“Maxfield Parrish Comes Alive” from “Lucinda”
“Ms. Dawn sketched the figures of the girls with her index finger. With the palm of her hand, she smoothed the wide stretch of sea. With all ten fingers, she caused the columns to rise high. And then, lightly fluttering her fingers, she recreated the rounded, squared, jagged, and pointy contours of the far-flung rocks. What the young woman was experiencing was this: vivifying energy spreading out from her fingertips in soft rays of light. As they passed over the painting, her fingers transformed what was dead ink to living, breathing cells. The Greek girls smiled and chatted now. The columns prided themselves on their sturdy erection. The malachite water revealed its swimming fish and buried coral. And the mountains enwrapped the entire scene in a protective wall. Gold had brought the painting to life!”