hello friends!
During our week in New York,
I did no sketching at all.
I was too overwhelmed with the people,
the visuals, the noise.
But I knew that as soon as I got back
to my quiet little blue room,
the art would spill out, in its own time.
So here’s the thing about New
York.
I had never been there
before.
I’ve been to a few other
States,
and to parts of Europe,
and all across Canada,
but never to the Big Apple.
that makes you feel like
ANYTHING GOES.
Like no one’s holding back.
A mish mash of everything.
Sky scrapers
and food trucks and taxis
and red brick apartment
buildings
and homeless men and women
and limousines
and ferries and subways
and statues and sirens
and museums
and a dark ocean of people,
constantly moving in every direction.
I loved it.
I loved the energy.
New York reminded me of this:
there are still a lot of good
people out there.
There are a lot of fucked up
ones too,
but the world is filled with
good people, still
and we should remember this in our hearts
when the world seems filled
with such fear and paranoia.
exhausted after a long day of
walking,
we barely settled in our
seats
for the 10 minute ride back
when an older, worn out man
with a clarinet in his hands
slowly walked towards us.
looked at me and said (in
french),
“I swear to God, if this man
starts playing
his clarinet here, I’m gonna
piss my pants”.
And what do you think
happened?
The man began to play his clarinet.
He stood there while the subway
clinged
& clanged down the tracks,
and he played his
clarinet.
Beautifully.
My son’s jaw dropped,
the woman who sat next to him
closed her eyes & smiled,
and a young man nearby took off
his headphones
and listened to live music
instead.
It's one of those moments you just know
will come up in conversation years from now...
"remember in the subway, in New York,
when that old guy started playing his clarinet?!?"
perfect strangers approached
us and
kindly asked if we wanted our photo
taken
when they saw us admiring one
of the fountains.
another played the violin
under one of the archways
and the music resonated
around the arches
and made me feel
like heaven was right here on earth.
In Central Park.
when I lost one of my maps,
someone behind me picked it
up
and returned it to me
when they saw it fall out of
my pocket.
a New Yorker who sat next to me
told me how excited he was
to finally see Robert Plant
and when I told him we were
from Canada,
he nearly busted a lung when he yelled:
WELCOME TO NEW YORK!!
and gave us a warm handshake.
and I may be naïve
but I still believe we all
want the same thing in life.
To live in peace.
To not be judged.
and had I been mugged on the
subway,
I may not be so impressed
with NY.
But I wasn’t mugged.
No one was rude.
People were nothing but kind and helpful,
and I think it’s important to remind ourselves
that the good seeds
far outweigh
the bad ones.
I know it's not always easy to trust,
and that everyone's experience is different,
but sometimes - trusting can make
a world of difference.
xx
(oil pastel on paper)
