tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36436172330223110242023-11-16T02:55:27.013-05:00The Lost and Beautiful PastNews and updates for the website The Lost and Beautiful Past--the paintings of Patrick Lynch. See paintings in progress, get current news and whatever is on my mostly 19th Century mind.Patrick Lynchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12398291623086774963noreply@blogger.comBlogger32125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3643617233022311024.post-62502655136027962662011-01-05T16:52:00.003-05:002014-09-01T16:48:03.500-04:00Cleaning up the studio, a painting in progress, and some art books in the works<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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The year 2011 arrived with blinding speed. In fact, I have a little trouble wrapping my head around the idea of 2011. It is a year past epic milestones of science fiction. No flying cars, no glittering Nehru jackets to wear. For that I am grateful. I am one of those people fascinated by artist's studios so I am sharing some recent pictures of the studio Valerie and I share together. As always, click on the image to enlarge.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSoHG1jq8pXqLPglTrH_pAfvv7J4aJXros9W91jpiokJgWyos1JD3zPU929Ojko4w8oal5mPY2dtM1pIgPBhq2bpk2xLLAOJUX_RaWtgIWFrW-wgyE_d8ecc7z-h4la6K1OPQQEC9na3BP/s1600/Studio+1+January+20110001_1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSoHG1jq8pXqLPglTrH_pAfvv7J4aJXros9W91jpiokJgWyos1JD3zPU929Ojko4w8oal5mPY2dtM1pIgPBhq2bpk2xLLAOJUX_RaWtgIWFrW-wgyE_d8ecc7z-h4la6K1OPQQEC9na3BP/s320/Studio+1+January+20110001_1.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
The above view is looking towards both my easel and Valerie's writing desk. Thanks to Fairbanks Antiques I was lucky enough to get a decent music stand to put my gramophone on and stash some of my 78's inside. Makes the studio feel larger. In the corner are paintings of Charlotte including my latest one from last October. Below that are some of Valerie's Victorian fashion illustrations. I can't remember if they're from Godey's or Harper's.<br />
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This is a view from my easel looking over towards my drafting table where I work on the collages. The painting on the easel I had started at least a couple of months ago and was going fairly well. It's based on a photograph I took of Valerie. The painting is on cold press watercolour paper and like much of my other work is a combination of coloured pencil and acrylic. The mood of the painting was originally more wistful, but took on the more melancholy aspect after the death of my cousin Amanda whose future career in the arts ended before it even truly began due to a automobile accident. I have been thinking of doing a commemorative painting of Amanda but right now it is too painful to contemplate. In the corner over the drafting table are more paintings of Charlotte and some images that I find inspiring including my little reproduction of the Gainsborough painting I wrote about previously.<br />
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This is the studio looking towards the fireplace from the edge of the drafting table over to the French doors. My favourite painting of Valerie hangs over the mantel along with some of my early photographs of her. Piled on the mantle are my James Lane Allen books and along with some of my other treasured Victorian era books. The lovely Christmas tree is Valerie's handiwork. In the corner, Barnabas Collins maintains a melancholy watch over a renaissance lady on top of the bookcase.<br />
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As we come around full circle, more books, a music corner with my Edison Amberola 30 cylinder player, a steampunk AM/FM cassette deck in the form of a Edison Home Phonograph courtesy of the Thomas Radio Corporation. The closet stores paintings, art supplies belonging to both Valerie and myself. My favourite painting of Charlotte hangs on the door.<br />
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Upcoming paintings:<br />
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At the moment, there are two paintings in the pipeline. The lady listening to the gramophone and a small painting of an embracing couple. The latter painting is feeling a bit stuck but other painting is going well. I'm reviewing recent sketches with a view towards picking out my next several paintings. I've also been giving thoughts to my next set of collages but want to get at least two or three paintings finished before I shift the focus back to collage.<br />
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Art books I am working on:<br />
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It's been in the thought process for a long time, but I'm finally making some progress towards doing a couple of books featuring my paintings and collages. The first book will be an overview of what I hope are the best of my paintings and collages as well as including some of the sketches. I'm contemplating perhaps having a section on how I, as a colour blind artist work in colour. A lot of the photographs I've taken of my paintings over the years will have to be rescanned to improve the quality for print. Many of the web images do not enlarge well.<br />
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The second book will feature only my paintings of Charlotte over the last thirty years. Unhappily, this project will require my rephotographing much of that work. About four years ago, I had photographed nearly everything to use in a future project. I had made a slideshow movie with the images and had hoped to use them in a book later only to lose them when my computer died. The back up CD I made has yet to be found.<br />
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The first phase of this project will be to purchase and install the software I've identified as an affordable page maker. I intend to publish the books through Lulu.com when they're ready. I tried using their "portfolio" maker but found it too limiting. Bear with me as I have multiple irons in the fire.<br />
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Here's hoping that 2011 will be a very productive year!<br />
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Patrick Lynchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12398291623086774963noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3643617233022311024.post-74377513030068264792010-11-28T16:36:00.001-05:002010-11-28T16:43:01.082-05:00Synchronicity in distant dusty corners so very close to home<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-hnDjt-tYPzPjBhKORUEU8r3SVZyzX7cylqDaeWP55l5wfLToeVugND_oZ7lmzDrUrqIjZeRtlauFxhl9h9pS9HOE_kPPCSB598VbpV9Yf7mVHoK2dj1a1Pfw2Fx1o6K2ulxVCGZujqcE/s1600/Framed+Sheridan+portrait0001.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-hnDjt-tYPzPjBhKORUEU8r3SVZyzX7cylqDaeWP55l5wfLToeVugND_oZ7lmzDrUrqIjZeRtlauFxhl9h9pS9HOE_kPPCSB598VbpV9Yf7mVHoK2dj1a1Pfw2Fx1o6K2ulxVCGZujqcE/s320/Framed+Sheridan+portrait0001.JPG" width="268" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">1960's era reproduction of the <i>Portrait of Mrs. Richard Brinsley Sheridan</i> <br />
by Thomas Gainsborough. <br />
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</tbody></table>Yesterday, I stood before this very painting at the Cincinnati Art Museum. As I had posted recently, this portrait of Mrs. Richard Brinsley Sheridan (Elizabeth Linley) was my favourite non Pre-Raphaelite painting of all time. While it was great to get the exhibition catalogue with a lovely reproduction of the painting on one of its pages what I really wanted was something I could hang on my studio wall. Also, I had been planning to go over to Patti Fairbanks' Antique Shop where I live in Paris, Kentucky to do a little Christmas shopping but since I was working on a painting today, I thought I might not go after all. As I worked, I just kept getting the feeling I should go to Fairbanks Antiques anyway so I took a break to let the sunlight work its way over to the studio and hopped in the car and set out for the antique shop. While there, I'd do the originally intended Christmas shopping.<br />
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Fairbanks Antiques is in a vastly expanded and better organised location that at one time had been a downtown Paris hardware store that Patti filled with everything from her previous separate locations. Patti and her sister Lee did a fantastic job organising all the books and more. I found a couple of gifts, so I decided I was going through every nook and cranny making two circuits of the shop. Hung on the wall in a crowded corner near the front of the store was the portrait of Mrs. Sheridan in a perfect size and in a frame that fits well with the studio. I can only imagine how wide my eyes must have been when I gently lifted the picture off its hook. Dusty but in good shape. I thought I should be taking the money for this and buying someone else a gift, but at the same time I was afraid I would never see this vintage reproduction ever again so I bought it along with the stocking stuffers I found for Valerie. As I had written before, various photocopies of this painting had been tacked on studio walls for years.<br />
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Yesterday, I felt sad that I couldn't come back and visit the original painting as often as I wanted because it wasn't part of the Cincinnati Art Museum permanent collection. The original painting has a very strong presence as though something of the soul of the subject resided in the painting. That's a quality I want my paintings to have and because I knew I would likely never see this painting again went back upstairs one more time with Valerie while a friend who travelled with us was perusing the gift shop to say goodbye to dear Mrs. Sheridan. Mrs. Sheridan looked a little sad too.<br />
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Is it just my deepening into middle age or are synchronicities on the increase? I've experienced some wonderful synchronicities in the last few years of which today's would both be minor and somewhat profound. Minor because (it's a probably 1960's) reproduction of a 1780's painting but profound because its a vintage reproduction of a painting that I literally stood in front of only 24 hours before. A painting that normally resides at the National Gallery in Washington, D.C. A painting that I would gaze at in my copy of The World of Gainsborough and dreamed of seeing for real. What's next? Standing in front of John William Waterhouse's 1888 version of <i>The Lady of Shalott</i>? Sir Frank Dicksee's 1903 <i>La Belle Dame Sans Merci</i> ? I already have lovely prints of those paintings on my wall so if there is to be a synchronicity involving those works, it will have to come about another way....Something wonderful I hope....Patrick Lynchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12398291623086774963noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3643617233022311024.post-8496665433059424622010-11-28T13:15:00.001-05:002010-11-28T13:21:23.557-05:00One painting finished, another startedI have to admit a lot of the time spent when the weather was warm was spent on working on my 1968 Plymouth Fury VIP. But that didn't mean I had stopped painting altogether. I finished a three quarter length portrait of Charlotte Harwell and have started another painting based on a photograph of Valerie I took recently.<br />
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The painting below is a birthday portrait of Charlotte Harwell. I have written elsewhere about her personal significance to me as an artist so I won't repeat all of that here. What is different in this painting is that it was completed in three working days, but if you broke it down into actual hours perhaps less than twenty four from start to finish. While Charlotte has been a decades long inspiration to me, I think that what is happening is that my style is undergoing some changes that are becoming more manifest in the last year or so. It has been commented to me that my style while continuing in the Victorian/English Pre-Raphaelite/romantic influence has begun to pare down somewhat. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh361e7qOScmYg8FMcJDcAiN0JrET1Rdz5NTD0M3WOAzqMekJ8woDnIur9QrsGhyphenhyphenfyptxeRtDpWcMjUrj95G8dVs1XN5Ags3zZJU53xZqKXgHhRybw3ojkQ9b-8yBAjU1-4rVeAZsQGDjOC/s1600/Charlotte%2527s+birthday+portrait+2010+complete0001_3.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh361e7qOScmYg8FMcJDcAiN0JrET1Rdz5NTD0M3WOAzqMekJ8woDnIur9QrsGhyphenhyphenfyptxeRtDpWcMjUrj95G8dVs1XN5Ags3zZJU53xZqKXgHhRybw3ojkQ9b-8yBAjU1-4rVeAZsQGDjOC/s320/Charlotte%2527s+birthday+portrait+2010+complete0001_3.JPG" width="234" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Portrait of Charlotte Anne Harwell, 2010, acrylic and coloured pencil on cold press watercolour paper, 22x30 inches. Collection of the artist.</td></tr>
</tbody></table> By paring down, I mean I seem to be getting more to the core of the subject and less on large amounts of detail that slow down the actual act of painting. Last year's portrait of Charlotte also went very quickly though that painting would certainly seem to have more overall detail. In some respects I may still be too close to what I'm doing to properly get across what I think is happening. Whatever it is, I hope it results in better paintings.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Portrait of Charlotte Anne Harwell, detail</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br />
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Below is a painting I pencilled out about three weeks ago but have only just started putting down the coloured pencil under painting today. Again, reduced to core elements. This doesn't yet look as much like Valerie as I originally intended but while taking pictures of her in a wonderful sort of Goth/Medieval/Pre-Raphaelite batwing sleeve dress with a lace overlay Valerie assumed the pose that led to this painting. I eliminated the other background elements and objects that would have otherwise distracted from the lady and the gramophone. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0THi2RFn1dlXOmCC6Eb8Q7pXakXEsxB91k-IPlJzIspVo44fxdMwBVSJD6Hv3rXJfkRUq1PivCQfwaARFSitos1uojnpGpVxfkiCjCr1QQsjtNpZhVyHdVxOlVb3F1Vsmr_eKD9lTfuAb/s1600/Painting+in+Progress+November+20100001.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0THi2RFn1dlXOmCC6Eb8Q7pXakXEsxB91k-IPlJzIspVo44fxdMwBVSJD6Hv3rXJfkRUq1PivCQfwaARFSitos1uojnpGpVxfkiCjCr1QQsjtNpZhVyHdVxOlVb3F1Vsmr_eKD9lTfuAb/s320/Painting+in+Progress+November+20100001.JPG" width="247" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Untitled, acrylic and coloured pencil, 22x28 inches</td></tr>
</tbody></table>Like pretty much everything I do on watercolour paper, I like to combine the coloured pencil and the glazes of paint together keeping the virtues of both. As the painting progresses, I'll post work in progress photos. In between these posts, I may also have additional postings on the Lost and Beautiful Past Facebook page which is accessed from the lower front page of the website. Next to my link to return to my main website there is now a link to the Facebook page. If it seems too quiet here, check there. I sometimes post painting in progress photos there.<br />
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Thanks for hanging in there with me!Patrick Lynchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12398291623086774963noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3643617233022311024.post-75847909687431337402010-09-21T14:07:00.002-04:002010-09-21T19:02:58.095-04:00A painting I wish I had painted<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Portrait of Mrs. Richard Brinsley Sheridan, Thomas Gainsborough, 1785 </td></tr>
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Thanks to trips to the Cincinnati Art Museum in the late 1970's and a book called The World of Thomas Gainsborough, I became a fan of that artist's work done mostly in the 1780's. I adored an enormous portrait of Mrs. Philip Thicknesse (Ann Ford) at the Cincinnati Art Museum, but if there was a particular painting I was hopelessly in love with as an artist, it was Gainsborough's portrait of Mrs. Richard Brinsley Sheridan. Her actual name was Elizabeth Linley and she was an old friend of the artist, a celebrated beauty and the wife of the noted comic playwright.<br />
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I had a photocopy of this painting in my studio for years. When colour photocopiers became available, I re-photocopied it and even now she gazes out into the studio. Last Saturday, I took my mother and Valerie to the Cincinnati Art Museum to see an exhibit called <a href="http://www.cincinnatiartmuseum.org/absolutenm/templates/ArtTempExhibitions.aspx?articleid=993&zoneid=65">Gainsborough and the Modern Woman.</a> I knew the Cincinnati painting would be there but imagine my surprise and joy to turn a corner and find the portrait of Elizabeth Linley (Mrs. Sheridan) in all of her glory. It was less seeing a painting for the first time than it was a surprise encounter with a dear old friend.<br />
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At the time we entered the gallery there was a presentation about the exhibit given by the curator and he was rather avidly expressing his joy in the pioneering of modern art he saw in this painting. I don't really see hints of Jackson Pollack in the upper left of the painting. We had to wait about for the lecture crowd to move on in order to get a good look at the portrait. The last time seeing a painting in person made me want to tear up was the first time I saw a gallery full of Pre-Raphaelite paintings in Indianapolis in 1993.<br />
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Enough about all that. I very deeply wish I had painted this picture.<br />
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As you can see in the rather pale illustration above, Mrs. Sheridan is seated on a large rock at the edge of he woods. What I really enjoy about this painting is that her attire is so much more relaxed, as is her pose. Her hair is loose and flowing and the shapes of the trees seem to echo the flow of her hair. I am rather fond of painting loose flowing hair myself. She is infinitely more human and knowable.<br />
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In contrast to the sharp focus Pre-Raphaelite paintings I love so much, everything in this painting is less than distinct except for the most important part:<b><i> her face.</i></b> When I paint a face, this is what I aspire towards. She is nothing less than alive inside the illusion of 3 dimensional space placed on a canvas. In my opinion, if this painting were on your wall you would never be truly alone. That is how beautifully painted this portrait is. This is how much of this individual woman's spirit lives in this image. I've read that Gainsborough and Mrs. Sheridan were old friends. There is no doubt in my mind that he truly loved her. The form that love took doesn't really matter, only that he loved her. Everything about this painting is designed to guide the viewer directly to her face. None of the other details are as important as her face. What I find particularly interesting is that in the original portrait, she appears to be looking directly at the viewer. I'm sure the angle at which it is hung has something to do with it. This quality does not quite come off in reproductions from books or Google images. Still, even in the reproductions there is something there...<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeSV51W8ffcphfaCNjYsKtXfxYVMBEkX6etjo5oW9Wiv7kvsKk7ghDHWlf3FlnFCt_BGO49YdcOMRxrfyA6Ca1SljTAAJVCA2EQwArosTE5_IQgLecT0j8d352dqmy8WnDcMpfMlufiAle/s1600/Mrs.Sheridan+close+up.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeSV51W8ffcphfaCNjYsKtXfxYVMBEkX6etjo5oW9Wiv7kvsKk7ghDHWlf3FlnFCt_BGO49YdcOMRxrfyA6Ca1SljTAAJVCA2EQwArosTE5_IQgLecT0j8d352dqmy8WnDcMpfMlufiAle/s320/Mrs.Sheridan+close+up.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Close up of Mrs. Richard Brinsley Sheridan by Thomas Gainsborough. click on image to enlarge, then click again to see the full size image.</td></tr>
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Maybe it's just me, but it seemed that other museum visitors seemed more drawn to her than to some of the other paintings there. Not that they were not also spectacular and wonderful in their own ways. I still love the Mrs. Phillip Thicknesse painting, but there is something indescribably magical about the Sheridan portrait. It's almost as though she could reach out, take your hand and pull you into the past with her. For me, imagery that powerful is what good art is all about. I try to do this myself over and over, and I have had only one or two paintings that remotely got in the distant neighbourhood of that goal. So I keep trying.<br />
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The Gainsborough exhibit started on Saturday the 18th of September and will run through the rest of autumn at least. If you live in any reasonable driving distance of Cincinnati, this is an exhibit worth seeing. For me, it would have been worth it for just the one painting but there is a whole gallery of delight to be found there. Oh, the rest of the museum is pretty special too. Soon, I hope to write a little something about some of my favourite pieces in the <a href="http://www.cincinnatiartmuseum.org/absolutenm/templates/ArtTempCollection.aspx?articleid=117&zoneid=19">Cincinnati Art Wing </a>especially The Venetian Lace Makers by Robert F. Blum. The Cincinnati Art Museum is one of my favourite art places in the region. I go there to see how it's really done. My painting instructor at Berea College, a gentleman by the name of Lester Pross was always after me to go down to the art library and look at photos of paintings reproduced in the books of the time to learn from them. Frankly, I'd much rather go look at the actual paintings. I'm sure he would too.Patrick Lynchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12398291623086774963noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3643617233022311024.post-13040395958871376032010-07-29T12:54:00.000-04:002010-07-29T12:54:52.526-04:00The long inadvertant silence ended<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">I was a little shocked when I saw how much time had gone by since my last post. After my last collage was finished, I thought I'd take a little time to revive my late grandfather's 1968 Plymouth Fury VIP and Valerie and I would build an upstairs room in the attic during my vacation from the day job. Reviving the Fury went comparatively fast, home remodelling longer than anticipated. Below is a picture of the Fury and then on to the new collages I recently completed with some notes about the most recent Paris Artwalk.</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfEF9C7tQK0jZR8ToAyHKkIT7Jy_pmyHTFzfeuTxRLbLh8sfA0WxnHdeM_jF8_r2chRpWvQlzBFu8w8ZSFuWwedxkZlqDdKiNq_i8Y7bJAyCVRnkZa5_TI_ZLfDwR7R1sexgjnQIDL4TRd/s1600/1968+Plymouth+Fury+VIP+July+20100042.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="96" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfEF9C7tQK0jZR8ToAyHKkIT7Jy_pmyHTFzfeuTxRLbLh8sfA0WxnHdeM_jF8_r2chRpWvQlzBFu8w8ZSFuWwedxkZlqDdKiNq_i8Y7bJAyCVRnkZa5_TI_ZLfDwR7R1sexgjnQIDL4TRd/s200/1968+Plymouth+Fury+VIP+July+20100042.JPG" width="200" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"> </span>click on image to enlarge</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">Material left over from the last collage, From Her Voice Came The Music of the Centuries inspired two more collages to make a triptych of sorts. The original image is below followed by the two new pieces.</div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixTD4sSrB7U29EzHwfjvSSFWAK6kmq3CCy_Cnu0S7f09hoe8AJ5TmOr1OXAFhO7DTBnVV7Z4PO5f6ji1g8DEXeRMt_A_5R6DwBpEhciFG7yO9SeyFH_3xzE5gXa9PWRx2N-WeZcyF5_Viw/s1600/From+Her+Voice+Came+The+Music+of+the+Centuries0001.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixTD4sSrB7U29EzHwfjvSSFWAK6kmq3CCy_Cnu0S7f09hoe8AJ5TmOr1OXAFhO7DTBnVV7Z4PO5f6ji1g8DEXeRMt_A_5R6DwBpEhciFG7yO9SeyFH_3xzE5gXa9PWRx2N-WeZcyF5_Viw/s320/From+Her+Voice+Came+The+Music+of+the+Centuries0001.JPG" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: center;"><i><b>From Her Voice Came The Music of the Centuries</b></i>, collage, 11x14 inches</div> click on image to enlarge</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdMhAblxVJMT207zV2fUBNjHvE7RzKVgyFkzTNiiZ2-bfBN7P0UiFaJz_fKjnL8nPtFX77NwkbpuC_7CXOFKrdfcBdIFxTLJVAaZrjAaObMJXfz8Nbbm3Rh6pUVxTREYMKuQIb9EePb1dS/s1600/My+Longing+Was+Carried+in+Music+Soaked+Memories0001.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdMhAblxVJMT207zV2fUBNjHvE7RzKVgyFkzTNiiZ2-bfBN7P0UiFaJz_fKjnL8nPtFX77NwkbpuC_7CXOFKrdfcBdIFxTLJVAaZrjAaObMJXfz8Nbbm3Rh6pUVxTREYMKuQIb9EePb1dS/s320/My+Longing+Was+Carried+in+Music+Soaked+Memories0001.JPG" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: center;"><i><b>My Longing Came In Music Soaked Memories</b></i>, collage, 11x14 </div><div style="text-align: center;">inches</div>Click on image to enlarge</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijq65lUq4g8Ul4nvPtLhjh7ZZoLyeo7NL4p5S96nfnngUlzN8K6-O4ikbThjVudT0iRce7GKFG_dl_nvPSy_Z6gDq4y2HRbLMSN6eqaJKfQVRq-XzHyQCWuGXbFGbMmOrBFI9eCsgCKXNw/s1600/I+Now+Remember+Who+I+Once+Was0001.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijq65lUq4g8Ul4nvPtLhjh7ZZoLyeo7NL4p5S96nfnngUlzN8K6-O4ikbThjVudT0iRce7GKFG_dl_nvPSy_Z6gDq4y2HRbLMSN6eqaJKfQVRq-XzHyQCWuGXbFGbMmOrBFI9eCsgCKXNw/s320/I+Now+Remember+Who+I+Once+Was0001.JPG" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: center;"><i><b>I Know Now Who I Once Was</b></i><br />
collage, 11x14 inches</div><div style="text-align: center;">Click on image to enlarge.<br />
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<div style="text-align: left;">While I like viewers of my paintings and collages to come up with their own stories when they look at my work, I have my own stories in my mind as I make them. With the set of collages above, I sort of imagined a kind of Wilkie Collins meets steampunk tale in which a Victorian woman using some sort of tinfoil phonograph recorder reaches deep into the past and revives long dormant memories and longing.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzSFPuGZEYtJlOBSgOgCaRnE4qrPbvNX-MoWrDPGiqgjKR5ceRyKiZ6MM9uQ6lhWJKI_PZD7X4MdeFy9rqG-PVq_NQqMe7oggO5fTmlfDA_uUHtwKMa-T16nq_LdW7vBDdY0Py9WJu6AkX/s1600/It+Was+Then+That+I+Knew+I+Was+Too+Late0001.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzSFPuGZEYtJlOBSgOgCaRnE4qrPbvNX-MoWrDPGiqgjKR5ceRyKiZ6MM9uQ6lhWJKI_PZD7X4MdeFy9rqG-PVq_NQqMe7oggO5fTmlfDA_uUHtwKMa-T16nq_LdW7vBDdY0Py9WJu6AkX/s320/It+Was+Then+That+I+Knew+I+Was+Too+Late0001.JPG" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><b>It Was Then I Realised I Was Too Late</b></i>, collage, 11x14 inches, Click on image to enlarge</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="text-align: left;">In this image, a young man stumbles upon a scene in which one man seems to be channelling energy to another through some device he wears on his head as a woman stands transfixed in contemplation. I have no idea what this is about. Possibly the man wearing the device is a mad scientist and he is controlling both the woman and the other man. Or perhaps, the woman is in collusion with the device wearer. Or something else altogether different.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizZoT2BZHbfKJ2xO6EPJZrDvtPwb01WeTNO9lDlV6jYU_3I1QJA_OKO0fWDMnnDug8E0D7_IDynX_WWU6ljsrgvCiUf1SiS8-61tIkM8qpyrEu-IPB-0usIVEp0UQpUm9au5BHzk0nGPpD/s1600/From+Her+My+Thoughts+Could+Not+Turn+Away0001.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizZoT2BZHbfKJ2xO6EPJZrDvtPwb01WeTNO9lDlV6jYU_3I1QJA_OKO0fWDMnnDug8E0D7_IDynX_WWU6ljsrgvCiUf1SiS8-61tIkM8qpyrEu-IPB-0usIVEp0UQpUm9au5BHzk0nGPpD/s320/From+Her+My+Thoughts+Could+Not+Turn+Away0001.JPG" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><b>From Her My Thoughts Could Not Turn Away</b></i>, collage, 11x14 inches, Click to enlarge image</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br />
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</tbody></table><div style="text-align: left;">The final collage in this entry was sold at the Paris Artwalk last Friday. I was just barely able to get this collage photographed as I had literally just finished it that morning and had not expected to sell it at the end of the day. The composition is as much accident as choice. The man's face had been partially cut off in the enlargement process but it also is what inspired the composition altogether. While listening to an cylinder phonograph, a late Victorian gentleman recalls the one love he could not forget.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">There will not be a separate post on the Paris Artwalk as I usually do because for some reason I did not take my usual photographs of the set up and the visitors. But, having said that, it was still a most excellent Artwalk even though I was a bit off the beaten path. I'm now showing at the Paris-Bourbon County Public Library where I used to work. The set up was in the courtyard outside and even though it was terribly hot that day, still had a good time. Valerie wafted bubbles down High Street and her daughter made a small sandwich board out of one of my promotional posters and waded through the crowds on Main Street where most of the Artwalk took place. We were one block over with a few other participants. I spun gramophone records and while I did not have as many people as I normally saw, I got more people actually interested in the art resulting in the sale of the collage. Valerie had made some experimental steampunk necklaces that incorporated miniature copies of some of the collages. Of the ten she made, she sold four. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">I find it interesting that when I got a little off the beaten path, I broke my Artwalk sales drought. Everyone at the Paris-Bourbon County library was just great and I thank all of you for hosting a former co-worker. Look forward to being there in April!</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
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</div>Patrick Lynchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12398291623086774963noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3643617233022311024.post-21592678433404515382010-05-02T15:03:00.000-04:002010-05-02T15:03:30.076-04:00From Her Voice Came The Music of the Centuries<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_5oiDClBCbuD-K-69EyJnVz2_-dt9IHBhiY7EdbZZZJ_cnyRTybZ7xfvLDui38DKMi0hJZfr2e7BaqXRtSPDCvDTP_smg8URvxqWuXBzFSwkshC0scsqyWtWmvcFjoqqp3Sgi2_ygfvG0/s1600/From+Her+Voice+Came+The+Music+of+the+Centuries0001.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_5oiDClBCbuD-K-69EyJnVz2_-dt9IHBhiY7EdbZZZJ_cnyRTybZ7xfvLDui38DKMi0hJZfr2e7BaqXRtSPDCvDTP_smg8URvxqWuXBzFSwkshC0scsqyWtWmvcFjoqqp3Sgi2_ygfvG0/s400/From+Her+Voice+Came+The+Music+of+the+Centuries0001.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <i><b><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">From Her Voice Came The Music of the Centuries</span></b></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">collage, 11x14 inches</span><i><b><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"></span></b></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Click on image to enlarge</span><i><b><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"></span></b></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i><b><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</span></b></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">This is my latest collage from the Penny Dreadful series. In this one, a Victorian lady is singing into a very early cylinder phonograph that is powered by weights/counterweights located under the table while a mummy listens with rapt attention. Though it is hard to tell in the photograph, the sky is painted in iridescent white</span><i><b><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"> </span></b></i><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">and some of the white is mixed with the gold in the mummy. When the light hits both the sky and the mummy just right, they glow.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
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</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8zTjjkpO6j91K6IEs1hhTDEjpFAeciRrKhazRRI78sWEb2_bRS3jrSwtEn2XDX96jzSJlRAhuW5uAssSacNcjE4pIQKcMx6HjL1creUmd5zrzmizr5xECL-SkrjQlszR2PP-DL5R3r8au/s1600/From+Her+Voice+Came+The+Music+of+the+Centuries+detail+left0001.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8zTjjkpO6j91K6IEs1hhTDEjpFAeciRrKhazRRI78sWEb2_bRS3jrSwtEn2XDX96jzSJlRAhuW5uAssSacNcjE4pIQKcMx6HjL1creUmd5zrzmizr5xECL-SkrjQlszR2PP-DL5R3r8au/s400/From+Her+Voice+Came+The+Music+of+the+Centuries+detail+left0001.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">In the detail above, one can easily see the transparent glazes painted over the image. I don't like to obscure the engraver's lines if I can help it. As I look at this, it seems to me that the detail image is a composition in its own right which I may explore in the near future. Regrettably, I've forgotten the make and model of this particular phonograph but it is an actual recording/playback device from the 19th Century.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh11RB8Z2rvzE4Z2TymtBuE7GgTl6fMyddCvL-9vBIpLaHk5xz-yKHw4GvsfV9rwEuoFG19CUXFVJHM0VI2qqNIhZK0vAmTj8WX_qr2G-3HAxKppQpF-QJkPWghPen9DGjydlCCdVnxGQcK/s1600/From+Her+Voice+Came+The+Music+of+the+Centuries+detail+right0001.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh11RB8Z2rvzE4Z2TymtBuE7GgTl6fMyddCvL-9vBIpLaHk5xz-yKHw4GvsfV9rwEuoFG19CUXFVJHM0VI2qqNIhZK0vAmTj8WX_qr2G-3HAxKppQpF-QJkPWghPen9DGjydlCCdVnxGQcK/s320/From+Her+Voice+Came+The+Music+of+the+Centuries+detail+right0001.JPG" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">The mummy was just too good not to use in something. I particularly enjoyed the rather rapt expression on his face. I painted him with a mixture of transparent yellow, renaissance gold and a bit of iridescent white to give him that supernatural quality. He appears to be listening deeply to something and I couldn't resist combining the mummy with the phonograph lady. I'm also endlessly fascinated by thin the veil between the Past and the Present can possibly be.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">As I look at both of the detail images, I'm thinking of actually turning this into a triptych and find a way to frame all three images together. I'd love to know your thoughts about this. </span> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div>Patrick Lynchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12398291623086774963noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3643617233022311024.post-28806721800626118892010-04-26T22:42:00.000-04:002010-04-26T22:42:33.976-04:00The Threshold of the Soul and other works<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjR8MZBLPtyGVLJ_czsXKkcYHyxZhDKuulMjt7FSYPkFWKclQbH3S9rVEfiUMf5KBsjn5CufczQQIZp5l8p6obCv1nTW8dF7foK9FbpXhvpv2sDGTq8tzD2R7ndwlim6YBa6sZePCs94Xc0/s1600/The+Threshold+of+the+Soul0001.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjR8MZBLPtyGVLJ_czsXKkcYHyxZhDKuulMjt7FSYPkFWKclQbH3S9rVEfiUMf5KBsjn5CufczQQIZp5l8p6obCv1nTW8dF7foK9FbpXhvpv2sDGTq8tzD2R7ndwlim6YBa6sZePCs94Xc0/s400/The+Threshold+of+the+Soul0001.JPG" width="307" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><b>The Threshold of the Soul</b></i>, 2010, acrylic and coloured pencil on D'Arches 140 lb. hot press watercolour paper, 22x28 inches.</div><div style="text-align: center;">Click on any image to enlarge. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">For this blog, I have one new painting and two collages. The painting, <i><b>The Threshold of the Soul,</b></i> has been a long time coming. I started this painting in the autumn of 2007 not long after setting up my studio in Paris, KY. It went through a long gestation period after I initially pencilled out the figure. The background went through massive changes from what had been originally drawn in my sketchbook and transferred to the larger watercolour paper sheet. It is also my first painting of a friend of mine who I regard with considerable respect and the utmost esteem. She is a writer and a person who has given much thought to the journey of Life and where she is on that journey. Without her, I don't think I would have done this particular painting quite this way. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">She stands at a portal between light and dark. It is not a literal landscape where I have clearly violated the rules about how light and dark are supposed to interact with each other but instead it is a landscape of the soul. The figure who stands at this portal is deciding whether she wants to spend a life in the light/happiness or a life in the dark/melancholy. She is more present in the light because that is where she wants to be, yet she knows she cannot fully enjoy the light before her without the dark behind her.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
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</div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><b>And So I Was Summoned From The Etheric Void</b></i>, 2010, collage, 11x14 inches.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">Sometimes the title comes to mind before the actual image does, and in this case, the collage is a rethinking of an earlier idea that failed in terms of composition which as it turned out was a blessing in disguise. I am fascinated by 19th Century fiction especially if it is Gothic with its attendant mysteries and overall spookiness. I also like the images to suggest stories in the viewer's mind that may have both occurred to me and not occurred to me. Is the man whose face floats overhead a ghost or is he someone who has crossed a quantum/inter dimensional void? Who is the man with the floating hat and number pinned to his chest? What are his powers and what does he use them for? What of the lady standing next to him? Does she fear the man being summoned? Or does she fear the summoner? That is for you to decide.....</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
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For this collage, I have a great weakness for stories involving the theme of Love Across Time. The clues here are the colours of the men's clothes and the colour of the woman's hair and her dresses. Each romance takes place within the shadow of the Gothic tower in the background as a man strides happily towards his lady love who awaits him at the outer door. In the foreground are all the past times this couple have loved each other.</div><div style="text-align: left;"></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
<b>Coming next:</b> I am working on a collage set near the Sphinx and the Pyramids as an unwrapped mummy listens in utter rapture to a Victorian lady speaking or perhaps singing into a very early phonograph recording her voice onto a wax cylinder. My brother saw this one in progress and liked it very much. I may do a second possibly somewhat larger version for him.<br />
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</div>Patrick Lynchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12398291623086774963noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3643617233022311024.post-67995813525727200822010-04-26T21:51:00.002-04:002010-04-26T21:56:04.343-04:00Painting in Progress-conclusion<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhd7uGCkn0M92qKn4NFkiPCsHTYIwrAYUEIcqyJg3LAwsGCiPH8JTEyDHYw-QdTMm9WbrQ-S_uq7o6eUrEwtxHAKB9S5dX_kXstSTI_AhGn1H2EpWAU4C8OOf97mu7bI6THB1Rt7oAtUUdL/s400/bridge+of+toome_painting_collage0005.JPG" width="400" /></div>Click on any image to enlarge<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;">With this installment we end where we began, the model's face because I want every element of the composition to pull the viewer back to her face because without her, this becomes a rather odd landscape instead of what it actually is, a meditation on whether to live a life of light or of dark or to put another way, a life of happiness or melancholy perhaps a blending of both.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjS5A0A68diRp2Uo5wOjCQ6OVde8pW371qOSVVguU4scEHkQ85ek50u8ej0mlSut9jGPUnXFV2rgwLzPk_iM0E2o2ioCK0SsZwWM4yyA9Oyow70cnH-GCwgESaYvMGL0WvHZzpYaP_KHqa8/s1600/bridge+of+toome_painting_collage0002.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjS5A0A68diRp2Uo5wOjCQ6OVde8pW371qOSVVguU4scEHkQ85ek50u8ej0mlSut9jGPUnXFV2rgwLzPk_iM0E2o2ioCK0SsZwWM4yyA9Oyow70cnH-GCwgESaYvMGL0WvHZzpYaP_KHqa8/s320/bridge+of+toome_painting_collage0002.JPG" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">In the close up above, I had started out with using coloured pencil as an underpainting and then going over it with a thin mix of acrylic. In the previous blog, I was not happy with the way that looked so I went over the paint with a new layer of coloured pencil and used the pencil to blend areas as well as to lightly indicate shadowed areas. The lower lip was partially painted out and corrected. The eyelashes were also done with coloured pencil along with loose strands of hair drawn over the painted areas. The combination of the pencil and the paint bring the face up to the same level as the rest of the painting. The pencil alone was too thin to give her the same weight as the rest of the composition.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqrrSuD4puuOVuUrgDTu8_5zcUwRv_6uXygFYPDLeEX5MZOxOLZ8MO9g3t0jYSK13eB2F5kOwl6T4hdIjQjLan_LvL9bG8OmmdkcNNXZRtXmjNnyCv2pUyVYl99K7zqw4WN3QjwZsTj2mo/s1600/The+Threshold+of+the+Soul+detail+four0001.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqrrSuD4puuOVuUrgDTu8_5zcUwRv_6uXygFYPDLeEX5MZOxOLZ8MO9g3t0jYSK13eB2F5kOwl6T4hdIjQjLan_LvL9bG8OmmdkcNNXZRtXmjNnyCv2pUyVYl99K7zqw4WN3QjwZsTj2mo/s640/The+Threshold+of+the+Soul+detail+four0001.JPG" width="196" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"> Other touches include foliage at the lower left of the painting and the finishing of the pathway to the colonnade in the daylight portion at the top. Some additional texturing was included in the wall and column. At some point in the near future, I will probably pull this painting out of the frame and work on the ivy a good bit more as I am not totally satisfied with it but at some point have to stop working on the painting I started two and a half years ago. Below is the(for the moment) finished painting:</div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRY1NXZFveDniKUrTF4nfwLZ5RCrrCN3ESqX_GMfC87VGjfYcOgIM5L3r_X1f66e_CC8JmSOUT8HTz-_HJ35k8hzVu6CrKZTsugcbSvjMzLp5fquIrNfqHbgB6GZRhndVTxXS3us6a22xg/s1600/The+Threshold+of+the+Soul0001.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRY1NXZFveDniKUrTF4nfwLZ5RCrrCN3ESqX_GMfC87VGjfYcOgIM5L3r_X1f66e_CC8JmSOUT8HTz-_HJ35k8hzVu6CrKZTsugcbSvjMzLp5fquIrNfqHbgB6GZRhndVTxXS3us6a22xg/s400/The+Threshold+of+the+Soul0001.JPG" width="307" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>Patrick Lynchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12398291623086774963noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3643617233022311024.post-18360585895330769752010-03-30T13:02:00.004-04:002010-03-31T16:48:58.660-04:00Pre-Raphaelite Paintings at the Frist Center for the Visual Arts in Nashville<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjX98e43W5I7GINEeC4RBX2LdCRYLKKMiVM3wjyouzHJnt7S0pFZQ9jG3vHPD2SBfDI4gPxRu-LLj3eiDvO2RIHhiBPtyOfshcm3nN-kFMP7gV3xKhyphenhyphenfi4MyA47zUfpxVwGHmVdN8NgbWfO/s1600/paintingnashvilleKingsley0029.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjX98e43W5I7GINEeC4RBX2LdCRYLKKMiVM3wjyouzHJnt7S0pFZQ9jG3vHPD2SBfDI4gPxRu-LLj3eiDvO2RIHhiBPtyOfshcm3nN-kFMP7gV3xKhyphenhyphenfi4MyA47zUfpxVwGHmVdN8NgbWfO/s320/paintingnashvilleKingsley0029.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7Qu3WQ49As65AFOa6-xm_lvdBHavdQYKhXYt5WlhuimpxXMfrN7P2d-O-0Kwo7N2yHER_-Rc87QeKRSbRTcYDe3fsGQsOE7BMbRAq7zNg9C3s4YDvYq2B7_n2yEHXXWdnrZSAqsv3mbs0/s1600/Rosetti-lg.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7Qu3WQ49As65AFOa6-xm_lvdBHavdQYKhXYt5WlhuimpxXMfrN7P2d-O-0Kwo7N2yHER_-Rc87QeKRSbRTcYDe3fsGQsOE7BMbRAq7zNg9C3s4YDvYq2B7_n2yEHXXWdnrZSAqsv3mbs0/s400/Rosetti-lg.jpg" width="350" /></a></div><br />
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click on the images below to enlarge </div><br />
Last Saturday, Valerie and I had the humbling experience of travelling to Nashville to see some Pre-Raphaelite paintings that were part of a travelling exhibit at the Frist Center for the Visual Arts. I won't try to cover all of the paintings we saw there but needless to say it was more than worth the drive. Information on the exhibit is at the link below.<br />
<a href="http://www.fristcenter.org/site/exhibitions/exhibitiondetail.aspx?cid=793">http://www.fristcenter.org/site/exhibitions/exhibitiondetail.aspx?cid=793</a><br />
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It was Valerie's first viewing of a Rossetti and our first museum trip together so it was quite a significant event for us. The painting above is one of Rossetti's later works where he mostly focused on images of solitary women painted in very lush surroundings. This painting is called Dis Manibus, or Roman Widow. The model for this painting is Alexa Wilding and was one of Rossetti's favourite models towards the end of his life.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFDRmKQOwZa-0ty6nWxb395v219GJToFdJgb_t58Wx9oRNZ5zPRTKWck3uq_T6h56zHGArlfM4E6qIwGc4vva2pop2u3K3EXZzZG08MCpj4XxCvG0wjPulxeX4nTaOrZDWCavZwQE42E5h/s1600/f8204984a4+holman+hunt.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFDRmKQOwZa-0ty6nWxb395v219GJToFdJgb_t58Wx9oRNZ5zPRTKWck3uq_T6h56zHGArlfM4E6qIwGc4vva2pop2u3K3EXZzZG08MCpj4XxCvG0wjPulxeX4nTaOrZDWCavZwQE42E5h/s320/f8204984a4+holman+hunt.jpg" /></a></div>The painting above is by William Holman Hunt and is called Miss Gladys M. Holman Hunt (The School of Nature). Miss Holman Hunt was 16 at the time of the original sitting and when the model's face was retouched later by the equally incredible Pre-Raphaelite artist, Arthur Hughes, he aged her face a few years. I may edit this post later as I find out more about this. This painting is an example of how Holman Hunt followed the early Pre-Raphaelite painting principles throughout his life, the fidelity to nature, the bright colours even I can see, and yet, as Valerie pointed out to me, as realistic as the dog is painted, a close up examination reveals the animal is painted in a technique very closely resembling pointillism. It would be interesting to find out if the trends of late 19th Century art had any effect on this early to mid Victorian artist. <br />
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We also saw three of Sir Edward Burne-Jones Briar Rose series paintings displayed together. There was a bench situated in front of them. We needed it. Seeing them together was an emotional experience that at the moment defies my ability to describe it. This painting is called The Sleeping Beauty.<br />
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Why was it a humbling experience? For the last thirty years, these are some of the artists I've looked to in finding my own way as a painter. No amount of looking in books can prepare you for seeing the real thing. What strides I've made in my own work seem to pale in the reality of those who came before me. You can also see the benefits of a 19th Century English Royal Academy training in giving one the tools to paint what the heart's eyes see. Yet there are things that connect us in mundane ways. Years ago, I was looking at a watercolour by Rossetti and discovered he was using exactly the same D'Arches hot press watercolour paper I was using. The same paper that had been made literally since 1492.<br />
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There have been times after viewing such work, that I wonder why I continue to paint my strange little pictures and not paint for a few days, but then I don't give up easily. I may never reach the same skill level possessed by these artists of another time, but we do share a love of painting a beautiful romantic world that may have never existed except perhaps in the quantum reality of art.Patrick Lynchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12398291623086774963noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3643617233022311024.post-44514920935130894792010-03-22T21:14:00.000-04:002010-03-22T21:14:16.345-04:00Painting in Progress Part IIIIn this part, I am starting to pull things together. Additional ivy has been added near the base of the column and the decorative element below. I don't consider it complete yet, I may add more leaves and try to build up the density of growth at the lower left. For this round, I've added lighter colour leaves over some of the darker background leaves. I also worked in the some of the darker green into the stone behind the leaves. Click on any image to enlarge.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpQJZauL9-NzVOkQnmfzTf9tvHW5hxfOYyaIYsF_iQj5BBm8Ag_8kyeVqytO36FMGJHG6h6Uh5azXXjSONQFHtQ27bQj9rGRP_57Z8_PVB0ZB1S-3oZ62dT77Kb1xLR39MUlrmG7zIqMKZ/s1600-h/Threshold+of+the+Soul+Part+Three0005.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpQJZauL9-NzVOkQnmfzTf9tvHW5hxfOYyaIYsF_iQj5BBm8Ag_8kyeVqytO36FMGJHG6h6Uh5azXXjSONQFHtQ27bQj9rGRP_57Z8_PVB0ZB1S-3oZ62dT77Kb1xLR39MUlrmG7zIqMKZ/s320/Threshold+of+the+Soul+Part+Three0005.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>In the picture above, you can also see the additional glazes of vermilion red, permanent alizarin crimson in the lower skirt. Some of the red and crimson is mixed together. The lighter part of the skirt is drybrushed. The idea is the lighter colour is a different texture than the horizontal darker fabric near the bottom of the skirt.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>In the picture below, you can see where I have started to glaze a mix of raw sienna and yellow ochre into the model's hair. The hue deepens with addition of the glaze. The strands of hair drawn in coloured pencil is still visible through the glaze. The work I had done on the skirt has also been done to the tunic. The shadows are a bit exaggerated so I don't lose them as I build up the rest of the colour. At this point, I've done nothing yet to the skin tones on the face or hands other than what was originally put down in coloured pencil.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXoD3ATuCPcY4xAbqp9Qj0gTFBJjLF1fFf3rSIeKP151dkM6CaNvtmSRli46-8gNkBssqL_-5wCcdwNzoFUlIHSgHWh_3GVmJeHS_mysVHQhMchcJV9gjx6WSjWzptSyfGD5RLzj6V-BIY/s1600-h/Threshold+of+the+Soul+Part+Three0006.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXoD3ATuCPcY4xAbqp9Qj0gTFBJjLF1fFf3rSIeKP151dkM6CaNvtmSRli46-8gNkBssqL_-5wCcdwNzoFUlIHSgHWh_3GVmJeHS_mysVHQhMchcJV9gjx6WSjWzptSyfGD5RLzj6V-BIY/s320/Threshold+of+the+Soul+Part+Three0006.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>The picture below is a close up showing the glazes in the hair and the original coloured pencil rendering of the face. I like it, except that now that everything else has been built up to a certain level leaving an area only in coloured pencil seems weak compared to the rest of the painting. I'm now treating the original pencil work as an underpainting to the acrylic that will be applied over it.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi987INngi_oKud1IIcFMKXGkfYqEbfZXclVXrPMK8mhiee27xIDwQKeAkEV8vLzsxJC6WG3y9icGZUF22aFbCP4PL9gX2NcBu5sHw0qLDt-TU7JzWorFJi9jl_O_LJRo4nwOFRNjwe4rrC/s1600-h/Threshold+of+the+Soul+Part+Three0012.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi987INngi_oKud1IIcFMKXGkfYqEbfZXclVXrPMK8mhiee27xIDwQKeAkEV8vLzsxJC6WG3y9icGZUF22aFbCP4PL9gX2NcBu5sHw0qLDt-TU7JzWorFJi9jl_O_LJRo4nwOFRNjwe4rrC/s320/Threshold+of+the+Soul+Part+Three0012.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>In the final picture for this segment is the model's face with the first bit of paint over the coloured pencil. At this stage, I'm not happy with it at all. This is where my colour blindness rears its exasperating head. The initial mix is titanium white, yellow ochre, burnt sienna with the tiniest amount of cadmium red. Cadmium has extremely strong tinting powers. Even the tiniest amount I had used was probably still too much.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNSsUfMIwTxnOVStSjLEzfFI54jPLbPs0LUS_AfQpSsHl-jg23HVFkAsT9h79hDIGeF7HYGksEKAJk5mncYjFYWlNKnk4uKY0EIkM11vCNqYXfsELjK7KXP_48ZtzkNPhsyRoSiHfmL95n/s1600-h/Threshold+of+the+Soul+Part+Three0018.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNSsUfMIwTxnOVStSjLEzfFI54jPLbPs0LUS_AfQpSsHl-jg23HVFkAsT9h79hDIGeF7HYGksEKAJk5mncYjFYWlNKnk4uKY0EIkM11vCNqYXfsELjK7KXP_48ZtzkNPhsyRoSiHfmL95n/s320/Threshold+of+the+Soul+Part+Three0018.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;">As I work more on the face, the goal is to first get the colour mix under control with the idea of getting it as close as possible to the model's actual skin tones. The coloured pencil actually did that quite nicely. The more challenging problem is to do that with the paint because when I am finished I want to be sure that the viewer is drawn towards the model's face. At the time of this writing, I have not yet attempted to work another layer of colour pencil over the paint. If I like the results of that, I'll use the pencil to smooth and blend the face. If not, I will continue adjusting the mix until I get it right. In order to achieve that, I will test out the mixes on a separate piece of watercolour paper and hold them next to the face to avoid the risk of overworking.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">The next entry will focus entirely on her face.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNSsUfMIwTxnOVStSjLEzfFI54jPLbPs0LUS_AfQpSsHl-jg23HVFkAsT9h79hDIGeF7HYGksEKAJk5mncYjFYWlNKnk4uKY0EIkM11vCNqYXfsELjK7KXP_48ZtzkNPhsyRoSiHfmL95n/s1600-h/Threshold+of+the+Soul+Part+Three0018.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br />
</a></div>Patrick Lynchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12398291623086774963noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3643617233022311024.post-63697367820745366102010-02-17T16:28:00.001-05:002010-02-17T17:18:35.034-05:00Painting in Progress Part IIWell, this has taken longer to get to than I imagined. Have to stop working on the painting long enough to write about it. I mentioned in the previous blog entry that I used isopropyl alcohol to blend my coloured pencil pigment. In the picture below you can see the two main items I used to do the blending. An old towel and the alcohol itself.<br /><br />Note that all of the easel images have some parallex error because I hand held the camera and the easel itsel is not quite level. Click on any image to enlarge.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2G-Uv1ySe3VHjUt54sSHTxppRV9LiinPPM2sA14AUe6hNOI9Pe4E2c8sG5Oylg1uWogO8EA3UjRTKwqGKZpDQWp27qQ8uETxrIYjzUHprylo3eT-kBhxpXg6sWwbJrU_dvhP0W9R8Mh_s/s1600-h/Threshold+of+the+Soul+painting+in+progress0007.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2G-Uv1ySe3VHjUt54sSHTxppRV9LiinPPM2sA14AUe6hNOI9Pe4E2c8sG5Oylg1uWogO8EA3UjRTKwqGKZpDQWp27qQ8uETxrIYjzUHprylo3eT-kBhxpXg6sWwbJrU_dvhP0W9R8Mh_s/s400/Threshold+of+the+Soul+painting+in+progress0007.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5439327851224751746" border="0" /></a>In the next image, you can see that I have wrapped the towel around the end of my finger and then soaked it in alcohol. I begin by rubbing the towel into the pencilled area. You can see the difference between the blended area and the non blended area by the softness of the colour and the pencil strokes.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIvlVgHnzhDCBEVdcGctHTsVC88tyxg8l2pBh6oYdQ72D5NHj6y5ZFLbs24NimXC2ydxh6yF30J08zL3c2P-7nsasIJUnRNR8YkW30YySlMk2NCgUvHJSNjKHH2GLut2uydsgW9ytArgwr/s1600-h/Threshold+of+the+Soul+painting+in+progress0014.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIvlVgHnzhDCBEVdcGctHTsVC88tyxg8l2pBh6oYdQ72D5NHj6y5ZFLbs24NimXC2ydxh6yF30J08zL3c2P-7nsasIJUnRNR8YkW30YySlMk2NCgUvHJSNjKHH2GLut2uydsgW9ytArgwr/s400/Threshold+of+the+Soul+painting+in+progress0014.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5439327980602393122" border="0" /></a>For finer blending work, I recycle old colourless blender markers by dipping them in the same alcohol. I also will pour some alcohol into a small cup and let multiple old blender soak up the alcohol while I'm using another one. For future use, I'll also pour a tiny amount of alcohol into the caps before snapping them in place.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgm9bu_XQD9IQRuievvtiDa9h5AVlbQKDIw5lHiQzP9652mzBij-KAVpSdOz2Fxh_m9zEqXEF3Jx9oMoKedn2KLYVmEWpNTMA5I3ZhSKO-8bm91vw_MIdyXlQjdLuxx_wE0Zp2nzw2m6DjM/s1600-h/Threshold+of+the+Soul+painting+in+progress0019.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgm9bu_XQD9IQRuievvtiDa9h5AVlbQKDIw5lHiQzP9652mzBij-KAVpSdOz2Fxh_m9zEqXEF3Jx9oMoKedn2KLYVmEWpNTMA5I3ZhSKO-8bm91vw_MIdyXlQjdLuxx_wE0Zp2nzw2m6DjM/s400/Threshold+of+the+Soul+painting+in+progress0019.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5439328161632605714" border="0" /></a>The old colourless blenders are ideal for blending colour in tight places, in this case the area around the model's hand.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgkWbXKAgeotJHojlp2jp847rau9qkpMFNmec3NE1vCqS3BSCM8YzON4h8AHBkqmiddHYv9eUSqnatq1CXzvttNY1cOSKHk1UPsrmno6I0pzSsU-dX2oqpPLs1xN43Y4VawNZybiIJaA0Q/s1600-h/Threshold+of+the+Soul+painting+in+progress0023.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgkWbXKAgeotJHojlp2jp847rau9qkpMFNmec3NE1vCqS3BSCM8YzON4h8AHBkqmiddHYv9eUSqnatq1CXzvttNY1cOSKHk1UPsrmno6I0pzSsU-dX2oqpPLs1xN43Y4VawNZybiIJaA0Q/s400/Threshold+of+the+Soul+painting+in+progress0023.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5439328329286532482" border="0" /></a>After working the colourless blender into the wall, I go back and add some additional layers of coloured pencil using a Derwent watercolour pencil which is well suited to blending techniques.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjA2_qDYdHji7m4Nx8QdhoGoSagS937sfzGPuICSK2m7Q34Vu1T1iEj7_qRIwi87mTmMSN10xmtF0Zvp8gZKnxILYLQqshdyXcmOc5uPsBbIK41eW0hnLJBBahC4HTONCsQPSSOzaUIAj_W/s1600-h/Threshold+of+the+Soul+painting+in+progress0038.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjA2_qDYdHji7m4Nx8QdhoGoSagS937sfzGPuICSK2m7Q34Vu1T1iEj7_qRIwi87mTmMSN10xmtF0Zvp8gZKnxILYLQqshdyXcmOc5uPsBbIK41eW0hnLJBBahC4HTONCsQPSSOzaUIAj_W/s400/Threshold+of+the+Soul+painting+in+progress0038.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5439328583510236594" border="0" /></a>Once I've added enough of the coloured pencil to build up the texture I'm going after with the wall I then add a glaze of yellow ochre over it. If I keep it thin, it will still allow the pencil strokes to show underneath. Too much of the hue will make it opaque. In some areas this is actually desirable, but not here. Because I may possibly add other layers of pencil over the glaze, I use water instead of glazing medium to thin the yellow ochre down.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfOugqjgWhB2dEL_SMz84jwIyASec1XNJyh9JPC2r_m2xTifCoPVMdeMno0CiHqo84pJ6PckNHZtV-RFsl5b6g4sLF0uixUcHpu4uGu_Eo2Kbn-J3eoMjaEI7KZxOh6xPqgATTwBcxGD8b/s1600-h/Threshold+of+the+Soul+painting+in+progress0040.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfOugqjgWhB2dEL_SMz84jwIyASec1XNJyh9JPC2r_m2xTifCoPVMdeMno0CiHqo84pJ6PckNHZtV-RFsl5b6g4sLF0uixUcHpu4uGu_Eo2Kbn-J3eoMjaEI7KZxOh6xPqgATTwBcxGD8b/s400/Threshold+of+the+Soul+painting+in+progress0040.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5439328718820293154" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmNXBqPmeKICAB9caTRj7RwfV9XCEq2xhBitgcywF_C-PLRRq4TRR2x051EDYHNMXFXVI75r_xzEr3mDcnljgvdyjNyQ6AnvSbgjtXN6b_GjcSIUN04qV726_8NPegTpAwTXAyIHPi_4iz/s1600-h/Threshold+of+the+Soul+painting+in+progress0045.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmNXBqPmeKICAB9caTRj7RwfV9XCEq2xhBitgcywF_C-PLRRq4TRR2x051EDYHNMXFXVI75r_xzEr3mDcnljgvdyjNyQ6AnvSbgjtXN6b_GjcSIUN04qV726_8NPegTpAwTXAyIHPi_4iz/s400/Threshold+of+the+Soul+painting+in+progress0045.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5439328918354470178" border="0" /></a><br />It's helpful to me to not get too fixated on any one area so I shift from working on the wall to working on the background. The background is a mix of the coloured pencil with acrylic. I probably should have mentioned this earlier but I had actually messed up the alignment of the blocks and painted the wall entirely and started over.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLBggWw3mQs0urScVP1QhGeTZFOrU8rNthpUIJR0rUZeLT0W6qLsGT27ioppmKwJ0BStK8lybifDm3S3dsxr6iQqpQbnT8jQwpAvqWHcsqRIDAiPs2uzaWDVVklB0akuK2h6B-2fTemg0y/s1600-h/Threshold+of+the+Soul+painting+in+progress0060.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLBggWw3mQs0urScVP1QhGeTZFOrU8rNthpUIJR0rUZeLT0W6qLsGT27ioppmKwJ0BStK8lybifDm3S3dsxr6iQqpQbnT8jQwpAvqWHcsqRIDAiPs2uzaWDVVklB0akuK2h6B-2fTemg0y/s400/Threshold+of+the+Soul+painting+in+progress0060.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5439329108949626194" border="0" /></a><br />Continuing with other parts of the background, I begin roughing in colour and detail on the stone floor behind the figure. I'm using a mixture of indigo blue coloured pencil along with the yellow ochre and golden brown watercolour pencil. This gets a little terra cotta pencil added to it and then a thin glaze of transparent burnt sienna.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwzjni8bZtRJkzGmTPzGK8EwfJ0Sireo_0vbiyGJlE1JNhiFm-ZrVkxZE2wueOhEInDARP2NRTEv2kyAETFkdoYYGm83WRaqRyEJ9-78Acfa2XZ2cgdmEnx7SmCgEUgEVAoyYlRJQn6Knb/s1600-h/Threshold+of+the+Soul+painting+in+progress0081.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwzjni8bZtRJkzGmTPzGK8EwfJ0Sireo_0vbiyGJlE1JNhiFm-ZrVkxZE2wueOhEInDARP2NRTEv2kyAETFkdoYYGm83WRaqRyEJ9-78Acfa2XZ2cgdmEnx7SmCgEUgEVAoyYlRJQn6Knb/s400/Threshold+of+the+Soul+painting+in+progress0081.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5439329366492254690" border="0" /></a><br />You can see here by the time I had taken this photo, I had developed the column and the wall a good bit more. You can also see a decision I had made about the background over the figure's shoulder. This area was done with indigo blue coloured pencil with washes of ultramarine blue mixed with burnt umber. I spatter what I intend to be stars to represent night. After looking at it awhile, I decide I don't really like it. So I paint it out and start over.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEMjanlZwarvISCDcpIr12oR7tRBZcnWIR4AYn08A870xiI1_jmFqJd4fL4bFjhZO3LUoynSRc0vmNxJmTBfmIVYW6ImX2IHBgVFWytrknxF5VsusNrU5JjdKNC9WbfdS-cL3PXqRe_8lw/s1600-h/Threshold+of+the+Soul+painting+in+progress0089.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEMjanlZwarvISCDcpIr12oR7tRBZcnWIR4AYn08A870xiI1_jmFqJd4fL4bFjhZO3LUoynSRc0vmNxJmTBfmIVYW6ImX2IHBgVFWytrknxF5VsusNrU5JjdKNC9WbfdS-cL3PXqRe_8lw/s400/Threshold+of+the+Soul+painting+in+progress0089.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5439329754447705826" border="0" /></a><br />Before I had experimented with the star background, my original thought was to extend the colonnade in the daytime background into the night time background. I rough this in with a white coloured pencil and use a very thin iridescent white for the clouds and the moon. The trees are a pthalo green blue shade with some white highlights. I draw the mortar of the brick with a white coloured pencil and then fill with burnt sienna.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBIljfGj7qHhTNgY3HDEPzGiBKDVda5GGuEfrvbffpCFEu1vj8_pE_ciZNZ9iubGZb86FvTyfL8fiE3djbN-rzNPv-tj0z3Tufis0U1CeNzXeqBRl8WnFR5jEEPM2ShlAKUPvgXnxD1dLN/s1600-h/Threshold+of+the+Soul+painting+in+progress0090.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBIljfGj7qHhTNgY3HDEPzGiBKDVda5GGuEfrvbffpCFEu1vj8_pE_ciZNZ9iubGZb86FvTyfL8fiE3djbN-rzNPv-tj0z3Tufis0U1CeNzXeqBRl8WnFR5jEEPM2ShlAKUPvgXnxD1dLN/s400/Threshold+of+the+Soul+painting+in+progress0090.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5439329877319377122" border="0" /></a><br />The wall gets new attention in the form of ivy painted with a dark hooker's green. In this view, you can see where the painting is heading. The hardest decision I now have to make is what colour the figure's dress should be. I will work out the final details on the dress and then decide the colour. For colour blind people, colour decisions can sometimes be excruciating.<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsI_s1XXs-2sfdOn6bPLviTK9mtH_ti1C_wXw7uQnBaxBiL6axdnKUFjZ0ii5TajF-AYsUwrxcom_oSOF4FYybRv-ByQSpPd67np-BY8Oac0YY_aHms2sAe2OZQ2aRzwRF9QDRqlawZX_B/s1600-h/Threshold+of+the+Soul+painting+in+progress0093.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsI_s1XXs-2sfdOn6bPLviTK9mtH_ti1C_wXw7uQnBaxBiL6axdnKUFjZ0ii5TajF-AYsUwrxcom_oSOF4FYybRv-ByQSpPd67np-BY8Oac0YY_aHms2sAe2OZQ2aRzwRF9QDRqlawZX_B/s400/Threshold+of+the+Soul+painting+in+progress0093.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5439330184998668178" border="0" /></a><br />The next installment will get into working more on the figure herself and seeing how the colour choice I make for her attire pulls everything together and puts the focus where it needs to be on the central figure's face.Patrick Lynchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12398291623086774963noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3643617233022311024.post-49820338508750915662009-12-11T13:40:00.000-05:002009-12-11T14:43:33.785-05:00A Painting in Progress--part oneFinally, I get around to writing a blog about a painting in progress from a technical standpoint. This is a painting of a friend of mine who is standing at a doorway between day and night. The majority of my work is done on canvas but I still enjoy working on Arches hot press watercolour paper mostly in the 140 lb weight but prefer 155 or 300 lb hot press when I have it.<br /><br />Paintings done on watercolour paper are quite different from my canvases because I work with both coloured pencil and the acrylic together. The coloured pencil provides a sort of underpainting and a lot of interesting texture in its own right. I used to work only in coloured pencil using solvents. I don't obliterate the coloured pencil with the acrylics. The acrylics are often used as a transparent glaze over the coloured pencil. If I keep the acrylics thin enough, more coloured pencil can be added and the layers can build up between the pencils and the glazes.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRl8jDa3tb-wSgBGexooZbTjKvCA-EABMXdyLEZqlEqJBaFeNX-ufhEjIp92uA3PWiFLNNaBOQMXCZzqbDaZ83QO9XyOXe3KbK70ejMa98bgtRn-zn0HntVDpsZ-WchzmsTJax1pjJSFqN/s1600-h/St+Regis+fender+swap+and+Gwen+painting+in+progress0004.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRl8jDa3tb-wSgBGexooZbTjKvCA-EABMXdyLEZqlEqJBaFeNX-ufhEjIp92uA3PWiFLNNaBOQMXCZzqbDaZ83QO9XyOXe3KbK70ejMa98bgtRn-zn0HntVDpsZ-WchzmsTJax1pjJSFqN/s400/St+Regis+fender+swap+and+Gwen+painting+in+progress0004.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5414051101076247138" border="0" /></a><br />click on image to enlarge<br /></div><br />In the view above, one can see that the painting is started with a drawing in pencil on the paper. I work out the figure, the clothing and the overall composition of the painting before adding the first layer of colour. The area behind the figure which represents Night started as multiple layers of indigo blue that are blended with isopropyl alcohol using a small cloth to work the pigment into the paper. This gives it a nice grainy texture but it wasn't dark enough so I mixed a batch of ultramarine blue and burnt umber into a thin glaze and went over the area again. While the initial glazes remained thin, I added an additional layer of the indigo blue coloured pencil to keep the grainy texture present. After about four layers, I stop.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUBmX-IyOekOvjyCh7k9w7-LD1S4lLK8qUEY2oHFv_qetreWZhQGUFe-ToNC_mJHzJJRVlsd8POagS91urxAbrf1R9-g3m6z-gbfaSAKnc-kQQIQ1-qFk4h3uErOprsSV1Siq0TCcm6QP5/s1600-h/St+Regis+fender+swap+and+Gwen+painting+in+progress0005.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUBmX-IyOekOvjyCh7k9w7-LD1S4lLK8qUEY2oHFv_qetreWZhQGUFe-ToNC_mJHzJJRVlsd8POagS91urxAbrf1R9-g3m6z-gbfaSAKnc-kQQIQ1-qFk4h3uErOprsSV1Siq0TCcm6QP5/s400/St+Regis+fender+swap+and+Gwen+painting+in+progress0005.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5414051378887490802" border="0" /></a><br />click on image to enlarge<br /></div><br />In the close up view above, look at the top edge of the painting you can see where the coloured pencil and the acrylic glazes spill off the edge. I'm debating with myself whether to extend the composition all the way to the top of the sheet or leave it as is so it fits a standard 22x28 inch frame.<br /><br />To the figure's left is a wall of a building. The wall began with layers of yellow ochre and golden brown before thin glazes of yellow ochre acrylic were applied. I kept it rougher so that the wall would appear aged. At this stage, I am not too concerned with the edge of the wall. That will tighten up somewhat as the texture of the wall takes on more depth. As the painting progresses, it will become more apparent that it is some kind of stonework with vines and ivy and other foliage on top.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkxoKx_s-J_Vok3Ctcw4vM3-Qf0V9gxnBrDNmY7qP30xatTyaj0qHjIbWEPjhgwSEWOM6I_mYQivVv7gUIQPP5X3Ovd0Ql9NCu4gd38i9fw3rkc2XtYy-OHrgMC7lwLus6D3jB-RP1E-DB/s1600-h/St+Regis+fender+swap+and+Gwen+painting+in+progress0003.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkxoKx_s-J_Vok3Ctcw4vM3-Qf0V9gxnBrDNmY7qP30xatTyaj0qHjIbWEPjhgwSEWOM6I_mYQivVv7gUIQPP5X3Ovd0Ql9NCu4gd38i9fw3rkc2XtYy-OHrgMC7lwLus6D3jB-RP1E-DB/s400/St+Regis+fender+swap+and+Gwen+painting+in+progress0003.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5414052729696906818" border="0" /></a><br />click to enlarge<br /></div><br />To the left of my friend's face, the texturing of the wall behind the column is more apparent. Her hair is a mixture of the golden brown coloured pencil and glazes of yellow ochre with some sienna brown coloured pencil added for depth. The face is a mixture of light peach, carmine red, sienna brown, indigo blue and white.<br /><br />Acrylic paint is the Winsor and Newton Finity series and coloured pencils are either the Prismacolour brand or Derwent watercolour pencils.<br /><br />The painting started out attempting to use a photo I have of a young girl standing at a door that opens into some kind of structure that is part of a Victorian photo studio backdrop but scale it up to adult proportions for the figure model I wanted to feature. Scaling up the proportions caused other problems that I wasn't ready to solve so I kept the column the girl was leaning on and discarded the rest. Perhaps in a future painting. Either way, I wanted to explore the idea of standing on the edge between Day and Night which I'll take up later as the painting is finished.<br /><br />I'll be glad to answer any technical questions as I can. I don't believe in keeping technical secrets when it comes to how I do my paintings. What I've learned from others I find a way to make my own. I would expect others to make their own anything I share.<br /><br />Over the coming weeks, future posts will take up where this one leaves off in recording the progress of this painting. I actually had started it in the autumn of 2007 and it seemed that it needed a long gestation period but now it feels like it's coming together now. Sometimes what seemed hard at the time will make me wonder why now when it seems so much easier...Patrick Lynchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12398291623086774963noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3643617233022311024.post-68204061008627805902009-11-20T22:07:00.000-05:002009-11-20T22:18:33.122-05:00The rebuilt Beautiful Past website is online!At long last, I have finally rebuilt the main Beautiful Past website using some modern software. I was able to down load both my main site and the Charlotte gallery/websites into Yahoo Site Builder. Over the last couple of weeks, I have been redoing every single page of the main site for a more antique feel.<br /><br />The site has much larger images, a new Victorian Collage gallery and all of the paintings featured here in the blog now have their own web pages. Soon, I will start rebuilding the Charlotte gallery/website so that I can add the 30th anniversary painting to the site.<br /><br />The beauty of Site Builder is that updating and correcting errors is now so much easier. I don't have to tear down the whole site just to update a page. Site Builder uploads the changes without messing up the rest of the site which is a lot more than my poor old 1990's Windows Draw 6 programme could ever do. Because Yahoo is my web host, I don't have to worry about FTP addresses, I just hit Publish and the files are smoothly updated.<br /><br />For a website as large as mine, I probably missed something. If you come across any oddities in the site, please drop me a line so I can correct it. I welcome feedback on how the site is put together, how it looks etc.<br /><br />Click here to see the new Beautiful Past website: <a href="http://www.beautifulpast.net">www.beautifulpast.net</a><br /><br />Thanks!Patrick Lynchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12398291623086774963noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3643617233022311024.post-5058510277266552922009-10-29T09:55:00.000-04:002009-11-02T13:55:10.169-05:00Thirty Years<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj34PJDwOx56UvW4tlKrhieF2syMYKgqL4kUGmbz5rApmlQOelFTPX4SFXzPXKrcrhfj1zK5ifWUq3__LjjMv0yXmYyjdfX1KOhC7oWTvAd8HkHot9xRbPWU7PP5eWoOTah_uPAwFdN6bxK/s1600-h/Charlotte+Harwell+30th+anniversary+portrait0001_2.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 309px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj34PJDwOx56UvW4tlKrhieF2syMYKgqL4kUGmbz5rApmlQOelFTPX4SFXzPXKrcrhfj1zK5ifWUq3__LjjMv0yXmYyjdfX1KOhC7oWTvAd8HkHot9xRbPWU7PP5eWoOTah_uPAwFdN6bxK/s400/Charlotte+Harwell+30th+anniversary+portrait0001_2.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5399580887873764306" border="0" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: center;">The 30th anniversary portrait of Charlotte Harwell, 2009, 24x30 inches, acrylic on canvas, actual painting title pending. Click on image to enlarge.<br /></div><br />Early in the evening of 29 October 1979, a Sears Silvertone stereo is playing a borrowed 1967 first recording of the beautiful Pachelbel Canon in D. I am drawing a picture of a young lady in riding habit looking off to the side. It doesn't take very long to do and at the time I am unusually pleased with the results.....<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.charlotteharwell.net/IMAGE112.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 433px; height: 540px;" src="http://www.charlotteharwell.net/IMAGE112.JPG" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />The original 1979 drawing of Charlotte Harwell, 9x12 inches, graphite on paper.<br />We were all a lot younger then! Click on image to enlarge<br /></div><br />It is hard to believe that 30 years have gone by since I drew the first picture of Charlotte Harwell. At the time, there was no way I could explain why I knew this but even then I was thinking about what a picture of Charlotte would look like 30 years later or to my later surprise that I would somehow still possess the Pedigree Stenographer's pencil used to draw the original image among my oldest art supplies. The link below is to the blog I wrote about her last year that gets a bit at why she had such an effect on me as an artist and as a person.<br /><br /><a href="http://beautifulpast.blogspot.com/2008/10/charlottes-birthday.html">http://beautifulpast.blogspot.com/2008/10/charlottes-birthday.html</a><br /><br />However, there is not a continuous stream of pictures of Charlotte across that span of time. There are some gaps around 1982-84 and between 2004-2006. There are four sketchbooks from 1987 to present and the paintings begin in 1980. Whenever I tried to learn something new about painting or drawing it was to Charlotte I turned. Given the amount of work I had done, I felt very vindicated when Andrew Wyeth's Helga pictures came to light in 1987.<br /><br />In this portrait, I borrowed a pose from a lovely 1890's cabinet card photograph of a full length portrait of a lady sitting in a wicker chair wearing a striped dress. I retained only the upper body pose and the striped dress. The wicker becomes a cast metal. I had thought about retaining also the photographer's studio backdrop but after some consideration decided to go with a sky background with clouds near the top. Charlotte's long hair was just too beautiful to put up so I left it down in the flowing Pre-Raphaelite manner. Charlotte was a thoughtful person and given to moments of reverie. Reverie sadly became a terribly overdone subject for painters of the late 19th and early 20th Centuries. Frankly, I didn't care.<br /><br />As Valerie described it, Charlotte looks as though she is participating in a conversation and is listening to someone that she finds interesting. Or perhaps Charlotte is listening to a favourite gramophone record....<br /><br />Valerie and I have much to be grateful to Charlotte for as it was her face Valerie recognised when she first found my website six years ago. Valerie remembered her from our time in college and regarded her with much fondness. As we see it, Charlotte bridged the gap between our college years and the present day only to discover we picked up right where we left off as though no time had passed. Charlotte's birthday is a day of thanks for us.<br /><br />Happy birthday, Charlotte where ever you are....<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSN-mMYQkssWGxrTkR-0UsmTitEABykDdocsF3xqz78YY-BlvbVk16cfqnRkfn4EN3l4qmyidFY0U9ZIyGqosTf-g_9GIPTaM6kzY8ITL1EWOw4Yp8e2Nlhjv55hqjn5znJN2ZP5uC2sk1/s1600-h/Charlotte+Harwell+30th+anniversary+portrait0001_3.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSN-mMYQkssWGxrTkR-0UsmTitEABykDdocsF3xqz78YY-BlvbVk16cfqnRkfn4EN3l4qmyidFY0U9ZIyGqosTf-g_9GIPTaM6kzY8ITL1EWOw4Yp8e2Nlhjv55hqjn5znJN2ZP5uC2sk1/s400/Charlotte+Harwell+30th+anniversary+portrait0001_3.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5399581327574085170" border="0" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: center;">detail of Charlotte Harwell, click on image to enlarge.<br /></div>Patrick Lynchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12398291623086774963noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3643617233022311024.post-87409438902949084712009-10-04T10:56:00.001-04:002009-10-05T10:02:22.042-04:00Creative Harvest opening pictures<div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbibbt0u5-vAlUb3hGDxwzsPLJ-iAfuWmhCa4dAveDVr41IeNE8G9MWntNKSiVSKFvT0zxVMLGsjzL0s9EhDNZbGv_xxGT8a47h_hPYBKwzQQ0rD18-XTIYMPdpRjDMY5wskeU7IvBbQdj/s1600-h/Creative+Harvest+2009+opening0001.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbibbt0u5-vAlUb3hGDxwzsPLJ-iAfuWmhCa4dAveDVr41IeNE8G9MWntNKSiVSKFvT0zxVMLGsjzL0s9EhDNZbGv_xxGT8a47h_hPYBKwzQQ0rD18-XTIYMPdpRjDMY5wskeU7IvBbQdj/s400/Creative+Harvest+2009+opening0001.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5388759272516516162" border="0" /></a><br />Valerie with <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Amor Aeterna</span><br /></div><br />The opening last Friday for the Creative Harvest 2009 exhibit sponsored by Stoner Creek Arts was as delightful as last year's. There were 33 artists participating including Cliff Sullivan, Rebecca Chamberlain (of the Ladies Historical Tea blog) and Sylvia Zingg (a fellow Berea College graduate). It was a delight to see to see them at the opening. As you can see in the photo below, the event was well attended.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQNbe__WjJphn0KFhHGDOFh9lt4VgG7hgK1y_6bIOI1xAMEeNxYRowwEE1IQ4M0lpfL1f5MycDc8Mct22crgFzODUy2BcGh2WNCtF5z-53bOwO0jpEh6yAHfi6fOV8XLKxczmDDlD1HGeJ/s1600-h/Creative+Harvest+2009+opening0005.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQNbe__WjJphn0KFhHGDOFh9lt4VgG7hgK1y_6bIOI1xAMEeNxYRowwEE1IQ4M0lpfL1f5MycDc8Mct22crgFzODUy2BcGh2WNCtF5z-53bOwO0jpEh6yAHfi6fOV8XLKxczmDDlD1HGeJ/s400/Creative+Harvest+2009+opening0005.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5388766269361986066" border="0" /></a><br />In the photo below, a view of Cliff Sullivan's <span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">Morning of Reflection</span>. Click to enlarge.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjpyV3snW2txA9nYjhm7aBaMDbxUs5cSj17ZOVSW-G3OQPp9iBmtpPxQN7bgrQU496zzinDG80KIYbXEp-eNUVNbAd8RY5rjb1khAgwQmFYQLZDLvSYqITX3rRlQySp9ZIqpXQhzO7jLhB/s1600-h/Creative+Harvest+2009+opening0007.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjpyV3snW2txA9nYjhm7aBaMDbxUs5cSj17ZOVSW-G3OQPp9iBmtpPxQN7bgrQU496zzinDG80KIYbXEp-eNUVNbAd8RY5rjb1khAgwQmFYQLZDLvSYqITX3rRlQySp9ZIqpXQhzO7jLhB/s400/Creative+Harvest+2009+opening0007.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5388769352317377458" border="0" /></a>When artist bloggers meet: In this photo, Valerie and I are with Rebecca Chamberlain of the Ladies Historical Tea blog and the Bluegrass Drawing Society. We have a dear friend Polly Singer in common and we all have a great love of Pre-Raphaelite art in common as well. It was a lot of fun chatting with a fellow Dark Shadows fan. Rebecca's Ladies Historical Tea Society blog can be seen here: <a href="http://ladieshistorictea.blogspot.com/">http://ladieshistorictea.blogspot.com/</a><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTzh371QCQWqFxlRREL6URrmuLrffxB-RkdGKGROUXg3tAubdmOptqFP8vA3KPCHxpuyBcUEoHZso7bHPEauf2yHrwMqlGz2Qwu-Wd6SKo7WAdFxLfZPvrTuOJbFWsp6YfzAqpawQtSRtC/s1600-h/Creative+Harvest+2009+opening0010.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTzh371QCQWqFxlRREL6URrmuLrffxB-RkdGKGROUXg3tAubdmOptqFP8vA3KPCHxpuyBcUEoHZso7bHPEauf2yHrwMqlGz2Qwu-Wd6SKo7WAdFxLfZPvrTuOJbFWsp6YfzAqpawQtSRtC/s400/Creative+Harvest+2009+opening0010.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5388760472308054306" border="0" /></a><br />Valerie, Patrick and Rebecca Chamberlain<br />(photo by Beth Hensel)<br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;">If you missed the opening, fear not. The Creative Harvest exhibit runs from 2 October to 19 December 2009, so there is plenty of time to see it yet. Not only are there some very lovely paintings on display but also some bronze sculptures and other 3D work. While there, be sure to have a look at the permanent Bourbon County exhibit in the front part of the Hopewell Museum and catch a glimpse of the rich history of Paris and the surrounding communities of Bourbon County.<br /></div></div>Patrick Lynchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12398291623086774963noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3643617233022311024.post-34425567663630761922009-09-29T20:53:00.000-04:002009-09-29T21:48:38.824-04:00It's Creative Harvest time again!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYRJKsQJbi_C0_DwCSbYvdSoyRIBrFiKFCvkvESkGlp5j8_PuWeZre_htS4a6RndZWqZzzRHeqKxBKc0NdB527FEA4ROPZC8B09wS5FXAmjCxeEMIGjyu8JJ5RPhJ0pB0QsjV5ccONKmFY/s1600-h/museum1-292x183.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 292px; height: 183px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYRJKsQJbi_C0_DwCSbYvdSoyRIBrFiKFCvkvESkGlp5j8_PuWeZre_htS4a6RndZWqZzzRHeqKxBKc0NdB527FEA4ROPZC8B09wS5FXAmjCxeEMIGjyu8JJ5RPhJ0pB0QsjV5ccONKmFY/s400/museum1-292x183.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5387060752783755858" border="0" /></a><br /><img src="file:///C:/Users/padraic/AppData/Local/Temp/moz-screenshot.png" alt="" />It's hard to believe that it's been almost a year since the last Creative Harvest exhibit at the Hopewell Museum in Paris, KY. Each year, the Stoner Creek Arts group in Paris puts on an exhibit through the auspices of the Hopewell Museum to showcase work by Paris area artists. I submitted Amor Aeterna and My Heart Dreams In A Sea of Stars as my two entries.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMesDSxwhLYFirdlPjXbnMFF8SU1gIiIpQSUjZK-ZenHEwuqqTSe4yOAVSjNwg8nbMJXS278U-GxFp23udjIA-z4AHmkMAps4LTrSh2K491bq9F9oG8uPLX41ZybHiapIMQWdU19zPu_Yd/s1600-h/Amor+Aeterna0001.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 329px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMesDSxwhLYFirdlPjXbnMFF8SU1gIiIpQSUjZK-ZenHEwuqqTSe4yOAVSjNwg8nbMJXS278U-GxFp23udjIA-z4AHmkMAps4LTrSh2K491bq9F9oG8uPLX41ZybHiapIMQWdU19zPu_Yd/s400/Amor+Aeterna0001.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5387058395064395746" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;">Amor Aeterna</span>, 2009, acrylic on canvas, 20x24 inches<br /></div><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3si1vpuEccEu4VPssegy6rx7z04wloNWZUzBaYGDs1D-0gDT3DaMArEhWC2OL-6k4bgmdsvYBCPVTdjs5Dn-GlIRKsiULq8mKibAraEssNq7bxEosOfTlRhEMreyExyrgsbHSQw1fm-JZ/s1600-h/Norma+in+a+boat+20090001.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 318px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3si1vpuEccEu4VPssegy6rx7z04wloNWZUzBaYGDs1D-0gDT3DaMArEhWC2OL-6k4bgmdsvYBCPVTdjs5Dn-GlIRKsiULq8mKibAraEssNq7bxEosOfTlRhEMreyExyrgsbHSQw1fm-JZ/s400/Norma+in+a+boat+20090001.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5387058988616278530" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;">My Heart Dreams In A Sea of Stars</span>, 2009, acrylic on canvas, 24x30 inches<br /></div><br />Last year's event was a lot of fun, and I hope the same for this year. The opening will be Friday, October 2nd from 6-9 p.m. If you can make it to the opening, I'd love to see you there. Click on the link below for directions.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://maps.google.com/maps?oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&um=1&ie=UTF-8&q=%22hopewell+museum%22+%2B+paris&fb=1&gl=us&hq=Hopewell+Museum&hnear=Hopewell+Museum&cid=0,0,13819196204439955530&ei=vq7CSsXwMMGMtgeYh4j4BA&sa=X&oi=local_result&ct=image&resnum=1">Link to Yahoo Map directions for Hopewell Museum</a><br /><a href="http://hopewellmuseum.org/"><br />Hopewell Museum website link</a><br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;">The Block Party at Failte in Lexington on September 18th was also a lot of fun. Liza Hendley-Betz had the Lexington Irish Dancers there and we got some pretty good turnout, though not as much as the previous block party. The block party was a way to build awareness that the very unique businesses caught up in all the Limestone construction that runs from Euclid all the way to Vine are still open. Failte was a great place to show my paintings and collages and I'm very happy for the opportunity to have shown there for the evening. I'd put up some pictures but I have got to remember to seriously carry extra batteries for my digital camera. I flew out the door without spares. I'll not make that mistake again.<br /><br />I'm no longer working at the Paris-Bourbon County Library part time and it has felt weird not going to work Tuesday and Thursday evenings. Had to make myself remember not to turn left on 7th Street or that I no longer have to drive at warp speed to get there from Lexington. I miss my friends there but the time I have gotten back has been spent working on my next painting which is a 30th anniversary portrait of Charlotte Harwell. If any of my Paris library friends are reading this, I'd love to see you at the Creative Harvest opening Friday.<br /><br />I've also been working on a blog posting for my current round of collages from The Penny Dreadful series but I'm not satisfied with the photography of one of the pieces. It's time I set up a new place to photograph my work that is more evenly lit.<br /><br />Missed an opportunity to show work at the Courthouse Square Art Guild in Carlisle if I remember the name of the group correctly. I was interested in showing with them but it didn't quite work out this year. Hopefully in a future exhibit. I understand they had 190 entries for their current show which is impressive for a fairly new art guild in a small town off the usual beaten path. Valerie and I recently drove through Carlisle for the first time and found it architecturally much like Paris in that their Victorian era downtown is very intact and as alive as any small downtown can be in these trying economic times.<br /><br />As I said earlier, if you can make it to the Creative Harvest opening, I'll be glad to see you.<br /><br />Here's hoping for a very creative autumn!<br /></div></div>Patrick Lynchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12398291623086774963noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3643617233022311024.post-80742259397925243632009-09-16T15:27:00.000-04:002009-09-16T18:21:21.234-04:00Amor Aeterna<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpxdPM05y2RXjQL9qcMkXnP7hCNRCzXP-4yz0fEaQxSnglCD_vgzacn93Zg8Gw1wyXzc-HaY4nLUzTCWPwbSStYwp8h8Z1nm8a8Br9rgVdACLMwE0tM1Tj2FlgGPOAm1-WvgJmEtx49yrL/s1600-h/Amor+Aeterna0001.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 329px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpxdPM05y2RXjQL9qcMkXnP7hCNRCzXP-4yz0fEaQxSnglCD_vgzacn93Zg8Gw1wyXzc-HaY4nLUzTCWPwbSStYwp8h8Z1nm8a8Br9rgVdACLMwE0tM1Tj2FlgGPOAm1-WvgJmEtx49yrL/s400/Amor+Aeterna0001.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5382192155728411618" border="0" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-style: italic;">"Next day the memories of these things,<br /> </span> <span style="font-style: italic;"> Like leaves through which a bird has flown,</span> <span style="font-style: italic;"><br />Still vibrated with Love's warm wings;</span> <span style="font-style: italic;"><br />Till I must make them all my own</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"> And paint this picture.<br />So, 'twixt ease</span> <span style="font-style: italic;"><br />Of talk and sweet long silences,</span> <span style="font-style: italic;"><br />She stood among the plants in bloom</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"> At windows of a summer room,</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"> To feign the shadow of the trees</span>."<br /><br />Dante Gabriel Rossetti, 1870<br /><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-style: italic;"></span><br /><div style="text-align: left;">The Rossetti quote is from an unpublished poem I found on the <a href="http://www.rossettiarchive.org/index.html">Rossetti Archive</a>. It fits perfectly how I feel about the subject of this painting, Valerie. I started this painting last November and through the intensely over scheduled months finally finished it last Sunday. I had promised to tell the story of how it all came to be but I don't think I'm going to keep that promise as I first envisioned it. In this day and age, I don't think anyone would want to read such unashamedly over the top recountings of how Valerie and I met, got separated and found again. It started in the freshman registration line at college, becoming fast friends, developing feelings that we were too shy to tell for whatever reasons, ending up with other people down the road. Years of separation follow and we live surprisingly parallel lives never forgetting the other until one day Valerie recognises Charlotte Harwell's portrait on my website and signs my guestbook. It took many more years until we were finally together again but in all that time our love was never forgotten and grew all the while. We need never be parted again.<br /><br />I wanted to celebrate that journey with this painting.<br /><br />The background is a little place called Cushendall in Country Antrim in Ireland circa 1899. It was in a Victorian coffee table book called Pictures of Ireland published in 1899. Because Valerie is a huge fan of the Pre-Raphaelites, I wanted to paint her in that style as much as possible. My work has kind of split off in two directions both still Victorian but I enjoyed very much revisiting my older Pre-Raph style and seeing how it looks years later.<br /><br />Yes, Valerie has been mentioned a lot in the blog of late but that cannot really be helped as she and Charlotte have had a lot of impact on who I am as an artist over the years. My next painting is the 30th anniversary of the first time I made an image of Charlotte Harwell and there are a number of collages in progress in what I now think of as <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">The Penny Dreadful</span> series. More about that in the coming days. Paintings that I've mentioned in recent blogs are still coming along slowly. Next Tuesday will be my last day working at the <a href="http://bourbonlibrary.org/">Paris-Bourbon County Public Library</a> and I will have more time to catch up on painting etc. I will be sad at leaving such a cool group of people but I can't keep up the pace and still have the time and energy to paint.<br /><br />A friend of mine has been talking to me lately about legacies and I hope mine is that the paintings outlast me and that it could be seen that the subject in each one was loved.<br /></div></div>Patrick Lynchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12398291623086774963noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3643617233022311024.post-78657796499669667252009-09-05T13:24:00.000-04:002009-09-05T13:45:23.464-04:00Showing at Failte-the Irish Shop<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4AGuCaWCYvxPbGRTNZkQhFOnVZajOTwaGtA_P-IuNtdq-Y7nOsyQ7bKRyywSPRyt1eQYiSOsvtvAb666zyDyDnBXFKTUUI0Vy13-nokZ6qlgNL9swoSsjwL-F6kWNZIR3-ELiCYcT7IP3/s1600-h/c1172864731.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 235px; height: 168px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4AGuCaWCYvxPbGRTNZkQhFOnVZajOTwaGtA_P-IuNtdq-Y7nOsyQ7bKRyywSPRyt1eQYiSOsvtvAb666zyDyDnBXFKTUUI0Vy13-nokZ6qlgNL9swoSsjwL-F6kWNZIR3-ELiCYcT7IP3/s400/c1172864731.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5378037938863292738" border="0" /></a><br />I have the distinct honour of showing at Failte-the Irish Shop on North Limestone in Lexington, KY during the Gallery Hop, 18 September from 5-8 p.m. It is a delightful shop that can use all the support it can get during the street construction that is currently going on. For directions click on the website link at right, <a href="http://www.failteimports.com/">Failte Irish Imports</a><br /><br />The website includes a map and parking directions. <br /><br />Below is the announcement from the Failte newsletter. Come and show your support for local art and local business. It's well worth the trip downtown!<br /><br /><h3 style="color: rgb(212, 203, 96);">BLOCK PARTY</h3> On September Friday 18th we are having a block party from 5pm -8pm.<br />It's the same night as the gallery hop and We are having Our very own Artist.<br />Patrick Lynch will be displaying and selling His lovely pieces of art. check out His website:<br /><a target="_blank" href="http://www.beautifulpast.net/"><span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1252171437_6">http://www.beautifulpast.net/</span></a><br /><br />We are are also very excited to announce that the Lexington Irish Dancers will also be there doing a jig or two for Us:<br /><a target="_blank" href="http://www.lexirishdance.com/"><span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1252171437_7">http://www.lexirishdance.com/</span></a>Patrick Lynchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12398291623086774963noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3643617233022311024.post-67562711289790467192009-09-02T11:28:00.000-04:002009-09-05T13:22:27.796-04:00And now for something a bit different<div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBc6TpiUtW3Lf5G9GCrcOXpZTrQdH3gc2zHKzYkJJAyMOZRDS6UtxcjirrO2_q5nBzHIaVMJZHSFhLfced55KBJi9dH33VMaSwXIS-PoqzX-yNb0Bp921akJ38DsetbWU6w99mPUcinUZ2/s1600-h/2009Collageoneandtwo0004_1.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBc6TpiUtW3Lf5G9GCrcOXpZTrQdH3gc2zHKzYkJJAyMOZRDS6UtxcjirrO2_q5nBzHIaVMJZHSFhLfced55KBJi9dH33VMaSwXIS-PoqzX-yNb0Bp921akJ38DsetbWU6w99mPUcinUZ2/s400/2009Collageoneandtwo0004_1.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5376893600053730002" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;">To Recall the Life That Arose Before My Eyes</span>, 2009, collage, 18x24 inches.<br />Click on image to enlarge<br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNDw8s-ymnrDVdlxg7M-cvXCqDXJV7zewL4eO-wQFImTycURrxmA0N0AcZIt-ua9DryVAvsWxWcsBchLBjLsavCisJTCiOx7N1u-27Kk_jvLmeaLWLXoUD-zoHrZEjjLoSKGr-tLyfKvCE/s1600-h/2009Collageoneandtwo0001.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 318px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNDw8s-ymnrDVdlxg7M-cvXCqDXJV7zewL4eO-wQFImTycURrxmA0N0AcZIt-ua9DryVAvsWxWcsBchLBjLsavCisJTCiOx7N1u-27Kk_jvLmeaLWLXoUD-zoHrZEjjLoSKGr-tLyfKvCE/s400/2009Collageoneandtwo0001.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5376892857863171602" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;">I Now Know What I Must Do</span>, 2009, collage, 16x20 inches<br />Click on image to enlarge.<br /></div><br />In late 1997, during a terrible painting block, I took up making collages as a way of looking at what I was doing through a somewhat different filter. I'm not in a painting block now because <span style="font-style: italic;">Amor Aeterna</span> is very close to completion but I thought I would revisit the collage. There are a couple of different schools of collage that are incorporating Victorian imagery into their work. The current school is what I think of as the <a href="http://www.stampington.com/html/ss_so09.html">Somerset Studio</a> school of collage which uses not only images but also text, small objects and may also extended to multiple movable panels etc.<br /><br />An older school of collage is the kind where the image maker has a stack of Dover clip art books filled with wonderful Victorian images and from other sources they've saved of a similar type. Later practitioners of this school make use of computer scans to arrange their compositions etc while others still use photocopiers, scissors and Mod Podge (tm) to create their collages. I decided to be of the old Mod Podge school.<br /><br />The first two of my collages are posted here. I've saved a lot of material over the years and started looking at it again recently. Instead of mounting my collages to a sheet of cold press watercolour paper as I did in 1997, I decided to mount them to canvas panels using the different sized panels allowed greater freedom of composition. This necessitated making enlargements of my backgrounds and then piecing them together onto the canvas panel. I cut out all of the elements I wish to place on the background and rather than just rough cut and slap them down, I cut out everything very carefully including negative spaces in say the crook of a figure's arm or some part where when cut out would reveal the background.<br /><br />I also looked at the particular line quality of each element with a view towards matching it. I wanted the collage to have a visual logic to it so that each part would be believable as a whole. One of the developments of the modern photocopier is that you can print images in reverse if desired. In the closeup of the collage below, the lady in the middle ground has been reversed so that her shadowing matches the troubled gentleman in the foreground as well as the lighting of the ruins behind them. The composition is being treated exactly the same as though I were doing a paintings.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiG96lk8UvYBkKBX1OodVanOzAs-MuOguH7-EdbFBjjgJQ5tDHGeoYkwYYSHXbCprf7ohS8evZ37ZMQnytbHP2yUZcsWTZx_8ToGj40aTeo-P7fybEd7wIDkYDIaVvZ9-ZOrHt8XTFUpZOh/s1600-h/2009Collageoneandtwo0003.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiG96lk8UvYBkKBX1OodVanOzAs-MuOguH7-EdbFBjjgJQ5tDHGeoYkwYYSHXbCprf7ohS8evZ37ZMQnytbHP2yUZcsWTZx_8ToGj40aTeo-P7fybEd7wIDkYDIaVvZ9-ZOrHt8XTFUpZOh/s400/2009Collageoneandtwo0003.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5376893191293880098" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;">I Now Know What I Must Do</span>, detail<br />Click on image to enlarge<br /></div><br />The use of colour is designed to stand out from the sepia toned collages I see so much of which is to say the collage is meant to be brand new rather than a weathered and aged object found in an attic somewhere. The colours also are tied to my normal painting palette but in the case of collage I use transparent glazes so as not to obscure the underlying original detail. My colours are described as jewel toned in my paintings, I wanted to maintain this quality in the collages.<br /><br />I also want the collages to suggest their own stories in the viewer's mind. Fans of the writing of Wilkie Collins and J. Sheridan LeFanu and other Victorian writers of the mysterious and the fantastic will have no trouble conjuring up narratives in their minds. However, I found that viewers completely unfamiliar with the conventions of the Victorian novel easily came up with universal narrative to describe what they thought the collages were about. Steampunk is a fascination of mine and some of my 1997 era collages were definitely steampunk and some of the 2009 images will revisit some of that territory with a new eye. In the end, the themes of my paintings and my collages are not all that far apart if at all.<br /><br />Your experience may vary.Patrick Lynchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12398291623086774963noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3643617233022311024.post-20904957428223784942009-08-29T12:32:00.000-04:002009-08-29T16:53:34.101-04:00The Moody Blues-music for a desert island, a lifetime, the soundtrack for so many paintings and a dream that came true.<div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBDCTLaEBxK-1_SM8IkPJmUwht1nIn70qg0A8TW9Njkos0UpbzKKu7_4kruwb_WoLpNLK7z8d7BdQUIgRkhNq5WmhGDKnszyPwxq4MCbcUEOtQoWRrm4b2WtLSaXueC3uLkCRH9BdWHN94/s1600-h/The+Moody+Blues+moodies4.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 358px; height: 324px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBDCTLaEBxK-1_SM8IkPJmUwht1nIn70qg0A8TW9Njkos0UpbzKKu7_4kruwb_WoLpNLK7z8d7BdQUIgRkhNq5WmhGDKnszyPwxq4MCbcUEOtQoWRrm4b2WtLSaXueC3uLkCRH9BdWHN94/s400/The+Moody+Blues+moodies4.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5375427532617033538" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;">The Moody Blues 1969: Mike Pinder, Justin Hayward, Ray Thomas, Graeme Edge and </span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">John Lodge.</span><br /></div><br />This has been a summer of dreams come true and last night was yet another one. Valerie and I travelled to the Palace Theatre in Louisville to see The Moody Blues play live. I loved their music ever since I heard <span style="font-style: italic;">Nights in White Satin</span> on a little AM radio when I was a child in the late 1960's. Okay, to be six or seven years old and love a very intense song about love is a pretty strange thing, but true nonetheless. Anytime the song came over the radio I was completely entranced and I treasured it so much that it was easy to call the song up in my mind whenever I wanted or needed to hear it.<br /><br />By the end of the 1970's, I had found a couple copies of the 45 rpm single of their biggest hit <span style="font-style: italic;">Nights In White</span> <span style="font-style: italic;">Satin</span> with the song <span style="font-style: italic;">Cities</span> on the flip side. The single got heavy play on my Sears Silvertone stereo. While I was in college in the early 1980's, I started saving up money to buy their albums and ordering from some long forgotten place that still had original 1960's and 70's records still in the shrink wrap. Hearing the entire <span style="font-style: italic;">Days of Future Past</span> album was quite a revelation. Soon, I had everything from 1967-1981 and completely immersed myself in the world of their music.<br /><br />Over the years, those records got me through both the good and bad years of my life, a touchstone that never failed to resonate. A lot of paintings were done with the Moody Blues playing in the background. I ended up buying duplicate or more accurately, replacement copies of favourite records that I had worn out. I have five copies of<span style="font-style: italic;"> Days of Future Past</span>, two of <span style="font-style: italic;">To Our Children's Children, Seventh Sojourn</span> and <span style="font-style: italic;">On The Threshold of a Dream</span> etc. I have some of the solo Justin Hayward/John Lodge records too.<br /><br />The Moody Blues sang a lot about lost love, that one love that was never forgotten which tied nicely to the themes of my own paintings. They sang about Camelot and knights and to my mind that made them a rather Pre-Raphaelite band at times. They also sang a lot about hope and joy and they were fearless in being true to themselves even when the musical tide turned more cynical and base.<br /><br />The Palace Theatre in downtown Louisville, Kentucky where they played last night is this incredible restored 1920's Spanish Baroque Revival place where nearly every square inch is pure eye candy. The ceiling of the entrance hall is covered in portrait busts of composers and writers and occasional statesmen of the last two or three hundred years, The performance hall is rich in statuary and the Spanish revival architectural style.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_Byhyr_LJOalx-2Y90URWWOCCQZQrmF0s8uHDMl6Ajo1bnSEULjIGIguvuLj4MzPln8qd-jY9ads7fv-8E6qUuW9KKFczsrWpRvs7APTc4Tq-ahuvQfLWnxBxVh2AOowjJ37lmyk8lNnj/s1600-h/moodyblues.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_Byhyr_LJOalx-2Y90URWWOCCQZQrmF0s8uHDMl6Ajo1bnSEULjIGIguvuLj4MzPln8qd-jY9ads7fv-8E6qUuW9KKFczsrWpRvs7APTc4Tq-ahuvQfLWnxBxVh2AOowjJ37lmyk8lNnj/s400/moodyblues.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5375426634544189330" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;">The Moody Blues 2009: Graeme Edge, John Lodge, Justin Hayward</span><br /></div><br /><br />When the room lights went down and the spotlights went up, The Moody Blues took the audience on an amazing musical trip through the decades. The band is down to three original members, Justin Hayward, John Lodge and Graeme Edge with Ray Thomas having recently retired. They added some new members for the tour to cover the flute and keyboards and had a second drummer on the riser. Without going into a huge review of the show, I'll say that The Moody Blues were as good or better than ever losing none of what made them great and having the experience and the good fortune to carry that into a fourth decade. At the end of the show, they thanked the audience for keeping the faith. I, in turn, thank them right back.<br /><br />In the autumn of 1980, I was pining for a young lady for whom I was too shy to tell her how I really felt and the Moody Blues were spinning on that Garrard turntable singing songs that seemed to know exactly how I much I loved her.<br /><br />Near the end of the summer of 2009, I sat in the theatre hand in hand with that very same lady I pined for all those years ago. We have a song we consider "our" song, it's from one of the more recent albums and it's called <span style="font-style: italic;">Bless The Wings That Bring You Back</span>. After all the years of songs filled with longing and of lost love, the Moody Blues still sing about the love that was never forgotten. Only now it is the love that is found again.<br /><br />The Moody Blues have a website with lots of interesting tidbits and information about what they're currently doing. You can rest assured that if I'm not listening to hundred year old records on my gramophone, I'm probably listening to these timeless musicians.<br /><br />Thank you Justin, John and Graeme for the continuing journey....<br /><br />http://www.moodyblues.co.uk/index_main.html<img src="file:///C:/DOCUME%7E1/plynch/LOCALS%7E1/Temp/moz-screenshot.jpg" alt="" />Patrick Lynchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12398291623086774963noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3643617233022311024.post-59200041229122218052009-07-27T21:11:00.000-04:002009-07-30T16:52:09.858-04:00Paris Artwalk photos 17 July 2009I'm running a bit late with this but here are pictures from the most recent Paris Artwalk that was held on 17 July 2009. For this Artwalk, I ended up displaying alone as Cliff Sullivan could not make it this time. Cliff, if you are reading this, we missed you and Melissa. Hope to see you next time!<br /><br />The first picture (click on any photo to enlarge) is of the love of my life Valerie Powell. Valerie made this Artwalk an even more wonderful experience. I'm waiting until I finish the painting <span style="font-style: italic;">Amor Aeterna</span> to tell a little something of our story which reaches back many many years. This was taken before Artwalk opened and I was getting shots of everything.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNcsAjHZR1swBpId6EZbWMs2PQadDsLCxIMkQFVbNMM6e2ljLRb1z12joaf-S2aee4MqxXUMM46rS_mDqjECFyo1u-aGwCjBdbgg2al2RDnstBGD3_uqtvcpQKw_ehCosviglRq90nPWBJ/s1600-h/Paris+Artwalk+July+20090001_8.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNcsAjHZR1swBpId6EZbWMs2PQadDsLCxIMkQFVbNMM6e2ljLRb1z12joaf-S2aee4MqxXUMM46rS_mDqjECFyo1u-aGwCjBdbgg2al2RDnstBGD3_uqtvcpQKw_ehCosviglRq90nPWBJ/s400/Paris+Artwalk+July+20090001_8.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5363312748557365570" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgo4igDAbD1SzLjvC5D1f9F6JKc31TIBlqGPGbgLh6b0iYrZ0Amg7F4awhKGHLMxjaVDbjJdyBwomeC143U2dAXv6QI-lZQ446l438LPaIEPSfQJYs3O7ujmBs_bUrqKQ6JcfGNBDeYOmez/s1600-h/Paris+Artwalk+July+20090001_3.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgo4igDAbD1SzLjvC5D1f9F6JKc31TIBlqGPGbgLh6b0iYrZ0Amg7F4awhKGHLMxjaVDbjJdyBwomeC143U2dAXv6QI-lZQ446l438LPaIEPSfQJYs3O7ujmBs_bUrqKQ6JcfGNBDeYOmez/s400/Paris+Artwalk+July+20090001_3.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5363315214698815522" border="0" /></a><br />The next picture is of the sandwich board Valerie and I put together out of plywood lying around our garage and I velcroed poster frames to it so I could easily swap in informational posters or other material. The board includes two rings mounted at the top to tie the balloons to. Artwalk days are notoriously windy, this one was no different. In the background of the photo, Marilyn Campbell is coming up the street with the balloons that denotes an Artwalk participant.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEAbghr5ZEgKfmUMK1cVmJTAMQI7yKUzo-YujTPhG35PyPPXPNdoPEaEImRP4GcZovfUKekYmKrbtS2bAthwPviHfLtc_ZQg0_UfJDYuFsSiHFVMMGNSKkkUco3LY_Tf1k6s57tdpCklQ7/s1600-h/Paris+Artwalk+July+20090001_7.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEAbghr5ZEgKfmUMK1cVmJTAMQI7yKUzo-YujTPhG35PyPPXPNdoPEaEImRP4GcZovfUKekYmKrbtS2bAthwPviHfLtc_ZQg0_UfJDYuFsSiHFVMMGNSKkkUco3LY_Tf1k6s57tdpCklQ7/s400/Paris+Artwalk+July+20090001_7.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5363313136725182034" border="0" /></a><br />As you can see in this picture, I've set up a gramophone near the door. Valerie is listening to Fritz Kriesler play the <span style="font-style: italic;">Meditation from Thais</span>. I thought that since gramophones appear so often in my paintings that I would play 78's during Artwalk as a way of attracting people inside. It worked like a charm. We probably had over 150 people troop through to look at the paintings as well as participate in an unintended sociological experiment with the gramophone. People who encountered a device playing music that used not a single watt of electricity and was completely mechanical seemed to have three reactions to it--fascination as they had never seen such a thing before; nostalgia as they or someone in their family had a wind up gramophone, and to my surprise, terror. That's right, terror. When small children were involved the two major reactions were either fascination or terror. The gramophone was big and loud, and sometimes a child would ask me what it was. I realised the best answer was to say "an iPod from the 19th Century". Then they seemed to understand.<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1Vb2-SOnvOCkY6AqDOQwwK9mHTQXk9z5IZO3Y9avWZRRtJWSFTNr7BGGg9frGrR4ayUDS2SwmWldCawgh1_bF7zf7iiSTWr87gG1V3kI3g1ccEdO3PznEwH-ayBhXaR9z_xyu5sj4ZmUW/s1600-h/Paris+Artwalk+July+20090001_10.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1Vb2-SOnvOCkY6AqDOQwwK9mHTQXk9z5IZO3Y9avWZRRtJWSFTNr7BGGg9frGrR4ayUDS2SwmWldCawgh1_bF7zf7iiSTWr87gG1V3kI3g1ccEdO3PznEwH-ayBhXaR9z_xyu5sj4ZmUW/s400/Paris+Artwalk+July+20090001_10.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5363313481516461538" border="0" /></a>In the interest of full disclosure, the gramophone I brought was a modified "His Master's Voice" typically found on eBay. It's functions completely like an original machine but the horn, tone arm, sound box and wood cabinet are only about seven years old. The only "original" parts are the motor and turntable. Alas, the machine is fake but it plays quite nicely for what it is. I had intended to bring my 1907 Columbia BI Sterling that is actually featured in the paintings but the threat of rain made me reticient about transporting it outside.<br /><br />A final note about the gramophone. I had been taking photos with my digital camera which worked perfectly until I started playing the gramophone. After about the second record, my camera would immediately drain batteries. Valerie went out and bought me another package of batteries from the nearby Dollar store. I then proceeded to drain all six batteries in less than five minutes. I usually photograph in "Museum" mode without the flash to extend battery life. Camera had worked perfectly up until that point. So as a result, I didn't get any crowd pictures when the restaurant was packed with people. A few days after Artwalk, I got around to putting in another set of batteries and the camera has worked perfectly ever since. Ghost hunters take note: the rapidly draining batteries is a classic sign of something afoot when paranormal activity in a place is suspected.<br /><br />Among the many people I talked to over the course of the event, I had a nice conversation with Clay Wainscott from Lexington. When the old (and much missed) Bistro147 restaurant was in operation in Lexington, I shared wall space with him there. He also used to write very sensible and well thought out essays about art under the pseudonym of Les Moore for the ceased local paper <span style="font-style: italic;">Nougat</span>. (Sonny Sizemore, if you're reading this, I still have your painting of the gramophone safe and ready to bring back to you)<br /><br />In the picture below Valerie and I are standing in front of the painting I did of us called <span style="font-style: italic;">Dreaming True</span>. All pictures below taken by Beth Hensel with her trusty iPhone.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnpuhmHHGdEV-CNWNVGcDmdhCOxwnS3w4AFlfYn_wl6s0T_tmRLnKwcvIThk23EvomKksr5baMuD-4jyvuzm1zQHlLCMvXTCd9U1YYWbrWfzOOcCbz8hgPKQoArJ6yUpWOR6Fs4vWmrgwk/s1600-h/IMG_0174.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnpuhmHHGdEV-CNWNVGcDmdhCOxwnS3w4AFlfYn_wl6s0T_tmRLnKwcvIThk23EvomKksr5baMuD-4jyvuzm1zQHlLCMvXTCd9U1YYWbrWfzOOcCbz8hgPKQoArJ6yUpWOR6Fs4vWmrgwk/s400/IMG_0174.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5363314729197791922" border="0" /></a><br />The next picture also shot by Beth, Valerie and I do a little waltz while the gramophone is playing in between moments of the space being packed with visitors.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhO3uuLj1Vi2Nl7krdGcu0N0GTWQoNQ6PjRetqAn12Om7bWGT-cISmBanOvxVJTvwTZSlybssxnSZZQnr0_B33YoV_zUNMCDdRMabC2cpPohyphenhypheneLwtLHNldCuznv2Q5gc9UfCstCS1TpUeAd/s1600-h/IMG_0175.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhO3uuLj1Vi2Nl7krdGcu0N0GTWQoNQ6PjRetqAn12Om7bWGT-cISmBanOvxVJTvwTZSlybssxnSZZQnr0_B33YoV_zUNMCDdRMabC2cpPohyphenhypheneLwtLHNldCuznv2Q5gc9UfCstCS1TpUeAd/s400/IMG_0175.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5363315591348749378" border="0" /></a><br />It is always a treat when the people who model for my paintings make it to Artwalk. This is Norma Gilpin who is the model for the lady in the boat in the night sky paintings and a dear friend.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigC2BhWB5a9vRJxDfsNCtR6JiPdTPCaG8X4vfyG1pn4Rs4bcA7QpXd9GpjcKmOHf_shHiUmIVIKpw8e-4cNoJa8OcUa5LuJCwP4MUkm6u9ueotpnDNL6e308r6-7GA3B8_c0ONoqbixY7_/s1600-h/IMG_0180.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigC2BhWB5a9vRJxDfsNCtR6JiPdTPCaG8X4vfyG1pn4Rs4bcA7QpXd9GpjcKmOHf_shHiUmIVIKpw8e-4cNoJa8OcUa5LuJCwP4MUkm6u9ueotpnDNL6e308r6-7GA3B8_c0ONoqbixY7_/s400/IMG_0180.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5363314285630546562" border="0" /></a>Beth took this picture of Valerie and I towards the end of Artwalk, happy but tired. We spoke to a lot more people than I had previously seen at Artwalks past. It was a pleasure and an honour to introduce Valerie to friends and acquaintances. She was a huge help to me in ways too numerous to mention here.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFSvuyTbHxQu7C92IJpVpbFWmNt4H0O8HtyXybZeSLsLV0BllSJ-x-AEv28aDtwBSCE2PWIvJbPTI4awGpkJzsnmTTsUvvj0ESTNA2jwCfb2vJIjQTq3nbOnC1g4yFnHGurDXeRMmHMQbD/s1600-h/IMG_0182.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFSvuyTbHxQu7C92IJpVpbFWmNt4H0O8HtyXybZeSLsLV0BllSJ-x-AEv28aDtwBSCE2PWIvJbPTI4awGpkJzsnmTTsUvvj0ESTNA2jwCfb2vJIjQTq3nbOnC1g4yFnHGurDXeRMmHMQbD/s400/IMG_0182.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5363313897063446258" border="0" /></a>As always, I wish to thank Marilyn Campbell for hosting me and for the refreshments and everything she brings to Artwalk. Marilyn makes it fun. I also would like to thank my Paris library friends for stopping by, Valerie and I enjoyed seeing all of you.<br /><br />The summer is flying by. Hope everyone is having a good one.Patrick Lynchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12398291623086774963noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3643617233022311024.post-17642291738933506142009-04-25T21:38:00.000-04:002009-04-29T17:33:45.341-04:00Paris Artwalk photos--24 April 2009Another Paris Artwalk has come and gone. First I'd like to thank Marilyn Campbell for hosting Cliff and myself once again. Marilyn was great as always! I am very appreciative of everyone who stopped by especially my co-worker friends in the library world, it was great to see all of you. I was also thrilled my friends Norma Gilpin and Beth Hensel were able to stop by as they are the models for two of the paintings I had on display. A special treat was to finally meet fellow Pre-Raphaelite art lover Rebecca Chamberlain who is an artist and art historian from Winchester and a dear friend of my friend Polly Singer. Rebecca also has the Ladies Historical Tea blog linked from my blog.<br /><br />Turnout was pretty good, though once again the wind blew away our marker balloons that showed we were participants and we might not have gotten quite as many people as we hoped. For the next Artwalk, I will probably makes some larger signage and get my own sandwich board and rig up something to attach the balloons to.<br /><br />Update: this is a link to Cliff Sullivan's blog on the same event with pictures<br /><br /><a href="http://cliff-cliffsart.blogspot.com/">http://cliff-cliffsart.blogspot.com/</a><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiDXZBO5tnUFBOOlWFQ_nJflVEW0jAFbvp7Zix5KAy_9WAWpk9ST21J35X9IXhFNT4ZexOuF6TbIdQWfX_uAi7E0_CDa7oFsLc1Xq-5qE_pZ7lbF_6UMca4F3EkeP48PjO0_SlqB2ezLnt/s1600-h/Paris+Artwalk+April+24+20090011.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiDXZBO5tnUFBOOlWFQ_nJflVEW0jAFbvp7Zix5KAy_9WAWpk9ST21J35X9IXhFNT4ZexOuF6TbIdQWfX_uAi7E0_CDa7oFsLc1Xq-5qE_pZ7lbF_6UMca4F3EkeP48PjO0_SlqB2ezLnt/s400/Paris+Artwalk+April+24+20090011.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5328810689390833282" border="0" /></a>Click on the images for a larger view<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0DuAsHVS7rh3d25FZ3YW8qxVOA-ZIOH1y9SX_lUwvItpPrXFuXscniK-iYdBwOQ1_86xEXjQq_N8ELW4cDG4FbZmUIn_vUEvpafrEdb1jzWjb1kkERQJAolqRKC1n9lncxzUQ0MByc3Mo/s1600-h/Paris+Artwalk+April+24+20090018.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0DuAsHVS7rh3d25FZ3YW8qxVOA-ZIOH1y9SX_lUwvItpPrXFuXscniK-iYdBwOQ1_86xEXjQq_N8ELW4cDG4FbZmUIn_vUEvpafrEdb1jzWjb1kkERQJAolqRKC1n9lncxzUQ0MByc3Mo/s400/Paris+Artwalk+April+24+20090018.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5328811549583422146" border="0" /></a>Patrick Lynch and Cliff Sullivan<br /></div><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPPpbJuvLe8x_TG_pNqDUDOAowZpw-A-HF_DrSCuSPBul1e3mYRRMdjBvBy5C2m6g3N8j2NdWjWU9SOk_nFOKRC01yu9v6tFjESwzSWnvpfw5Wv04UMIUUzkfCjAGd5Hl0bDIp73JmeRiz/s1600-h/Paris+Artwalk+April+24+20090004.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPPpbJuvLe8x_TG_pNqDUDOAowZpw-A-HF_DrSCuSPBul1e3mYRRMdjBvBy5C2m6g3N8j2NdWjWU9SOk_nFOKRC01yu9v6tFjESwzSWnvpfw5Wv04UMIUUzkfCjAGd5Hl0bDIp73JmeRiz/s400/Paris+Artwalk+April+24+20090004.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5328809289538006882" border="0" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">My paintings on display just before the start of Artwalk.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUHdZffIoNDvSunVwpRy5j0p6MQqeTox4DLyKrf1gQeKUpJIqWe5imJSPtQCEQL3SEC-rCJEYzEirLYI7MZkxYfFD-p3vitLcVZj97r4AcTlsuEFlpb14gFMJRfwdogBWPiUu5uLloAWL8/s1600-h/Paris+Artwalk+April+24+20090013.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUHdZffIoNDvSunVwpRy5j0p6MQqeTox4DLyKrf1gQeKUpJIqWe5imJSPtQCEQL3SEC-rCJEYzEirLYI7MZkxYfFD-p3vitLcVZj97r4AcTlsuEFlpb14gFMJRfwdogBWPiUu5uLloAWL8/s400/Paris+Artwalk+April+24+20090013.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5328811101383497442" border="0" /></a>Some of the crowd later in the evening. When the exhibit space was crowded, I never had a chance to actually take any pictures.<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjb9UNTexT6CSBgdG_5jj9vY35BlukekMwiMNiS8-WZZbSqAqLu49tqQhO3pUKpRY2GUyUmIECsOiEBZX76ht2qp5lgzj1E6QwhaffsQm51SVTOkIvrEs8oGwv_NCRSxq89rl044mmh2Emb/s1600-h/Paris+Artwalk+April+24+20090017.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjb9UNTexT6CSBgdG_5jj9vY35BlukekMwiMNiS8-WZZbSqAqLu49tqQhO3pUKpRY2GUyUmIECsOiEBZX76ht2qp5lgzj1E6QwhaffsQm51SVTOkIvrEs8oGwv_NCRSxq89rl044mmh2Emb/s400/Paris+Artwalk+April+24+20090017.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5328810057686837970" border="0" /></a>Cliff, his friend Brandy and his wife Melissa laughing at something one of us said. They are standing next my two favourite paintings of Cliff's.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_Qo1rGMXSu2JV5I_WjwUbnWSDzPtQhKkaM2oyHdeEN8q22JwjNclIKzmNNtk6Antf9EUtu_-ySxPrmvFYOslGdplCVxPCpn3flQRTDfNgYkhYja845fOA6qH5ZmGRfEjBq3JAzNdF5xfv/s1600-h/Norma+and+Padraic+at+Artwalk0001.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 313px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_Qo1rGMXSu2JV5I_WjwUbnWSDzPtQhKkaM2oyHdeEN8q22JwjNclIKzmNNtk6Antf9EUtu_-ySxPrmvFYOslGdplCVxPCpn3flQRTDfNgYkhYja845fOA6qH5ZmGRfEjBq3JAzNdF5xfv/s400/Norma+and+Padraic+at+Artwalk0001.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5328808937787868402" border="0" /><span style="display: block;" id="formatbar_Buttons"><span class="on" style="display: block;" id="formatbar_Bold" title="Bold" onmouseover="ButtonHoverOn(this);" onmouseout="ButtonHoverOff(this);" onmouseup="" onmousedown="CheckFormatting(event);FormatbarButton('richeditorframe', this, 3);ButtonMouseDown(this);"><img src="http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif" alt="Bold" class="gl_bold" border="0" /></span></span></a>My very dear friend Norma Gilpin who modelled for the lady in the boat with a gramophone paintings <span style="font-style: italic;">My Heart Dreams of a Sea of Stars</span>,<span style="font-style: italic;"> Calling Me Home To You,For The Stars Help Me, And The Sea Bears Part.</span><br /><br /><br /></div>Patrick Lynchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12398291623086774963noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3643617233022311024.post-38509090752345694032009-04-21T21:41:00.000-04:002009-04-22T23:54:53.809-04:00My Heart Dreams of a Sea of Stars<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3ByTnSGHb-lsiOsg7T8bdDoC4uSSU7kjgYQLZvDfA0Xvkb7ebiaF3HW835bXlj9zpLLgIfjL5AK27-drz2xZibzyxOQmlRYDuW5RPkmgfjDXvcnx1lrtzBHjZaTpyD-hYq8p38mjQi3FX/s1600-h/Norma+in+a+boat+20090001.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 318px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3ByTnSGHb-lsiOsg7T8bdDoC4uSSU7kjgYQLZvDfA0Xvkb7ebiaF3HW835bXlj9zpLLgIfjL5AK27-drz2xZibzyxOQmlRYDuW5RPkmgfjDXvcnx1lrtzBHjZaTpyD-hYq8p38mjQi3FX/s400/Norma+in+a+boat+20090001.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5327325183207361314" border="0" /></a><br />This painting is titled <span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">My Heart Dreams of a Sea of Stars</span>. Click on any of the images in this post for a larger view.<br /><br />After a long winter where it seemed that I wasn't getting anything done, I've now finished my second painting this spring. I had started it in the autumn but set it aside for a few months until I could focus on it better. This is the third painting of my friend Norma in a boat gliding in the night with a gramophone playing of a series of four paintings so far of people in boats with gramophones in a night sky. Why do gramophones appear so much in my paintings? I think it's because the outside horn gramophones are the perfect blend of romance and technology. They were comparatively portable and gave people who did not have musical talent a way to share music with a loved one. Some of that music can be heard on this blog's music player in the form of a block of songs by the Irish tenor John McCormack who in his day, was an international superstar. McCormack sang both opera as well as more popular songs including his famous and somewhat spooky "I Hear You Calling Me", a ballad about someone pining for his love who has crossed over.<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0rWUTyo7ZRdOX8hMTDCFiEK0tt1-2MH8WkdDV6sNVtdJ_bUEsyrCpP-phGc6nD3nS700Gkp7CMeY1QW_cvoarTFMcPH_J-pG1pEGabOttqykNtvWW3PklfdEec3WFvbI95O5AshCiJ0S9/s1600-h/Norma+in+a+boat+20090001_1.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0rWUTyo7ZRdOX8hMTDCFiEK0tt1-2MH8WkdDV6sNVtdJ_bUEsyrCpP-phGc6nD3nS700Gkp7CMeY1QW_cvoarTFMcPH_J-pG1pEGabOttqykNtvWW3PklfdEec3WFvbI95O5AshCiJ0S9/s400/Norma+in+a+boat+20090001_1.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5327342139939739138" border="0" /></a>In the more fanciful paintings I'm doing, the gramophone is not only a symbol of romance but in a way an almost steampunk (springpunk?) propulsion system as the sound waves coming from the morning glory horn somehow propel the boat across the night sky. One might imagine the boat would move faster or slower depending on what was spinning on the spring powered turntable.<br /><br />The gramophone is once again my 1907 Columbia BI Sterling. I'm rather partial to the Victor outside horn machines of the same era, but I actually own the Columbia. Those who are experts on these machines probably have noticed that my Columbia is missing the turntable ring and that the crank is in a slightly odd place. That's because the original motor was replaced with a double spring Victrola motor and the modifications were made with great care and to the untrained eye appear as original. The cabinet was refinished by Roger Rudd of the Kentucky Antique Phonograph Society and a reproduction "Columbia Disc Graphophone " label affixed to the front. I bought the machine from Brian Gorrell, a friend of mine who with Roger restore old gramophones and other antique phonographs. I got this machine knowing it was modified from the original and because of that more affordably. The stronger Victor motor probably plays better than the original. With a fresh needle and a good record it plays as well as it did in 1907.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYCLyXQoeU9xcKHWgJ3WiAyxyiZnc47cm0HVTfEGCN6d2kZmiQ_gv4F1ooH-5yeKHUkCGkT-x9NgzLJBQ7lDGiifatLC68BWj1y_QOkaO9-v9lunrvRCSWmOTqfU13sY8gilau8D-5A5qC/s1600-h/Norma+in+a+boat+20090001_2.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYCLyXQoeU9xcKHWgJ3WiAyxyiZnc47cm0HVTfEGCN6d2kZmiQ_gv4F1ooH-5yeKHUkCGkT-x9NgzLJBQ7lDGiifatLC68BWj1y_QOkaO9-v9lunrvRCSWmOTqfU13sY8gilau8D-5A5qC/s400/Norma+in+a+boat+20090001_2.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5327716242991023186" border="0" /></a><br />Now if I could only paint metal more convincingly. I'm getting the mass of the horn, but I'm still having trouble getting that metallic surface right. Maybe my brush strokes are too rough or thick or something. Sometimes I do subjects multiple times because it's as simple as trying to get it finally right. Of course it would be easier to paint Victor machines with their black morning glory horns but their unique petals present other interesting challenges. I've been painting the Columbia more because I have it in front of me instead of relying on my photographs of other machines.<br /><br />More often than not, it is because there is something that continues to fascinate me about the people I'm painting that causes me to seek often unsuccessfully for that definitive statement of what that person means to me especially loved ones. The emotions felt inside always render pale any attempt at painting them. Is that because my feelings and the pressure of self imposed expectations are too complex to paint, or is it because I need a lot more serious art training than I got at Berea College 24 years ago? Probably a mixture of both. The 1980's were not a particularly good era for artists wanting to be a Pre-Raphaelite but that is a subject for a different blog entirely. I do know that some of the people I love most are the hardest to paint, not only because of my expectations but sometimes theirs as well. Maybe someday I can get out one of those pictures and say to myself "why didn't I finish that?" and then have the whole painting fall into place.<br /><br />Whatever the reason, I do not intend to let my current limitations as a painter stop me from trying to do better.Patrick Lynchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12398291623086774963noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3643617233022311024.post-79403157364825333802009-03-30T20:27:00.000-04:002009-03-30T23:18:57.663-04:00Dreaming True<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEis2u8ISeCyNcG0KssmQV_AQLu53eJlO8bzHSO9M5N71XuOPVTpXIKYo_uBoqtaGh3zT-Fhog-0LLwKNhBb3Eb8VNAG_m1wnJNa8lc6s1V8SFXS_DrMh99VITk7G3MOCNxGsFwLrHvCdz2p/s1600-h/In+a+Dream+We+Glide0001.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 265px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEis2u8ISeCyNcG0KssmQV_AQLu53eJlO8bzHSO9M5N71XuOPVTpXIKYo_uBoqtaGh3zT-Fhog-0LLwKNhBb3Eb8VNAG_m1wnJNa8lc6s1V8SFXS_DrMh99VITk7G3MOCNxGsFwLrHvCdz2p/s400/In+a+Dream+We+Glide0001.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5319142531433136050" border="0" /></a><blockquote><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"></span><span style="font-style: italic;">"....And this other human being and I had been enshrined in each other's memory for years--since childhood---and were now linked together by a tie so marvellous, an experience so unprecedented, that neither could ever well be out of the other's thoughts as long as life and sense and memory lasted." </span><br /><br /> from <span style="font-style: italic;">Peter Ibbetson</span>, written by George duMaurier, 1892</blockquote><br />I hardly know where to begin in writing about this painting. It would almost be easier to play music with the painting in order to describe my feelings about it. A stack of John McCormack 78's? Fritz Kriesler playing the <span style="font-style: italic;">Meditation from Thais</span>, circa 1918? Something more modern perhaps? <span style="font-style: italic;">Nights In White Satin</span> would do nicely along with the majority of the other songs by The Moody Blues featured on the music player at the bottom of this blog. A shame that <span style="font-style: italic;">Nights in White Satin</span> isn't on a 78.<br /><br />As always, click on the images for a larger picture.<br /><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9KF6LuWpBYzYzcVpycyQ5jIRP8_SMMSSYb5jfX6WbxSt9fLbwwRCosD8VcZFNS4rGe6klvfhxLhy_xch5SqFL4PcT9cTsxNnV6L4hb3x4hvb044EfmQFoomqzC_hU84rkVMQ4cSJxGyvQ/s1600-h/ValerieandPadraic0001.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9KF6LuWpBYzYzcVpycyQ5jIRP8_SMMSSYb5jfX6WbxSt9fLbwwRCosD8VcZFNS4rGe6klvfhxLhy_xch5SqFL4PcT9cTsxNnV6L4hb3x4hvb044EfmQFoomqzC_hU84rkVMQ4cSJxGyvQ/s400/ValerieandPadraic0001.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5319142816457200498" border="0" /></a>I still haven't fully settled on a title for this painting. Some paintings have a title even before the canvas is placed on the easel. I couldn't settle on a title for this one. The boat in the night sky paintings usually have titles based on one of my early 78 rpm records, but I also want to have a title based on the George DuMaurier novel Peter Ibbetson which is a book that the lady in my arms and I hold very dear. For now, the title is <span style="font-style: italic;">Dreaming True</span>.<br /><br />If you compare the painting to the photos of it in the previous blog, you can see there have been a few changes. Except for part of the horn, I painted out the previous gramophone and replaced it with my 1907 Columbia BI Sterling. The previous gramophone was actually a nicely rendered pencil sharpener but it wasn't quite good enough as a painting reference. I changed the contents of the boat behind the couple and added the vintage Victor Records sleeve by the 78's. The sky (or is it the night reflected water?) has more stars added and wispy elements that might suggest arms of the Milky Way.<br /><br />As I mentioned in the previous blog, the couple featured in this painting are myself and someone I love very very much. I'm waiting until summer to say more when a wonderful new chapter begins in a very old story when two people who never should have been apart are finally together.Patrick Lynchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12398291623086774963noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3643617233022311024.post-73447907821103068202009-01-27T20:44:00.000-05:002009-01-27T23:56:23.119-05:00Winter wonderland-paintings in progressAt the time of this writing much of the eastern third of the United States is in an icy grip. My studio in Kentucky is very much in the middle of the winter maelstrom. Ice, then snow, then more ice, then more snow. Everything looks like its coated in frosted glass. This seemed like a good time to write an update on paintings in progress and to take a peek at my studio after some recent rearranging.<br /><br />All of the paintings pictured are in the very early stages as far as I'm concerned. In at least two of them, the paintings are far enough along you can see where they are going while the other two are still too early to tell<br /><br />As always, click on each picture to see the larger image.<br /><br />This is the painting I'm currently spending a lot of time on.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPDa8q6Q4gDx1JDlcoZfMq2rpNoG7AvS7IgyiHNwTB2LOoamh8zZ0OwS9fFJLEZ7fUB6IuOx096-8ghZD4zXT39xVFcHfT0TY24hz2LnZFw6Fy9kdPib7JGB4RtTLCSpDtY1bROvI2__FN/s1600-h/Paintings+in+Progress+Winter+20090013.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPDa8q6Q4gDx1JDlcoZfMq2rpNoG7AvS7IgyiHNwTB2LOoamh8zZ0OwS9fFJLEZ7fUB6IuOx096-8ghZD4zXT39xVFcHfT0TY24hz2LnZFw6Fy9kdPib7JGB4RtTLCSpDtY1bROvI2__FN/s400/Paintings+in+Progress+Winter+20090013.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5296168107071077858" border="0" /></a><br />This was inspired by something I saw in a National Geographic book on the British Isles. I removed all of the figures except for this one couple cuddled together. My pose for the figures is loosely based on the original but I made several adjustments to it. Those who know me will recognise me as the male figure. I don't usually paint myself but I made an exception in this instance. The lady I am holding is the dearest person in the world to me and to say I love her would be the grandest understatement of this or any other century. More will be said about her in future posts when some of the paintings that feature her are complete. This painting is part of the night series I've been doing for a couple of years. Generally, I have been giving paintings with gramophones titles from old 78 rpm recordings of the era and I haven't settled on a title for this painting yet. For some reason, I am fascinated by images of boats floating in the night sky. Yes, it could be reflections on the water, but I like the idea that the couple are floating in a sea of stars.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTKUP-lqwccBLpope1ebE_4BwzgfJPaJSn-NmKaqZNFAVjgwzyh_zeBBqBJiUFjnJu7mTGzZY-vC0-BPAGCVK37ZIml9FWr-9PgsmLQS4xSdeEqzdCjCtIiG-fXIvNMfJha1cj-TRk3hrg/s1600-h/Paintings+in+Progress+Winter+20090016.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTKUP-lqwccBLpope1ebE_4BwzgfJPaJSn-NmKaqZNFAVjgwzyh_zeBBqBJiUFjnJu7mTGzZY-vC0-BPAGCVK37ZIml9FWr-9PgsmLQS4xSdeEqzdCjCtIiG-fXIvNMfJha1cj-TRk3hrg/s400/Paintings+in+Progress+Winter+20090016.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5296171326598969074" border="0" /></a><br />As I said, the painting is still in the early stages. I turned down the brightness in this image because the photo was a bit overexposed, but it kind of gets the idea across.<br /><br />The painting below is from the same series and I had actually began this painting before the above mentioned work. Something about the boat was making me crazy so I set it aside to rest awhile before I wonder why I didn't finish the painting sooner when it hits me just why it was bugging me.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjznklObPKhm7jb04vE_VH6R5YAqKPY8t66_5pDBPqhrWq_GuuWpEY8nlBpSKFN_NNzrXIvpMXoXrsjDY6bDBwOqWeSTV6VoyS72LmvgTyb6K8UWQl1AtvB5RoZjh6rLypkbC-8IvGas5uX/s1600-h/Paintings+in+Progress+Winter+20090012.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjznklObPKhm7jb04vE_VH6R5YAqKPY8t66_5pDBPqhrWq_GuuWpEY8nlBpSKFN_NNzrXIvpMXoXrsjDY6bDBwOqWeSTV6VoyS72LmvgTyb6K8UWQl1AtvB5RoZjh6rLypkbC-8IvGas5uX/s400/Paintings+in+Progress+Winter+20090012.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5296172747052380066" border="0" /></a><br />The next painting is of a mysterious Victorian lady pausing before an even more mysterious doorway. The outside is clearly set in day, but if she goes inside the structure she steps into the night. This painting is also waiting for me to look at it a certain way and then see just how to finish it. It is also a piece where I use older techniques combining coloured pencils with transparent glazes of acrylic paint. They tend to be a bit slow going. Mainly, this painting is a gestation stage where the work being done to it is more mental and hasn't externalised yet.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicI6gkUny3ZZaE05jt7PN7Ij_TeDuOGu5-vZuhvHutV72EKnqh4Y-3NsxxQ_1B3rNlT4np5i9d8qDBaYk2gbDEg4Da5KHOO8t69lYE8OaGlZ_o9LvwHeh7J-RU1ZI2wQaemacopkUtlmID/s1600-h/Paintings+in+Progress+Winter+20090001_1.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicI6gkUny3ZZaE05jt7PN7Ij_TeDuOGu5-vZuhvHutV72EKnqh4Y-3NsxxQ_1B3rNlT4np5i9d8qDBaYk2gbDEg4Da5KHOO8t69lYE8OaGlZ_o9LvwHeh7J-RU1ZI2wQaemacopkUtlmID/s400/Paintings+in+Progress+Winter+20090001_1.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5296174908531123602" border="0" /></a><br />The final painting in this set is a painting I have wanted to do for almost thirty years. It is of the lady I am holding in the boat. As you can see it too is in the very early stages of painting. When I complete the painting, I will write a post on why she is so dear to me. A clue can easily be found in the painting's title: Amor Aeterna. The background which is too faint to see in this picture is of Cushendall in County Antrim, Ireland circa 1899.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpeU6Zp86x22xPy4XmWGKOHWtCFKYHR4No9KFf683wzIst3XeFf7Q07NPk8wVSPfRteg9rB9l5w80wvdrY12qYnyYLps4bbPxyatZx9a07SzYYjdhUbAMlrSx8U5g6rxXc-ij0JURnHFdg/s1600-h/Paintings+in+Progress+Winter+20090004.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpeU6Zp86x22xPy4XmWGKOHWtCFKYHR4No9KFf683wzIst3XeFf7Q07NPk8wVSPfRteg9rB9l5w80wvdrY12qYnyYLps4bbPxyatZx9a07SzYYjdhUbAMlrSx8U5g6rxXc-ij0JURnHFdg/s400/Paintings+in+Progress+Winter+20090004.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5296179742166292114" border="0" /></a><br />A Studio Tour:<br /><br />The purchase of a nice but amazingly inexpensive old table to put my 1907 Columbia Disc Graphophone on caused a partial rearrangement of my studio. The table is so sturdy it doesn't wiggle or wobble when I wind the gramophone. In the first picture below, there is a sock stuffed into the horn of the Columbia as a crude volume control. Ever wonder where the term "put a sock in it" came from? I moved my 1963 Pilot console stereo to the living room and shifted other furniture around and now the studio feels much larger than it really is. Below are some photographs I took a few days before our winter storms set in.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGDO3vuLetZlKh0hoSJG4DW-Q5-pnMawyQRl8EguQKhlq0pyd8qMGzqZ8kiEVS3IEw9hDTuzLP7Xi6MDm3-YO_uXoEGFG0OOlVv5ChURSGx0W-eQCj-CTN-k3S7mQKjagvPCYvWV2GeraK/s1600-h/Studio+and+snow+2009+001.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGDO3vuLetZlKh0hoSJG4DW-Q5-pnMawyQRl8EguQKhlq0pyd8qMGzqZ8kiEVS3IEw9hDTuzLP7Xi6MDm3-YO_uXoEGFG0OOlVv5ChURSGx0W-eQCj-CTN-k3S7mQKjagvPCYvWV2GeraK/s400/Studio+and+snow+2009+001.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5296192204731292770" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivgXH-edrf1olPelA75zqeQkyyBwQH-8r38p5calBVFlDk426lc8byQCRsqYM8WYNNnCDBXQg-VAT-EQOgicTcwI8UHOYWjo7i1PxelBEcdXgc-g_4ZZ6LLoANQFsH1Pd2BBk6bpFx94nb/s1600-h/Studio+and+snow+2009+010.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivgXH-edrf1olPelA75zqeQkyyBwQH-8r38p5calBVFlDk426lc8byQCRsqYM8WYNNnCDBXQg-VAT-EQOgicTcwI8UHOYWjo7i1PxelBEcdXgc-g_4ZZ6LLoANQFsH1Pd2BBk6bpFx94nb/s400/Studio+and+snow+2009+010.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5296194671196488210" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkrk-ttSGgO4MDGxhKSgLd_JmTLebgzKz3F5kQgN2RbCIjVZ910ehXcUiR8qQpxcZ4t1S-0ikwO9TEKE6BsU0WcQj6wQhmTEdc9S8JxcK0l0S2Dir70fBdxWAC34PbTiCt3Ti6lievh6De/s1600-h/Studio+and+snow+2009+014.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkrk-ttSGgO4MDGxhKSgLd_JmTLebgzKz3F5kQgN2RbCIjVZ910ehXcUiR8qQpxcZ4t1S-0ikwO9TEKE6BsU0WcQj6wQhmTEdc9S8JxcK0l0S2Dir70fBdxWAC34PbTiCt3Ti6lievh6De/s400/Studio+and+snow+2009+014.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5296193039458171586" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5H2foSnAQ_bg_mWEbz25FV7ObMyRoaIYW1bX0TrJetOrbvl0ZqAfhc9CLV-BrZZ4HJRpySZQanlggwDTiPWdDRYpSa6EgvGKyBrYLaJflQBE_nT779SuvfqLvi3v33DDU3QnxQPZATAvI/s1600-h/Studio+and+snow+2009+025.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5H2foSnAQ_bg_mWEbz25FV7ObMyRoaIYW1bX0TrJetOrbvl0ZqAfhc9CLV-BrZZ4HJRpySZQanlggwDTiPWdDRYpSa6EgvGKyBrYLaJflQBE_nT779SuvfqLvi3v33DDU3QnxQPZATAvI/s400/Studio+and+snow+2009+025.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5296195411469303938" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYAANC-RMZWP8bnL-_jmQPHNCsowah8UemGMR2BtrF2KBjW7mxU-fqP5W0DAjdKYWUfnmza-hWuDlSEMBU107vDKWAclX92n5NqJ1y64tmAx4nmP5qzUoUu4kUfvkbVFO3W10sMGVY0t-D/s1600-h/Studio+and+snow+2009+006.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYAANC-RMZWP8bnL-_jmQPHNCsowah8UemGMR2BtrF2KBjW7mxU-fqP5W0DAjdKYWUfnmza-hWuDlSEMBU107vDKWAclX92n5NqJ1y64tmAx4nmP5qzUoUu4kUfvkbVFO3W10sMGVY0t-D/s400/Studio+and+snow+2009+006.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5296196073039518818" border="0" /></a><br />In other news, my old computer died at a most inopportune time whilst trying to add a USB hard drive. Needless to say, anything not backed up on CD was lost. This will finally force me to modernise my web creation software and rebuild the site from scratch to something I hope will be easier to update. My new laptop has a mind boggling amount of space on the hard drive and when the recalictrant USB hard drive comes back from the manufacturer, I should have ridiculous amounts of storage space and back up for everything. Until the site is rebuilt and uploaded, web updates may have to come in the form of this blog.<br /><br />2009 looks to be a year of rebuilding and of change. Not just at the national level we are currently experiencing but also on a personal level. I, for one, am feeling very optimistic right now.Patrick Lynchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12398291623086774963noreply@blogger.com2