TRAVELING WITH MICHEL
Presently, and for the next couple of weeks, I am in a very isolated area in France. «Traveling» with Michel and his drawings will be a regular excursion and perhaps keep me sane. First let’s go to Assyria. I have no intention of writing down the history. That can be looked up on Internet. Just to say or what comes to mind is that it was an Arabic speaking kingdom going back to the 25th century BC (or earlier?) on the Tigris river, in northern Mesopotamia which of course is the northern part of Iraq today. So perhaps it will be a good idea if I stay where I am. If you visit the Assyrian antiquities in the Louvre, discovering their art depicting gory battle scenes is enough for me to really stay in a quiet place. Michel was in the Louvre close to that section and this is what he drew - not looking at his paper but gazing into the distance.... Not in the least bit gory... His eyes are not closed but looking elsewhere, and his pencil traces what he sees in his head. One