tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38184297769222004562024-03-13T21:32:16.894-06:00jtChatterWhen to the sessions of sweet silent thought I summon up remembrance of things past...
Sonnet 30JTcanvashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03896147710356511843noreply@blogger.comBlogger516125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3818429776922200456.post-21340945406357241392016-03-11T16:01:00.003-07:002016-03-11T16:01:35.448-07:00Catching Up
The view from the window next to the elevator on the 16th floor of the hotel. You can go to the observation deck of tower, but you have to stand in a long "rine" for tickets, so we haven't taken the time to "rine up" yet.
Our guide, Ayano, explains how Matthew Perry brought his black sheeps (ships) to Japan and, in effect, opened up Japan to the world. The two paintings on the right JTcanvashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03896147710356511843noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3818429776922200456.post-85269600604513515742014-09-24T20:00:00.000-06:002014-09-24T20:16:35.784-06:00So What
YouTube Andy
Digital print on aluminum
60 x 80 inches
After leaving San Francisco and returning home to Santa Fe something made me think of Andy Warhol and I found several documentaries about him on YouTube. For the next couple of days I worked on images inspired by the video but was mostly inspired by his unapologetic attitude about his art. As critics analyzed, criticized, and JTcanvashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03896147710356511843noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3818429776922200456.post-72464979241276320482014-09-15T14:25:00.001-06:002014-09-15T16:33:48.509-06:00Yountville Golf
This morning Robin and I went to the Yountville golf course, got a bucket of balls, and borrowed three really horrible clubs (7 iron, 5 wood, 3 wood) from Dan of the driving range. For her first trip to the driving range she did great. By that I mean she didn't snap her club in half or storm off to the car in disgust. Which means she has lots of potential.
I meant to grab a photo orJTcanvashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03896147710356511843noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3818429776922200456.post-61097698141808516772014-09-13T15:41:00.000-06:002014-09-18T14:40:51.089-06:00The Grape Crusher
The Grape Crusher
Just south of Napa, on a hilltop named Vista Point, stands a monumental (really big, larger than life) sculpture of a man using a primitive wine press to crush grapes. You can see it from Highway 29 as you skirt around the south edge of Napa.
In the mid to late 1980s I happened to be strolling through the sculpture gardens of the Shidoni Foundry, located in the villageJTcanvashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03896147710356511843noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3818429776922200456.post-55229660572452404132014-09-12T14:13:00.000-06:002014-09-18T14:43:08.308-06:00North Beach
A final evening in San Francisco before we ferry north to Vallejo and on to Yountville in Napa Valley wine country.
We walked from Fisherman’s Wharf to North Beach, an older-yet-thriving neighborhood known for its 1950s Beatnik roots, where we planned to meet long-time friend Jimbo for dinner.
First stop was City Lights Bookstore/Publishers, founded in 1953. It became very famous for JTcanvashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03896147710356511843noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3818429776922200456.post-40999932350180654772014-09-10T16:55:00.000-06:002014-09-18T14:43:40.238-06:00San FranciscoRobin has been in her publisher's (Peachpit, a division of Pearson) video studio for a couple of days, recording video instructions about design, based on her book, The Non-Designer's Design Book.
Pete (producer/editor) and Robin prepare to begin the video session.
While Robin was busy inside I went out to the Plaza to do some sketching (the Peachpit/Pearson office is at Levi's Plaza, near JTcanvashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03896147710356511843noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3818429776922200456.post-69905092946631296292013-07-29T13:45:00.000-06:002013-07-29T17:14:10.163-06:00Twin Warriors Golf
Just north of Albuquerque, NM, is the Hyatt Regency Tamaya Resort and the Twin Warriors golf course, a PGA rated course that hosted a PGA qualifying tournament several years ago. I got an email notice from them advertising a Sunday, 5 pm, Big Hole event featuring a greatly reduced price ($38), double-sized 8" cups on the greens, and Best Ball rules (everyone hits from the location of the JTcanvashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03896147710356511843noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3818429776922200456.post-56367456030508214102013-05-06T12:27:00.000-06:002013-05-06T12:27:52.951-06:00Lely’s VenusDuring the recent London visit, I sketched a marble statue of Venus in the British Museum, which was included in a recent post. Lely was an artist and collector during the reign of King Charles I; the sculptor is unknown.
I decided to work with the Lely’s Venus drawing and see if I could transform it into a color print. My goal was to combine the traditional character of the original sketch JTcanvashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03896147710356511843noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3818429776922200456.post-70781194251320801272013-05-02T17:46:00.000-06:002013-05-02T17:46:23.886-06:00PaintingsSince getting home from London I’ve been going through photos and picking a few from which I can create some canvases and experiment with some techniques and styles.
Detail from a digital painting based on a photo taken in Le Pain Quotidien, a coffee shop near Goodge Underground Station where we started each day with a latte.
JTcanvashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03896147710356511843noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3818429776922200456.post-429199850104275102013-04-27T15:01:00.003-06:002013-04-27T15:27:16.880-06:00London SketchbookWe’re back in Santa Fe and mostly back to normal, although it does seem strange to not hear sirens during the night or to not walk to the nearest Le Pain Quotidien for a latte in the mornings.
I’ll wrap up this trip with the London sketches. There’s several new ones, plus better copies (clean scans) of the other drawings that have already appeared in previous blogs as marginal quality iPhone JTcanvashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03896147710356511843noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3818429776922200456.post-67257465138427740942013-04-24T10:23:00.001-06:002013-04-24T10:23:34.654-06:00One Last SketchI didn’t get everything posted, but close enough. The British Museum closes in 15 minutes and I have to meet Robin at the hotel in 30 minutes so we can tube to the National Theatre to see Othello.
It was an inspiring trip for me. I saw a lot of great art. I don’t know if anything I saw will influence my drawing in any way, but I kinda suspect it might.
JTcanvashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03896147710356511843noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3818429776922200456.post-67555429416810265492013-04-24T10:10:00.001-06:002013-04-24T10:12:38.349-06:00Somethin’s Not Right...
Remember this guy from an earlier post? Saturday afternoon, after leaving the Tate Modern Lichtenstein Retrospective exhibition, we crossed the Thames to have a drink at the beautiful, art-nouveaux pub, Black Friar. It was more crowded than usual due to the crowds that were in town for the London Marathon. We ordered drinks and stood around hoping a table would open up. As Robin admired the JTcanvashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03896147710356511843noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3818429776922200456.post-8277897953643861262013-04-24T09:26:00.002-06:002013-04-24T09:26:54.310-06:00More Tuesday Stuff
The Globe from the top balcony. The actors are milling around on the stage for a few minutes before the play starts. We once saw a production in which the actors came on stage early to put on their costumes and makeup.
It must be 5 pm.
A gate next to St. Paul’s Cathedral, on the way to the St. Paul’s Tube station after seeing The Tempest.
St. Paul’s from the other side of the JTcanvashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03896147710356511843noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3818429776922200456.post-5334784133582602102013-04-24T09:09:00.001-06:002013-04-24T09:09:53.152-06:00My Fav WiFi SpotIt’s Wednesday, we leave tomorrow for the US, and I’ve come back to the British Museum’s Great Hall to use the good WiFi connection here and to hopefully catch up on getting some photos uploaded before we head for Heathrow airport in the morning.
To get to Uxbridge on Tuesday for Robin’s meeting with her PhD supervisor, we made the short walk to St. Pancras station so we could catch the JTcanvashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03896147710356511843noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3818429776922200456.post-86773667536042450432013-04-23T17:23:00.002-06:002013-04-23T17:24:50.569-06:00Some SketchesJust a quick post to say it’s very late and the Internet connection is unreliable. I hope to catch up with several postings tomorrow, as we plan to take it easy tomorrow with the only planned event being Othello at the National Theater tomorrow night.
Sold out opening night performance of The Tempest.
Quiz: photo or sketch? Hard to tell, huh?
Sketching advice: start at the top of the JTcanvashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03896147710356511843noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3818429776922200456.post-33907772324509887162013-04-22T15:01:00.003-06:002013-04-22T15:05:06.275-06:00More Tate Modern
St. Paul’s and the Millennium Bridge from a 3rd floor balcony of the Tate Modern.
Robin admires a beautiful painting Meredith Frampton.
A detail from the Miro shown below.
Miro. Goofy but I like it.
Tate Modern grounds and the Thames River.
This part of the Tate Modern still looks like a power plant. Sometimes there are colossal sculptures in this area. JTcanvashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03896147710356511843noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3818429776922200456.post-3444752552742368782013-04-22T14:33:00.001-06:002013-04-22T14:33:19.777-06:00Tate Modern
The Tate Modern is one of my favorite galleries. It used to be a power house on the southern bank of the Thames. Now it’s a powerhouse art gallery. We’ve come to see the Lichtenstein Retrospective, but there’s lots of other great art on exhibit. We spent the entire afternoon here.
We took the Tube to Southwark Station, shown above. This remodeled station is just a few blocks from the JTcanvashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03896147710356511843noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3818429776922200456.post-61515619822050442102013-04-22T08:57:00.003-06:002013-04-22T13:48:04.668-06:00Stowe Gardens Part 2More Stowe Gardens photos:
Ruins on the Cascade. I’m referring to the stone structure.
Robin and Lynn, on the steps of the Queen’s Temple, discuss Othello as an invisible ha-ha enhances their landscape view.
Looking at the map.
Entering the grotto.
The Temple of Ancient Virtue.
After we left Stowe, we went to a great Indian restaurant for JTcanvashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03896147710356511843noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3818429776922200456.post-3739008691758441302013-04-22T08:40:00.001-06:002013-04-22T08:58:01.077-06:00Stowe Gardens Part 1Saturday was a perfect Spring day for wandering the paths of Stowe Gardens. Over 400 acres of beautiful grounds that contain a dozen monuments, pavilions, temples, a grotto, a fake ruin (very fashionable in the Romantic period, according to Lynn), a huge estate house, and an exclusive private school.
The previous owners of the estate (before it became the property of The National Trust) were JTcanvashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03896147710356511843noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3818429776922200456.post-81679534391457334072013-04-22T07:24:00.002-06:002013-04-22T07:24:57.190-06:00Horse Stables Side Trip
Lynn and Neal were waiting for us at a nearby intersection. We hopped in their car and headed toward Stowe Gardens, a 400-acre estate that is now owned and maintained by the National Trust.
The arch ahead is the entrance to Stowe Gardens. We veered off to the right to visit their daughter Louise, who works at a nearby horse stable.
Louise is an experienced horse-person and dressage JTcanvashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03896147710356511843noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3818429776922200456.post-3558249100212497912013-04-21T16:21:00.000-06:002013-04-21T16:23:58.531-06:00Journey to OxfordOn Saturday we journeyed to Oxford to meet our friends Lynn and Neal, who had planned an outing in the country to enjoy the perfect and beautiful weather. Some of you might not know that a Weather Goddess travels with Robin, providing unusually nice weather. This is a good thing when she arrives someplace, sometimes not so good when she leaves. The last time she left England it rained for six JTcanvashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03896147710356511843noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3818429776922200456.post-25429376042594447442013-04-21T15:46:00.000-06:002013-04-21T15:46:11.893-06:00Train Station GoodbyeThe gorgeous St. Pancras international train station has a great colossal bronze sculpture of a couple saying goodbye. Or maybe they’re having a staring contest. Whatever the case, I was waiting for Robin to get out of her class, next door at the British Library last Friday, so I sat on a bench and did a rough sketch.
Love this sculpture. It would look nice on the Mermaid Tavern plaza.&JTcanvashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03896147710356511843noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3818429776922200456.post-13887112789764669092013-04-19T14:34:00.000-06:002013-04-19T14:38:02.951-06:00School’s OutRobin finished her week-long class today. She learned a lot about research and what resources are available, and she’s glad she made the trip for the class. That’s always a good thing.
I spent most of the day at the St. Pancras international train station enjoying the free and robust WiFi connection, catching up on blogging.
Tomorrow morning we take the tube to Marble Arch station andJTcanvashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03896147710356511843noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3818429776922200456.post-90544182878033216322013-04-19T08:35:00.002-06:002013-04-19T08:42:43.695-06:00Left OversSome more photos left over from yesterday.
Yesterday, all my troubles seemed so far away... wait, wrong text. Yesterday, as I walked toward Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese, I passed the Black Friar pub, a landmark that I’ve passed by more than a few times, photographed, and sketched. But I’ve never gone inside. I decided to take a look and it’s probably the most beautiful pub I’ve seen. It’s on the JTcanvashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03896147710356511843noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3818429776922200456.post-53521799058227146202013-04-19T07:29:00.002-06:002013-04-19T07:29:28.197-06:00PortraitsHere, for you portrait painters out there, are more of the paintings by Andrew Salgado in the Harvey Nichols display windows, because I’m totally freaked out by how great they are. It’s as if Lucian Freud decided to really loosen up and stop being so conservative with color.
These photos don't really do justice, due to the reflections in the glass, but you get the idea.
Beautiful stuff.
JTcanvashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03896147710356511843noreply@blogger.com