Reasons to Remember

"My memory is certainly in my hands. I can remember things only if I have a pencil and I write with it and I can play with it. I think your hand concentrates for you."
- Rebecca West

Robert A. Tino: “Writer Rebecca West speaks for all artists. I’ve always known that my richest memories are present with a paintbrush in my hands. Painting helps me remember and recreate moments from my childhood and from what I’ve observed throughout my life. Art can help us find our way back to the moments we don’t want to lose. Something about this farm and this bridge has always held my attention. This mottled leaf-strewn swinging bridge connects a peaceful retreat to the rest of the world – and to our past. Don’t you find the child that you faintly recall being calling you across the bridge to come and play? It’s a powerful pull to go back to the time when collecting and hiding snails and clammy river rocks in back pockets was a good day’s work. We need this bridge to take us back. As every adult knows, as every child will learn, time only slows down long enough for us to really savor those moments in our memory. That’s why I painted this scene in autumn – astonishingly stunning because its glory is so short – just like the season of childhood. Just like these children, fishing away a fall afternoon with their dad. The way late daylight sinks into slow moving water, the chaotic pattern of oak and maple confetti on the riverbank, tiny hands in a cold stream, eyes wide with wonder as a fish rises, a soft giggle carried across the river and through time. These are the most sacred memories for us to honor and keep… our Reasons to Remember.”

Select your print type below...