Together We Shall Find Our Home
“Gather up
All the lost souls
That wander this earth
All the ones that are alone
All the ones that are broken
All the ones that never really fitted in
I shall gather them all up
And together we shall find our home”
Whenever I read this poem written by Athey Thompson I think about my painting, “Long Forgotten”. I have always loved this painting and the way it turned out. I am proud of the way I painted the reflection and of the way I was able to successfully convey an emotion on an inanimate object. I am also happy that this particular painting sparked a series of vintage toy paintings of which I am very proud.
But the tiny toy elephant that was my reference for this piece, sitting alone and long forgotten in the corner of a room, has always made me feel sad. I know it might sound silly, but I have always felt that forgotten toys have “feelings” of sadness once they are abandoned and no longer played with. That’s why I wrote the following description when I completed this painting.
“The reference photo for this piece was one of our grandson's pull toys. He had long outgrown it, so the poor little elephant sat forgotten in a corner . . . abandoned for other big boy toys. I turned his little elephant smile upside down because he has now been outgrown and left behind.”
Maybe that is why I feel like this poem could very well speak to all the little toys that are now broken, abandoned and all alone . . . no longer “fitting in”.
“I shall gather them all up
And together we shall find our home”
Even if it is only in a series of vintage toy paintings.
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