Nocturne: The True Story of an Etching which Grew
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In 1979 I created an etching with aquatint called "Nocturne". It depicted a full moon gleaming through branches and moonlight reflected on a body of water beyond the trees. One of the galleries which handled my work at the time was The Red Barn Gallery, located near Green Bay, Wisconsin. There a young woman purchased an impression of "Nocturne" as a gift for her friend Dave Unites. |
| Twenty
years went by. The young woman passed out of Dave's life but the etching
stayed with him. Dave continued to enjoy "Nocturne." Access to the internet
became commonplace. In early 2000 Dave found me online. "Could he," he asked
in an e-mail message, "commission an artist to paint a large version of
Nocturne on the outside of his house?" I was thrilled. "Of course," I responded. Just send me a snapshot when it is done. As it happened, I thought little more about it... I was preparing for a solo museum show and had a lot on my mind. Thus it was a wonderful surprise when, approximately two months later, a package arrived from Dave containing photos of "Nocturne" writ large. Also in the package was a note invitating me to visit Dave at his home at Tee Lake near LaPorte, Indiana to see the work. In May of 2000, on my way east after presenting a collage workshop in Chicago, I stopped to visit Dave. With him was Mike Zieve, the artist who had done such a wonderful job enlarging "Nocturne" that it looked (to me) better than the original. After posing for the photos below, we enjoyed a pleasant dinner just across the state line in Michigan and then I continued on my way back to New York. Why do I share this story with you? Because it is about the human side of art, about art bringing folks together, about enjoyment and affirmation. It turns out that Dave is an artist in his own right (you'll have to ask him about that if you ever meet him) and I am delighted with his affection for my work. The larger photo below shows the enlarged "Nocturne" on Dave's 2-car garage door. In the smaller photo at left, Dave is holding the original etching. The smaller photo on the right shows me with artist Mike Zieve standing in front of Mike's work holding my work. |
 Jonathan & Dave |
 The Enlarged "Nocturne" |
 Jonathan & Mike |