Celebrate the Rain

Dennis Crayon’s "Celebrate the Rain" is a masterfully painted work that finds beautiful abstraction in our everyday lives. Rain is often associated with a sad and melancholy mood, something we avoid and hide from. However, it is also nourishing, a necessary feast for the plants and wildlife of the world. Without rain, we would live in barren deserts. Without rain, we and nothing else would exist. It should be celebrated and described in beautiful flourishes of the painter's brush. Crayon makes this point not only in the title but in the very make-up of the picture. Like tiny beads of abstraction, the drops rolling down the window capture and magnify what lies beyond it. The result is stunning and calls to mind rainy days spent staring out the window. Furthermore, the sky is not gray and dark but brilliantly blue and sunny. In this way, Crayon draws our attention to the vibrancy and life the rain creates.

On a side note, it reminds me of "New Family", my favorite photograph (and desktop background for five-plus years) of virtuoso contemporary German photographer Wolfgang Tillmans.