Tasting Life Twice - 9 - 22 - 09 to 9 - 28

Tuesday, September 22, 2009 B

"Two Attempts"
10:13pm

What joy, I've found our local library has a nice collection of art books! In addition to one about Renoir and another about Chagall, I found an intriguing book of illustrations for a story-world called Pern. One of its visages begged me to draw him, and so "Capiam" got reborn as two different characters in my two attempts. I scanned and readied them, and then hunted out the artist who'd done the original work. The _Pern Encyclopedia_ features a tiny thumbnail of this character, so carefully noted that it was 'used with permission':

I followed their link to the artist's website, where I hoped I'd find a larger version. I found a stern warning about copyright there, so in no way shall I be scanning the picture from which I drew. I trust that use of the tiny thumbnail for which she'd given the other website permision will be considered 'fair use'.

Anyway something spoke to me in this illustration of a "masterhealer" "totally dedicated to his Craft" (text, page 122)

Something went wildly wrong with the hair on this one!(But I tried to fix it, as I do like the look of concentration...)
His name is Capianno

Perhaps this second attempt is nicer, borrowing a bit from the pretty ladies of Renoir for the face...
(I will call her Capianna...)

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

"Two Quotes by Renoir"
6:47pm

I have ideas for coloring those two drawings. I want Capianno to be in dark tones, all to illustrate concentrated Will, and Capianna to be in light tones, to evince the embrace of Love, aspects which work together to bring about the most effective results in all endeavors.

But my head is full of sinuses, my sinuses are full of gunk, and there will be no artmaking tonight. I laid down on the sofa with one of the library books, the thin one about Renoir.

Pink sky tonight, Julia noticed it as well, (a sky Renoir might have wanted to paint...)

But perhaps not, as he noted:

"An artist who paints straight from nature is really only looking for momentary effects. He does not try to be creative himself - and as a result the pictures soon become monotonous." (page 55)

So Renoir gave up on 'impressionism', and returned to the directions of his heart. How much I agree with him when he said:

"What delights me about Velaquez is the joy that pours forth from his art, the joy he felt when he painted his pictures... If I can feel the painter's passion with which he created, then I enjoy his own enjoyment with him." (page 18)

So I think best for me to enjoy to the utmost the act of creating, to rejoice in the happy accidents and let each picture evolve as it will.

(These quotes and one more found in _Pierre-August Renoir 1841-1919: A Dream of Harmony_ by Peter H. Feist)

Thursday, September 24, 2009

"Creativity Dance Two"
6:40am

I am on the mend! Although my sinuses still hurt a little, I was wanting my micron pen this morning:

Friday, September 25, 2009 A

"The Face"
7:16am

The Photo Friday theme this week is "The Face". I remembered Getty Villa has some nice faces, and this one was my choice:

All I can make out from the smeared photo of its info card
is that it's a head of Jupiter or Serapis

Searches at the museum website failed to bring this piece up...

Friday, September 25, 2009 B

"The Pattern"
7:53pm

The Friday Illo theme is 'pattern', and I figured I could have some fun with this:

Seeing a pattern...

Sunday, September 27, 2009

"Drawing of Renoir"
12:01pm

I've been enjoying the book about Renoir. In the back, there is a tiny 2.5 inch tall photo of Renoir I wanted to draw. I took to the web to try and find a larger version. No dice, but I did find a treasure trove of 935 works by Renoir. I spent a good part of the morning there, absorbing the beauty.

After I got to painting #935, I went back to that photo. I tried to make up for its tinyness by scanning it at 400dpi. Of course this is not a perfect solution, as all the ink dots are magnified, as well:

But I did the best I could with it:

His hands were all gnarly with rheumatoid arthritis, but maybe I made them a bit gnarlier. Later in his life he had arthritis so bad that he "has the paintbrush tied to his crippled hand with pieces of string so that he can paint." (From _Pierre-August Renoir 1841-1919: A Dream of Harmony_ by Peter H. Feist, page 96)

A famous tale about Renoir circulates via the web:
(Extracted from a write-up in a prayer book by Fr Mark Link, sj.)
"WHEN FRENCH IMPRESSIONIST PAINTER Auguste Renoir (1841-1919) was confined to his home during the last decade of his life, Henri Matisse was nearly 28 years younger than him. The two great artists were dear friends and frequent companions. Matisse visited him daily. Renoir, almost paralyzed by arthritis, continued to paint in spite of his infirmities. One day as Matisse watched the elder painter work in his studio, fighting torturous pain with each brush stroke, he blurted out: “Auguste, why do you continue to paint when you are in such agony?”

Renoir said: “The pain passes but the beauty remains.”

I've tried to convey Renoir's strength of Will in my drawing. His great Will overcame the limitations of his physical body.

Monday, September 28, 2009

"Mysterious Painting of a Harpist"
8:34pm

I have so many photos from past trips that I haven't processed and sent web-ward yet. Right now, I'm sifting through photos from two years ago, our trip to Washington, D.C. Julia and I spent two of our days there visiting the National Gallery of Art.

When I had the following painting by Sully up in the Photoshop screen, Julia exclaimed, "I've seen that painting before!" I replied, "Of course you have, we saw it at the National Gallery of Art!"

Lady with a Harp: Eliza Ridgely
by Thomas Sully (American, 1783-1872)
oil on canvas, 1818
Overall: 214.5 x 142.5 cm (84 7/16 x 56 1/8 in.
Gift of Maude Monell Vetlesen 1945.9.1

"But no, I've seen it before, in Maryland!" I then remembered she had made the same exclamation two years ago. She suggested I do research on Ridgely Mansion, that she had seen the painting of the young woman with a harp there, and the harp itself.

Alice Morse Earle refers to this piece in _Two Centuries of Costume in America 1620-1820, Volume 2_:
"The second portrait shows an equally graceful figure standing by a harp. This is the beautiful Eliza Ridgely, who married John Ridgely, who was not related to her; the ancestor of each came to Maryland in the seventeenth century, unknown to the other. This portrait is deemed Sully's masterpiece. It hangs in the great hall at Hampton, the Ridgely mansion-house in Baltimore County, Maryland." (page 793)

She offered a grayscale image of it. But the photo from 1903 is not very clear. Also she gave a date of 1805 for its creation. Did Sully do two versions?

Maryland Historical Society mentions "Eliza E. [Ridgely] Ridgely's (1803-1867) papers". Ms. Earle can't have the right date, for Eliza would have been only two years old then. The Maryland Historical Society page refers to Sully's painting of her, as well, "a portrait", not 'two portraits'.

Finally, my search revealed the answer. This mansion, now part of Hampton National Park, has been perserved as it was then in the early 1880's. "Jlee008" explains:
"Although many of the 16 rooms are closed to the public, the ones which are shown are decorated as close to the original decor as possible. All the furniture and paintings (save one painting which is a copy...the original hangs in the National Gallery of Art in Washington DC) in the house belonged to the Ridgely family who owned and lived there."

The mystery is solved!

(I also located at Flicker the copy which hangs in the mansion's center hall!)

Taken by 'hikerpark' September 21, 2008

The Ridgely mansion version must be quite smaller, as I had to step back quite aways to lose the size distortion:

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