Keep It Hid (Sunset, Tuesday, 14 September 2010)

William Van Doren, Keep It Hid (Sunset from Charlottesville, Va.) Oil on watercolor block, 13 x 19.

I was at The Pavilion in downtown Charlottesville to see The Black Keys, and as open to roaming as the venue is, I still couldn’t really see “the sunset,” which was happening to the north (to the right) behind all the downtown buildings, and which, from what little I could see, was a technicolor spectacular. (Sorry about that. O.K., maybe not.) This then was the southwest sky at sunset, looking out toward the nearby Ragged Mountains, of Edgar Allan Poe fame. Edgar Allan Poe and The Black Keys belong together anyhow.

The Black Keys were nothing short of sensational. No one should underestimate the importance and influence of Patrick Carney, the drummer – that would be a great injustice, especially since the two guys really work as one – but Dan Auerbach has to be the most intimidating writer-guitarist-singer-performer I’ve ever seen, going back to The Beatles, 1966. Speaking of which, I was joking to Laura after the show how people talk about using surviving members of The Who to reconstitute The Beatles, or vice-versa. (Kind of grotesque.) But with Auerbach, you could replace John and George, and we don’t really need Paul, so that leaves ... The Black Keys!

Sorry, Macca fans, couldn’t resist. And Carney is much more than what was just implied, i.e., reference to Mr. Starkey.

And then The Black Keys are something really different on the axis of blues and soul ... sort of like the blues died and went to heaven.

Painting title comes from Dan Auerbach’s great 2009 solo album, but with different meanings, one of which is that the sunset was hidden from view.

Nebula and Sunset (Sunset, Monday, 13 September 2010)

William Van Doren, Nebula and Sunset (Sunset from Stony Point, Albemarle County, Va.) Oil on watercolor block, 13 x 19.

Chair in a Field

To set a chair down in a field where there has been no chair, where there has never been a chair, and sit and face the sun just coming up over the trees – the chair declares the wild loneliness of the field more than the field did, and the sun is wild, and alone, and no one has ever before faced that sun.

Little Symphony (Sunset, Sunday, 12 September 2010)

William Van Doren, Little Symphony (Sunset from Stony Point, Albemarle County, Va.) Oil on watercolor block, 13 x 19.

Pavement & Pavement (Sunset, Saturday, 11 September 2010)

William Van Doren, Pavement & Pavement (Sunset from Gum Spring, Louisa County, Va.) Oil on watercolor block, 13 x 19.

Clouds over Interstate 64. A question is, which of the two roads was I traveling?

Current Balance (Sunset/Twilight, Friday, 10 September 2010)

William Van Doren, Current Balance (Sunset/Twilight from Stony Point, Albemarle County, Va.) Oil on watercolor block, 13 x 19.