Wednesday, May 22, 2024
Tuesday, May 21, 2024
Cécile Colombo
Painter Cécile Colombo (1969) followed Applied Art courses
at the Beaux-Arts and continued her training as a visual artist in
Architectural Environment and Urban Decoration. Her workshop is located in Gémenos,
in the south of France.
Cécile Colombo has always worked in mixed media. She prepares her canvas in mounted paper, sticks colored papers, fabrics, ink and faded paint to give a general coloring to her canvas.
Once the background is reinvented, she draws on it with Indian ink, walnut husk, colored ink or acrylic. Watercolor colors are enhanced with oily or dry pastels.
Monday, May 20, 2024
Théodore de Banville
Théodore Faullain de Banville (1823 –1891) was a French poet and writer. His work was influential on the Symbolist movement in French literature in the late 19th century.
Banville was born in Moulins in Allier, Auvergne, the son of a captain in the French navy. His boyhood was cheerlessly passed at a lycée in Paris; he was not harshly treated, but took no part in the amusements of his companions. On leaving school with but slender means of support, he devoted himself to letters, and in 1842 published his first volume of verse (Les Cariatides), which was followed by Les Stalactites in 1846. The poems encountered some adverse criticism but secured for their author the approbation and friendship of Alfred de Vigny and Jules Janin.
The Odes funambulesques (1857) received unstinted praise from Victor Hugo, to whom they were dedicated. In 1858 Banville was made a Chevalier de la Légion d’honneur and was promoted to an Officier de la Légion d'honneur in 1886. He died in Paris in 1891 at the age of 68 and was buried in Montparnasse Cemetery.
Sunday, May 19, 2024
Two Days In April
2 Days in April is a double album by a free jazz quartet
consisting of saxophonists Fred Anderson and Kidd Jordan, bassist William
Parker and drummer Hamid Drake, documenting two 1999 concerts at the University
of Massachusetts at Amherst and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology at
Cambridge.
Fred Anderson (1929 –2010) was an American jazz tenor saxophonist who was based in Chicago. Anderson's playing was rooted in the swing music and hard bop idioms, but he also incorporated innovations from free jazz.
Saturday, May 18, 2024
Shirley Markham
Shirley Markham (1931-1999) studied Graphic Design and Illustration at Central School of Art in London from 1950-1952.
Man wearing a Beret, Ca 1950 |
Markham spent time in the Dolomite Mountains in Italy, and also visited Rome, sketching classical buildings. After graduating from Central, she worked as a graphic designer, producing book illustrations, cartoons for comics, menus and programmes. She gave up her promising career however when she got married in 1957. Middle-class women at that time were expected to devote their energies to bringing up children and running the home, and despite her obvious talent, she lacked the confidence to return to illustration.
Friday, May 17, 2024
Ryszard Krynicki
Ryszard Krynicki (1943) is a Polish poet and translator, member of the Polish "New Wave" Movement. He is regarded as one of the most prominent post-war contemporary Polish poets.
In the 1970s and 1980s, he was actively involved in the opposition movement against communist authorities of the Polish People's Republic and was a signatory of Letter of 59, which was a reaction of Polish intellectuals against the undemocratic changes in the Constitution of the Polish People's Republic. As a direct consequence of this, his works were officially banned between 1976 and 1980.
In 1988, he co-founded Wydawnictwo a5 publishing house in Poznań, which specialized in the publication of poetry books. Since 1991, he has been running a publishing company together with his wife Krystyna. Nowadays, Krynicki is seen as one of the foremost representatives of contemporary Polish poetry. In 2015, he became a member of the Polish Academy of Learning and was awarded the Zbigniew Herbert International Literary Award as a recognition for his poetry works.
Thursday, May 16, 2024
Masterpiece
"Masterpiece" is a song by American singer Madonna for the soundtrack of the 2011 film W.E. The song was later included on her twelfth studio album MDNA (2012).
It was performed by Madonna on The MDNA Tour (2012), where she was accompanied by Basque musicians of the Kalakan Trio. Many berets, or txapelas... The performance was considered a highlight of the tour.
Wednesday, May 15, 2024
Txikifest 2014
One decade ago... Txikifest 2014 in Chelsea, NYC.
The poster is a creation by Pablo Ugartetxea with the collaboration of the Basque graphic designer Leire Gonzalez.Tuesday, May 14, 2024
Txapela Cider
Txapela was born in Argentina from the collaboration between the Basque cider house Petritegi and Xabier Aguirre, a Basque descendant living in Buenos Aires.
The Txapela natural cider is made with apples grown in the Rio Negro Valley, in Patagonia. Following a traditional Basque recipe, it does not contain added sugar, gas, or water; its natural carbonation comes from the fermentation of the apples.
Txapela is the only authentic Basque natural cider that is 100% made with apples from Argentinean Patagonia.
Monday, May 13, 2024
8 ‘Non-Negotiables’ for a Long, Happy Life
A nice article by Mika Cribbs on CNBC, about her 95 year old beret wearing grandfather (and grandmother) and his 8 ‘Non-Negotiables’ for a Long, Happy Life'.
- Daily Early Morning Walk
- Daily Intentional Workout
- Connection with loved ones on social media
- Writing a blog
- Creating Art
- Make time for new hobbies
- Take multiple naps
- Eating indulgent meals
Sunday, May 12, 2024
El extraño viaje (The Strange Voyage)
El extraño viaje is a 1964 Spanish black drama film directed by Fernando Fernán Gómez.
In a large house in the middle of a little Spanish town live Venancio and Paquita, the childlike brother and sister of Ignacia, who bullies them continuously. Suspecting that she has a visitor after dark, they start snooping and one night she turns on them in fury. As she is throttling Paquita, Venancio brains her with a bottle and the two hide the body. After leaving town in the dark by taxi, they are then found dead on a beach.
The house is put up for sale and the owner of the bar next door has to empty the vats where he was storing his wine. When at the bottom of one is found the corpse of Ignacia, her secret lover Fernando admits all to the examining magistrate. He was a member of the band that played in the bar in the evenings and used to slip into Ignacia's house after work.
When he found her dead, he helped Venancio and Paquita dispose of the body. Then he took them away to the sea, where he gave them knockout drops so that he could escape with Ignacia's money. Unfortunately, his dose was too powerful.
The film was a huge flop on its limited release. It was voted seventh best Spanish film by professionals and critics in 1996 Spanish cinema centenary.
Saturday, May 11, 2024
Pedro Vacas Moreno
Pedro Vacas Moreno (1955) is a writer, ethnographer,
chronicler and lecturer.
In recent years, he has distinguished himself by an intense research activity around the themes of mountain customs, as well as a dedication to the promotion and dissemination of mountain values, participating in all the activities carried out in this area, writing and publishing numerous books that refer to these ethnographic, historical, patrimonial and cultural values of the Sierra Norte de Guadalajara.
Friday, May 10, 2024
Bonjour Monsieur Gauguin
The painting was made in the autumn of 1889 during the artist’s stay in Le Pouldu, Bretagne. The topic of Gauguin’s painting is associated with Courbet’s painting Bonjour, Monsieur Courbet of 1854 with which Gauguin became acquainted in the Museum Fabre in Montpellier that he visited along with van Gogh.
However, the characters of the two paintings vary: the ceremonial mood of Courbet’s work on the one hand contrasts with the prosaic and civil character and certain irony in Gauguin’s painting on the other.
Thursday, May 9, 2024
Wednesday, May 8, 2024
Henri Lehmann
Henri Lehmann (1814 –1882) was a German-born French historical painter and portraitist.
Self portrait, oil on canvas |
Lehmann was a painter of portraits and religious, genre,
historical, allegorical and literary works. He drew inspiration from classical
mythology, Shakespeare, Goethe, and contemporary writers. Sometimes considered
dry and academic, the best of his work can be both pure in line and graceful in
form.
Tuesday, May 7, 2024
Dorothy West
Dorothy West (1907 –1998) was an American novelist and
short-story writer associated with the Harlem Renaissance. She was one of the
few Black women writers to be published in major literary magazines in the
1930s and 1940s. She is best known for her 1948 novel The Living Is Easy, as
well as many other short stories and essays, about the life of an upper-class
black family.
Dorothy West and poet Helene Johnson (standing, second and third from left) with friends at the Gay Head Light in the 1930s. |
Dorothy West is remembered as one of the most important writers of the Harlem Renaissance and a pioneer for Black women writers. Her work explored the complexities of Black life in America, and her characters often challenged traditional notions of race, gender, and class. West's writing continues to be celebrated for its insight and originality.
Monday, May 6, 2024
Leslie Stephen
Sir Leslie Stephen KCB FBA (1832 –1904) was an English author, critic, historian, biographer, mountaineer, and an early humanist activist. He was also the father of Virginia Woolf and Vanessa Bell.
As an adult, Stephen was an agnostic atheist who wrote extensively about his views. In Social Rights and Duties, he explained how he came to lose his faith of his parents: "When I ceased to accept the teaching of my youth, it was not so much a process of giving up beliefs as of discovering that I never really believed." His second wife, Julia, was similarly activist in her writings on agnosticism.
Sunday, May 5, 2024
Clovis Delacoux
Sculptor Clovis Delacoux, 1899 (silverpoint on cardboard) by Adolphe Giraudon c.1900, at the Musee National du Luxembourg.
Saturday, May 4, 2024
Byker Grove
Byker Grove is a British teen drama and coming of age
television series which aired between 1989 and 2006 as part of CBBC on BBC One.
Set and filmed in Benwell, Newcastle upon Tyne, it was created by writer Adele Rose and producer Andrea Wonfor. It was aimed at an older teenager and young adult audience, tackling serious and sometimes controversial storylines. The show is notable for depicting the first gay kiss on children’s television, as well as its breach of the fourth wall in the final series.
The show is set to be rebooted in 2024, produced by former cast members Ant & Dec (who played PJ & Duncan in the original programme).
Friday, May 3, 2024
Märta Torén
Märta Torén (1925–1957) was a Swedish stage and film actress of the 1940s and 1950s.
After studying at the Stockholm Royal Dramatic Theater's Royal Dramatic Training Academy, Torén began her career on the stage and from 1947 she appeared in films. She appeared on the cover of the June 13 issue of Life Magazine in 1949.
Torén appeared in 11 American film productions during her brief career.[3] One of her roles was opposite Humphrey Bogart in Sirocco (1951), and she also co-starred with Dana Andrews in Assignment – Paris! (1952).
Thursday, May 2, 2024
Pavement Artists Competition
Pavement Artists Competition organized by the National Handicrafts and Hobbies Exhibition and held on the entrance hall floor of the Central Hall, Westminster, London, Thursday 17th September 1953.