Waiting (man smoking at train tracks)

John Burton Norall

In the late 20th century John Norall worked on a series of watercolors he collectively titled “Waiting,” comprising several images of people in a state of suspended activity. Sitting at a bus stop, perched on a pier with a fishing pole, anticipating the angle of an incoming tennis ball, etc. It is evident that Norall was intrigued by the state of in-between, where a person is caught for a brief moment - or even, sometimes, for several hours - in stasis, allowing an outside observer to wonder what the figures in the scene are thinking; what compels them to continue to wait?