Friday, May 02, 2008

I Like to Paint Junk

Vintage Tin

There is a certain intangible quality about old tin, as it sits rusting away in fields and junkyards, that fascinates those who discover it. There is a mysterious, eerie sensation of looking into the past through the face of a survivor that compels artists and photographers to preserve these vestiges of simpler times in their paintings and photographs.

These tin derelicts assume attitudes of defiance, puzzlement, and resignation in their stand against the onslaught of weather and metal scavengers. Paint blisters and peels under the scorching sun, revealing layers of colour and primer that both blend and contrast in expressions of abstract art. Faded scales of original blues and greens flake from oxidized surfaces as old metal returns to natural hues.



Memories lie in these metal shells like the dust on their dashboards which even the wind cannot blow away. Faint traces of things past remembering are reflected in glass that is almost opaque, and chrome that is dull and yellow. Shreds of rotten upholstery, hanging from roofs and torn from seats, provoke speculation about particular circumstances that are now long forgotten.

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__________________
Ron Morrison

19 comments:

Elizabeth A Patterson said...

Wow. Thank you for putting that into words, Ron! Your writing describes the strange beauty of 'junk' almost as well as your watercolors do. Wouldn't the world be boring without old, decaying stuff?

Jeffrey J. Boron said...

This old beauty looks ready to rumble to life and giv'er another go Ron! Your story has me remembering the haunts of my youth in the farm country on the outskirts of Toronto.

Jeffrey

Ron Morrison said...

Thanks Liz, I wrote that thirty years ago. Yes, history in things...

Ron Morrison said...

Thanks Jeffrey, we used to travel the backroads looking for things...

~Babs said...

"things past remembering",,,
great style you have.
Painting and writing.

Love the face peering out of the passenger window, head on hand,,,trying to remember.

William K. Moore said...

Hi Ron.. been a while since I've been out this way.. been in transit to Chicago of late. Just getting settled in and painting. Good looking painting you have here and your skill shows off your love of the old iron. The story of your grandfather is a particularly nice addition.

Ron Morrison said...

Thanks Babs,...there's always faces, faces in the windows, glass or not...YIKES!

Ron Morrison said...

Thanks W.K.,hope the move went smoove.

BoneDaddy said...

Looks like cars decompose similarily to humans, at times. No matter how colorful, eventually you just go back to the dirt.

Ron Morrison said...

Grimmsikov, howzit? Yes on the colour gone thing...

sandy said...

And I collect junk..

Great beauty that is!! I'm going to be on the lookout for old cars to photograph and if I find any good ones, I'll send you a photo and you can make up a story....!!!

Love your writing too.

s

Ron Morrison said...

Thanks Sandy, I think I have found the right combination for me.

BoneDaddy said...

Kakoi koshmar!
No really, it's goin good.

Michelle said...

Hey Ron, just stopping by. Been too busy lately. Nice paintings you've posted. I saw an old rusty truck abandoned in a field the other day and thought of you.

Ron Morrison said...

Thanks Michelle, send pictures!

Madison Moore said...

Love the stories....you know what I think about the work!

Ron Morrison said...

Thanks M., I appreciate you saying so.

sandy said...

Love the sky in this, the overall colors of the whole piece.

s

Ron Morrison said...

Thanks Sandy, its a bit grittier, different style...just experimenting.