Goldenrod
Everybody's got a laughing place
A laughing place to go
Take a frown, turn it upside down
And you'll find yours we know
Those are part of the lyrics from "Everybody's Got a Laughing Place" which
was in the Walt Disney movie, "Song of the South." And the thoughts it
contains have served me well. Its influence, in fact, has caused me to pass
on the same idea to others.
So, what's a "laughing place"? It's those locales and situations where
suddenly your concerns and anxieties seem to "melt away." The impact is so
strong that you don't even have to be physically there. Instead, when you
simply take a deep breath and think about the place, you get a refreshing
moment of relaxation.
For about 15 years, my "laughing place" has been the Blue Ridge Parkway in North
Carolina. More specifically, it has been slowly driving on the winding road with my
wife next to me. And we were doing exactly that in the fall of 2013. The sky was
crystal blue with a few clouds beginning to develop. There was a slight breeze
blowing which was lightly moving the leaves that were showing their autumn colors.
As we crested one hill, my wife called my attention to a barn and said it might be
a possible painting (she has a better feel for my artwork than I do sometimes). I
stopped the car, walked into the adjacent field and took several photos for
reference. When I got back into the car, I started to sneeze and couldn't stop.
The field in which I'd walked was completely filled with Goldenrod and its infamous
friend Rag Weed. But since I was in my "laughing place", the allergy attack which
followed just didn't matter.
The original of "Goldenrod" is a watercolor on 20 x 10 , 140 lb cold press paper
mounted on a cradled panel using archival materials and the painting has been
coated with an acrylic varnish. The painting is copyrighted by Gerry Grimes, the
artist. He retains all rights regarding any form of copies and/or reproductions
regardless of the ownership of the original by others.
A few giclee prints are available.
