Unfinished Business

 

I started this carousel horse painting back in January of 2012 (not a typo), and the last time I took a brush to it was a month later. There’s a long list of excuses as to why it’s not complete. But perhaps by posting the images here as a work in progress, the piece will come to a conclusion sometime this year.

While living in western South Dakota for over two years, our family frequently toured Mount Rushmore.  Seeing the faces of four American presidents carved into the side of a granite mountain left a lasting impression on me. It was amazing to witness what a spirited team of people could accomplish.

Sometimes after leaving Mt. Rushmore, we would travel another 17 miles to see the stalled progress of the Crazy Horse Memorial. My father would point to the barren portion of the mountainside and tell us young girls, “You can already see where the Indian chief’s arm and head will be. And, that’s where his horse’s head will be”. When I asked him why no one was working on it, he told us there were many reasons, but reassured us they would finish sculpting it one day. Each time we visited, he would always add a few dollars to the donation box. Even at the age of ten, I suspected that would not be enough to displace even a few boulders, but nevertheless, I felt sense optimism about the contributions he made.

Our last visit to the Crazy Horse Memorial was over thirty years ago. Still to this day, the monument remains a work in progress.