Peter van Straten Art by Peter van Straten
Staying in touch
An older painting dusted off for this exhibition, and still in my posession because people usually don’t buy paintings of graveyards – a terrible waste considering what wonderful places they usually are. There is the quiet (empty and majestic soundtrack to our awe of death) there are usually cypress trees, like calmly failing bridges between earth and heaven, and then there are the dead, so much more peaceful than the overly busy living, and far better listeners.
May 17, 2011 | Share: 
Now that is a fascinating piece. Love the way those old time red “ticky boxes” illuminate the melancholic and dreary colouring of the graveyard. A novel thought that – of having to go back to dust to dust and ashes to ashes level in order to have some listening space and time. And what an indictment on society that we should get to such a level of busyness and selfishness and self absorption to allow for this. Guess that red box has been replaced by the more mobile units of tomorrows technology.
As an after thought to this almost after life painting, I am wondering if these are people returning with eulogies that can be said straight to the deceased ? Interesting that we tend to keep back the reams of poems, songs and letters to the wakes, funerals, etc.