Connection with Animals

"Herb & Dorothy" - great documentary about the Vogels, a couple living in Manhattan who have spent their entire lives collecting art. Their rules: they must be able to afford it, they must be able to carry it on the metro, and it must fit in their apartment - a small one bedroom! And their collection has run into the thousands of pieces which they are donating to museums across the country, including the National Gallery of Art here in DC.

One of the artists (and there were many) interviewed during the film mentioned something especially interesting to me. He said that there is a deep connection between artists and animals.

This resonates with me. I have always loved to paint animals. Given the limitations of language, their 'humanity' (or beingness) is obvious when they are looked at closely, with respect.

And isn't this what artists do - look at everything closely, with respect, with a desire to understand and represent in some form?

'Attention', acrylic, 40" x 40"