The task was to find a painting I wasn't familiar with, and then create a story around it. The idea is to take the image as a snapshot or a single still from a film. Then you start asking questions like "What lead to the moment? How is the person feeling? What's going to happen next?".
The painting I chose was Wanderer Above the Sea of Fog by CD Friedrich.
Working simply from the image, and without reading any of the analysis of this painting, I came up with the following story ideas.
Setting 1830s, Robert, a Scottish laird, out walking, trying to lose himself, contemplating his life, make sense of it. He is considering the option of throwing himself off the rocks.
He had been married for 4 years, and his wife, Lizzie, died in childbirth, mother and baby dead.
Setting 1830s, Robert, a Scottish laird, out walking, trying to lose himself, contemplating his life, make sense of it. He is considering the option of throwing himself off the rocks.
He had been married for 4 years, and his wife, Lizzie, died in childbirth, mother and baby dead.
His emotions reflect the blackness and greyness of the painting. He has climbed from darkest black, through the white fog, and is now standing in the clear air
The only sound is a mistle thrush singing in a minor key. It is a winter visitor in to these high hills. It's song is disjointed, halting, and seems to speaking of loss and sadness, but expressed in such crystal clear tones. Perhaps like this bird, he could be a visitor in this place of darkness and shadows. Perhaps he could be a visitor in the land of the shadow of death.
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I started writing and ended up in floods of tears thinking about the depth of his pain. I will write the story, but not today. I need a little bit of time to let it sit.
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I started writing and ended up in floods of tears thinking about the depth of his pain. I will write the story, but not today. I need a little bit of time to let it sit.
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