Charles E. Burchfield (1893-1967)

Sept. 7 – 1943 (Tues.) –
The past month principally spent on making frames – the only painting being on “The Tile Roof” which, before I finished, was completely gone over (I do not like the title – I think I shall change it to “Sept. noon” or “Sept. Sunlight” –
The other day, the disturbing discovery that Sally has a skin disease (luciderma) [sic] [leukoderma] about which little is known, nor is there any remedy yet devised. The poor girl, has kept it to herself for over two years. Her fear, and our dread, is that it may spread to the exposed parts of her body.
Sometime in August – Ritchie called and said the gallery would like to have a retrospective show of my work, next April.
Yesterday a hot, excessively humid day – existence itself was an agony, and work only more so. In the evening however, the heat subsided, and a soft cool wind came up. I sat a long time in the backyard, between the willow & the pavilion, – In the west, heat lightning flickered revealing momentarily long bars of clouds, or pale thunderheads, light from within, with a rosy salmon light – far far away, re –