Sunday, 28 April 2013

Painting and drawing in "Primavera".....Italy. With faith and love.

Many days dedicated to drawing and placement....with particular emphasis towards...DADA....seeing much of the country and working in Naples and Rome.
Spring and the last remaining chill ....are a good combination for inside/ outside working methods.
"Hubris no longer" ....the title of this painting  the carrying of a head......
The Art of Fencing...a noble sport of the existential kind.
Hot air balloon in Sicily.....goggles a must.
Dank Water.
Wielding her sword to rid her of his arrogance.
Prep drawing.
En garde!
Eyes of Dali.
Sicilian Magdalena.
Travel drawing.

Sunday, 21 April 2013

Napoleon's Eye.: Italian Grip : Compound attack....fencing terms in...

Napoleon's Eye.: Italian Grip : Compound attack....fencing terms in...: Self Portrait in Italy. Italia the land of my ancestors.......the empire, the eternal city....Roma. Stranger than fiction and m...

Italian Grip : Compound attack....fencing terms in a noble sport.

Self Portrait in Italy.


Italia the land of my ancestors.......the empire, the eternal city....Roma.


Stranger than fiction and more comforting than the life I'v just left behind.
In the sport of fencing......my friends tell me there are some interesting terminologies associated with the game......which warrant discussion of the existential sort.

When I first saw how the game is played...my thoughts were tied up with how incredible the positioning of the bodies looked.....all the lunging and uprightness seemed like exquisite dancing.

As I watched in awe of the uncertainty and zen style placement.....my attention turned to the remarks used by the onlookers.........italian grip and a compound attack!......was this poetry or the dialogue from my own shambolic life.....of late.


A powerful thing happened as I observed the two bodies in front of me......they were armed with swords and facial masks to protect themselves......as I joined in the shouting and general cheering .....I was taken back to a reminder of a time I did not like......one which controlled my words from within....as the opponents lunged toward each other with a mighty growl.......the words....."Dangerous Woman" and I never loved you!........reeled into to my mind....... like a roaring locomotive, about to go into a dark and loud tunnel............resonating at a high pitch almost dictatorial.

Absence of blade, Derobement, Fleche, Corps-a-corps and EN GUARD........all terms used to define the game.......Italy has profound and unique ways to make my work and all I do .....appear worthy of my recent unearthly demise......only this time the sword....IS.... mightier than the word.
En guard!

Tuesday, 2 April 2013

INTERIORS : Good for one's soul.




According to Coco Chanel and the great Yves Saint Laurent.....when placing beautiful "object de arte"...in your home....one must firstly pick it up and look directly into it with careful study.

When I read this.... I too, was a little transported.


Having spent a very long time as a lecturer and teacher......I am reminded of the many discussions I had with various students concerned about placement. Drawing and Illustration is governed by the fundamental means of expression throughout human history...it is one of the simplest and most efficient means of communicating visual ideas.....often my role as a communicator, is instrumental in assuring them of the way the positioning and articulation of their work.....is considered.

I have no problems in demonstrating particular methods and techniques....used in expressing what can be achieved. Touching their paper and making marks for them....is the best way for them to see and to feel connected to that methodology. Some outstanding results and experimentations in this form of teaching....has led to many rewarding experiences as a teacher.

As an artist myself ....I'm concerned with so many configurations associated with ideas and observations.

The great "Italian Renaissance"has been a most inspiring time for me .....in examining the hundreds of written stories and viewing thousands of paintings and drawings.....this extraordinary time in Art History....for me sits unsurpassed. I'm very fortunate to be working in an area clearly linked to my ancestral heritage.....being Italian has and always will be hugely significant....so when I began working in "INTERIORS"....this seemed so apt and felt like a natural follow through for me.


In the early 1990's I visited the Hermitage Museum in Saint Petersburg.......it was there in that magnificent place.....I felt spiritually connected to my heritage ...more than ever....a fascination developed for pearls and very dark red rubies.......the jewels of the Imperial Royal Family....were some of the most alluring and exquisitely designed pieces I have ever had the pleasure of seeing.

Transparency and pristine gleam.... are two extremely glorious aspects of working within "Interiors"....mirrors and handmade artifacts.... surround me all day long......today I spent most of the morning discussing a clients custom made walnut library......."Books and festoons of antique paper flowers were mentioned"...............the world of personal interior spaces....is a joy to my nature....not to mention good for the soul.
Placement and the look of an Era.


La Boudoir Dada Studio Interior.




       


  




Thank you to Rodman Wyatt...my partner in Aesthetic Crimes......together we work as one!

Friday, 15 March 2013

My time in a bottle.......in Neptune's sea.

 

It was time to put some of my later drawings out of my sight.........for ever.
They were a reminder of an uneasy moment in time where life became suspended.
I took my clear glass San Vittorio bottle and filled it with five drawings and a painting.


As I walked along the beach front, I carefully chose a rough and windy section of the sea to float my loaded bottle......armed with a wire stopper instead of a cork.......I waded in as far as I could stand.....and threw the bottle far and furiously.

Pounding waves knocked me around with a loud echoing thud......I went under and took a deep breath.


All the while thinking of Neptune's mighty power........I was being tossed around in his cold waves.


Gone and no more lingering.....the bottle rolled way out further and further...until I couldn't see it anymore.
Lifted by the thrashing swell.....I swam back to shore .....lighter in my mind of the pain and ugly remembrance of the bottles contents.......fare thee well and go a hundred miles away from me .. ...crash and explode and never be seen.



May Neptune's Sirens make a seaweed basket of hope from the little pieces of wreckage that once was a dream.



Saturday, 2 March 2013

A Dedication.."Blessings for a Father"....from the Russian Church in Brunswick.


Melwitz Folino.



Blessings for our fathers.
Blessings for all that they do and have done.
Blessings to them for their words and their stories.
Blessings for our fathers in all good ways with kindness and peaceful longings.

Bless them in sickness and bless them everyday of hardship.
Bless the fathers who are always unsettled.
Bless them who seek refuge when life is no longer free.

Vincent Van Gogh.


Bless our fathers where they speak and bless them always and forever.