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Montage, by Don Tassone

3/7/2020

 
When he was a kid, Jeremy loved to paint by number. He worked hard to match colors and numbers and stay inside the lines. As a result, his paintings looked just like the stylized images on the covers of his paint kits.

One day, Jeremy came home from school upset from a scolding by his teacher. He was a sensitive boy, and the scolding in front of his classmates had brought him to tears.

Jeremy went up to his room and began to paint. His hand was shaking, and he couldn’t stay inside the lines.

When he was finished, he stepped back from his work, a mountain scene, and examined it. It looked unlike anything he had ever painted. Not only were the edges of the colors uneven, some of the colors themselves were clearly wrong. Blue snow on a mountaintop, orange pine trees, green water.

Seeing this, Jeremy became even more upset. He had always been proud to show off his paintings, but he felt like throwing this one away.

Just then, his mother came in. She saw tears.

“What’s wrong, honey?”

“I messed it up.”

“What?”

“My painting.”

“Oh, honey,” she said, putting her arms around him. “It’s okay.”

“No, it’s not!” he said, pushing her away. “It’s terrible.”

“Let me see,” she said.

She stepped over to his table and had a look.

“Oh, Jeremy! It’s beautiful. I love what you’ve done here. It’s your best painting yet.”

“How can you say that?” Jeremy whimpered. “Can’t you see where I messed up? It doesn’t look anything like the picture on the box.”

“No, it doesn’t. It’s you. That’s what makes it so beautiful.”

“Really?” Jeremy said, wiping his eyes. “You really like it?”

“I love it,” his mother said. “And I can’t wait to show Dad when he gets home.”

Jeremy’s father liked it too.

“You’re becoming a real artist,” he said.

After that, Jeremy switched from painting by number to painting with watercolors on white sheets of paper. He didn’t sketch anything. He just started painting, either random shapes and colors or certain images in his mind. He liked these paintings, and the act of creating them, so much more.

Seeing the joy this new type of painting brought Jeremy, his mother bought him a framed canvas and an easel. Jeremy stood and painted a hillside covered with flowers of various shapes and colors. He had never seen such a hillside. He’d simply imagined it.

Soon, Jeremy was painting on large sheets of canvas on the floor of his garage. He no longer painted the images in his head, though. Now he tried to express the emotions in his heart.

He dashed red rage this way and blue serenity that way, swept green hope here and grey frustration there and drizzled everything with yellow happiness. Jeremy’s paintings were a montage of the emotions he was feeling in his life.

In time, Jeremy’s paintings sold for thousands at auction. People said his paintings spoke to them.
Paritosh Chandra Dugar
3/7/2020 11:30:44 am

A beautiful tale about the evolution of a great artist. And, may I say, it's also about the 'poetics of painting.' Great job, Don.

John Young
3/7/2020 12:23:35 pm

Sometimes you have to get knocked around to wake up and find your own path. Thanks for reminding us Don. Keep painting outside the lines.

Mary Wallace
3/7/2020 02:48:21 pm

It is never the hand of a great artist, it is the heart that leads to brilliance. Thankyou Don, a lovely piece.

Kathy K
3/7/2020 04:02:54 pm

Freedom nurtures creativity in every aspect of life. Thanks for letting Jeremy free himself from the confines of lines and numbers, Don.

phyllis souza
3/7/2020 05:39:27 pm

This is wonderal story. Great visuals and diaglog. Love Jeremy! His mother too...

Marjan sierhuis
3/7/2020 06:12:07 pm

Thank you, Don for a lovely story.

Swapan k Banerjee
3/7/2020 06:43:14 pm

So many genuine talents still fade prematurely into oblivion for want of a word of encouragement. Jeremy too would have petered out but for his parents' tact and understanding. Jeremy's transition from doing concrete paintings to abstract ones is done with fluent and sweeping strokes. A word-painting of the very first order, Don.

Sue Clayton
4/7/2020 05:04:21 am

A masterpiece of coloured emotions. Loved it, Don. You are a painter of words.

Don Tassone link
4/7/2020 11:23:12 am

Thank you all. I'm delighted you liked this story.

Jim link
4/7/2020 04:19:19 pm

Good for Jeremy!! Nice little tale, Don.
Thanks
Jim

Gordon Lawrie
4/7/2020 07:13:01 pm

Looks like your story spoke to a lot of people here, Don, Bravo.


Comments are closed.

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