Francois Aleta,

encre sur papier, 11 x 18 cm

Paris, 2010

copyright vanessa briggs 2009.

drawings, pencil on paper, 7 inches x 5 inches.
Potlatch, Nulato, Alaska, 2007.
These drawings are not for sale.No reproduction authorized.

These drawings are not for sale.No reproduction authorized.

As it rains and pours as usual over Seattle, I must say for the second time in 5 weeks, a car driver has stopped and offered me an umbrella. Last time, not only did he stop, but he parked his car, walked under the rain and came to make sure we would take it. This wasn’t on a slow road but on a fast main street… As I think over these six years in Seattle, I remember taking the number 7 bus downtown for the first time that 6 years ago, and crying a tear as the bus stopped and waited 5 minutes to let a wheel chair get up on the bus. Nobody was impatient, nobody got mad about how long it was taking, actually everybody got up to help and tie the wheel chair to the seat. Tonight at the 2 grocery stores I went to, I saw the same blind woman being helped with her cart to find produce by the staff. Tonight in Seattle, I feel happy and grateful. I love America. 9 years ago when my son was born in Paris, I couldn’t even take the metro with a stroller because strollers and wheelchairs are illegal on the Paris metro or bus lines. My life had shrunk to a few blocks. My grandmother couldn’t take an elevator to get to the train because they had no accessible elevators for elders or handicapped people. Six years ago, as I left the north of France, the movie projectionist of Le Fresnoy, Florian, talking about Americans said they were like Buddhist children with guns…I guess I do love Americans…still thinking about what that really means.

This is not finished, but the idea is (see blog post about Bush and his theory about Sun Rising and optimism ).

to do 4 portraits at Sunset, maybe it is a form of resistance, not quite sure, but perhaps just to balance things, keep the energy at the right level…at least try.

I am also working on 3 oil paintings 72 x 60 inches about dusk…more later.

Dead Fish, Pencil on paper, 8.5 x 11 inches.
Grayland, Washington State, USA.

11 Drawings.