leonardcohenforum.com

Dear Geoffrey,

What a wonderful portrait of Leonard, with such a soulful expression. One can almost imagine what is going through his mind, perhaps a pleading enquiry, something along the lines of, "Why does a post about Bob Dylan's voice get more hits on my forum than another portrait of me by a gifted artist?"

All the best, and thanks for continuing to share your work with us!

Lisa

LisaLCFan wrote:Dear Geoffrey,

What a wonderful portrait of Leonard, with such a soulful expression. One can almost imagine what is going through his mind, perhaps a pleading enquiry, something along the lines of, "Why does a post about Bob Dylan's voice get more hits on my forum than another portrait of me by a gifted artist?"

All the best, and thanks for continuing to share your work with us!

Lisa

hei lisa. i think it's possible to see by the hurried brush strokes that this picture was not laboured upon. nevertheless disheartening that my work, as carelessly carried out as it may be, is largely ignored. i could hardly believe it when i saw someone had responded, but am glad i still have the ability to differentiate between reality and a dream. thank you! i didn't see any posts here about bob dylan's voice, but that is of little concern. you seem to appreciate me, and that's what really matters. i believe leonard does, too. the way i found that out was by using a deductive technique involving subconscious mind and body coordination learned years ago from a tibetan zen master, but it can only be implemented by people trained to operate on the deepest level of intuition. i sit quietly in the lotus position on a circular rug positioned more than 66 centimetres from the nearest piece of furniture - the sun has to be felt on my closed eyes - and i think a question. in this instance it was "does leonard cohen like me more than anyone else who posts in jarkko's forum?" i count slowly to ten, and if a vehicle toots its horn before i reach #10 i know the answer is affirmative. i don't know how it works, only that is always does. we don't know why cows almost always face either north or south when they graze, but they do. there are many absurd facts to which scientists can offer no explanation.

for anyone interested in how a picture evolves, below is a very rough draft of the one at the top of this thread.

Geoffrey wrote:...[1] using a deductive technique involving subconscious mind and body coordination learned years ago from a tibetan zen master, ... it can only be implemented by people trained to operate on the deepest level of intuition. i sit quietly in the lotus position ...

[2] for anyone interested in how a picture evolves, below is a very rough draft of the one at the top of this thread.

[1] Regarding this fascinating technique, does it work if one has a dog in one's lap at the time? I would think that the increase in positive energy would be beneficial. I may try it, and report back...

[2] That is interesting. Does the rough draft become the finished picture, or is it a separate entity?

By the way, I noticed that this picture of yours continues to be viewed, whereas interest in Dylan's voice seems to be tapering off, and so perhaps there is hope for this forum, after all!

Hi G,

Yet another masterpiece Geoffrey! That wistful look in his eyes makes you wonder what, or who, he’s yearning for? ... It always amazes me how you can create something so lovely in a short space of time!

Geoffrey wrote

‘nevertheless disheartening that my work, as carelessly carried out as it may be, is largely ignored.’

Ahhh Geofrey ! Your work here is never ignored; often admired quietly, and sometimes fawned over! But either way it is always greatly appreciated. I am very proud to have a GW on my wall (although only a canvas print) but proud never the less!

By the way, the Dylan concert was amazing, you would have loved it!

xxxx

Cheshire gal wrote:
>

i do hope that is a happy social laughter, cheshire gal, and not mad laughter born of despair
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LisaLCFan wrote:
>[1] Regarding this fascinating technique, does it work if one has a dog in one's lap at the time? I would think that the increase in positive energy would be beneficial. I may try it, and report back...

i am not sure, although i fail to see why not. the most important component is a more than 90% belief that it will work, but reaching such a target is no mean feat. it has been claimed that jesus had 100% belief, hence his ability to walk on water, perform miracles, levitate, etc. as someone wrote to me recently, "it doesn't matter whether or not something is true, what matters is that one believes it." in any case, it does no harm to study the works of krishnamurti, swedenborg, blavatsky, people like that.
https://youtu.be/-rvU_aEayh8

>[2] That is interesting. Does the rough draft become the finished picture, or is it a separate entity?

this is precisely the question i too would have asked, showing an inquisitive mind, a desire to broaden one's knowledge. in this instance the rough draft was a separate entity, a minute or two spent to see if the idea had potential. often the final picture continues to be built upon the actual draft, but having just returned with new supplies from the art shop i saw no reason for parsimony. in an act of demonstrative extravagance the 'draft' was gleefully thrown aside.

>[3] By the way, I noticed that this picture of yours continues to be viewed, whereas interest in Dylan's voice seems to be tapering off, and so perhaps there is hope for this forum, after all! [/quote]

despite a diligent search, i remain unable to find the dylan-related sentiments of which you speak. in a film i saw recently someone said: "you couldn't find a hooker in a whorehouse!" - an accurate description of me, perhaps.
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Karren B wrote:
>Yet another masterpiece Geoffrey! . . . It always amazes me how you can create something so lovely in a short space of time!

hello karren. my apartment is so full of pictures that being able to paint quickly sometimes seems more like a curse than a blessing. they accumulate far quicker than they dissipate, unfortunately.

>Your work here is never ignored; often admired quietly, and sometimes fawned over! But either way it is always greatly appreciated. I am very proud to have a GW on my wall (although only a canvas print) but proud never the less!

you have an ability to make people glad, and thankful - a gift more valuable than any other that comes to mind.

>By the way, the Dylan concert was amazing, you would have loved it! xxxx

undoubtedly. i keep abreast via audience videos posted to a website. glad you enjoyed it! xxxx

Geoffrey, I am very happy to see each new offering of yours. You keep me laughing at your wit and awed with your talent. Hopefully there will be many more to come.

Cheshire gal wrote:Geoffrey, I am very happy to see each new offering of yours. You keep me laughing at your wit and awed with your talent. Hopefully there will be many more to come.

oh yes, there's loads more where this one came from, all nicely collected in the tubes of paint in my atelier. all i have to do is squeeze colour out from them and put it in the right places on the canvas - no prob. it is so nice to know that people like me. a lady told me yesterday that there is nobody one can hate more than somebody one once cared about. we are like tight-rope walkers balancing on the fine line between applause and broken bones.

Geoffrey wrote:...the most important component is a more than 90% belief that it will work ... it has been claimed that jesus had 100% belief, hence his ability to walk on water... as someone wrote to me recently, "it doesn't matter whether or not something is true, what matters is that one believes it."...

That is either extremely wise, or totally delusional, but I suppose if it prevents one from drowning, who is to argue?

I like them both, but leave it to me to prefer the rough draft. Hope you didn't cast it too far aside.

LisaLCFan wrote: That is either extremely wise, or totally delusional, but I suppose if it prevents one from drowning, who is to argue?

well, when competing with religious claptrap the laws of physics have little to say.

lizzytysh wrote:I like them both, but leave it to me to prefer the rough draft. Hope you didn't cast it too far aside.

it's here somewhere, lizzy. what you write is quite common; people often prefer a two-minute sketch to one that has been fastidiously laboured upon.

it's here somewhere, lizzy. what you write is quite common; people often prefer a two-minute sketch to one that has been fastidiously laboured upon.

At least that doesn't apply in this case :

i think it's possible to see by the hurried brush strokes that this picture was not laboured upon.

I see this sketch as a mixture of Tom Jones, Mungo Jerry and, of course,Muhammed Ali. It is the first non Leonard Cohen one that Geoffrey has done for ages and he deserves our support.

Sideways wrote:It is the first non Leonard Cohen one that Geoffrey has done for ages and he deserves our support.

very funny, sideways, but there is a serious element wrapped up in people liking a quick draft above the finished product. one can work hard on something, a business or a partnership, for example, and in the end become of less value than someone else who just walks in and takes over. after all one has done, the payment is contempt and zero respect - less than zero respect. a day or two ago i wrote: "there is nobody one can hate more than somebody one once cared about". a person will never hate anyone as fiercely as someone for whom they earlier had only love. all the affection warmly invested in a relationship is discarded like yesterday's garbage, and it ferments into a seething pile of bitter poison to which there is no antidote. the less one does, the more one is appreciated. the relative who lives furthest away is the relative most highly regarded, most warmly embraced, and those who stay near and do most receive least praise. that is how it works. be helpful and kind to someone by all means, but do it regularly and you could be taken for granted. if you then pull out, you let them down and become more of a disappointment than if you had never given any help or kindness in the first place. that's why i don't use a lot of time making nice pictures because i know people prefer the quick inferior ones. that's fair enough for me, i'm not complaining, in fact it's good. people praise my work more highly and i get extra time to myself. i can catch up with other jobs, watch a movie, relax like other people do, instead of devoting my time to art.