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The Elegies came at a time of loss, after the death of my husband, Wayne. I felt so vulnerable then that I recoiled from the demands of color. Only black felt safe, its shadows inviting. As I brushed black paint across my papers, it settled into patterns of gray that I could inhabit – tonal, mystical and quiet. They seemed to open to the realm of Spirit. Images I did not plan or anticipate came into being, some suggesting angels, some a process of dissolution or dispersion. Ashes, smoke and feathers, certain empty landscapes. At times, the addition of blue further disembodied the grays and blacks.
Work on the Elegies pushed me into new visual territory. Some of the repetitive elements I had used gave way to large areas of unconstrained paint, giving watercolor’s natural flow a stronger “voice” in the compositions.
About a year later, inner demands brought an end to this series. Without willing it, I was called forward to the solace of blue-greens.
-Dara Mark