Tags
art, demian and jonathan, julie, moving again, new jobs, paintings, rilke, s., war
that night, the eve of the big battle, chrisopher rilke, a boy of eighteen, frolicing with his comrades, at the tavern. outside the sun had set red. the night was long, filled with wine women and song. young rilke was a soldier, a coronet.
he fell in love with a girl that night and lay with her in an upstairs room. cannons thundering woke him up. the tavern was on fire. in his night shift he ran to the barn, grabbed the flag and galloped to the battle. in his eagerness, he outdistanced his own attacking army.
the standard bearer wore no weapons as he entered the enemy camp. they closed in on all sides and the noble youth died of multiple wounds from lances and sabre cuts. he was dragged from his white destrier and trampled beneath the hooves of the charging cavalry.
that's a synopsis of a lyrical poem by rainer maria rilke the poet. rilke wrote it in one sitting at night by candlelight after reading an account of the hungarian war with turkey in the 17th century. a certain 'cornet rilke' was killed. the hero, if you can call him a hero, was rilke's ancestor. the account of his death stimulated rilke's imagination. read it someday. it's a beautiful romantic poem.
s. painted the epic scene as he saw it in his mind's eye. the moment of glory. it was his second anti-war painting; 'protest' being the first when he was fifteen. and it was time for a new statement of the horrors, stupidity and waste of war. s. painted this scene twice. only fragments survived in black and white photos of it. the second one's whereabouts are unknown.
s. wasn't getting much painting done and julie was pregnant again. so when s's father offered the winter park house rent free, s. jumped at the opportunity. (bob and anita had moved to houston. he had been working for nasa for a few years; recruitment films for the engineers at martin marietta, all about bullpup missles and other instruments of war, which he hated. he was happy to be transferred to the space program.)
s. left everything behind and hitchhiked with julie and demian to winterpark, fl.. not without putting brother bobby on a plane to houston where he could get the help he needed. (he dried out and got a job as an inhalation therapist. he met a girl and got married.)
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s. had to get some money coming in right away or they would starve. the house was in a development about three miles from town. s. bought a used bicycle. the only job he could get was south of orlando.
demian's first birthday on lake howell rd.
s. got up while it was still dark and rode his bike seven miles to the orange grove where he watered the grove of trees all day long. this required moving sections of a sixty foot metal tube. turn the water off, detach 12 foot lengths, move them to the next row, attach them and turn the water back on. but there wasn't just one line, there were many to move. about eight men worked the irrigation perpetually through each day. a half hour lunch break and back to work. it was alright but the ride home was hard.
he 'fought the bulls'… that is where you push a wheelborrow up a plank full of concrete debris. you have to duck down to get through the hole into the light. he did that for a few days. then he dug ditches for an architect in the sand and sun of the atlantic coast. these kind of jobs the first few days you don't think you can go back but after a week you get used to it.
s. had hoped there would be a market for his paintings in winter park. the gallery that used to sell his paintings as fast as he could paint them wasn't too happy with his more developed style. besides he only had a few paintings. at night and on the weekends s. worked on a few new paintings. the sidewalk festival was coming up. he hoped that would jumpstart his making a living by his art.
old john dunathan, who had collected four of s's earlier works delivered a bed and a few tables and chairs. the house was unfurnished. one of the neighbors donated a crib for demian.
this is one painting in the new style.
then walt wirth got him a commission with ramada inns, one hundred oil paintings in ten different styles. he did op art, pop art, impressionist, cubist,surrealist, abstract expressionist, realist landscapes and seascapes, figurative realism and primitive paintings. the advance money was very generous but the project fell through somehow. he never knew why. but after painting five of each style when he asked for more advance money, walt was nowhere to be found. if you consider the cost of materials alone, he might have made a dollar a day. a great disappointment. no contract, just a handshake.
another disappointment was the sidewalk art festival on the pretty streets of winter park. he sold nothing at all. julie was getting fed up with summer in muggy central florida.
by this time john dunathan had loaned s. his third car. jonathan was born on august third.
a month later julie went around the house one day and broke all the mirrors and had a nervous breakdown. she wanted to go to san francisco. s. argued that they would do no better anywhere else than in winter park where they had a whole house for free. julie cried and cried. s. gave in. they loaded a few things in the car. with a rope s. strapped a few bundles and their big bed on the roof and off they went. s. called dunathan from new orleans. the cops had pulled them over.
s. had no drivers license and no registration. dunathan was superb on the phone with the police, saying that he had loaned the car and s. could do whatever he wanted with it.
it was two in the morning and the captain of the police was dragged out of his bed. the captain just said. "let 'em go."
You mentioned in your comment in the previous post that you were exhausted after posting today. I don't blame you. I feel the same after delving into the past. Some good times, some not so good, yet it is all as if you are going through it all over again, like a time machine. I do hope Julie got over her anxiousness. My son is going through something similar. His wife is extremely unhappy. She does not like our culture, the fact that he doens't make much money, the heat, anything at all. He is at his wit's end as there is nothing he does that pleases her. You were quite lucky with Mr. Dunathan to let you use the car as you wish AND for the judge to let you go. Nowadays, they haul you away and fine you hundreds of dollars putting you even more in the hole.
pam,you got it. it drains you kind of. i have to sort through boxes if i want a certain picture. and going through everything is so distracting. trying to sort things out too and throw a lot away… so it's useful and necessary.that's too bad about your son. i really feel for him.yeah dunathan was a gem. he was truly appreciative of art. he felt it was an honor to help.thanks for commenting pam :heart:
Wow, a lot you have gone through in your life. Thankfully things turned out well with the cops, thanks to Dunathan. 🙂
it was also lucky that the captain of the cops was very wise to let it go. the alternative would have been jail and foster homes. who want to do that to a little struggling family.thanks for the comment marcus. :happy:
Becoming a family man, and at the same time trying to maintain an artistic approach to life coming from the fact that s. is a thinker and a protester must have been a life full of contrasts and frustrations.I wonder about the judge – why did he act the way he did? Seems odd to me.
I see. Right. Nice guy.
he was kind but also smart. it didn't make any sense in that case to stop the 'grapes of wrath' caravan in its tracks. i would have ignored the 'letter of the law' if i were in his shoes that night. so would you probably.later on, i will tell tales of three different judges who similarly used their better judgment and did the right thing. thank heaven. :happy:
not the judge, allan, the captain of the police, on the spot just said to the possible arresting officer. "let them go."and yes, my head was in a whirl of conflict. :happy:i was like a wind-up toy crashing into one wall backing up, turning, taking off again… i remember it well.
Wow! What a glimpse into your life's story. Thanks for sharing it! :)It's always refreshing to hear the good deeds of others – your friend, Captain, and how you graciously relocated for Julie! These types of kindnesses always makes my heart happy. :happy:Those must have been quite the road trips too :eyes: :faint:
GOSH! I never got a notice for this one! meli,:( sorry , I will be back….
mags, you are a good reader. yes, it was one gory road trip… no money, two babies. meli :heart: i knew that. :happy: i should at least have my name link go to the latest post. can't find the setting for that. now everybody who clicks on my name goes to 'about' page. i prefer it the other way. oh well, i'll keep looking.
my subscribtions to Davids *Ravo* blog was not active too and I get about 50 friends requests a day which is silly and annoying at times!oo much wasted time to erase them…I think we shouldn't get requests from people that did not comment at least to 3 posts in a 3 month period… sorry, I am off-topic.I will go back to work and allow myself some quality time to enjoy this post today :heart:
right on meli :heart: i appreciate your attention. i know you will love this one… you're so romantic. but i do expect the usual array of questions. :happy:i am in complete sympathy about friends requests. i won't add any new friends until i go to their blog and get to know them a little. that takes time. and time is so valuable.
the intro did not give away the saga that continued… I wonder if the pain in your legs is because of all of the abuse they got at that time… I see s. between the hard place and the rock.I wonder… with all the problems and the responsibilities did s. had the connection with demian? I know how tender you are with kids but by seeing his face looking at the camera it seems not to be the typical one year old happy boy.. so, our Jon is born,how S. feels having his own child ?Why s. always gave up on what Julie wanted? I am overwhelmed knowing that s. has so much responsibility and he has to move again! not happy here, not happy … I am anxious to read the next one , I know is up but i need to digest this one first…..:heart:
🙂 :heart:
sure, i loved demian as if he were my own son. he just looked a little sad sometimes. i'm still very proud of him.i am just as proud of all of my children. i was very lucky to know each of them.s. is obedient to the one he loves. that's all. just wanted her to be happy.http://files.myopera.com/I_ArtMan/albums/640503/demian%20and%20s.%2C%20winter%20park%20%2764.jpg
awwwwwwwwwwwww he was precious!thanks meli!a beautiful child!do you still wear the same ring or it is my imagination?
🙂 thanks !
added a pic link for a happier demian on the grass.
it's your imagination… i never wear a ring. i gave that one to a girlfriend named nancy. i had just read that people wear rings to offset their inner insignificance… i took it very personally. :heart:
girls should wear earrings… it makes their little ears sparkle. :happy:
darn it! I could have lost my last penny in a bet! I thought you did wear a ring!these days I wear not many pieces of jewlery myself, but I always like earrings on ,my ears are too small 🙂
:happy:off topic,I was reading to put me to sleep..and I just share this:Be grateful to everyone (Thank you, friend! Thank you, enemy!):heart:
yes, that's a good idea. sometimes an enemy helps more than a friend… :heart: sleep tight kid.