a walk in the woods

Self portrait...

...as a reflection in this beetle's shell.

My modeling career takes off

Here's some pictures of drawings of me taken day before yesterday, when I modeled at the International Art Club of the Hague. It was fun, but some of those poses were really hard to hold.

Drawings by Hein and Mirko.

Crazy crowded beach day

Every once in a while in the summer, here in Holland we have terrific weather and everyone goes to the beach. Everyone. I was lucky enough to be outdoors on the beach painting with my painter-friend Mariska.

The problem with beach painting is that people move around, a lot. So, I have a new challenge which is to get better at capturing people in oil paint, quickly.

Here's our two paintings from the beach.

A modeling career?

Tomorrow I will be the (nude) model at the International Art Club of the Hague. As the coordinator for the class, it is my job to find a model . Unfortunately, there has been a last minute cancellation and since we are now without a model, I am the backup. Check in tomorrow or the day after for pictures of the drawings!

A great read for emerging artists

Anne Patchett's "Truth and Beauty" is the non-fictional story of Anne's friendship with another writer. I find that this book is a inspiration for the emerging artist as well as a cautionary tale about the motivations behind doing art and the pitfalls of success. Pratchett pulls no punches in describing the artistic lows and highs. It is inspiring to hear her story, and read about both writers' eventual success fueled by talent and perseverance.

Lucy Grealy, the other writer in the story, ''was absolutely committed to the idea that writing would be her salvation and that she was obligated to pull herself out of all her present miseries with the sheer strength of her will and talent.'' Lucy did publish, and was considered successful, but abandoned her writing career after her first big publication. I simplify perhaps, but I feel that Lucy was doing art for the wrong reasons (success for the sake of succcess) and ultimately abandoned art because she didn't really enjoy the actual making of art.

You get the sense that Anne had a stronger connection to her art, for the sake of doing art. While she also was driven by success to a degree, art occupies a more central part of her life:
"We had each come to realize that no one was going to save our lives, and that if we wanted to save them ourselves, we had only one skill that afforded us any hope at all. Writing is a job, a talent, but it's also the place to go in your head. It is the imaginary friend you drink your tea with in the afternoon.''

Finally, I love Lucy's description in a letter to Anne of how negative one's art can get in the face of adversity. "Four fucking times they've said no, get lost. And what ever made me think I could write a novel? What a piece of trash it is. And as for my poetry, well [the fine art center in provincetown] has told me in no uncertain terms what that's worth...I just feel so baseless, so rootless, but exernally and internally. I think to myself, well, okay, do some writing, that'll make you feel better, but it's not that I can't write...but that I hate what I write....Maybe I should just stop thinking I'm some sort of artist and look at the actual facts of my never having really and truly succeded at anything." I think every emerging artist, myself included, feels as negative about his or her work at times.

A conclusion I take away from this story, and agree with, is to do your art for yourself for the sake of the art and persevere through those inevitable lows. Maybe you'll "make" it, but one realizes the important part is finding an equilibrium between artmaking and everything else we call life. Fame and wealth are ephemeral, and the joy of making the art must be its own reward. Simply put, you must like making the art. This is an insightful, touching, and completely honest story about two emerging artists and their lives.

The pond

Clair helped me plant the lillies in this pond when we moved in. This is a picture showing how it has grown in during the last year. Has it really been a year and half since we've moved to Holland?

Harbor, Ville Franche Sur Mer

The harbor of Ville Franche Sur Mer is beautiful. We loved the yellow, blue, and red boat in these pictures. See how different the colors of the boats are when in shade vs. sunlight.

Old wine storage bottles, deep in the woods outside Siena, Italy

In a forest on an ancient estate outside of Siena, Italy, in a forgotten corner of the world, there is a collection of discarded antique wine storage jugs. Some of these jugs are growing beautiful little miniature moss and plant gardens in perfect equilibrium with incoming rainfall, nutrient inputs, and sunlight. Other jugs are dry, and others are filled with decay and rot. It just depends on how much light, heat, nutrients, and moisture each jug gets. Each jug is its own ecosystem, on a small scale a metaphor for the planet's ecology with its unique energy, water and nutrient balance. If the jug is tilted just right, it gets the perfect amount of water to sustain a garden. If it gets too hot because of too much sunlight, everything inside cooks. If there are too many nutrients, it turns anoxic and everything dies. The jugs growing gardens were hauntingly beautiful, a reminder of the delicate balancing act that is our environment.

Walk of the Jamon

There's a great market in Barcelona, called La Boqueria, located just off the main pedestrian walkway called "La Rambla." We bought amazing food there. Breakfast - a plate of fried small fish, fried hot peppers, and two glasses of Cava, a sparkling white wine. After breakfast, we couldn't resist buying a take-away lunch including Pata Negra, a Spanish version of prosciutto, a freshly baked baguette, two perfect peaches, and a beautiful Rioja vintage 1999 - year we got married - to celebrate our anniversary. Awesome.

Sunscreen in the background

Can you tell by the smile that we are on vacation? That it is finally sunny in Holland? That I've been getting hugely positive feedback on the virtual exhibit of Italian paintings on my website? That it is our 10th anniversary coming up tomorrow? Well, it's all true. Thanks, all!

An abstract work

This is big, about 100 by 120 cm (3.3 x 4.0 ft). This started out as a painting called Blue Fields. I painted over it and called it Hearts #2, which was more of a color exercise really. Now it is overpainted yet again and has been transformed into a painting I really like about texture and color.

Farm equipement, italy

I liked this photo for the almost abstract quality of the lines. It is a simple tractor-pulled piece of farm equipement, used for breaking up the soil.

another Palio shot

Erik had a chance to see the Palio in July. This was a picture he snapped that I thought captured the scene -- the lovely siena bricks, the medieval pageantry and the masses of spectators.

Tamara (exercising her guest blogging privileges for the first time!!)