I love how life just flows. I had just finished reading Mary Norris’s Greek to Me. She tells of her Greek odyssey learning ancient and modern Greek, acting in the chorus in Euripides’ Electra and as Hecuba in Euripides’ The Trojan Women, visiting Greece itself, and finishing with her visit to Patrick Leigh Fermor’s house and beach. She even mentions Bruce Chatwin!
Then Deborah Cohen took her drawing class to The Box in downtown Los Angeles to meet with Barbara T. Smith and to see her exhibit The 21st Century Odyssey. Smith took us on her odyssey from India to Nepal, from Thailand to Australia, the United Kingdom to Germany, and finally to Norway—her roots! She was so interesting, insightful and honest—it was a joy to listen to her.
When she described the smell of a funeral pyre, I thought of Wes Anderson’s movie The Darjeerling Limited but of course the audience couldn’t smell the pyre! And seeing the flags from Nepal, reminded me of the little cult movie Hector and the Search for Happiness with Simon Pegg. And Smith’s Australian odyssey reminded me of Bruce Chatwin’s Songlines—his factual and fictional travels in Australia. Smith’s aboriginal drawing reminded me of Dianne Blake who lives in Whaletail House on King Island in Australia. I wrote to her in the summer of 2018 after seeing Grand Designs: Australia. Blake’s work is influenced by aboriginal art and she has a printing press, a modern Econo 20. Smith rented a Xerox machine many years ago—very avant garde.
Barbara T. Smith’s Aboriginal drawing
Dianne Blake Details of her work
Smith at 88 is inspirational. I think that what she did with her exhibit and her talk was very special—much more than she perhaps realizes. And I loved that she loves good art regardless of who created it! So uplifting, an odyssey to the Gods!