Category: People and portraits

  • At the Bakery

    There is an excellent bakery just around the corner from our place in Valencia.  A friendly young woman frequently serves us.  So I got the idea of putting her into a scene like Monet’s Bar at the Folies scene.  This is what I have done here.  I consider this a study for a larger piece.  

     

    At The Bakery, acrylics, 30 x 40 cm/11.8 x 15.7″

  • Farewell to Downton Abbey

    While we were in Zwolle we went to see Downton Abbey, the movie, at the luxurious new theater.  As you may have already noted, the movie added to the story but did not cut any new paths.  In fact it is a reinforcement of the absurdities caused by the Englishclass system.  Among the lesson of the superb television series:  you can not marry outside your class, you can not rise from lowly origins, you can not have sex outside of wedlock.  Both of these norms were breached, causing great consternation.  The absurdity was exposed in another way in the movie. 
     
    Spoiler alert!  I am about to share the main plot.

     

    The movie starts with a notice from the royal family (as a Republican in the English sense, I do not capitalize ‘royal’) advising of a pending visit.  This was not a request but never mind that for now.  The family and staff burst into action.  The family –  get those duds ready to show off.  The staff: get the meat, veg and wine ordered.  As the visit nears, word comes that the royals will be bringing their own servants.  These arrive several days in advance with their noses in the air, ordering the family’s staff to simply stay out of the way.  The staff is deeply offended, as to them serving the king was to be the highlight of their lives. 
    So incensed at losing the opportunity to put meat on a plate and pour a glass of wine for over-indulged (if genteel) guests who by this time were basically figureheads whose job it was to be spoiled and cut ribbons that the staff hatched a plot to displace the royal (pain in the ass) servants.  Sleeping droughts, locked doors in remote bedrooms and the like were all painstakingly put in place so staff could cook a goose and carry it upstairs on a platter set before celebrities who were born into the position, not there by merit. 
     
    Nonetheless this is a fine farewell to the series, and I fear to the acting career of Maggie Smith, one of the finest actresses to ever grace the stage.  My ode to her:

     

    graphite

  • Portraits of Girl (watercolor)

    Two portraits of a young girl, done several years apart.  Both are in watercolor  
     

  • Portrait of Twin Boys (watercolor)

    I occasionally do commissions.  Here is one in watercolor for a family in Florida.

     

     

    Twins, in watercolor

     

     

     

  • Portrait of Frank Zappa

    Musician who became popular in the 1960’s.  1940 -1993.  From the Wiki:

    He was an American multi-instrumentalist musician, composer, and bandleader. His work is characterized by nonconformity, free-form improvisation, sound experiments, musical virtuosity, and satire of American culture.[2] In a career spanning more than 30 years, Zappa composed rock, pop, jazz, jazz fusion, orchestral and musique concrète works, and produced almost all of the 60-plus albums that he released with his band the Mothers of Invention and as a solo artist.[3] Zappa also directed feature-length films and music videos, and designed album covers. He is considered one of the most innovative and stylistically diverse rock musicians of his era.

     

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Zappa

    Frank Zappa, pastels, 8.5 x 11, A4

     

  • Girl with Stuffed Animal, watercolor painting

    Girl with Stuffed Monkey

     

    In private collection

  • In the Park in St Petersburg Russia, acrylic painting

    In the Park in St Petersburg Russia is set in a popular park along the river.  The ghost-like appearance of some people really struck me.  Russian faces, a bright brass steeple, a Kupka inspired background.  

     

    In the Park in St Petersburg Russia, acrylics

  • Mae on the Sofa

     

    I happened to catch one of my granddaughters on the sofa during the recent visit.  Pen and ink

    Mae on the Sofa

  • Woman plays Lute

    Ode to Artemisia Gentileschi, 1593 – c. 1656.  

     

    Woman Plays Lute, pastels

     

  • Portrait of Young Man, pastels, after the Rubens sketch

    Portrait of Young Man, pastels, after the Rubens sketch.  Rubens and other artists of the time would use the same figure in multiple paintings.  

     

    Portrait of Young Man, pastels, after the Rubens sketch