Thursday 27 November 2008

Savonarola's Chair, the film buffs version...

This is a photo of me looking for a Savonarola chair at an art exhibition in the old Masonic lodge building on the riverbank at Warkworth in late 2003.
I was unable to find one at this time but I did find a gorgeously dramatic portrayal of one on Eisensteins 1944 movie Ivan the Terrible (Part One) which my son Sam gave to me, in the scene where Ivan is laying seige to Kazan.
Do check it out. You will not be disappointed.
All you many many many many Savonarola chair fans who have found your way onto my humble art blog by googling Savonarola's chair should know that this chair is an Ancient Roman design of folding camp stool used by the Roman legions and unfortunately named after a religious idiot, a rabble rousing fanatic who caused a fuss in Florence in the 1490's and was responsible for corrupting the vision of one of my main drawing heroes, Sandro Botticello, by filling him with guilt and shame, completely destroying this brilliant artist's mojo and this maniacal obsessive fuckwit of the first order was eventually burnt alive by the Catholic authorities and I find it somewhat disturbing that amatuer antique investors and furniture fashionistas should be forever and always landing on my blog looking for information on a Roman General's camp stool unjustly named after a Goddamned iconoclast....
And it's kinda fun where life takes us and definitely fun to have an abusive self righteous tirade just like my man Savonarola, only I don't insist on you following my belief system.
Whatever you believe will, I believe, be revealed to you as truth.
Belief systems are surely like everything we are conscious of: infinite in variety and a matter of choice in what we focus on.

Wednesday 26 November 2008

Music Mural Assistant

Janice wanted to help finish the music mural so I turned her lose on the country band's clothing. I reckon she cracked it, I love the dress and the blonde hair, there's lots of little delights in painting murals.
Only the jeans are painted, the shirt, dress and blonde curls Janice did with chalk pastels and clear medium and I provided the finishing touches with scraping off the highlights on the shirt with a tungsten scraper and scraping texture into the dress with my fingernails.
Very hands on and spontaneous, working like this I am as happy as a kid playing in mud.

Tuesday 25 November 2008

The Weekly Portrait: Dr. Mathieson


Some years ago I was talking with a rough character in the local pub at Warkworth where I lived for 20 years. We got on the subject of Doctors and my companion told me of a rash he had on his hands and forearms which he took to a local Doctor to look at. The Doctor looked at it and without a word began to write out a prescription, probably for antihistamine. My companion told how he got very angry at this and abused the Doctor in no uncertain terms and stormed out vowing not to pay for the visit, big drama because the Doctor could not or would not tell him what the rash was and why the rash was but would without much thought add some kind of drug to the patients system.....
He took his rash to Doctor Mathieson, the other Doctor in town at the time and Doctor Mathieson looked at the rash and asked him if he worked in tomatoes?
Yes picking tomatoes on a local farm and Doctor Mathieson told him that tomatoes exude a substance on their skins that keeps mould at bay and that some people's skin reacted to this natural defense of the fruit and advised my companion to get a different job.
That was when Doctor Mathieson was added to my list of heroes and much later we became friends and would share stories and I would draw...

Friday 14 November 2008

The weekly portrait: Mike singing and playing the guitar

I drew this portrait of Mike with a sepia pencil in my small (A5) parchment paper sketch book.
This sketch book is designed for drawings in ink.
Mike likes me because I once introduced him to a friend as a guitarist and most people introduce him as a plumber.
Easy call that one. I know ones' day job is about mere survival of the animal, a necessary evil and possibly good for meeting people and experiences and giving food for thought and dreams wheras ones' talent and passion is about expressing and nurturing the soul.

Wednesday 12 November 2008

The Weekly Portrait: Judy in the sky with Anthureums..

This painting is a commission, a birthday present to a beloved sister.
This is the underpainting made with chalk pastel on canvas and sealed with clear medium brushed over the pastel and all done with Judy sitting before me.
It will be finished in the studio in acrylics.
A few photos I took of Judy at the sitting will aid me in catching the facial expression which most speaks of her real self.

It's all in the eyes and mouth.
Lovely and fascinating work..

Sunday 2 November 2008

Waihi Rocket Park Mural is installed 3 Nov. 08




 
While John from the Hauraki District Council and I were up there on the cherry picker installing the 2 mural panels we cleaned off some crude tagging that some enterprising youngsters had sprayed on the rocket (yawn... ) I'd love to get hold of some of these creative infants and show them a few design skills so they could lift their game, and mana, and express themselves in a cooler and more inclusive way. ...dreams are free and as lovely as you want to make them...