The Nudes

So I just finished painting the first draft of a series of nudes. There are five pieces in this series. Well, actually, this is not really a series. It is one work with five parts if that makes any sense. 5 canvases but the same work. Called The Nudes. Wanna see?

Well, I won't upload them all because I don't think it is the appropriate way to show them. One of them in particular is a bit naughty. At least, for me. I am not usually very comfortable with nudity so I am not even sure what came over me.  I think for anyone these would be a bit risqué. Why did I do it? I felt like, you know what, the human body is what it is. I have a body and I don't have to be afraid of it and be a stranger to how it looks. I can embrace all aspects of the human form. But did I overreach? Yes, maybe.  It is so bad that I have decided if ever I have visitors, I will hide this particular series. They may get the wrong idea and judge me and I don't like that.

But. I will upload just one of the five pieces. I think it is not so naughty as the money shot one. The latter, I sent by email to my sister to ask her thoughts. The first question was "you're not sending this to dad, correct?" As if I would ever do something as uncouth as that!

 Still, if it was ok for Rodin, surely, it should be ok for me, no?

Oh, right. Rodin was a man.

Marie Antoinette

MY MUSE

Like I said in a previous post  I love this woman, this ancient French queen, Marie Antoinette. I think she got such a bum rap when she was here a few hundred years ago when she walked this Earth in royal garbs and made the fatal mistake of being an Austrian on the French throne. A big part of her problems, I think, was that she was a foreigner. Never be a foreigner. No matter who and where you are.

I love the way that everything was all her fault. Don't you? An entire revolution. All Marie's fault. Typically, women don't have any power in society - even the aristocracy and the monarchy but she was all powerful. It was her fault that Paris did not have any bread.


Well you know what? I am not buying it. I don't buy it and I never will buy it. They set her up to take the wrap. They made her the heavy and the fall guy. They scapegoated that poor girl and I am not going to join them, like sheep, and blame her for everything.

Makes me so mad.

Was she a complex human being? More than likely, yes. There was more than just a little bit of nuanced complexity there. But who among us is completely uncomplex? Was she selfish and self-absorbed? Maybe a bit too into herself and her frivolous pursuits like fashion, luxury and lovers? Probably. But show me a woman who is not the very same and you have shown me Mother Theresa. And to my way of thinking, there can only be one Mother Theresa. That Saint has died, god rest her soul and everybody else is just basically human, and flawed, like little Marie Antoinette. So whatever were her shortcomings and her sins, I forgive her. And I let her inspire me every single day. So there.

So anyway, as I said before, this is supposed to be her that I am painting. It is not finished. Her hair is all effed up so I have to do something. The photo is based on a photo on the cover of the book by Evelyn Lever. Do you know that book?

This painting has been a work in progress for about five years now. I keep changing it and on a certain level, I think it is getting worse not better and I can almost hear her whisper "you are making a hot mess of me, please stop!"  But I carry on. I keep trying to make it better and more perfect but even unforeseen events conspire against us. The very last thing was an old bookcase. A giant, old, heavy, mammoth thing that I had to disassemble all by myself to make way for a new one that I finally was able to purchase. Make a long story short, I had a massive accident in the apartment and the whole mammoth thing came tumbling down and one of its edges fell into Marie and made a massive hole close to her buttocks.

I cried.

But there it is. She has flaws. Even her painting is flawed.

And yes, I do talk to her almost every day and ask her opinions on stuff that I am going through. And it is almost like she responds!  And another thing is, when I sleep, I get the feeling that her ghost walks through my apartment and re-arranges me things. She really thinks, I kid you not, that this is her apartment.

This Work in Progress (I mentioned it yesterday) is inspired by Paris and other things

So, obviously, I live in Paris at the moment and it is where most of the art I have created so far was created. It should be noted that I began painting 7 years ago in San Antonio Texas, because I thought the sunsets were unbearably beautiful and I felt compelled to try to capture them in a painting. So a lot of the first things I did were sunsets. And boats. I painted a lot of boats as I am obsessed with boats and water scenes.

Shortly after I began painting in San Antonio, I left for Paris and ended up staying for many, many years. In Paris, I did not start painting right away. Maybe about a couple of years after I arrived is when I finally bought some paint and brushes and an easel. I first did a portrait of Marie Antoinette (I am obsessed with Marie Antoinette) which I can show you in the next post. It has morphed and evolved and changed over the years. Right now, I have it on a blue background but I can't tell you how many other colors I have used on this.

Suffice to say for this post, I just want to show you the 3 paintings I am working on which will be a series. I could decide to do more than 3 in this series as I find that I enjoy it a lot. As I said they are inspired by Paris but there is more to it than just Paris. It is a complex mash up of Paris and other things and thoughts.

What do you think? Remember these are all first drafts. I am not done yet. But I blasted them out just for kicks.

Acrylic
50 cm by 65 cm
19.5 in X 24 in

Walking down Boulevard Saint Germain today I got inspiration for tomorrow's painting

So I have some ideas for the third painting in a 3 part series I am working on. The other two are still unfinished but have taken shape very nicely and I will post them tomorrow to show you what I have done so far. Remember they are drafts. Not what they will look like when finished so don't laugh yet.

Morning ritual

Every morning I start my day with a cup of chicorée which looks and tastes like coffee but has less caffeine…

Work in Progress....

This is one I started today….

My little flat is getting overrun by my paintings

OMG, my flat is overun with paintings. Somebody please make me stop with the painting!!!

I think I paint too much. At any given moment I have six or more works in progress going on. It is totally crazy and I feel like I am on the verge of some kind of existential event because where is this coming from, you know?

 I just love the aspect of "play" that painting affords me. And I am really proud of myself for being brave enough to take up a hobby like this.  But when your flat is the size of a matchbox, where do you put it all?

I am constantly re-arranging furniture trying to make it all fit but I think I will soon need a bigger flat. Which is too bad cause I really love my flat in spite of how tiny it is.
 I mean, I have things piled up in corners and it is harder and harder to open the front door to get in and out of the apartment because of all my painting.

I can't even have guests, or god forbid, a lover in this place. Which is a little bit tragic, as far as the latter aspect, I think. Don't you agree?

So this is my new blue coffee chair. I sit here and have a cup of coffee or chicorée each morning and I contemplate the day. How can I get through it? How can I survive? Most days I hardly know where my next meal is coming from but I somehow always manage to surround myself with things that make me feel very rich. Like my art. And books about Coco Chanel. And, of course, Marie Antoinette. That girl is my muse. I love her and I do not apologize. She inspires me to be more glam, more daring and more creative every single day.

Quantum Leap

This one is called

"Quantum Leap."

My style is mostly abstract but some of my stuff is very "surreal." So I am not sure how to classify myself. Quantum leap is a couple of years old.


Acrylic. 27 cm by 88 cm