Tadeusz Deręgowski

Monday, October 31, 2022

Ponta das Canas: rocks

Ponta das Canas: rocks, watercolour on paper, 35.7 x 28 cm

Ponta das Canas: rocks- detail

Sunday, October 30, 2022

My walk to the sea around 10 am, Tuesday 25 October, 2022: part 2 / 4

My walk to the sea, part 2 / 4

In this second set, the streets become more urban, a little desolate even, and I feel a disconnect with the others I pass. There are few cars: there is absence and unease. I pass blocks inhabited by the unseen. Just the presence of abandoned objects gives some sort of clue.

Street with a strange feel.

When I say strange here, I mean I feel as if it is full of "presences". I do mean than in a supernatural sense- like ghosts or the traces of previous pedestrians. I sense something malign here.

Peculiar looking fellow holding flower, basket

I can't say what this man is up to. The flower basket beside the blue wall is typical Canasvieiras: that is, yet another object found lying aimlessly by the side of the road. There are so many such items -mainly abandoned pieces of furniture but also odd bits of clothing (something I find unpleasant, disturbing even) - that one can't help but feel that something is going on.

Eruption on a pavement

The pavement has begun to disintegrate. I don't know how it has happened. It doesn't seem to be disintegrating in a way that suggests normal usage. It looks as if someone has tried to hack it up. But what is it with those pieces of tarmac?

Hole in a perimeter wooden fence

I love this peeping through thing. Who in all truthfulness can deny that they also love an occasional peep? But they, those within are inviting it. Why? Why construct a wooden fence of solid pieces then cut a little hole in it like this? Why do they want me to peep? They want to be seen but not to see the seer.

I don't understand.

10.

A man repairing the fence of a block, a concrete mixer/cannon in the courtyard behind

There is a fine cannon in a de Chirico painting, The Philosopher`s Conquest, in Chicago.

Wednesday, October 26, 2022

My walk to the sea, around 10 am, Tuesday 25 October, 2022: part 1 / 4

My walk to the sea, part 1 / 4

Circa 10 am, Tuesday, 25 October 2022: I was feeling quite well, quite relaxed I'd say, for no particular reason.

I had, however, begun the day in a mood of moderate irritation- thankfully, somehow, that passed.

I made a decision to follow world events- principally in Ukraine and Russia, but also in China, less closely, as these events have been making me feel anxious and are, besides, beyond my control. I`ll still watch the news, but I`m standing back.

I drank four cups of coffee and resolved to begin this little photo- writing project.

It`s a project showing pictures taken on a walk from my place to the sea, through Canasvieiras, a resort on the north of the Island of Santa Catarina.

Empty street with, shadows, motorcycle, car, wall, sky, unruly trees

This is one of those streets you find yourself walking quite briskly down. It seems more natural to walk in the middle of the road, for some reason. You'll never see another person here. The trees have been left to follow their own desires. It all feels rather abandoned but not unpleasantly so.

Smallish twig

Some twigs I feel drawn to pick up: not this one. I looked closely and found something unappealing, even distasteful, about it. Perhaps I felt, unconsciously, that I might get some kind of disease from it. In addition, I don't like rough tarmac like this. It isn't a nice surface on which to find things. Maybe if I had seen the twig on a smooth, more appealing surface I'd have been more attracted to the idea of picking it up.

Front lawn with two balls. Extensive cloud.

I never see people here. There are two balls. Maybe the residents come at out night and play and obscure game with two footballs? Who knows?

An accumulation of twigs and other natural litter that has accumulated at the base of a harled wall.

Again, there is something about this I find disturbing, chaotic.

A woman with a baby, two cars, a dog and another pedestrian. Also, a large tree.

I do not know why but I more often see women in this network of streets than men. They are usually between twenty-five and fifty. Many are walking dogs.

I don`t know if the lady is the owner of the dog or the baby.

Tuesday, October 25, 2022

Bay leaf

One thing I like about the Bay leaf is how archetypally leaf-like it is, as if designed to represent a generic leaf.

This almond shape is very pleasing, as is the way it is crossed by a soft s-curving stem. The colour is lovely, a faint olive green. The leaf is a bit pliable but yet is brittle too. If you bend the leaf far enough it will snap satisfyingly into pieces.

There is also something a little sad about it which I also find appealing, though I am not sure why.

Might a feeling of pity engage one positively with an object? Is it because, with pity, I feel more powerful?