Beyond The Fence
by Larry Whitler
Title
Beyond The Fence
Artist
Larry Whitler
Medium
Painting - Digital Dry Brush
Description
This is a painting I made from a screenshot I took while watching a YouTube video by Tampa Jay. He was speaking from Mt. Summit Cemetery in Indiana.
Jay was telling about his family, his upbringing, his grandmother, his father, and sharing some heartfelt moments with his viewers. While he was speaking I was taken by the beauty of the landscape beyond the fence (which he built with his father).
Have you ever heard the song, "A Winter's Tale," written and recorded by Freddie Mercury from Queen?
Here is part of the lyric to that song:
"So quiet and peaceful
Tranquil and blissful
There's a kind of magic in the air
What a truly magnificent view
A breathtaking scene"
Freddie Mercury goes on to write:
"What an extraordinary place!
(And the dream of the child
Is the hope of the, hope of the man)
It's all so beautiful
Like a landscape painting in the sky"
When I first heard that song it made me wonder if, perhaps, as Freddie Mercury was facing his own imminent passing, he could see the beauty of our earth, and the life we all share, with a little more clarity.
If I could differentiate between "the world" and "the earth" for a moment, the "earth" is truly incredible and truly beautiful. The "world" CAN be beautiful. But so much of the "world" is filled with greed, indifference, unnecessary loneliness... you get it. I don't need to tell you.
But Jay was talking about a BEAUTIFUL world. HIS beautiful world. And, as he's speaking, as if to illustrate the beautiful family he was born into, the backdrop landscape behind him is subtlely and silently showering us all with the magnificence of the world, the earth, that is there for all of us.
The fence struck me, also.
I wanted to go outside that fence. I wanted to run up that grassy hill in the background. I wanted to feel that Indiana air on my face and feel the autumn leaves crunching beneath my feet. I wanted to be in that picture.
An observation of my own is that we humans love stories. We're very good at them. We can juggle many stories all at the same time. You can watch an episode of a TV series, read a chapter from a book, catch up on the latest escapades of our favorite sports figure or rock star, and even hear a bit of family history from a friend, and we will not lose track of those stories. We'll be able to read the next chapter or watch the next episode and retain that storyline somewhere in our brain.
It's kind of incredible. It's probably uniquely human.
Jay, if you're reading this, keep doing what you are doing. Your videos are a blessing to us all. Your stories are heartfelt, often funny, and, most importantly, they are genuine.
And, while I may never get to Mt. Summit, Indiana, or to the cemetery you stood in while baring your soul, you have invited us all into the world you now share with Cris who also has blessed us in the same way you have.
Life truly is beautiful. To quote another songwriter, George Harrison: "Life goes on within you and without you."
You and Cris, and so many of the other YouTubers that I listen to while working on my artwork, allow me to experience life "beyond the fence." You allow me to explore "this extraordinary place."
I hope you are okay with me painting this piece based on a screenshot from your video. I did this using the dry brush on the Procreate app and I've titled it, "Beyond The Fence."
Uploaded
November 9th, 2022
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