At the Jürss Salon in Wismar
Of Déjà Vu at the Hairdresser and of Photocopies

Following my wife's repeated advice, I'm going to the hairdresser.

This time it's the most obvious choice. On the way into town, I think to myself, I've never been there for a haircut. A staircase leads upstairs to the salon. Strangely, everything seems so familiar: the room, the view down to the street, the location of the counter. We're on a first-name basis.

Déjà vu. Could it be that I was here as a child, about 60 years ago?

'This shop is now in its third generation,' says Jacky. 'Since there wasn't a high chair here back then, the little ones were put on the reception counter by Grandma and had their hair done there.'

Exactly! You were lifted up and then sat right next to an ornate cash register. It was made of metal with a crank on the side, and it jingled when the drawer with the money opened. I thought that was funny. For me, a country kid, it was a real city adventure.

'And today, you paint?' 'Yes, portraits, still lifes, and seascapes.' 'Interesting.'

I invite her and her new prince over. We spend a wonderful, wine-fueled evening.

During another restoration of my head, Jacky mentions that the parlor is moving to her parents' house. 'Is it possible for us to hang a large photocopy of your Cliffside there?' 'Yes, of course!'

'Excerpts from the painting could be the mirrored backdrops in the niches,' another idea of ​​her friend's.

Now the move is complete, and indeed, a 3.80-meter-wide copy of my panel painting hangs there. The enlargements behind the mirrors also look amazing. Every form of painting is, in a sense, abstraction.

© MWJ, Wismar, October 22, 2023