Open Men with Wings

[Leda]

1st Day of Winter 512 Early Morning Leda had never really had much time or money to visit an Art Gallery before - somehow, there was a part of her, a part she felt had been rather too strongly instilled by her mother, that felt that Art was invariably useless and to spend valuable time looking at paintings was to mimic the lives of the idle rich in an inexcusable manner for a woman of her lack of finances. On the other hand, she could never have predicted how striking and beautiful, or even wonderfully grotesque, she found almost every sculpture, painting or carving she came across. Her Father used to say that she had a unique way of looking at the world, and she supposed it could be true. She knew other people must love beauty in the same manner she did, must feel that it alone was good enough a reason to be alive and the giddy feeling which one succumbed to while looking at it was merely a reflection that the object of attention made one feel more alive. That which she did feel was more unique was the way in which she felt that ugliness and destruction could be so anti-beauty that they became that which they seek to remove. A vision of an ugly object among a sea of other, different ugly objects was almost a testimony to life and its vices... she could not quite explain why such a sight disgusted her and took her breath away at the same time. It was at that point, passing by a wooden bust of something which seemed neither man nor woman nor human nor beast and turning to an oil painting, that she was struck dumb. The painting was not of an incredibly high standard (Even to Leda's untrained eye, this was discernible) but instead really rather new and refreshing with the quick brushstrokes making it look like the subject was moving and the painting still drying. It was very large and depicted a small clump of trees in the middle of an otherwise arid desert which took up most of the painting, white sand and light lilac skies fading into the picture frame. Without having any great knowledge of plants, the trees were ones which should not have been anywhere near a desert, and they were not what they first appeared to be for each of the trees, on closer inspection, were contorted to look like a man. Not really a man either. A creature or hybrid was perhaps a more accurate description. The trunks of the trees made up long legs, rooted into the desert ground. The tops of the trees looked like the heads, but men's heads with beaks like those of ducks, and the leaves were spread out like wings rather than arms, the brush strokes cleverly making them appear both like feathers and leaves simultaneously. Leda now saw that she was wrong to state that the painting had been made by an amateur since now she realised that the simplicity and yet the dark complexity of it could only be the work of a professional or even a master. The trees were rooted yet one was flying away - flying away without leaving the ground yet so much closer to the dark red sun in the background. A sun which appeared to her like a hole in the fragment of reality and a fragment in the painting.

[Treccho]

Treccho was pleasantly surprised at work in the art gallery, it wasn't to Akvatari standards but none the less showed great skill. He was glad to discover that the city of RiverFall was not a place devoid or art. He was hoping to see some work that used some form of textiles but was disappointed to not find even a single weaved tapestry. He wondered why most people only accept paintings and maybe sculptures made of clay or marble as art while other very legitimate art forms with great potential are often ignored.
He hovered on his wings trying his best to absorb every painting and sculpture in the gallery. He hovered into one room with a human girl looking at certain painting. He though he was the only visitor to the gallery. As much as he liked the quiet he was happy to see another art enthusiast.
He flew over to get a closer look at the painting, he was happy to know that she had good taste. She was admiring a surrealist style painting with a nice painterly feel too it. The painting stokes gave a nice energy to the work,
"Very nice painting, would you happen to be the artist?" Treccho said to the human girl.

[Leda]

Leda looked up with surprise at the unexpected voice and turned around to look at the figure near her. For many people, the sight of an Akvatari for the first time would cause them to gape for they were indeed a strange sight, but as a Svefra who had sailed the Suvan Sea right down to the Faleyk Gulf, she had come across a few in the past so no real curiosity registered on her face. The first one she met was when she was only four and the Akvatari had lost its way slightly in a storm - her family had indicated to it the direction that it should take. She smiled at the male, glad that she was not completely alone in the Art Gallery for that sort of thing made her nervous that she should not be there or she might break something. "Far from it, though I can honestly state that I wish I was. It has always been a dream of mine to be able to draw and to paint." she paused, "There is so much imagination and whimsicality about this, so much life... it looks like these creatures, men with wings made of the trees, are just about to burst off into flight and, yet, they're firmly rooted to the ground. And though, at first, it seems like quite a charming and light-hearted depiction, on closer analysis there is a strong sense of darkness and foreboding about it, in line with the red sun in the background." Leda suddenly stopped and smile, flushing slightly, "Do forgive me. I do not normally talk so much in front of a stranger. What do you think of the painting?"

[Treccho]

The girl was startled as she was probably too transfixed by the painting to notice his presence but Treccho noticed that she didn't seem startled by the fact that he was Akvatari. He had already become used to the quizzical looks people in this town gave him it was refreshing to meet someone who didn't look at him as if he were a freak.
He noticed her blue eyes and wondered if maybe she was a Svefra, it was hard to be completely certain but it would explain why she was more comfortable than most.
"oh no need to apologize, its quite alright. I can't paint ether as an Akvatari people assume all of us can but I'm more into textiles, I enjoy making three dimensional sculptures with crochet. As for my opinion on the painting I do really like the sense of whimsy too, and I see what you mean about the mood of the painting I almost feel like it gives a sense that the trees don't belong or fit in with the environment and want to escape but are unable. The trees don't look like they would naturally grow in that environment, may have been done intentionally." Treccho said
"My name is Treccho by the way, what's yours?"

[Leda]

"Leda." said she, in reply to his query, "It is a pleasure to meet you Treccho." She looked at him then past him, at the painting behind him. "Ah, that you see, is completely different, yet I would also say it concerns the same sort of subject matter." The picture she was indicating showed a large crowd, a very large crowd - packed together so that each member of the crowd looked like they were being crushed. And, in the midst of all this was a girl sitting cross-legged on the ground, a basket of warm peach yellow flowers to her left side which she seemed to have completely forgot. She had a chalk in her left hand and had drawn a door with it onto the ground, which she looked like she was about to open. The legs of the people around her looked like stilts in comparison to her small form, tall and ungainly. Leda turned back to Treccho. "Three dimensional sculptures with crochet? That sounds intriguing..."

[Treccho]

"it's a pleasure to meet you as well Leda" he said with a smile
"that's one of the things I like about abstract of surrealist art, its up for interpretation and different people can see different things.
Treccho saw that her glance had moved onto view a different painting. this one seemed a little less surreal but still just as interesting.
she turned back to him and made a comment about his work with crochet and how she found in intriguing. she wasn't completely sure if she was truly interested of if she was just being polite.
"I rather enjoy what I do, although it can be difficult convincing people that it is an art form, that practically anything can potentially be an art form. so many seem to only associate art with painting and drawing." explained Treccho
he didn't want to sound to preachy or negative so he stoped his mini rant and changed the subject.
"it seems you found another painting, what drew you to this one?"

[Leda]

"Well, that is wrong." said Leda with a smile and meaning it from the heart, "Clothing, Architecture, Sculpture, Paintings, Literature... all are forms of art. You do not have to convince me that what you do, three dimensional sculptures with crochet, is an art. I believe it whole-heartedly." "In response to your question as to what drew me. The little girl there. On first glance, she looks so lost and helpless but if we are to look a second time, she knows exactly what she is doing. She has a purpose whereas those around her do not seem to for they are going who knows where, doing who knows what, but each one has a life. There are a couple of couples in love, an old man leaning on the arm of a younger woman, perhaps his daughter or granddaughter. All of them have stories to tell and yet they all have the same faces. It reminds us that we are all pieces in a gigantic puzzle, yet we are so tiny in comparison to the big world beyond." Leda laughed, "I ramble so much that my words must come out as nothing but nonsense, which is sad really." Leda remembered that, as a child, she was always told off for rambling by her mother who judged anything of that sort unneeded and frivolous. "Are there any paintings you are drawn to?" asked she curiously, hoping that the Akvatari might reveal more about himself in the process of revealing his artistic inclinations. Leda had an insatiable curiosity to find out everything she could about other people, a terrible need to be involved with them and she found knowledge that others would consider dull and unneeded very interesting in forming an image of a person, for that was one of the many things she enjoyed - creating pictures of people.

[Treccho]

"I'm glad you think so, It must be a sad existence for those that are not open minded enough to see the beauty that is right in front of them. " Treccho responded
he could tell that she was being sincere in her beliefs and felt happy that he had found some one who understood art.
"no I like your rambling!..well not rambling, what you say is easy to understand and interesting. I love hearing different peoples perspective on artwork , so there is no need to worry." Treccho said and then smiled to assure the girl.
she asked him if there were any paintings that caught his eye. That was a good question, he hadn't really looked very much at the other paintings. He briefly scanned for paintings that caught his interest.
one painting stood out to him at first because of the colours. They were the colours of a sun set, but a little more vibrant, lots of warm oranges, and pinks but a bit of mellow purple clouds with hints of light blue sky as well. The land was dark and it was the sky that was were the colours originated from. Half of the the yellow sun was visible sinking out of sight but the moon was just starting to come out. The main attraction of the painting was the ghost like bird creature and the human women blissfully ridding on its back. The bird creature was translucent and the sunset colours could be seen through it the creature, the Women was solid but was still covered in beautiful colours. The women was laying on the bird creature as if it were her bed with her blond hair flowing in the wind. A few butterflies could be seen flying along with the women and the bird.
" I like this painting. mostly because I love sunsets but I also like the calming feeling it gives me. It seems to me shes having a wonderful dream or...sorry if this seems morbid, but that she's died and is being taken to her final resting place in the sky. A lot of my family has passed on and I like to think something like this happens after you die. that you just happily drift away to your final resting place."
Before the girl could respond he suddenly realized he had a previous engagement and had to leave right away.
"oh! sorry I'm sorry but I must leave at once I have to be else where...it was nice talking with you!" Treccho said fanatically as he literally flew out of sight