Moving onto Sunday

When we were in Spain, we walked everywhere unless we were taking the Bus Turistic. That in itself was very cool not to mention the bus routes took sightseers in a variety of directions. One day we chose to set out for a walk so we could see more architectural wonders as well as stumble upon fun eateries. We took a northeast route up to the Church of the Sagrada Familia (the Sacred Family). We had already spent an entire morning and afternoon there earlier in the week but thought it would be a good place to start our meanderings. Jeanne had located a map and we had planned our route; sort of. Not being on any kind of schedule, we tended to deviate and seek out interesting areas. It was during this walk that we came across the now usual islands that pedestrians walk upon.

The streets in the wide avenida were divided into five parts. There was a sidewalk adjacent to the buildings on one side of the avenida. Then moving to your left (or right depending on which direction you were traversing), you would have to cross a one way street. Continue again to your left and you would hit the wide sidewalk which accommodated not only walkers but the continuous bicycle traffic. Again, move to your left and you would end up on the second roadway which traveled in the opposite direction. Finally one more move to your left and you were on the last sidewalk, all the way across the avenida.

On one such broad sidewalk/bike path, we came across an elderly woman sitting upon a bench. At first glance, she appeared to be yet another statue because her eyes gave the illusion of being closed and she was sitting quite still. I was quite fascinated by her. She was dressed in an old fashioned tweed jacket and blue skirt. Her white hair was neatly coiffed on her head. She wore low healed plain black shoes as one would have seen worn by the nuns of old. Her white cane rested on her right side. At her feet were numerous pigeons; perhaps she had been feeding them prior to our arrival. Her expression didn’t appear to change but I sensed that she was aware of our presence as well as our obvious interest in her. I started taking photos without appearing to do so. It was a trick I had learned from our photographic friend, Chris. Holding the camera low and estimating the height of the subject, I continued for several shots before I realized that Jeanne had continued walking until she was situated behind her. I was photographing her right profile while Jeanne captured her stooped back.

Finally satisfied that I had taken some worthwhile photos, I put down the camera and sat back on a bench to enjoy the ambience of the situation. For a reason I can’t explain or understand, the woman’s presence was not only fascinating but comforting all at the same time. I realized that we should move along so that she would again resume her solitary perhaps peaceful enjoyment of the afternoon. The pigeons cooed around her feet. I got up and glanced at her. She never once acknowledged me but I saw her relax as she realized that I was leaving.

Recently I reviewed that series of pictures and picked my favorite so that I could incorporate that into another Artist Trading Card. I took the solitary yet dignified woman and cut around her figure. Interestingly enough, the picture I selected also captured Jeanne in the background as she photographed the woman. I cut the two women apart and they brought them back together on my artist card. This time, Jeanne was adjacent to the woman instead of behind her. I also added one single pigeon to the piece. This was very symbolic and added a feeling of sadness to the card. I kept adding different pictures and objects to the card until I realized where I was going with this effort. Originally I had added three cut out phrases; You Cry, You Love, You Live but when I was finished I saw that I had covered the You Love phrase. In my mind, the love portion of the card was understood. You cry when you live and at some point in your existence you wonder if there “is much you miss of it”.

So with a little bit of background, I wanted to add my second attempt at being creative.

PM