never-ending gallery

[LisaLCFan]

Thank you, Geoffrey, for the lengthy psychological analysis of my previous post. I am, of course, aware of all of those possibilities as to why people may say and react to things the way they do.

As for your deviant suggestion(s) as to how to deal with those who respond negatively, I shall simply point out that I am not a juvenile delinquent nor am I ever inclined to vindictive retaliation against people, be it by vandalism and/or other miscreant activities. I am actually a good and nice person, and I believe that I have a strong moral compass, such that I would never stoop so low as to engage in vengeful "dirty tricks" on another person, for such behaviour is reprehensible to me, and I would feel even worse if I were ever to do anything like that.

I actually told the story about my Bach guitar recital because I thought that it was really funny and might give people a laugh!

[LisaLCFan]

...illustrations are never finished, they just stop being worked on.

Yes, I believe that that may be true for many people who engage in artistic endeavours of any sort.

The first sketch in your trio (from the above date) looks a bit like Kate Winslet, to me.

[Geoffrey]

thanks for writing, lisa.

i had not heard of the expression 'campfire songs' before, and do not really understand why a camper cannot sing any song they wish while sitting near a fire. sing-a-long songs can be fun though, are good for making people join in, be happy and enjoy themselves. bach was probably not very good at doing that.
https://youtu.be/pJzIQj8zpeQ

many 'peace-at-any-price' people prefer to remain passive when bullied. it takes courage for a "good and nice" person to react against injustice, but as dr phil said: you have to teach people how to treat you. if you allow yourself to be treated badly there is a real danger that an innocent person within your circle will eventually be the recipient of the frustration that inevitably accumulates - as it seems could be the case here.

that one picture certainly does look like kate winslet, and i doubt i could have made it look more like her even if i had tried. i had not realised, so thank you for mentioning this!

it frequently happens that a portrait resembles an unintended person. i used to make a number of 'fantasy' portraits - just imagined faces. people said that one of them in particular was identical to a certain football player (have forgotten his name) and found it difficult to believe when i maintained it was a coincidence. don't make those kind of pictures any more, they're sort of cliché, everybody is doing them, and they're all made out of ticky-tacky and they all look just the same. i have found a scan. the simple illustrations i post nowadays have less worth than any painting, but are quick to do, and perfect for someone with no ambition.

[LisaLCFan]

...i had not heard of the expression 'campfire songs' before, and do not really understand why a camper cannot sing any song they wish while sitting near a fire. sing-a-long songs can be fun though, are good for making people join in, be happy and enjoy themselves. bach was probably not very good at doing that.

I was not entirely certain what a campfire song was, either, other than having some vague notion of a sing-a-long song to which a person with a guitar strums a few basic chords in accompaniment. I do not, actually, know any campfire songs, nor do I have any desire to learn any -- I enjoy playing Bach, because it is fun and it makes me happy!

Bach may or may nor have written any campfire songs, but he did write a rather fun and satirical piece of music meant to be played, sung, and enjoyed by many people in a casual, communal setting: his "Coffee Cantata" (c.1732- 1735) is essentially a mini comic opera, about a coffee-loving young woman and her disapproving father, and it was composed specifically to be performed by an ensemble of musicians and three singers at a fashionable coffee-house in Leipzig (Zimmerman's), where Bach lived. So, although not quite a campfire, it did involve a lot of people sitting around whilst musical merriment ensued. In Bach's era, coffee-houses were the centre of social life, as they were for many years thereafter, and still are, to some extent, all over the world.

For those curious for a taste of Bach's humourous cantata (may be enjoyed with or without coffee -- I prefer tea, myself):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nifUBDgPhl4

p.s. I do not know what footballer is meant to resemble your last posted portrait, nor do I know anybody else who is doing (or has done) that kind of painting (mainly because I don't know any footballers or people who paint, other than you and Bev, for the latter). I very much like your older paintings, by the way.

[Geoffrey]

thanks for writing. will be back.
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meanwhile, an unusually talented and energetic young lady who seems to collect every award out there.
good to know there are such creative people around

i kept a bunch of these, they were stuck onto the parcels. he lived for music, and brought my groceries in.

time for breakfast. in norway we don't read about pandemics, wars or prince andrew - we stick with the important stuff.

[Geoffrey]

"it's wonderful to hear a 20-year-old singing about love. as the talmud says, there's good wine in every generation" -leonard cohen

[LisaLCFan]

...time for breakfast. in norway we don't read about pandemics, wars or prince andrew - we stick with the important stuff...

Nice breakfast, although I'd probably be more inclined to eat something like that for lunch or a light supper. However, I would never be inclined to read a newspaper (I try to avoid exposure to that sort of thing), but I do often read a book while having a meal -- currently I'm reading a short introduction to the history and practice of Ethnomusicology.

Speaking of Norwegians, I recently listened to/watched a wonderful new(ish) guitar concerto called "Decameron: Concerto Rifugio" composed by Marcus Paus and performed by Petter Richter on guitar, with the Arctic Philharmonic Chamber Orchestra. Really lovely music! If you are interested in what some of your classical music countrymen-and-women are up to, here's a video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=puxA_jXfPDY

Cheers!

[Geoffrey]

If you are interested in what some of your classical music countrymen-and-women are up to, here's a video . . .

thank you, lisa. i preferred the bach video, because i like opera very much, as i believe you know. in this norwegian video i felt sorry for all of the violinists who were mostly in the background, doomed to anonymity. how can they accept that sort of thing, supporting the guitarist at the expense of their dignity and self-esteem? i certainly couldn't do it! the camera stays focused on him 90% of the time, and yet without the faceless pawns he would be lost. just imagine, all that energy, practising and studying - for what!? to promote somebody else? that's not for me. mick jagger gets a lot of focus when playing with the stones, but at least the other members all are energetic individuals with personalities. if i were a parent to one of those violinists i would encourage them to strive to become something better, not just a nameless back-up musician who nobody really gives two hoots about. there's that old saying in sport: 'nobody remembers who came in second' - and it's the same with an orchestra behind a maestro. obviously somebody has to do it, just as somebody has to clean the public toilets, but just imagine the self-degradation, the subconscious lack of self-respect they are forced to accept. they are undoubtedly good at what they do, but i kept looking at their faces in this video and i felt so very sorry for each and every one of them, destined to a life of invisibility, or as dylan would say: 'like a complete unknown'.

[LisaLCFan]

... in this norwegian video i felt sorry for all of the violinists who were mostly in the background, doomed to anonymity. how can they accept that sort of thing, supporting the guitarist at the expense of their dignity and self-esteem?...

I suspect that most of those musicians do not share your bizarrely dismal (and inaccurate) view of their lives. That is just the way it is in an orchestra, particularly if there is a soloist (as there is, in every concerto), and even if there is not, it is an "ensemble", and each musician contributes to the whole, being fully aware of their role, and, from those I know, they are very happy to be able to devote their lives to playing beautiful music with others! Orchestras tend to be like big happy families, and are usually a wonderful environment in which to work. Nobody loses -- it is not a sport. Being a soloist and being a member of an orchestra/ensemble are two totally different career paths, and really cannot be compared.

Besides, not all musicians wish to be soloists: there is a lot of pressure to be in the limelight like that, which not everyone enjoys (some people like their relative anonymity); it is extremely competitive to become a soloist, which only a few will ever accomplish; and it requires a certain personality type to be a successful soloist, which not everyone has (or wants to have). Furthermore, most soloists must travel a lot, have promoters, etc., and there is not always a guarantee of jobs for them, since many of them are free-lance and do not have regular employment, unless they also teach at a music school, which supplements their performing income, but takes time away from playing. Being a soloist is a far more demanding and stressful type of career, and provides less stability in every respect, compared to an orchestra member who can settle down in a city of their choice with a steady job, steady income, and be able to spend their entire professional lives playing music they love with people they enjoy being with!

p.s. I preferred the guitar concerto, vastly, over the Bach cantata! However, since you mentioned opera, you must really feel sorry for the instrumentalists in opera orchestras -- they are not even visible to most of the audience, hidden in an underground pit, while those shrieking divas strut around on the planks, hogging all the limelight.

[Geoffrey]

. . . since you mentioned opera, you must really feel sorry for the instrumentalists in opera orchestras -- they are not even visible to most of the audience, hidden in an underground pit, while those shrieking divas strut around on the planks, hogging all the limelight.

what a delight to read your opinion on opera. it cannot be denied that you and i have differing values when it comes to culture. i read somewhere very recently that ballet is not something that has captured your interest to any real degree. i can inform that watching rudolf nureyev and margot fonteyn dance in 'swan lake' is, to me, one of the greatest pleasures imaginable.

of course people have to feed their families, find safe employment offering a regular income. i would be the last to criticise that. it so happens that not everyone is in a job that they enjoy, but are forced into it by economical circumstance - fear of being unemployed. being an underling in a work situation offers little to no job satisfaction, often leading to depression or other mental health issues. it wouldn't surprise me to learn that instrumentalists in a hidden underground orchestra pit, especially those with ambition, hate their position and despise those who hog the limelight. it is my theory that one would never consciously consider becoming a musical minion unless one had either experienced a subordinate childhood or simply possessed an altruistic personality.

PS:
concerning the 'dagbladet' newspaper article above in which marianne became pregnant by leonard, i believe he mentions the aborted fetus in one of his songs: "thanks for the dance and the baby you carried - it was almost a daughter or a son"
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excellent cover on this newly published songbook

[B4real]

Geoffrey wrote: excellent cover on this newly published songbook

Geoffrey wrote: there ain't nothin' more dangerous in this world than a fool with a cause

hummmn...

Words directly above and image below together on page 88 -


....and it is excellent

[Geoffrey]

thank you, bev. sometimes i don't know what's happening, what to think or say or do. there has not been a lot of uplifting things going on in the world just lately, and we have to try to do the best we can, find the little pearls trampled by swine into the mud.
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here is a scene i saw yesterday that told me the world is not only filled with bad things, and that we need to accentuate the positive

[B4real]

thank you, bev. sometimes i don't know what's happening, what to think or say or do. there has not been a lot of uplifting things going on in the world just lately, and we have to try to do the best we can, find the little pearls trampled by swine into the mud.
----------------------------------------------------
here is a scene i saw yesterday that told me the world is not only filled with bad things, and that we need to accentuate the positive
grief is the price we pay for love.jpg

Geoffrey,
I think most people are a bit that way at times and more so with how the world is these days. I agree with your words. Throughout my life, from childhood to this present day, I have tried to follow my one and only golden rule –
treat others the way you would like to be treated. It’s such a simple rule and so easy to remember but sometimes not so easy to adhere to. If every single person could even attempt to carry out this rule, what a wonderful world it would be!

The lines of self-defence.
The wounded forms appear:
The loss, the full extent;
And simple kindness here,
The solitude of strength.
~ The Letters

[Geoffrey]

hello bev, and thank you for this message.

yes, what a wonderful world it would be! after two years of global virus followed by talk of ww3, many people are afraid, stressed and lonely. neuroticism and the 'karen/ken' phenomenon is becoming more established than ever - and my heart goes out to those afflicted. tolerance and forgiveness has never been more necessary than right now.

some families from ukraine are being welcomed this week, and as they speak a little english i have offered to become involved - have a couple of spare rooms if necessary. the most important thing at the moment in these precarious times is that we stay balanced, sympathetic and show "simple kindness" to each other.

by the way, i occasionally go back to look at your rooster - an explosion of art

[B4real]

Geoffrey,
That is more than "simple kindness" to open your home to strangers to help them in this horrible situation.
It's definitely applying my one golden rule and more! It is wonderful!

I know you've seen this below before but I thought I'd add it here in the never-ending gallery because it's some of my philosophy about the way I do art. Of course, that includes the thought process behind my rooster

B4real wrote: In my art studio I have had for many years two sayings blue-tacked in a prominent place that remind me every day before I pick up a pencil or brush –

"The aim of art is not to represent the outward appearance of things, but their inner significance" ~ Aristotle
"A beautiful picture attracts attention, but a picture with something to say sustains interest" ~ unknown

https://www.leonardcohenforum.com/viewt ... io#p372098