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Friday, April 22, 2011

"Bicycle"

It’s funny, but I was talking about bicycling this week, but let me wander to that conversation the long way...

Mary Lou, Annie (ML’s teenage daughter), and I took a drive to Akron to see the M. C. Escher exhibit. We’ve been looking forward to this for a while, and imagine our dismay when we got there and a man met us at the door to tell us the museum is closed on Mondays. Arragggghhhh!!! (I have plans to go back to the museum tomorrow, so maybe I can tell you about the exhibit in a later post.)

I thought about writing about our misadventures for the day because it all seemed really funny at the time, but less funny when I tried writing about it. There was the part where we drove the wrong way on a one-way street, for which ML claims we share 50/50 responsibility since she was driving and I was a faulty navigator. We also saw a water tower rising above the tree line through mist and rain which looked like a UFO coming in for a landing with a sign “Space Available” in the foreground. Maybe you just had to be there?

Anyway, since it was raining and cold and there wasn’t much else to do, we took the scenic route home, which led us past the polo fields, and that’s where we get to “bicycle” because I used to ride my bike to the polo field when I was a teenager, and it was especially fun for me to remember my 16-yr-old self with Annie in the car. I can’t imagine her riding her bike 20 miles round trip, up and down very steep hills, no matter how cute the guys were on the other end of the journey.

ML pointed out that I’ve always had a thing for men in tights. Yeah, Mikhail Baryshnikov set my heart aflutter at that age too. Maybe ML is right? I could write about the relative merits of uniforms and my interest in the corresponding sports, but seems like I got in enough trouble recently for talking about Harold’s swimsuit, even though nothing sexy happened in the Bahamas. Nothing sexy happened at the polo field either. I’m just saying that my teenaged self was so motivated by the sight of men in tights on ponies I rode my bike 20 difficult miles. Oh, and maybe the cucumber sandwiches too. They treated people very well at the polo field.

Cleveland isn't noted for snobby, highfaluting activities like polo. We’re better known for defunct steel mills and a burning river, but there’s a lot of money around here too. Of course I never had any of that money, but that didn’t mean I couldn’t enjoy some of its afterglow. I packed my best clothes and sunhat onto my bike and showed up with a bright smile and impeccable manners. I learned to pack an umbrella too. Not for potential rain. It was a modern parasol to protect my ever-so-white skin that was only protected at polo. Nobody there needed to know that everything about my presentation was a lie, and I was a poor kid raised in the wild woods. I learned to avoid conversations about attending public school and ate another cucumber sandwich while my favorite old guy explained the finer points of polo strategy, and the rich boys in tights smacked the ball around, or maybe each other, and my innocent lusts were satisfied.

When all was said and done, I changed back into my shorts and t-shirt, packed up the nice clothes, got back on my bike, and started riding home. A long, long ride home, which seemed to be entirely uphill.

Would it have been better to write about bicycling to church? I did that too. The door was never locked, and I used to play hymns on the piano. I liked to pray in the sanctuary by myself and see stained glass in the evening sun. Yeah, forgive us our sins for lusting after men in tights!

This is old art again. I’ve been in my archives searching for the muse of my younger self. This was a self portrait I did in college based on a photo my roommate took of me. I posted an illustration of a tricycle a couple weeks ago, and painting a bike seemed redundant. Besides, this picture reminds me of the false front I presented at the polo field. Or is it really a false front? Part of me is the girl in the picture… with skinned knees :)

40 comments:

  1. Very sweet story and a beautiful illustration. Wonderful technique. Paint? Ink? Whatever the medium, it's very cool.

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  2. Thanks! #2 pencil on illustration board. I forgot to mention that this piece got in a car accident on the way home from a printer. The guy who had the accident didn't want to mess it up further, so he handed it back to me in a crumpled mess on the top, especially top right corner. Thankfully it was printed before the car accident. I stripped the backing of the illustration board and flattened it out again. I could fix the damaged area in PhotoShop, but I kind of like it as is because it has a story to tell too :)

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  3. You really look very sophisticated, exactly fitting the polo environment.
    How lucky we are with tastes changing over time.

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  4. I learn more about your younger life with each post Linda...it sounds like you had great fun.Your exploits make me smile every time. Memories are great to re explore and we also realise just how much we have done in this shortish life we have.I love the polo story and love the artwork....there is great sophistication there even with the skinned knees ;0)
    Happy Easter,
    Jane x

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  5. A little gift... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bdprv6iwCSA

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  6. what a beautiful illustration, absolutely lovely. And your stories are always great! :D

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  7. This is a beauty, Linda...your Muse was happy back then it seems. And your storytelling is *such* a joy...you could be writing short stories for magazines without breaking a sweat, I suspect! I'll write more soon, promise. Susan

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  8. Linda, it's such fun that you share these tales from younger days along with the art that prompts it! Yeah, I love that space was available on that ufo- like water tower! I also put many miles on my bike, before the days of crazy friends, cars and other more "mature" concerns put those wheels temporarily to rest! Let the good times keep on rollin'! :o)

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  9. Thanks everybody! Thanks for making me laugh too Rand! I have thought about writing articles for magazines, I just don't know which magazines would print my kind of rememberings. It's been a long time since I've on a bike, and I know I couldn't do 20 miles any more!

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  10. Your illustration takes me back to the more elegant, sophisticated years. It's absolutely breathtaking! I thought it was ink wash and was surprised to learn that it's pencil. Aaaah, men in tights....yes......mmm....:)

    Happy Easter!

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  11. That is such an elegant drawing, Linda. I'm amazed at the quality of lights you've captured in it. And thank you for sharing your story, it was such a refreshing read. :)

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  12. Thanks for the comments! Ink wash sounds like it would be somewhat less laborious than pencil, but sometimes I like getting absorbed in things. Zen :)

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  13. I rode everywhere on my bicycle when I was a child and teenager. If you wanted to go anywhere you got on your bike and went (and without a helmet). I still like to go for bike rides, although I'm much more cautious as an adult. Even though I loved it as a child, I never let my kids take off on bike adventures, which is kind of sad. It seems like we had a lot more freedom and parents' didn't worry so much.
    Enjoyed reading some of your previous posts!

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  14. I liked reading about your bicycle adventures.. highfalutin' and otherwise :)
    Great portrait!

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  15. I totally agree Jane, but I also suspect kids will always find ways to play. I'm less sure how to make parents worry less.

    Thanks Elizabeth :)

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  16. Oh my, you look quite the sophisticate in your portrait! Wonderful tale and great image to match! :)

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  17. Really enjoyed reading this post...I hung out at the Polo fields too as my 16 year old self. Even dated one of the players, but not because of how he looked in his breeches. In hindsight it had more to do with the horses I think. I like the images created by your false-front self.

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  18. I think I'm the only female who isn't in love with horses, which makes it all the more ironic that I worked so hard to go to polo :) Thanks for the comments!

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  19. I don't know....enough is enough as far as bicycle pictures go, and I very much enjoyed your narrative about your younger bike-riding days, and your lusting after boys in tights. Very funny. I didn't know polo players wore tights, but then I can't say as I ever saw any polo players. I spent my adolescence riding my horse around the county backroads, a lot of the time pretending I was in England, on a hunt, or rather, anywhere but in Kansas.

    It's a rather stunning portrait.

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  20. Thanks Theresa! I think polo players probably call their outfits breeches like Jennifer said, but it's all the same to me. lol

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  21. Hey Linda! You are so entertaining!You really do belong in magazines...or at least your writing does :o) I used to bike about 20 miles at a crack too... not anymore though... my tights got too tight! Another humorous and enlightening post Linda. You cetainly have lived an interesting life....so far. (much more to come) Hey thanks for stopping by!

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  22. Hi Linda, love your polo story, really made me smile. Unfortunately no polo players even in a 20 mile radius for me, but had there been might just have been incentive enough for me to get on my bike:D. Also love your image, can't believe its all done in pencil, WOW.

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  23. Thanks for the comments! I can't remember how long this piece took, I just know it took a LONG time. I never did another piece this big or complicated in pencil.

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  24. the shapes and dance of the hat and feather keep me riveted...
    It really seems to be of it's time stylistically, and sadly the form approach of the headdress is lacking in a lot contemporary pieces.
    nice to see.

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  25. What a beautiful drawing. I love the contrast between the massive shapes of the hair and background against the delicate shades throughout. The softness yet clarity of your rendering is really fantastic.

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  26. I used to ride my bike everywhere too as a teenager but I never went anywhere as fancy as you, great story and so much better to hear this story than if you recycled your other painting just to fit the theme, thanks for sharing!

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  27. Ahh the lustful Linda strikes again :) Never having had a thing for men in tights I can only imagine what those heady polo days might have been like.

    Hey what a wonderfulgreatsuperbmasterful painting that is. Those luscious folds of fabric, and a beautiful subject I see. Nicely cropped she is!

    Hey you are a good writer. I like how you left us hanging there, wondering where the pushbike fitted in :)

    sorry to be late.
    Better late than early, that's what I always say (when I am late, when I am early I say something different)

    see you :)

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  28. Thanks Andrew! You always make me smile!

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  29. oooooo, I love this Linda. It is beautiful and so nicely done. I am sorry that it was damaged but you cannot tell from this image. It looks pristine. I really love the hat and feather, they are wonderful. :)

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  30. Beautiful illustration - high falutin' as it is.

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  31. Fantastic! I love the soft light filtering onto her face and shirt.

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  32. Hey Linda, no resting on those Laurels - we don't want flat laurels do we :)

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  33. Thanks everyone! I'll try to avoid flat laurels :)

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  34. Everyone's nailed it! Not much to add, but I'm with everyone above! you're illos and words are wonderfully married and such great reads. Thank you for sharing! And as always, thank you for visiting and commenting on my blog.

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  35. Absolutely wonderful! You're truly gifted!!

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  36. Thanks! And if anyone is looking for quick jokes, Tame Lion's site is fun :)

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