Collage 245

You can tell from the colors that we used on this day that we are at peak foliage season here in New England. In the spring and summer there were days when we used a very different palette. I am a gardener and lover of everything outdoors, so even though we spend a lot of time in the studio like a couple of indoor cats, you can still see the influence of season.

We are now in Volume II, Part Two, Chapter XIV/XV. Pierre has gone to the home of Prince Andrei and Princess Marya. Their father, the old prince, who is monstrous towards the princess, has taken a strong liking to Pierre. This family treats him respectfully, unlike everyone else who mock him or use him.

At last, Pierre is welcome and seen for his own special qualities. "Only now, during his visit to Bald Hills, did Pierre appreciae all the strength and charm of his friendship with Prince Andrei. This charm expressed itself not so much in his relations with him, as in his relations with the whole family and household. With the severe old prince and the meek and timid Princess Marya, Pierre felt at once like an old friend, though he barely knew them. They all loved him already. Not only did Princess Marya, won over by his meek attitude towards the wanderers, give him her most luminous looks, but the little one-year-old Prince Nikolai, as his grandfather called him, smiled and Pierre and went to his arms. And Mikhail Ivanych and Mlle Bourienne looked at him with joyful smiles when he talked with the old prince."

It is a beautiful thing when one is embraced by a whole family. This passage warms my heart. -- Lola

Lola Baltzell
from page 497-498 of original text
collage, acrylic paint, ink
made 10/1/10
page 394-395 Pevear/Volkhonsky translation