Whenever You Can, Dance On The Tables
acrylics on canvas
81 x 65 cm
2020
sold // now 150 € (orig. 250 €)
(incl. VAT 10% for European customers)
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life is too short
for being just cautious
no-one has time to be
always reasonable -
so take off your shoes
take off your fears
shake off your tears
and as a general rule, whenever you can
do dance
on the tables:
no-one has time
to mind their step so
that their feet
never leave the ground
// KV
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This painting seemed to want a very specific kind of a rhythm and playfulness. I allowed my mind wander with it, following the swirls and turns of the colours.
While painting, a memory floated into my mind - I remembered a photo I had recently seen in a magazine. There was an article about the home of a family who was said to love the “beautiful edges of life”; like, beauty in the unexpected. The photo was from their kitchen. What caught my eye was this metal sign on the counter. It said: “No Dancing - Except On Tables”.
I absolutely loved the thought. What an attitude towards life! True, I think that outside of the kitchen it’s quite fine to dance whenever you want, but - that in the kitchen it’s only on tables.
The feeling associated to that sentence kept swirling in my mind. There’s playfulness in it, a specific appreciation of happiness - a determination to rise into brightness whenever you can.
Forgetting yourself in a positive way is a skill. To dance on a table feels to me like a symbol of a commitment to joy - and I loved the idea.
So I embraced it, and allowed it to settle on the swirls of this painting.