There’s only one more day in February, one more day to admire the picture on my wall calendar. It has been a source of reflection and admiration for the month. I’ll miss my absentminded glances at it from time to time.
Obviously, I’m something of
a romantic. The snow covered houses and icy canal water reflect the gloom of a wintry
sundown. Dark shadows are held back by the bright window lights. Inside the
houses, the weather plays upon the inhabitants with conflicts between cold and
colder, avoidance and confrontation, desire and dread.
CARS AND MOVIE STARS
While I’m on the subject of calendars,
who is buying the ones with pictures of dogs, cats, cars,
famous people, movie stars, or cartoons? I can understand travel or
famous artists, but I don’t buy those either. Why is it so hard to find a calendar
I like? Of the racks upon racks of calendars at Barnes and Noble I might find
two that appeal to me, and usually they are versions of my previous calendars.
By now, you may wonder what appeals to me. In a word, I
want calendars with images or designs that reflect the changes of the seasons.
In winter I want an image that evokes bare trees, wind, snow, wood fires. In
spring, new leaves, crocuses, sunrises; in summer, gaudy flowers, swimming
holes, a blazing sun; in autumn, yellow fields, falling leaves, harvests,
pumpkins. I like abstract art, not necessarily modern abstract, but even at that, it's hard to find the seasons portrayed.
I buy and hang several calendars every
year, and the ones I like best project not only a sense of the seasons, but scenes that evoke solace as well
as intrigue. I'll start shopping for them in October in order to find ones I like by January.
The calendar with the above
picture is from The Lang “Around the World,” and February is my favorite of all
the months. The artist is Eugene Lushpin, who was born in Moscow. The pictures are dramatic and exciting, but like Thomas Kinkade’s
work, some can become tiresome. You can see more of Lushkin's paintings online.*
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