Welcome to my blog. Please enter. Take a seat, wine and beer are in the refrigerator and other tidbits and good morsels. I start with the subject of wine and beer, only because I have recently discovered that there are patron saints associated with these beverages. And painting my rendition of the patron saints has become my latest obsession.
I have been around a long time. And I still recall that day in Art History class around 1970 when the images of Michelangelo’s frescoes of the Sistine Chapel were projected upon the classroom projection screen. It totally blew my mind to see such glorious and wondrous works of art, the body painted so skillfully.
I spent most of my art education being totally fascinated with the works of art from the old masters. We all experience that moment in time when we realize something higher can be accomplished because it has already been done, and done so beautifully. I still recall how mesmerized I was that particular day and I have been in awe ever since.
However, the beautifully painted human form was more important to me than realizing the subjects were nude. The problem was my family and friends saw how the Renaissance influenced my painting style. Suddenly nude studies, drawings and paintings, were all over the walls of my house. I believe family and friends only saw the nudity; however, I saw the colors, tones, shapes and possibilities in painting beautiful pictures.
When they departed from my house they probably talked amongst themselves. If only I could have been a fly on the wall, as they say, or more like a fly in the car as they drove away. I only hoped that my audience of viewers who came to my home and viewed my art, back then, where changed by it in some way. I hope they saw the beauty of the human form, a body created by God.