On my living room wall, in sharp contrast with the O’Keefe and the Monet, rests a contour drawing of a female nude. Mere ink lines of both art and memory.
Patrice Birdsall created the drawing in 1974, the year we married.
In continuous-line drawing, you look at both subject and paper, and move your pen to create your subject’s silhouette.
Contour is a basis for all types of drawing. In the hands of the talented like Patrice, the results deliver visual delight.
Patrice and I had two sons together – Aaron and Bennett – and were married 11 years. Regrettably, not once did I encourage her to express her love of art.
Patrice died a few years back and I inherited much of her artwork. But it was only on this – the contour nude – that I spent $300 to have mounted and framed.
Bennett has a companion nude in his San Antonio home, yet he kindly refused my offer of Patrice’s contour nude.
He must have realized how essential it was for me to keep it, this silhouetted remnant of the heart.
What a lovely story. Thank you.