Portrait of an Artist

There are many ways to do a self-portrait.  The important part is that you reveal something of yourself. This photo, shot by my friend Stephanie, is a telling portrait of me.

How would you do a portrait of yourself?

Portrait of an Artist. This Artist

This is the artist responsible for this crazy blog.  Me.  I’m just over here celebrating my naturally red hair.  One of our sons tells me I’m prone to gross hyperbole, but I don’t know what he’s talking about.

An Artist’s Self Portrait

As I have my students do self portraits it’s only right I do them as well.  This one stemmed from our show, Cinderella.  I got the entire orchestra to Sharpie a mustache onto a finger, and, as we sat at the foot of the stage would ‘mustache’ the actors when we weren’t playing to try to get them to break character.  Never worked but it was fun to try.  I also teach that portraits should reveal things about the person; in the background you can see words of some of my favorite things. :)

An Artist’s Hair

Artists.  The ones with the weird hair.  So nice to see you today, @lydia_grayce ! You look adorable! Break a leg in Seven Brides; so glad you loved Newsies! 

Seriously, our bodies and hair are really just more canvas to cover.  So... I guess if you want to have a painting commissioned, chase down someone with crazy-colored hair. The odds will be that they can do it for you.

Self-Portrait through Books, Part SIX the Last!

One more time, this is the sixth installment of my self portrait, find my earlier five posts all created in this month, July of 2018.  I’ve saved two books for the last.  Here’s the picture one more time!

Okay, I have been working my way from top to bottom and have worked my way to the last two titles, which are hanging around in the middle.  The white one, Chinese Calligraphy first.

I remember years ago going to the bookstore all excited that I had decided to learn Chinese.  I just happened to meet a Chinese friend there and told him of my plans.  He laughed at me and said, “Have fun with that, even the Chinese don’t knowChinese!”  Not letting him dampen my spirits, I purchased this book and have been glad for years that I did.  

Have I learned Chinese?  Well, technically, no.  BUT, I have learned a lot about the development of the Chinese language from pictograms to characters and have an understanding of how they have changed.  I can look at many characters and see the root of the word and why the characters are written the way they are.  I can read VERY FEW words, but can identify the language from other oriental languages and appreciate the rich heritage. The way they write their characters is a very high art in itself and it has enriched my life studying and learning the character formation and give me a deep appreciation for those masters.  What a beautiful language.

All this to give a nod to my Chinese friend, and a wink admitting he was right.  Oh, but I am glad I tried!

I saved my Bible for the last, because it is ever so much the most important one of all!!!  I’ve been using a bilingual Bible because of my constant love of learning and languages.  It’s also been fascinating because many times the Spanish is more clear in its interpretation than the English, and many times I’ve found that the words chosen in Spanish have more impact for me, and sometimes enhance the passage even more.

But the reason I saved this for last is because this is the ONE BOOK that has changed my life. It tells the story of man’s fall, the mess we’ve made of ourselves, and the fact that we are all sinners.  It tells the story of God coming to earth to become a man, Jesus, to purposefully die that our sins can be forgiven.  It tells the story of how we, as sinful people, can reach out to Jesus for forgiveness and ask him in to our lives.  It tells the story of beauty and redemption and the full, rich life possible for each one of us. 

It tells the story of my life, a mess, turned around by Jesus.  I have hope.  I have a future.  I have freedom.  I have no fear.  That is a lot to say in this dark world! The reason I put this book in the center is because it holds everything else up.  There would be nothing else for me or for anyone without the God of this book.  Thank you, Jesus, for changing MY life and filling me with hope and beauty!!

Self Portrait, Part Five (see previous posts for others)

All right, could it be that we have only four books to go? This is the continuation of my self portrait.  I have chosen this little company of books to represent myself; they are a distillation of the, oh, I don’t know... 1,000, 2,000? books in our home.

Again, here’s the picture:

We’ve done all the books in my previous July, 2018 posts, and now have only the four standing on the left to finish us up.

The Art of Peter Max.  I LOVE Peter Max! His fresh vibrancy in everything he does inspires me.  And, did you know that one of the artists that formed and inspired him was actually Bouguereau? Go figure, huh? Kind of funny, because his work is nothing like Bouguereau, nor is mine, but he can inspire us all.  And a nod to you, Peter, for being reliably bright and fun.

Next to that is The Creators by Daniel Boorstin.  If you haven’t read any Boorstin, ANYTHING he has written is worthy! His history is fabulous and I also love his American history.  THIS book, however, has well moved in and secured its place in our home.  For one thing, this is my second copy as I completely wore out my other copy and finally threw it away in about 20 pieces. It’s just a beautiful and informative book about creators.  All kinds of creators through history: musicians, writers, sculptors, inventors, painters.  Love it!

Although is a descriptive self portrait created with BOOKS, there’s something else in this picture worthy of mention.  You see these books surrounded by mark makers (in lots of colors), two of my paintings, and a glorious outside garden.  These three are a very apt part of my portrait.

All right! Two books down, two to go!  You will see me finish up my self portrait in my next installation, part six!  See you then. ;)

Self Portrait, Part the Fourth

Well, here we go again! Find my three previous posts down below this within the past few days.  I’m continuing my self portrait, as described by this stack of books. Oops... I chose the wrong pic - me and my son... and it’s too good to delete, so... this picture is of me and my son! We just finished having lunch at the BIGGEST RESTAURANT IN TEXAS, The Oasis, on beautiful Lake Travis. :)

Now, back to the self portrait... let’s see if I can do better ...

Here we are. All right, I’m moving my way downward, and have arrived at Bernini. Oh, Bernini, how I love you! I was so excited to meet your work in person when we were in Roma, and my love for you has not dimmed! Michelangelo did a great work.  You built upon that work. You took the idea of his gorgeous figures further by adding emotion and muscle tension. Your sculptures are alive with emotion and feeling, right down to their very toes! I love this book as well because, well, it’s a Phaidon book, and Phaidon knows how to do things right.  You can count on Phaidon to produce beautiful stuff.  It even smells good.  Don’t you just love a book that smells good?  Also, I use this book almost every year in my art classes.  Soo handy for so many reasons.

The Complete Van Gogh.  I love his work. I sympathize with his lot in life, which, try as he would he could not seem to improve.  That he could create such beauty - it’s just a wonderful thing.  Also he’s Dutch.  So am I. We Dutch artists have to stick together.  Visiting the Van Gogh museum in Amsterdam, home of MY PEOPLE is a memory that I cherish.

Down on the far right you see a little Latin dictionary.  I know I already covered Latin earlier, but Latin is really just so important to me, that it’s an ongoing thing. Just today I was reading semi-historical fiction about 14th century Norway, and so much Latin comes up in it.  It’s everywhere, and nice to understand it when it comes along.

Enough for this post! We are getting there! I believe I now have four books and a wooden toad left to explain.  See ya in Part the Fifth!

Sketching Portrait of Our Son

Doing some quick sketching in my small pad to keep my chops up. I never know what people are going to hire me for next, and sketching a wide variety of everything is always a good thing.  This wide variety of everything just happens to be our youngest son. :) 

I started this on a plane, minus the knife, of course.  It’s extremely sharp and works really well to sharpen my big fat pencils.  I’m not that good at it but it reminds me of my trip to Cuba and making music with the Cuban musicians.  When we needed to correct our music or make notes, I noticed that they could sharpen their pencils to deadly weapon status with a few strokes.  Sheesh!

Anyway, if you need me to do some artwork for you or sharpen your pencils, let me know. :)

Portrait of a Son

Ah! Haha! Our oldest son has a great red beard of which he is deservedly proud. I included maps in the collage because he travels a lot and a crossword puzzle which my dad worked. He aced those puzzles until he died at 96. Seemed fitting to honor that creative, intelligent and ever curious heritage of ours. I love that I captured his wry sense of humor and beard-pride. 

Yes, I do commissions large and small.