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saturday's quick leonard sketch. black & white acrylic, classic style on thick (300g) textured grain A3 paper

OMG Geoffrey - you are so incredibly talented. This is amazing - thank you so much for sharing all your artwork!

MaryB wrote:OMG Geoffrey - you are so incredibly talented. This is amazing - thank you so much for sharing all your artwork!

thank you, dear mary. i could only fine a smallish blurry photo to use, so had to do the best i could. about me being talented: well that is debatable as far as i am concerned. my only claim to fame is that i hold the world record for the number of leonard cohen portraits, including the world's largest. yes, i enjoy showing the pictures here, but it is making me wonder. i have been considering calling it a day in this forum, because the interest is quite low, even though the few lovely people like yourself who respond are appreciated more than words can say. i am having a christmas exhibition throughout december, have received requests from galleries in two other norwegian towns, plus there is talk by a film company about making a small interview/documentary. i dislike all the attention, but have to sell my pictures or else there is no point in doing them - and like most artists am struggling to make ends meet at the moment. it's a tough world
-geoffrey

Geoffrey, you are very talented and I would imagine you would have no problem selling your paintings, or even better, selling prints of them. I think this painting is really special. I would love to have a copy of it.

As for interest on the Forum. You have, no doubt, overwhelmed many, who just appreciate and wait for your next project. Why not offer them for us to purchase with perhaps Paypal.

Cheshire gal wrote:Geoffrey, you are very talented and I would imagine you would have no problem selling your paintings, or even better, selling prints of them. I think this painting is really special. I would love to have a copy of it.

As for interest on the Forum. You have, no doubt, overwhelmed many, who just appreciate and wait for your next project. Why not offer them for us to purchase with perhaps Paypal.

thank you for these kind words, cheshire gal - a very heart-warming message that might well prove to be quite useful. concerning an intention to resist posting to this forum further images from the 'cohen portrait collection', let's take a line from 'sing another song, boys' and "kindly leave the future open"
-geoffrey

Geoffrey wrote:saturday's quick leonard sketch. black & white acrylic, classic style on thick (300g) textured grain A3 paper

leonard classic style.jpg

Just repeating myself, but an incredible work again As you mentioned lack of interest here - you wrote to me, as I came to this forum for the first time, that I shouldn't be put off by lack of comments here if I believe in my own abilities, so you shouldn't be either And about being hard up - I know it well - to an extent I write lyrics professionally and many times all my reward is just the applause of the audience, because of the bad situation in arts these days (or years? ), but I am not simply able to give it up because I like it.

Artsinlife wrote:Just repeating myself, but an incredible work again As you mentioned lack of interest here - you wrote to me, as I came to this forum for the first time, that I shouldn't be put off by lack of comments here if I believe in my own abilities, so you shouldn't be either And about being hard up - I know it well - to an extent I write lyrics professionally and many times all my reward is just the applause of the audience, because of the bad situation in arts these days (or years? ), but I am not simply able to give it up because I like it.

thank you, artsinlife, for using energy upon my message. you are right that one should practice what one does preach, and i have no excuse for doing otherwise, except to say that one's temperament is often governed by one's stomach. i had consumed very little nutrition before composing the above bulletin, and hunger tends to increase dissention - one's humour swings uncontrollably from exuberance to despondency. destiny seems currently to have thrust me into the centre ring of this circus in which i find myself, and time is needed to find both balance and orientation.

ps
i wrote incorrectly that the above sketch is A3 format. in fact it is slightly larger; 46 x 30cm, to be precise

Oh bother Geoffrey now I have to try to write something. Please don't stop posting, especially your wonderful portraits of Leonard. I am very interested, check almost every day to see if there's a new post from you. There are probably others like me, don't even feel confident to write on a greeting card let alone a forum like this.

sereneava wrote:Oh bother Geoffrey now I have to try to write something. Please don't stop posting, especially your wonderful portraits of Leonard. I am very interested, check almost every day to see if there's a new post from you. There are probably others like me, don't even feel confident to write on a greeting card let alone a forum like this.

it was so nice to read your positive words, sereneava - and great that you decided to write something. we are all quite different, and it takes courage for some people to enter the public domain. this makes their messages that much more valuable, so an extra 'thank you' for daring to do so on my behalf. it is appreciated. if more portraits materialise, they will appear here, but when one has so little control over one's creativity it is difficult to know when that might be. leonard once said that if he knew where the good songs came from, he would visit there more often, so perhaps the good pictures are stored in the same place. being at the mercy of inspiration makes it difficult to be confident about the future, although that needn't stop us from being optimistic

g, it takes courage, mate.

And guts.

Respects to Sue and Cate,
Boss

Boss wrote:g, it takes courage, mate.
And guts.

tell me about it. i am scared stiff of posting a message here. just the thought of it can cause a dry mouth or heart palpitations, even bring on a panic attack. for me it's more nerve-racking than disarming an unexploded bomb. i usually put my sweaty hands together in prayer, wash a valium down with small glass of cognac and make a couple of visits to the bathroom before i can click on the 'submit' button. then i switch off the computer and hide under a blanket until i think it's safe to come out.

Geoffrey wrote

tell me about it. i am scared stiff of posting a message here. just the thought of it can cause a dry mouth or heart palpitations, even bring on a panic attack. for me it's more nerve-racking than disarming an unexploded bomb. i usually put my sweaty hands together in prayer, wash a valium down with small glass of cognac and make a couple of visits to the bathroom before i can click on the 'submit' button. then i switch off the computer and hide under a blanket until i think it's safe to come out.

Stiff, dry mouth, heart palpitations...my God Geoffrey what have you been doing?

When was the last time you disarmed a UXB????? (hope I didn't miss a euphemism here...it was the sweaty hands that threw me).

Maybe you should lay off the drugs and alcohol so you wouldn't have to spend all that time in the bathroom!

Never click the 'Submit' button unless you're really sure (there are no 'Safe Words' on the Cohen site)!

Geoffrey if you are too scared and too shy to post here then I must be Mother Teresa!
Now come out from under that blanket and keep posting.
xx

g, it is indeed difficult to press that 'submit' button at times. Thanks for your post, mate.

Karren, you are a wise woman of the world, I know. I have come to a fork in the road. I have very little money left, I am on the road - out of home since Sunday. I am currently staying in a pub in Doncaster. On the 20th to the 29th I'll be staying in a hostel in Fitzroy. On the evening of the 29th I'll be seeing Neil Diamond live at The Tennis Centre in Melbourne. All of this is costing me an arm and a leg. This is my dilemma - I have no clock radio. At present I am using the hotel's one. It is better than my I-phone because it is 'live' - there is no time delay. Plus I get more stations. Karren, should I, God forbid, steal it?? I would very much appreciate your opinion. I have been reduced to eating Vegemite sandwiches for breakfast and lunch, I am a poor Jew. Btw, I may through some freak of nature be visiting England soon, probably at the end of March. I would like very much to meet up with you, Sue, Mickey and Geoffrey. I'll keep you all posted. It all depends if I have enough money. I'd also like to pop over to Ireland and meet Jimmy O'Connell.

Peace,
Adam

dear karren. i have dentist phobia, but go for regular dental check-ups every 9 months, whereas the norm is once a year. it is precisely because of the fear that i go more often than other people. rather than be intimidated by fear, i make the need in me to conquer the phobia greater than the fear itself, thus my dental appointments are more frequent than the norm. in no way does this help me to overcome the fear, it is merely a way of 'taking the bull by the horns' - and i use the same method of paradox when posting messages in this forum.

dear adam. i am unlikely to be in the united kingdom at the time of your proposed visit, nevertheless wish you a safe and enjoyable time away from home

dear geoffrey - i will meet cohen in la. i'm going there on the 10th of janvier. might meet morrison too. he is playing on the 16th. i will then go to michigan to see my maternal grandfather's grave. then to new york for 2 months. then europe until the 21st of april when i will go to jerusalem. i insist you meet michael & i for a coke early april. i have never spoken to leonard cohen in the same way i have you and mick. we'll figure the details later.

in peace,
boss