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.

‘Sinister Kid’ Sunset, Wednesday, 4 August 2010

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

This was one of the craziest sunsets I can remember. Fifteen minutes earlier we were drowning in a violent thunderstorm and heavy downpours. Just at sunset, with rain and lightning still happening here in the foreground, the horizon lifted. I had a difficult time believing it, much less facing how to handle it.

I needed music. The I-Ching (iPod) was obliging, starting me with Van Morrison’s “Tore Down à la Rimbaud,” which pretty much describes my psychological starting point. Next, “Smoky Places” by The Corsairs – exactly. By the time I was finishing and signing, “Sinister Kid” by The Black Keys was somehow really the signature for the piece, not in a literal way, but better, in the energy.

Then, while wrapping up, it was nice to have Clarence Carter, “Slip Away” ...