Old Man, Young Man, Dance Man
I have a painting sitting on my easel that’s been there for months that for some reason I haven’t been able to complete. It’s of a good friend, which should spur me on, but her face, as I’ve rendered it, is muddy and I haven’t been able to move beyond that. Instead, I’ve built up a steady drawing practice. Pretty much a small graphite portrait every day. Here, very quickly, are three of them:
Nicole Jeffords (2021)
The first is an elderly guy, a philosopher, who hangs out at Central Market North, sitting down at this table and that to chat with acquaintances and strangers about whatever is going on in his head. He’s hard to follow, but certainly fits the part of wise old man.
Nicole Jeffords (2021)
The second is a youngish guy I know from the Austin ecstatic dance community whose face I find interesting, but with whom, in the twenty years I’ve been dancing with these folks, I’ve never exchanged a single word. Why? Big shrug from me. Other than dance, we don’t have a single thing in common. He’s young and slippery; I’m an old lady -- certainly from his point of view -- and thus totally uninteresting. He once announced at dance that he saw no reason to be gainfully employed, that society should take care of him. That was many years ago, when he was just entering his twenties. Don’t know whether he’s changed thoughts on that one. Recently I heard that he was building decks for people.
Nicole Jeffords (2021)
The third drawing is also of a man in the ecstatic dance community, Keith Paolino, who’s become quite a force, taking dance outside into the woods and meadows where people can cavort maskless rather than be confined to interior spaces that could be dangerous in these Covid times. I myself have been dancing remotely on Zoom in my house, but I understand the draw of the woods, the wildness and freedom of moving through space out under the trees, the slightly feral feeling of letting dance take you where it will in the forest. Most of these outdoor dancers are young, committed, and eager; many are on raw food diets that they are convinced render them immune to Covid; many are unvaccinated which leads to a good deal of discussion among them.
