New Art: T.G.I.B.C.




T.G.I.B.C.

 I promised new art for this post, and here it is! Or should I say, here they are? The 3 Minoan ladies from the famous fresco in the Metropolitan Museum of Art have been reborn as timeless party girls, imbibing their way through eternity on an endless supply of wine (provided by hunky dudes in loincloths!) Thoroughly appropriate for an art exhibit in the Backstage Bar at Theater Square. I propped the painting on the patio table and snapped a quick shot, so apologies for its shortcomings. Now that I'm working larger, I'll have to get out the tripod and borrow a good camera for documentation photos.  


This piece seemed to take an inordinate amount of time to do, and I’m still not 100% sure it’s finished. In keeping with their appearance in the original mural, I left the ladies’ skin-tone pale, almost white. But I’m not sure if it doesn’t look like I forgot to paint them? Having taken so much liberty already with the original image, I’m thinking my ladies could benefit from more color. This piece is more like a colored drawing than a painting, which also somewhat disturbs me. I think some tweaking will take place, but I need to distance myself from it a little bit.


I’ve started on the next painting, which is based on my collage, The Birdwatcher. Stay tuned.


Other stuff:  I recently discovered a wonderful blog which has become my escape from the daily grind. Ben Pentreath is a British architect/interior designer/purveyor of home accessories who divides his time between his office and shop in London, and his property in the Dorset countryside, The Old Parsonage. He could probably make a living as a photographer, too, based on the beautifully composed photos on his blog (see sample below.)



The Old Parsonage, Ben Pentreath's house in Dorset

  He loves books, gardening, handicrafts, typography, art—all the things that are meat and drink to me. His posts are always well written, even poetic, and never dull.  Here is the link to his website, click on “Inspiration” to see the blog. As it happens, he just put up a post about brick making! But do take a look at some of his other posts as well, and the archives. I’m tremendously enjoying reading my way through his archives. I acquired a copy of his first book, English Decoration, which is a delight.


Collagitation was always meant to be a blog about my art, but, let’s face it, that’s pretty limiting! Especially since the current pattern of my life precludes making as much art as I would wish, sadly (but at least the bills are being paid, so I’m grateful!) Ben’s blog has made me want to roam further afield for topics. So, my next post will be about…who knows? But I certainly will try to make it interesting. Thanks for visiting!



3SIXTY5 for Monday, June 7, 2010: The Egg Thief

The  lady lives in a little house in Paris and enjoys watching the bird that has nested on her balcony. She does not see, although the bird does, that one of the precious eggs has left the nest prematurely. Did the wind that tosses her curls blow the egg out of the nest? Did the fellow in black knock it down? Or is he just an innocent opportunist in the right place at the right time? Things are usually not what they seem, in a collage.Will he catch it before it shatters on the paving stones?  Does any of this matter? Well, only to the egg.

The wind-blown lady is actually one of the angels from the annual holiday creche at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC.