I have risen from the grave to give you a story about Valentin. Thank you for being patient with me, and I hope you enjoy it!
And yes. There will be more :D
Normally, a park wasn’t the sort of place Valentin went to draw. Usually they were far too crowded for his liking, and he was s=constantly being bombarded with ridiculous questions. “Are you drawing me?”, “May I see your other drawings?”, “Do you do landscapes?”, “My great aunt has been dying to get her portrait done!”...it was a nightmare.
Yet, today he felt compelled to go there. He sat in a shaded area nearby a group of children playing. He couldn’t help but smile at their giddy laughter; it sounded like they were playing pretend. The boys were being brave soldiers, while the girls acted the part of their patient wives. Well, all but one girl, who seemed rather focused on her drawing.
She seems like an interesting subject…
As he drew her, he wished he could see what she was drawing. It was funny, the way her eyebrows knit together. His mother had told him that that he’d had a habit of making odd faces when he drew. She’d taken a picture once...the little girl looked amazingly like he did…
His thoughts came to a sudden halt as she looked up, making eye contact with him. Looking at her from the front...the resemblance was striking. She took a quick look around before getting up and walking over to him.
“Are you drawing too?” she asked, peeking over his arm. Valentin smiled, moving his arm out of the way. “Mmhmm. I was drawing you, actually.” He nodded at her sketchbook. “And you?”
She grinned as she opened up the book to show him. “Flowers! Just small stuff, though…” she replied, a hint of disappointment in her voice. Valentin chuckled. “Well, every artist has to start small.”
She smiled, then held out her hand. “My name is Hannah! What’s yours?”
He shook her hand. “I’m Valentin.”
“Like the holiday, kind of?”
Val smiled. “Yes, just like it! Now, I have a question for you.” he said, leaning towards her. “May I continue my drawing of you? Now that you’re over here?” he asked, whispering to her. Hannah giggled, leaning closer to whisper as well. “Only if you let me practice drawing you!”
Valentin squinted, a grin forming on his face.
“Deal.”
After some quick planning on who was going to sit where, Val finally started working on her portrait. He was glad to know he wasn’t completely crazy so far...Miss Hannah had a lot of similar features to him; her eye shaped, hair color ears, even the slight curling in her hair. The real question was who her mother was. He had always been cautious about who he’d had sex with, even more so when it came to preventing…”bastards”.
The word felt like a cold, hard lump in his chest. Too many people had called him a bastard in the past...used it like it was his god-given name. If this girl was his…
He needed to know.
“HANNAH! IT’S TIME TO LEAVE!”
Hannah’s head shot up from her notebook. “Aw...but I wasn’t finished…”
The woman who called her walked over. “Miss Hannah, it’s time to-OH! I’m so sorry, was she bothering you, sir?”
Valentin smiled, shaking his head. “No, hardly. We were just having a friendly talk, artist to artist.”
Hannah beamed, blushing a little as she grinned ear to ear. “I’m an artist!”
The woman gave her a shallow smile. “Yes, well...please give the kind gentleman your thanks.”
She thanked him and waved goodbye. The moment they were out of sight, he made his way back to his apartment.
Valentin Fischer’s “white noise / black calm” at Supersonic Art Gallery.
Above is a little sneak peek at German artist Valentin Fischer’s solo exhibition opening on Thursday, March 30th, 2017 at Supersonic Art Gallery entitled “white noise / black calm.”
The exhibition will feature 10 new paintings in Fischer’s brooding and expressive style, each offering their own visual history for one to ponder and search through.
Purchasing inquiries should be made to [email protected], be sure to sign up for Supersonic Art Gallery’s newsletter as well, to learn when the show has gone live.
Sneak peek at a new painting by Valentin Fischer for our upcoming David Lynch art show, coming to SPOKE NYC April 2017.
To receive advanced notice regarding this show, simply email us at [email protected]
