We wove around the Old Ragsdale Building
Among and in
And like ants on the way to the fried chicken from The Pig at a picnic
We were searching for
Around a million different ways to see a world.
Hanging displayed sitting displayed whispering shouting
Every piece at a different pitch
Perfect for its medium.
But I was there for Agnes . And I was there for Agnes’ child.
A life can take up a whole back wall of a tobacco building in its telling,
And still leave out whole parts. How many panels does it take to capture fully
Close to ninety years.
Like a camera, painter artist daughter friend
Makes permanent a life.
Elegance and wit wind around the strokes color, pigmentation teaches in tones of peach.
Stand back and breathe in, a girl becomes a wise matriarch
Just paces down the old brick sits
An anteater eating of all things a colony of gigantic ants beside voter registration.
This is Artfields and this is what they do, documentarians of our lives,
One studied nine breasts, documenting differences.
But I was there for Agnes and “All The In Between.”
To see a hundred ways to see a world,
Yes,
But driving all this way to know the love of one,
Daughter for her dying mom.
Agnes would laugh at her juxtaposition of a life,
So close to
Well an anteater. And I know because I know
The Artist.
And the ways she sees all the in between,
The panels of a life.
++++++++++++++++++++++
To discover more of my friend and her work, visit lauriemcintoshstudio dot com. And pick up her book Agnes’ life “All The In Between – My Story of Agnes” (Amazon, Barnes and Noble and at MuddyFordPress.com )
Elizabeth,
This is really so incredible. Your medium of words, characters, punctuation and prose, creates such beautiful images.
Thank you. I am so honored by this.
Love you… Laurie
Laurie McIntosh 2859 Gervais St. Columbia, SC 29204 803.319.2223 Vista Studios #6 LaurieMcIntoshStudio.com
Well I am smiling my humble smile of gratitude. It is hard to write of such an intensely moving piece of creativity, love magnified and manifested. So proud to call you friend.
Wish I had been there. Having known and loved Agnes, knowing and loving her daughters and seeing some of her in each one, I love reading this beautiful depiction.
Susan, thank you for stopping by and for staying long enough to leave these words of encouragement. I am grateful. This work in real life on the brick background was stunning.
So lovely. So proud of Laurie Brownell McIntosh — and of Agnes.
Cynthia, your visit here is gift. Grateful for your words of encouragement. I am honored to know Laurie. I do wish I has known Agnes. But Laurie has taken on her role of a story/teller/artist. And because of her work, I do now know Agnes. A bit. The exhibit slayed me, in a good kind of slaying way 🙂