This is the ice situation. Still there – a solid surface. And if you were to be here in person, it would not look a whole lot different. It’s grayer than a few days ago – wetter from the warm weather.

Today I took the 1 and 1/2 hour trip over to the big hospital to have my semiannual skin checkup. I have such pale skin and I didn’t know to take care of it through years of outdoor time when young. So, I drive far to get checked. It’s my skin. The surface of me. You can see it. Odd that it’s actually an organ, yet it contains all the others.

As I drove these many hours over the roads, yet another surface, I was somewhat oblivious to my surroundings other than to notice that other lakes in the area were also still ice-covered. Surfaces covered.

Then Paula Mould’s painting arrived. I had picked it out from an internet image on her website which offers many choices (paulamould.com). “That’s the one I want”. And today it was here: I opened the box, unwrapped it, and saw it in actuality:

There was so much more than what I could see on the internet. But beyond that, there was this energy of the piece. There was a vibrancy that could not be captured and conveyed in photo reproduction. It was/is singing with its self, with its depth. It enlivens the space. It shifts the energy.

Ice, roads, skin are all surfaces. Paintings? Yes they are surfaces. And yet they have the capacity to affect us. We look at them and we are not seeing surface. We see in. And when you are lucky enough to see the real thing, it’s far beyond what photos, surface photos, can every capture.