A Thousand Words: A New Series
Short stories imagined from a painted scene
I often find myself gazing at paintings and imagining a story around it; what preceded the captured image, what ensued it and what the subjects are feeling in the petrified moment on the canvas.
This small act of imagination sparked an idea: Imagine, I thought, a series of short stories creating the drama around famous paintings. In each one an iconic image would be brought to life as if the painting were merely a film that had been live paused. I sat with the idea, and then put it to the test with a piece that is blue tacked to my wall: Room In New York by Edward Hopper.
The scene focuses on a couple sitting apart, captured through an open window in the warm light of domesticity. The man reads his paper whilst the woman tentatively plays a key on the piano: Are they going out or coming in? The man and women’s faces are essentially featureless, like unfinished clay figures, and yet their postures and their body language speaks for itself.
When I look at the painting, I see alienation. There has been a conflict earlier on in the night, patched up for the sake of civility but still bubbling beneath the surface and waiting to erupt all over again. The woman was wounded by a comment her husband made, and his pride will not let him back down or apologise. Yes, they are lovers, I have never been in any doubt about that. Where did they go? What did he say? Will they reconcile? These are the questions and impressions which will inspire each week’s story.
I have decided to title the series A Thousand Words, an arguably predictable play on the saying “A picture paints a thousand words”. Whether or not I will stick to that limit is yet to be decided. I wrote this short announcement to tie my own hands and force a commitment to this project- too often I have allowed ideas to perish stillborn, partly from laziness and partly from fear of rejection. Hopefully this idea inspires some interest.
The first instalment will be inspired by Hoppers Room In New York as discussed above, and if all goes to plan, will be published in a week.
