Nina Progress

This is a big portrait and I have so much to do, but here it is, in all its rough vulnerability. Nina has sat for me twice. Now I must print out some photos to use as reference. This will be good, because my studio is tiny and I was practically in Nina's lap while working on this. I need to get waaaay back from the drawing and use the photos to help me construct the figure. I had to rebuild and turn the torso - still needs work. Yesterday I sprayed it with workable fixative - the pastel was getting so it wasn't sticking to the surface - the fixative gives the paper a new tooth. It also deepens the pastel on the paper and now I can layer on top of that. Nina also added some new props, including the neon ribbon headband. She is going to e-mail me some images of Ukraine women to use in her portrait.

Bless My Stars

My grandmother used to say, "Well, bless my stars and garters!" (Anyone ever hear that expression before?) Here's my latest fiber creation, my version of The Star from the tarot Major Arcana. It's for sale over in my etsy shop.

The Star, 2009

recycled fabrics, trims, felt, beads, watercolor, thread.

Is It True Blond's Have More Fun?

Some images from the book Picasso and Portraiture, from the chapter titled, Picasso's Blond Muse: The Reign of Marie-Therese Walter, by Robert Rosenblum. In his opening comments, Rosenblum writes:

It was in 1950, at Yale University, that I heard a startling comment about Picasso from Charles Seymour, a professor not of modern, but of Italian Renaissance , art. Confronted with the recurrent problem of how to explain to undergraduates the bewildering sequence of periods and "isms" in what was then only a half -century of Picasso's art, he threw out the whimsical idea that perhaps the master's rapid succession of changing and often contradictory styles might best be defined by the names of the women who, one after another, had dominated his private life. At the time, the suggestion seemed naively off the mark, the uninformed comment of an outsider to the complex languages of modern art. But today, almost fifty years later, the visible connection between Picasso's art and love life is...taken for granted...

And speaking of a blond muse, I'm off to work on the large portrait of Nina Petrochko that I started a couple of weeks ago! Happy first day of SPRING everyone!!!

Family Camp

My family recently started a family blog, called The Tale of Two Families. There are some wonderful old photographs being posted, and these are my favorites so far (click on images to enlarge and see interesting details!!) The bottom image is labeled, and we know all the names. The older couple in the middle are my great-grandparents, Zillah and Arthur Camp. Then counter-clockwise from the bottom right are their children, Tom, Kate, Joseph, Mary (my grandmother), Reuben, and Zillah. (What a name!)

The top photo is not labeled and we are trying to figure out who is who. We are pretty certain that the gentleman on the right is my great-grandfather, Arthur, about 10 years younger than in the 2nd photo. Is that Tom and Kate in the carriages? And Joe on the left? Who are the two women? My great aunt and grandmother? Or is the one on the right my great-grandmother? Jeez, if so, she sure changes alot in 10 years...but then, so did Arthur. Time took it's toll harder on folks back then...

But if any of you care to sleuth along with me here, I'm open to opinions and observations! :^)

See the bird perched on the carriage on the left! And the woman on the left is looking toward the bird and holding a switch - I wonder if that is a tamed pet bird and the twig she's holding is it's perch...

My cousin Jon, our family historian, tells us that there are some crazy stories about this family, but he hasn't told us any of them yet! Suspense!

The Mighty Michelangelo

Head of David.

The Right Hand of David.

The Left Hand of Christ.

Head of Bacchus.

The infant Christ.

Image of Eve.

Head of Adam.

Detail from The Crucifiction of Saint Peter.

Michelangelo's self-portrait at the age of about 80.

Michelangelo's stone mason's mark.

Another gem from the Joanne Waxman Library discount shelf at MECA. Michelangelo: Paintings, Sculptures, Architecture, by Ludwig Goldscheider, hard cover, for $4. And for $1, I bought The Renaissance Artist at Work: From Pisano to Titian, by Bruce Cole. A very enjoyable read. An excerpt:

All of these people lived in a world physically, intellectually, and spiritually different from our own. Their very perception of reality was radically different from ours...

They did not believe in the idea of progress, nor did they see the world in evolutionary or psychoanalytic terms. The theories and ideas of Darwin, Freud, Newton and Einstein - which so condition all our thinking - were unknown to them. Magic, mystery, and the supernatural will of God were woven into the fabric of everyday life for those who inhabited the cities of the Renaissance.

Saint Pat Cat in the Hat

Sal's a good sport. Happy Saint Patty's Day! Gotta love emerald green...

Five Times Eleven...

...equals FIFTY FIVE. (I like to break it down! :^)

My birthday party yesterday, one day early. Warm sun, melting snow, carrot cake, spots of green, people and animals I love, sweet gifts...

I'm a lucky not-so-old lady!