Four Figures, pen and ink drawing
Art
Pérouges, watercolor painting
Not far from Lyon is the medieval, walled village of Pérouges. It’s name is derived from Perugia, Italy, a mountain town dating back to the Etruscans. Legend has it that French visitors to Perugia returned to France and then founded the town at least 1000 years ago. It is recognized as one of the most beautiful French villages, see Les Plus Beaux Villages de France. Human presence dates at least to 1500. For more see my entry at One of the most picturesque villages.
In the Saone in Lyon
Il Barbe is an island in the Saone River. It’s springtime and the river flow is up, overflowing some of the riverside sidewalks.
On the island was the home of a 5th century abbey. It was dismantled during the French revolution. Today there are beautiful stone houses and a magnificent church. See watercolor painting below.
There’s been a bridge to the island since the 17th century. There’s a modern one in place now.
We got there on a local bus. You can get weekly tickets for €22 via the app, which I learned about as we were standing in line to get the paper version, which is €5 more. Once installed and you buy the tickets with your credit card, you simply click on your phone to activate the screen light (you do not have to unlock) and hold it over the scan pad at the metro entrance or inside the bus.
Margaret Walker, African American poet
Margaret Walker (1915-1998) was a highly accomplished woman. She was at college student at the young age of 15 when she begin writing poetry. In 1936 she joined the Federal Writers’ Project in Chicago, befriending Richard Wright. BA from Northwestern 1935, MA and Ph D U of Iowa 1945. Her dissertation was published as a novel, Jubilee 1966.
Walker was the first African American poet to receive the Yale Younger Poets Prize, penning For My People 1942. She published This Is My Century: New and Collected Poems , October Journey and Prophets for a New Day .
In 1949 she joined the faculty at Jackson State College. She returned to the University of Iowa for her doctoral studies and received a PhD in 1965. In 1968 Walker founded the Institute for the Study of the History, Life, and Culture of Black People at Jackson State College.
As what became the Margaret Walker Center, she organized the 1971 National Evaluative Conference on Black Studies and the 1973 Phillis Wheatley Poetry Festival.
In 1979 she published On Being Female, Black, and Free, a collection of personal essays, and Richard Wright: Daemonic Genius.
Judi Dench as a Young Woman
Judi Dench (1934) as a Shakespearean actress. One of the finest actresses Britain has ever produced. Conte pencil
Umberto Ecco
Umberto Ecco (1932-2016) was a medievalist, philosopher, semiotician, novelist, cultural critic, and political and social commentator. He is best known for his popular 1980 novel The Name of the Rose, made into the movie with Sean Connery playing the leading role. The novel is a tour de force of intricacies of medieval theology. Foucault’s Pendulum pokes fun, again intricately, at conspiracy theory, while Prague Cemetery revisits the plots of the Risorgimento. Another of my heroes. He taught at the University of Bologna, which we visited along with the Focault pendulum then swinging in the cathedral. Portrait in Conte.
Pianist Singer Ballerina II
This is the third painting featuring the pianist. The first is a realistic depiction
The second, completed just a month or so ago, appeared in the Street Art Fair in Picanya, Spain
American Artists Exhibit in Valencia
Eight American artists, including me, are participating in an exhibit from March 1-6 at Bloom Gallery in Valencia. The opening is March 1 at 1930h (7:30 pm). For those who live here, hope to see you there!
Each artist will exhibit two pieces. Mine are:
Croquis Cafe 57 x 76 cm, 22.5 x 30” acrylics
Stormy Braggs
Pianist, Singer, Ballerina
This expressionistic piece combines imaginative and realistic elements such as we see in the dancer, from the performer’s point of view. The stained glass look continues, muted in the dark theater as is the audience. It’s about the challenges of cooperative performance. Without an audience there is no performance.
Light and dark interplay. Shafts of light downpour, adding to the pressure. The spotlight’s on you. Do it. There is one escape: that open door. But to get there you are judged more harshly.
Last year’s event here Dones de Picanya 2023 and 2022 here Dones de Picanya 2022