I don't believe in coincidence.
To me, Co-Incidence (an unlikely meeting between two
incidents) is a phenomenon which is much more interesting
and, yes, mysterious, than the purely rationalist dismissal
of it. But, rest assured, I'm not going to launch into
mumbojumble. The story itself is good enough.
On December
23, 2009 I wrote about and posted a photo here
of a portrait I'd painted in 1981 of Rennie Walker . In my
memory, as I wrote Rennie (who had suddenly contacted
me, wondering what happened to it) I had painted
over it and it was gone forever, apart from a small
snapshot of him sitting beside the work-in-progress.
Feeling sad and guilty about the loss, I sent Rennie
a digital re-working of the portrait that I did from
that snapshot. I thought that was the end of the
story.
Never
trust memory: it often invents things when it
can't remember the facts.
Late last
night, I was looking for some frames in a crowded
closet in my studio. I opened a large container that
I hadn't touched since I moved to my present home about
seventeen years ago. Inside it, amongst various other
things, was a tall (4'
x 5') rolled-up canvas. Curious to know what it was,
I immediately unrolled it and....the
lost portrait of Rennie Walker! Fresh as the day it was
born.
Here it is, the original, finished
painting, rediscovered. And below, the earlier stages.
Of course I instantly emailed Rennie to tell him the news. It looks like this painting has found its home.
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