Squiggles

[poliphilo]

I dreamed we were restoring a painting. It was a post-impressionist painting- the portrait of a middle-aged man with a beard- probably a self-portrait of the artist. It wasn't as radical or vibrant as a Van Gogh, but the brushwork somewhat resembled his. In the background there were hills with squiggles on them- very expressive- only a lot of the squiggles were missing. The task of us restorers was to paint them back in. My mentor showed me how to do it. Her squiggles were elegant and eloquent. Then she handed me the brush; my squiggles were blotchy and blobby and she wasn't at all impressed. "Perhaps the artist never meant for there to be so many squiggles," I said.