FRESH-The Coffee Mound

Rather than staying with my exhibit of sketchbooks at FRESH, I returned again and again to the main show space to sketch the performers. In this performance, TinTin danced on the mound becoming more and more a part of the earth. He then dug into the earth, essentially resurrecting his dancing partner, Ashley Kroft. She gracefully rose up, spreading her arms towards the sky. Their dance then became an erotically charged dance of embraces, painful separations and joyful reunions. They both embrace the earth, and share it with each other. They rub the coffee scented earth into each other’s skin. It would be awesome if Starbucks would embrace this celebration of coffee by bringing this dance to the center of its coffee shops. I am certain they would sell more coffee.
I am writing this post from the Himalayan Institute in Honesdale, Pennsylvania. Gentle new age music is playing as I enjoy my morning coffee. The music perfectly brings back impressions and feelings I had while watching the FRESH performance. I feel at peace although I am here, to do one last portrait of my stepmother who is losing her battle with cancer. I visited her yesterday and she is a frail fraction of the woman she was. This portrait is the most important sketch I will do in some time. It is time to pack up my supplies and get to the hospital. I approach this new found day buzzing with hope and faith. I do not want to waste a minute.