It’s like a switch went off last week. Even with the late Labor Day weekend, it felt lighter in town. There were fewer cars and people, no long lines everywhere. Everyone I spoke with said the same thing, that life felt easier.
Cooler temperatures helped, too, and a few rainy days. It was good to be inside doing some projects I had been happy to put off while it was hot, when keeping the garden watered seemed like an endless task. I cleaned my refrigerator and kitchen cabinets, a big improvement, and it’s actually possible to find things.
Harriet Bernstein has installed a 4- by 10-foot painting at the Chilmark library, her exhibition for the month of September. It was begun at an artist’s retreat Harriet took several years ago. She wanted to loosen up, as most of us do, and the experience of working on a large format was freeing. I saw her working in her studio, re-examining this large work, adding to and subtracting from, bringing fresh eyes to that earlier start. I can’t wait to head to Chilmark to see it hanging, with room to step back, step up close, to examine in all detail.
I was sad and surprised to learn that Trippy Barnes had died. Trip seemed eternal, and I never questioned that he would be here forever. He did look a little older, and a little tired the last time I saw him, but his voice was strong, his laugh was hearty, and his eyes sparkled as they always did.
Barnes Trucking was recommended to me when I moved to the Vineyard in 1982. In his sometimes casual way, appointed times could be loose. A small chest of drawers he was supposed to pick up from a friend’s barn in Ridgefield was left so long that the drawers swelled shut. They are still that way.
I did go on to use Trip to move lots of paintings for me over the years. They were carefully handled and delivered, so he redeemed himself to me many times over.
My eventual friendship with Ann Leggett cemented my relationship with Trip. They adored one another with the exasperation of longtime companions. I saw and sold many of Ann’s depictions of Trip. He turned up in paintings ranging from his actual self carrying a mattress on his shoulders to his face appearing in crowded souks, around campfires, just a glimpse of a profile in a window; you had to look carefully, and it was always a surprise. Trip supported Ann’s work, singing her praises to anyone who would listen. She supported him and his workers with beds and a hot meal when they needed a stop in New York City.
Ann died in 2014. In 2019, Trippy organized a show of her paintings at MVTV. It was a rich combination of figurative, still life, and landscapes.
Now Trip himself is gone, one more proponent of the old ways. The Island feels a lot less colorful.
