Hopes and Hearts Adrift

The subject of Seafaring Heart stares impassively, her mind absorbed in a world none of us can see. Her look is classic enough, a 1920’s bob haircut and a dark, nondescript dress accentuated by a green bow; in expression, however, she is the anti-Mona, mouth and eyes conveying neither mischief nor humor but only a disconcerting vacancy, leading us to wonder if we’ve even a right to be privy to the moment. This, like the path of the blood-red cardinals that flow like corpuscles from her ship brooch, past the sentry fox and into the hazy coastal horizon, is the flow of Sarah Blank’s work. The women refuse to betray their own hearts through some slip of the tongue, and yet seem to trust the artist to tell their stories for them. While in some of Sarah’s paintings, such as Wandering Heart, the theme might seem to be a childhood memory, a forbidden love, or both; in others including One Misty Morning the direction is less clear but the emotion perhaps more telling (in this case, a wistful, almost painful longing for something out of reach).

Sarah Blank can haunt us with macabre compositions the depth of which would give Edward Munch chillbumps, as in The Bear, Moth, and Ghost Wolf; she can cleverly amuse us with rich ironies, as when The Bumblebee Sisters Buy a Bird; or, given the chance, she can move us to sighs with the power of her own personal visions, as she does so capably in Heart Strings and Woodsy Things. Mostly, however, she simply inspires us to minimize our diversions while maximizing our horizons, the message of her endless ships and birds and finger-waved curls seeming to be that meaningful life is lived not along the information superhighway, but in the wild, inexhaustible possibilities of a trolley in the snow, a fox in waiting, a cryptic stare, a book. And here’s a bit of good news that might even make one of Sarah’s stoic ladies lose their sobriety: The winner of today’s giveaway will receive his or her choice of one of the following prints: Seafaring Heart, One Misty Morning or Wandering Heart. To qualify, visit www.sarahblank.etsy.com, then come back here to tell us about your favorite print. Tell us in a second post if you happen to subscribe to Wishing Willow, since our subscribers receive an extra entry in the contest. To post without a Google account, just click “anonymous.” Be sure to also leave your email address. The winner will be chosen randomly. Contest ends 11/27/08.

**We have a winner! Deb who said, "So unique and evocative!! I really like The Bumblebee Sisters Buy A Bird. Adorable!!"**