September Song...

"September Song" - oil on canvas 30x24 inches

Oh it's a long, long while from may to December
But the days grow short when you reach September
When the autumn weather turns the leaves to flame
And you ain't got time for the waiting game

When the days dwindle down to a precious few
September... November
And these few golden days I'd share with you
Those golden days I'll share with you

This has been the project that has captured most of my thoughts... time and interest over the summer. It has been in my mind constantly... gradually emerged out of the mists of my imagination and planning... and is finally on canvas.

There are a few canvases in one's life which have special personal meaning... which reveal and reflect memories and events worth remembering about one's life. This canvas will always remain that for me... and by the manner in which it has already been received... many others feel similarly and are attracted to it. Perhaps... it might become my second foray into the giclee world! Food for thought and consideration with my partner in crime!

As I reviewed the folder of jpegs that I had collected labelled "River Vesper in Process", I realized that the final outcome... the canvas itself spoke more eloquently on its own... rather than being accompanied by the  description and numerous jpegs at different stages to describe how I arrived at the end of the creative process. Even the title "River Vesper" seemed somehow to be just as redundant. While it did eloquently offer insight into my deep feelings of almost religious respect for the River that I have lived most of my life... this newer and larger version of the the 7x5 inch panel created months ago offered much more to the viewer. Visually... the additional attention to line and detail in the skiff and the deeper sense of mood and more accurate aerial perspective are radically changed and improved upon in my mind. In a phrase... it better expresses my original feeling and intentions. So I have posted the image on its own for you to enjoy.

Rewind back to the introduction of the post. "September Song" ranks with the most beloved of my personal playlist. Co-written by Maxwell Anderson and Kurt Weil for the Broadway play "Knickerbocker Holiday"  in 1930... it has become a classic and since then has been reworked and returned successfully to the hit charts by the likes of Frank Sinatra, Sarah Vaughn Sammy Davis Jr, Willy Nelson, Arthur Fiedler and the Boston Pops, Lionel Hampton, Gracie Allen, Ray Coniff, Eddie Duchin, Dion and the Belmonts, Montovani, Gordon McRae....  and the list goes on endlessly.Need I say more? This particularly popular classic has been performed in every conceivable musical genre... and by the icons in each. And why? Because the melody in concert with the "lyrics-beyond-lyrics"... reach into the very soul of every human being who embraces music in their lives. The work knows no borders... and has  few equals in contemporary music!

"September Song" offers a universal connection to the bitter-sweet feelings we all share about the departure of summer... closing the cottage... the beginning of school... empty nesting... saying goodbye to relatives and summer friends. While the feelings are not at all sadness on a tragic level... they are indeed felt whenever the events mentioned above reoccur... and usually they do in the each and every September.

Perhaps my being a teacher... knowing that the arrival of September meant that  my freedom to realize and enjoy some of my own needs... amongst them time with my own family and painting space was slip-sliding away. But it dates much earlier than that period in my life. I felt that nostalgic twinge heavy-heartedly delivering my US summer friends to the wharf here in Rockport... knowing that we would not see each other until next summer. Too... in those early years of growing up at the Narrows, I would miss the seemingly endless warm summer mornings of early rising to search out fish.... berries and solitude in the quiet Island places.

On a purely lyrical interpretation of the song... it is about treasuring the years left in one's life and in the joy of spending them ... with that "special " Someone... to watch over "You". I am indeed blessed to be sharing my life with such a person... "Someone Special" in these autumn days of my own journey. "I" am deeply blessed... as I know many of you are as well... to share your own journey with your own Someone Special.

I would appreciate hearing back what feelings... if any... this painting conjures up from within you. Does September sing a special song for you? Does it harken back happier times?...

I wonder!...

Good Painting to ALL!!!