fallen leaves of a new autumn have covered the ground in yellow and orange. As we pass one lawn after another, Caroline's attention is drawn to the intricate patterns of the mostly bare branches along the way.
She likes trees, she says. She wonders if one of them is her held-spot. But if she tried to capture them on paper, she tells me, she'd feel overwhelmed drawing all the details.
Forget that tension, I explain, it's something different you're after, something that you'll know when you see it, that won't feel overwhelming.
We turn a corner and an interesting possibility pops up: a stark, angular mound of earth at a construction site. As beautiful as it is, it doesn't stick for her and we keep driving. I follow her directions, this way and that.
Then it happens with Caroline like it often does with me. She does a double-take.
Can you stop, she asks. Something caught her eye a few buildings back. She points out a pile of garbage bags under a tree.
From across the street they look like a gathering of seals by the sea or sleeping cows huddled together in a quiet pasture.
Its like a herd, Caroline says, and she begins to draw them.
click on play button above
She sets the elements into place on her page, the outline of each bag forming another lumpy creature under the tree. Funny thing, she notices, they're resting right next to a No Parking sign. Her drawing holds the personality and humour of this family of bags.
As I film another movie clip to record this scene, my eye travels upward to something both of us overlooked.click play button above
A while later, back at home in my studio (and Caroline back in London), I create a rough composite photo of the entire scene with the herd huddled under the clouds.
I email Caroline this picture as reference for a future painting, perhaps. She is happy to receive it. Something of this held-spot has left its mark on her.What I learn from this venture is that another person's held-spot can affect someone else. It has an objective power. This scene that specifically called to Caroline resonated with me in a very strong way, as well.
The herd has long since been carted off, but its memory remains as something magical. Caroline's attraction to this scene has sparked an insight that registers with me: Seen a certain way, we are all - like those over-stuffed bags - just a temporary sack of flesh and bones...holding magic in the moment.
POST SCRIPT: A few weeks later...
I receive a drawing from Caroline, entitled "Herd".
The boldness of this fresh depiction jolts me into seeing the old held-spot in an entirely new light.
I'm hit with a feeling of excitement - for the creation in life - from moment to moment - the force of it and the joy of it.Caroline writes that she feels another drawing coming on.
And so it goes.
