Refuge 1930

Paul Klee made this strange little painting "Refuge" and it feels like such an intimate and personal world. It's all soft pinks and browns, like the whole thing's been blushed. You can almost see him layering the colours, one on top of the other, figuring it out as he goes. I imagine Klee hunched over this canvas, maybe in a quiet room, letting his mind wander. What's so great about painting is that you can think with your hands. That head, perfectly round, with those eyes staring out, like an owl. I’m thinking about the surface of the painting: it has tiny little fissures all over like it's about to crumble and turn to dust. I feel like the surface is so important, you know? It’s not just about the image but the feeling of the painting. That bird is more like a smudge that is meant to make you feel the isolation and emptiness, like Rothko, but tiny! Painters are always in conversation. They are using the same language, but it sounds a little different depending on who's speaking. So much can be communicated with uncertainty. It's a reminder that art isn't about having all the answers, but about embracing the questions.