FLAMING JUNE

Dear Sisters,
Back from a moment by the sea in The Hague where I went for summer singing lessons. 5 days, and lunchtimes free for dipping in the sea, floating facing upwards and singing, and hearing the rush of the waves while the sun dries your clothes because I went swimming in underwear (this being an impulsive thing, the warmth and the waves, it was hard to resist).....then spending the rest of the day with wet underwear in a cold concrete church listening to others sing and even getting up and singing oneself. Many things were seen and heard and I have come home very happy. I have seen some courageous people waylay their boundaries, open up, and even can count myself among them.

One day I went to the Haags Gemeentemuseum to finally meet Flaming June. As you may remember our mother has a picture in sepia-tone of her, and recently the picture has been living in my bedroom. I was eager to see the colours in real. Nothing could have prepared me for it since the painting is so resplendent in colour and texture and so different from any reproduction I have seen. This here is a scan of the postcard I bought. The dark bit to the right is actually an intense deep aqua-blue. Frederic Leighton stands a mile above the rest of the Pre-Raphaelites in this show. And for me this was not only because of the painterly know-how but also because of the proportions (notice how it looks as if it is a squat rectangle but in fact it is a perfect square) and the way the narrative is not overtly present, but inherently so: it practically breathes off the canvas.

It blew me away.
Enjoy it too. She normally lives in Puerto Rico.
S2