Gary J. Kirkpatrick

Villa Szyja Światłowski,City Culture Park, Lodz

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House at City Culture Park, Lodz,
watercolor 21 x 30 cm/8.3 x 11.7′

This traditionally styled watercolor is a painting of the Villa of Szyja Światłowski, in Lodz, Poland. It was moved to its current site in 2008 as a notable example of the “świdermajer” architecture, a local style of wooden architecture. It was originally built at 18 Scaleniowa St, Ruda Pabianicka as a summer resort. It was fully restored in its current location.

The house is attached to the Central Museum of Textiles, together with relocated period houses beginning with the homes of 19th-century craftsmen. There is also a church and a tram stop building.

The initials FK are on the rear door lattice, representing the first owners of the house, Fajwel and Frajda Kossowski. It was always owned by Jewish families. After the Kossowskis, it was occupied by the Werners (1912–1920), Rozenbergs (1920–1921), Ciuki’s (1921), Birenbaums and Szotland’s (1921–1922), and lastly the Światłowski’s (1922–1939). http://www.muzeumwlokiennictwa.pl/public/informacje/about-villa,366

The Central Museum of Textiles is on the same site. It was established in 1960 at The White Factory, a complex of classic buildings erected by the family of Ludwik Geyer in the years 1835 – 1886.[1] It is considered one of the most beautiful and unique monuments of industrial architecture in Poland.” There is a four-wing mill, the Boiler House, two dust and two  water towers. https://visitlodz.com/lodz-city-culture-park/  On the top floor is a large collection of some mighty ugly Communist era clothing. Elsewhere there are numerous examples of mechanical looms and other textile machinery.

Back in Time

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What amazes me about living in Valencia is how much is going on. We were back from Poland in time to: 1) attend a special performance of a traveling orchestra and chorus. They served up a fabulous Handel concert including seven operatic singers and a large chorus. 2) have a rice dish at the paella festival in the main plaza (Plaza del Ayuntamiento) and a Patatas Bravas (fried potatoes with a slightly spicy garlic mayonnaise sauce) festival at the port. 3) One of my large paintings for the Dones (Women) of Picanya was exhibited at the University of Valencia, where it joined its permanent collection 4) While we at the exhibition, nearby some fifty thousand demonstrated against the Provincial administration for its president’s failure to issue warnings in the floods of a year ago. 5) We attended the fund raiser organized by the International Women’s Club which the wife helped organize and to which I contributed a painting. They raised $7000 for several charitable organizations. 6) We’ve had numerous outings with friends and regular acquaintances, including intercambios (Spanish/English language exchanges). I probably missed something.

The Paella Festival

In English we typically refer to paella loosely as yellow colored rice with various meats and or seafood. In Spanish the generic term is arroces,” that is ‘rice dishes.’ In this area there are five main variations: Paella Valencian with chicken and rabbit, “Senyoret” (the Valenciano spelling). It is fish based. The shellfish is pealed for your convenience, making it less messy than the next one: ‘Mariscos.” Its shellffish is not pealed. Then there’s meloso, a soupy variation, and these days you can get a “vegetariana.” These were popular at the festival, except meloso, normally served just in winter, as is ‘arroz al horno, a rice dish baked in the oven and since it is not cooked in that big flat pan (called a “paella” in Valenciano) it is not technically a paella but it is an arroz.

There were a dozen or so other rice dishes I’d never heard of. One was ‘arroz de puchero.’ Puchero is a beef stew. Another was “Winter boneless chicken with fava beans.” I had one with smoked pork and boletes mushrooms, which has a very long stem. There was one with stewed pork and mushrooms in a brothy rice, not soupy like meloso and not dry like most rice dishes. I saw one with just mussels. It was not colored yellow- I’d never seen a white paella before.

If you can find a copy of Penelope Casas’ book The Foods and Wines of Spain you will find about 50 recipes. Each region has its own versions. The one Americans are familiar with comes from Galicia. It has seafood and meat along with red peppers and green peas. It is one of my favorites.

Musicaeterna Choir and Orchestra

One of the several concerts we attended was extraordinary, the best of its sort I’ve had the privilege to attend. The “Musicaeterna Choir and Orchestra) https://musicaeterna.org/ is a touring Russian group organized by its conductor Teodor Currentzis. Aside from the excellent orchestra there were seven singers, all women except one. The choir must have numbered 50 or more.

The operatic singers all entered and exited the stage at a dirge pace. The chorus filed in silently from four entrances, two at audience level and two from the area above the stage. It was all to dramatic effect. The vocalists were of all different sizes and shapes, from a tiny mezzo-soprano to the hefty prima donna whose bosomy boom knocked you off your.

Then came the hefty male, only a weight class below a sumo. Did he knock us over with the magnificent base you’d expect? Nay! He hit us with a falsetto, blasting his way through demi-semi-quavered crescendo after crescendo.

Meanwhile the first violinist’s lanky blond limbs and arms gestured like a rock bassist’s, as Teo flipped that baton when he had one while his tall self pointed here and there until the next singer arrived. Then he stood in the singer’s face while mouthing the words, baton flying still. The singers didn’t flinch, so obviously used to this odd behavior. Violating the normally staid norms was clearly part of the act.

Gary Bob says check them out!

Musicaeterna Choir and Orchestra

The Demonstration

Here’s a good video of the demonstration

And last but not least, the exhibition:

Vencerem! (We Shall Overcome) painting, top floor

Vencerem! 1.5 x 1.3 meters, acrylics

Silently passing in the blackness

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Germany was not yet a nation in 1870 when war broke out between France and the North German Federation. It resulted in the loss of Alsace and Lorraine. The French built the Canal de l’Est afterwards to replace the transport it had lost. The canal begins just a short distance from Nancy. In 2003 the northern and southern branches were officially renamed Canal de la Meuse and Canal des Vosges. We spent the last days of this season on the Canal de la Meuse.

“I reviewed every whodunit I have ever watched, every story of psychotic serial killers.”

night shot
Night sets into the blackness

As you round the corner to enter the Canal de la Meuse there is a small town called Richardménil. We pulled into Its a lovely mooring. There are picnic tables and electricity. The narrowing Moselle runs alongside the canal. There is no bike path on this side of the canal so we were alone, aside from the nearby house hidden by the trees, with a large German Shepherd who greeted some of the occasional passers by heading for the footbridge leading to the paved path on the opposite side. Only one other boat came by while we were here and for the following four days.

The adjacent small town is up a steep hill. I biked there to get a baguette- a ‘tradition’ actually. This is a baguette made as they were made before modern methods turned the baguette into a less desirable product so I always ask for a ‘tradition.’

With very warm temperatures on the way we headed up the canal, climbing towards the source of the Moselle. This means we are entering emptied locks. These locks in particular are very difficult to use. The bollards are three meters or so above our heads. There are no holds for the bow other than the activating mechanism’s flimsy pipes, whereas in many locks there are holds built into the walls. To secure the stern I had to climb on the roof, using the hook to place the line over the bollard. We held on tight as the water gushed in turbulently. You rise quickly, hoping not to lose control.

We spent the next three days in the shade as temperatures climbed to 32c/90f outside the little town of Bayon. We grilled on our tiny charcoal barby and prepped some surfaces for later painting. People biked along the narrow, paved bike path, the small bridge crossing the lock just a few meters away. Up the road is a a roadside burger stand. We stopped there one day as the chef was just arriving. The friendly owner gave us a menu, and invited us back. We returned the next day. The burgers are good but not great despite the 5 stars awarded on Google maps, while costing us $40 for two with fries and a bottle of beer. This isn’t exactly cheap. A hundred meters closer to the canal a fete was forming. On Saturday night there was live music, a typical over the hill rock band, referring to their age. They weren’t half bad, especially considering how deep in the countryside we are.

A few people came walking alone late at night, well after midnight, wearing a headlamp, the light on their forehead bobbing in the pitch black mist. As they passed in silence with just a small door separating us, I reviewed the whodunits I have watched, stories of psychotic serial killers. But these were just people walking in the dark.

Joe Goldberg
Penn Bagdley as the charming, loving, affirming yet psychopathic murderer Joe Goldberg in ‘You.”

The heat wave passed after several days. The important town of Epinal lay some thirty locks ahead. The French water authorities had issued a notice stating that the canal south of Epinal was closed effective several days previously. We called the harbor in Epinal to see if it was closed, which they answered in the affirmative. We could have stopped short of Epinal and taken the bus into town. Since we would then have to turn around to got to our winter harbor, repeating the same 30 locks, we decided to forgo the journey. We headed back north for the winter, ending our boating season by gathering with some of the friendly and interesting people we’d met along the way. This year it’s Australians , with one Brit couple, one Belgium and one French.

toul at night sm
Harbor at dusk. The cold weather cometh.

Reeds and a Stork

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Reeds abd a Stork
Reeds and Storks, watercolor, 18 x 24 cm, 7 x 9.5″ on Fabriano 300 gr watercolor paper

We have been mooring in the deep countryside of Friesland, a province of the Netherlands. Reeds, still used for making thatched roofs, line the canals. Among the wildlife are storks, who nest on the tops of trees. Their black tails help make them more visible from a distance. They have even made some special nesting spots for these large birds.

Live Your Dreams- Art on the Street in Valencia

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chanteuse final full sm

My contribution to the L’Art de Career (Valenciano for Art on the Street) in Picanya, a small town on the south side of Valencia.   It was sponsored by the Women of Picanya  http://www.picanya.org/persones/dones/activitats.  There are about 50 pieces hanging from the balconies celebrating women through March 20 2022.

Here are my comments:  

Vivir tus sueños (Live Your Dreams)

This expressionist piece is about living our dreams, our desire to become who we want to be, to accomplish what we want to accomplish.  We all seek the path we find most attractive.

Expressionism rejects the restrictions of realism while remaining largely figurative-  you can recognize the object even if it’s not realistic.  It also can include abstract elements.  Here there are four  women, two playing musical instruments, one singing.  The fourth dreams of her possibilities.  Not all the figures are attractive- beauty is not a requirement for success.  There are two muses in the upper left and a third on the bottom left. They inspire the dreams.

The dreams of our youth influence the rest of our life.  Those of our mature years, our 30’s and 40’s, are increasingly influenced by experience. As we continue to age, we tend to become more realistic but still can have our dreams, guiding our later years.

Vivir tus sueños (Live Your Dreams)



Esta obra expresionista trata el tema de los sueños que las personas tenemos, nuestras ganas de ser quien queremos ser, de lograr lo que queremos lograr. Cada uno de nosotros busca la libertad de seguir el camino que más nos atrae.

El Expresionismo rechaza las restricciones del realismo, y por eso nos permite explorar formas y figuras con menos límites. En esta obra, se ve a cuatro mujeres, dos que tocan instrumentos musicales, otra que baila. La cuarta mujer sueña con las posibilidades. También se ve a dos musas a la izquierda y otra al fondo quienes le inspiran a ella. Las musas vuelan en su mundo, invitándonos a explorar mundos nuevos.

Los sueños de nuestra juventud influyen al resto de nuestra vida. Los sueños de nuestros días más maduros, en torno a la edad de 30 y 40 años, se ven más influenciados por las experiencias que hemos tenido, haciéndonos más realistas, y reconociendo nuestros
límites. Según vamos envejeciendo, volvemos a explorar nuestros sueños de una forma menos condicionada, ya que, en este periodo tenemos más tiempo libre y posiblemente más recursos disponibles, los sueños nos guían otra vez.

Live Your Dreams
Live Your Dreams
With friends
With friends in Picanya
INVITACIÓ ACTE HOMENATGE C.C. ART 2022

Lonely Woman II

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I happened upon a street corner in Valencia where the idea of this painting occured to me. I modified the scene, chose my own lighting and color scheme and modified the architecture, and then placed the figure.

This is another in my series of Edward Hopper inspired pieces. I was born in the town where he was born and lived, Nyack, NY (1882-1967). His wife Josephine Nivison was also an artist. She contributed to his work as a model and as an artist.

Lonely Woman
Lonely Woman II 81 x 65 cm, 32″ x 26″ acylics on canvas

Tubas at the Palau, acrylics

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Tubas at the Palau, acrylics, 57 x 76 cm, 22.5″ x 30″ Arches paper

This is another in a series of paintings based on pen and ink drawings done at the Palau de la Musica.   There are normally tuba and contrabass sections of these symphonic bands.   

tubas sm
The original drawing. Contact me for availability