There can be little doubt, if you know me at all, that I love textures.
Here is a photo of my Michael Kors blazer. It's fascinating all on its own.
However, I didn't take a photo of the garment as a whole. No. I took a series of close up shots. Each shot was in a different light and or angle. So why did I do this?
For me, it's like looking into a subatomic world. What does that micro-Universe look like? I see the grouping of light fibers standing aloft a dark terrain with individual strands expressing themselves, reaching out from the safety of the gatherings, spreading themselves ever closer to the next group or laying flat on the ground fabric.
I have a thought. I have a feeling. I have a memory of leaving the house on a sunny day. Going outside by myself. Laying flat on the thick carpet of grass in the front yard. I stared at the sky. Might have been for hours. I memorized the color of blue and the gentle pattern of fading as my eyes fell toward the horizon. Searching for shapes in the clouds, like my grandmother did when she would visit, and guide me outside to lay flat on the ground to watch the faces of angels appear in the clouds.
Those sunny days. Warm with the cool ocean breeze that felt so energizing while my body lay perfectly still. Dare I say, “the dog days of summer”? That was what Grandma would say.
Those clouds were miracles in my eyes. How did they float against the gravitational pull of the earth? How did they know that I needed to see the most beautiful violin in the sky? The face of St. Raphael? The dolphin in mid dive?
What if the strands of fiber that I see shimmering flat on the surface have thoughts and feelings and memories like I do? What if my face is the face of the angel they see in the clouds?
BEVERLY VAN PELT
January 23, 2023