Living in Lecce, Part 2

Catholic Baroque in Lecce 

This southern region of Puglia is a very Catholic part of Catholic Italy. Visiting the many churches in Lecce (and in other nearby excursions), the daily masses are well attended, in contrast to other parts of Italy we've explored.  Cathedrals and churches abound in all directions, and all seem to have some special treasure to gaze at, some historical feature to note, and many, many confessionals, should you need them. 

In Lecce you can find an impressive church at literally each turn you take, with more than 20 elaborate stone churches in the historic centre alone! Given all these structures, no wonder Lecce's is famous for its own style of elaborated Baroque. Santa Croce is often heralded as the most ornate of these (under renovation as I write), but none are negligible.  I've looked at and into each one, and the photos taken would fill an album. (All photos here were taken by me)

An overall impression that remains is, of course, the baroque stone elaborations outside and inside the churches, something for which Lecce is known. Particularly, however, I've been delighted by how all of the churches seem to love cherubs: chubby little angels appear again and again, entwined with flowers, plants, and ornaments or with each other. And what's not to love? They seem spirited, hopeful, and add a touch of gaiety to otherwise somber matters.

inside one of Lecce's grand churches

Given the many notable chuches in Lecce, I'll  highlight just one of the lesser known, dedicated to Saints Nicolo and Cataldo.Walking to it takes you away from the hub of the city and near a cemetery and park. Once we thought we were in its vicinity, but still couldn't locate it, we asked for directions from a young local couple walking with their child. They had no idea it even existed. So we walked together to find the place, and it was a pleasure sharing our delight with them at this discovery.

Contrasting architecture of domed church,  cloister and pergola

tree near S. Nicolo 

A lovely guide welcomed us and provided a wealth of information, easily converted into English for our ease. She led us into the cloisters so that we could see both the otherwise unseen campanile and the original Latin inscription, testifying to its medieval architect and patron, Tancred, the Norman ruler from Sicily (a rarity to have both inscribed). 

I inquired about a fresco I thought was by a medievalist who seemed herald Giotto in style. No, she informed me. The artist had already been impressed by Giotto's work in the north and had tried to apply it here. The result was what I mistook for pre-Giotto (because of its more naive style). So much for artistic appropriation! Still, to my eye, it retained a naive and very authentic quality, a "presence" of its own, even in fragmented form.

Having feasted richly on the Leccese Baroque style, coming to Saint Nicolo cleansed the palate. It is set in an open surround with trees and a cemetery nearby, and with no other buildings to compete. The church is notable in its Norman arches and architecture, as well as its Norman-Byzantine interior, with parts of frescoes remaining from the middle ages (as noted in my "Giottoesque" example). 

Obelisks instead of Skycrapers

 

oblelisk near Porta Napoli +  my favorite one at roundabout

Along with its churches, this is a city that also loves its obelisks, many of which you can see while trying to negotiate the traffic roundabouts. Though I've snapped one of its major ones while walking near the Porta Napoli, my favorite one is more whimsical, with  birds flying out of  and atop it. It's inconvenient to stop and photograph it, and I'd never hazard this while driving around its roundabout. But here's a photo of it, too (cannot find its name or information about it). I like its composite structure and birds flying off from it.

Paintings and Structural Flourishes

Lecce's paintings and architectural flourishes reside not only in its churches. The homes on its streets are filled with interesting surprises at the cornices of buildings, on balconies, and other places you might look. Even the pavements offer changing patterns.

Cultural Crossroads

This small city has a wealth of architectural and archaeological treasures, including its Greek, Norman, Roman, Byzantine and Baroque influences. Just imagine having a house in the old city and needing to make some basement excavations because of sewage problems. This led one family to the chance discovery of multiple strata of archaeological wonders. This home stands in the historic town and has now been turned into the easily accessed Faggiano museum. As you travel downward, its deepest finds take you back to the Messapii culture of the 5th century BC; then up through Roman crypts, medieval ramparts, Jewish insignia and Knights Templar symbols.

Nothing missing so far except a castle. Oh, wait, there IS an unmistakably grand one here. The emperor Charles V thought Lecce was key to his defenses, so he built a mighty castle-fortress here. It guards the city now at less than casual attention, open to any and all who wish to walk through it.  It's fun taking a short-cut through the castle to get from the main square where you've been drinking a cappuccino at Alvino's café and looking over to the ancient Roman amphitheatre (not yet excavated in Charles V's time). The castle can be and is treated as a short-cut  from this main piazza to the streets behind that house theaters, beauty shops, wineries, boutiques and other shops catering to a lively modern city. How many cities offer such impressive short-cuts for daily use?

Historic Walled City of Lecce

 

I especially like walking into around the old walled city from its different portals. The central one is Porta Napoli, to and from which you see university students streaming. We live nearest the Porta Rudiae, right inside which is the art academy, the Accademia Belle Arti, with its stately old entranceway (photo at right).

Porta Napoli  photo Janet Strayer

  

Accademia Belle Arti

Accademia Belle Arti photo credit

Given the contrast it offered, I couldn't resist a picture of this old bicycle parked outside the ornate entrance to the Art Academy in Lecce. This bicycle frame seemed to me like a Dada-esque sculpture left always outside the ancient entrance to the Academy -- symbolic of all that is old and young in this vibrant city. 

Bicycles seem to be an icon this city -- easy to ride on the level (even if cobblestoned) paths, and many are ridden in traffic as well. On the first day of exploring old Lecce by foot, I even  spotted a wooden bicycle outside a shop.

 

wooden bicycle in Lecce 

Entering the Accademia for a quick peek, I loved the young faces seen in this ancient place, toiling or bluffing away at their creative studies. 

I snapped some photos as I peered inside the Accademia halls showing well-used printing presses, a class at work, and samples of contemporary sculpture and painting found inside its walls (I wish I could credit the artists but could not find this information and was asked not to interrupt the staff). As well as the Accademia, Lecce also hosts a more generic university. An assortment of international faces could be seen  among  students and residents.

photos inside Accademia Belle Arti by Janet Strayer

class inside Accademia Belle Arti (Janet Strayer photo)

artwork inside Accademia Belle Arti Lecce
 (my photos)

art store in Lecce, photo Janet Strayer

Art Supply Shop

A meandering distance away, from the Accademia I found a wonderful old and crammed art supplies store: Belle Arti Caiulo. I love such tucked-in shops with their wooden shelves and counters, somewhat dark in places, with the aroma of years. Lovely Fabriano papers of all types are in stock and really everything one could need, plus a knowledgeable and helpful staff, understandably proud of their shop.

Outside the Walls of the Old City

The pleasure of Lecce lies not only in the historic old city but spills out into its surrounding streets. On the streets outside the historic center, the traffic is brisk. I much prefer walking to driving, when possible. Especially because some of the houses lining "ordinary" streets  make you stop and marvel at them. 

On one of the main avenues leading to our own side-street is lined with privately-owned mansions in styes ranging from Renaissance balance to high Baroque with a Moorish twist. We fantasize about which of these remarkable houses we would live in. Of course, we'd have to restore most of these structures properly (as seems to be happening to some, properly or not). And then we'd need to decorate their interiors appropriately ...  in our dreams! But what fantastic fun to imagine.
 

Moorish-inspired mansion on Gallipoli, Lecce (Janet Strayer photo)

We're quite happy where we are, though. It's wonderful to sit in outdoor cafés (even in winter jackets, if needed). The wintertime sunshine is ample (compared to Vancouver!), and we can enjoy the local treats as we people-watch. The treats include puccia, a local bread that is somewhat like a fuller and richer pita, its dough sometimes flavoured with spices and olives. There's also  rustico, a delicious puff pastry filled with various savouries and cheese. And then there's pasticciotto, an egg-custard pastry with a rich and buttery baked crust. 

So I'll leave you with this taste of Lecce as we rest up for more of Puglia.

More Creative Life News

You can read and see more about Italy plus other travels and creative adventures by this itinerant artist at Creative Life News here.

Regards, Janet @ https://www.janetstrayer.com

Living in Lecce (Puglia) Part 1

In the Heel of the Boot of Italy

photo credits

Arrival in Lecce, a city of modest size at the center of Italy's Salento Peninsula, occurred at night after a long and uninteresting drive southeast from the Rome airport. We came to this special city , touted by guidebooks as one of the most beautiful in Italy.   Located on the stiletto heel of Italy's boot, it's a fine place from which to explore Puglia one the economically poorer regions of Italy. But not poorer in historical or, as I've come to see, in scenic and  cultural interests.

It is very different here from mid and northern Italy, which we've lived in previously, and will again. Here we are at the heel's tip of Italy, set narrowly between  the Ionian and the Adriatic Seas. This is a land marked by its flatness in all directions. It might be compared  to the prairies back home, but it is so different in its vegetation, colours, and scenic outlook that you know you are living elsewhere.

And living elsewhere is exactly the point of these travels: changing perspectives, experiencing life a bit differently, eyes open to the familiar because it has become unfamiliar. Even the sky here is different, spreading itself closer to the ground and sea. This region is a haven for sea-lovers. It's too cold now to swim at its beaches, and the winds can be strong ones, as the rainstorms have been this winter season.

 The land outside the cities can be fairly bleak, though the nearness of both its seas makes for some lush watering holes and interesting old ports. As you travel, the land is filled with acres of olive groves, many close enough to the highways to see the characteristic silvery-green of the leaves and the gnarled, thick trunks of the ancient trees, pruned since before Roman times. In fact, the culturally influential origins of this region are Greek, with pre-historic settlers coming across the Ionian Sea, and the early artifacts found across this area typical of ancient Greece. I'm looking forward to visiting some museum sites to see and learn more.

An Apartment Just Outside the Old Walled City  

We're renting  a large and comfortable apartment, conveniently located a walk away from the historical walled city of Lecce, with its famously Baroque architecture and beautifully gold-yellow stone that is characteristic of this location. Winter it is ...and it does feels like it, but still there are cacti and some flowers in bloom on the terrace. Ah, the eternal hope this gives! 

Our apartment has a genteel, retro feel to it, a feeling of having been well lived-in .... as witnessed by this old radio console and accoutrements atop it.

original artwork by T.F., photo by J.Strayer

There is also some charming art on its walls, some of it done by the original owner, a physician who also painted.
 
Along with the paintings is this interesting ceramic piece from Calabria. Altogether a very pleasant place to reside, with pleasant memories still alive.

photo by Janet Strayer

From the terrace of our apartment, you can see the campanile of the Duomo in the center of the old walled city. It's just a brief walk from here.
 

photo by Janet Strayer

Campanile, photo credits --a blog I recommend

Looking Not Painting

I've tried to do a bit of sketching and painting here myself. I put plastic on a table and cardboard on the floor, to keep all clean and tidy. But I feel constrained in the space and limited to small studies and experiments. Maybe that's all I'll do while here. But it's all worth just being here and absorbing what I can. It's always been the case that travels and living in different parts of the world have influenced what and how I paint, though it's not always obvious (to me or to others) at the time. We'll see, I guess.

Piazza del Duomo in Lecce

The main piazza of historic Lecce is a surprise to come upon as you walk through the old walled part of the city's diverging streets and  pathways. The 12th century Duomo was restored in mid 18th century by the architect G. Zimbalo, regarded as the master of what has become known as the Leccese Baroque style so typical of this area.The Duomo has an impressive facade facing the piazza and a very tall campanile beside it. It's the campanile I notice most, its structure so compact yet directed so high you can barely see the bell as you look up from the groundstones. But it is  the combined impact of all that constitutes this piazza that impresses most -- especially as you surprisingly come upon it, tucked away, as it were, amidst the angling streets.

The Piazza del Duomo strangely has always been sunlit, even on cloudy days. It's a calm and pleasing rectangular space with interestingly  proportioned buildings and decorated stonework. The yellowish Leccese stonework and decorative architectural touches are typical of much the old city, giving it all a harmonious feeling.  

Lecce is not particularly known for its painters: none in Italy's south rival those nurtured from the pre-Renaissance, with its prosperous patrons living further north. But a tradition of rather fanciful Baroque architecture did develop, and the area is rich in historic Roman, medieval and Renaissance structures and monuments.

Ancient Roman Amphitheatre

Notably, at the beginning of the 20th century, a Roman amphitheatre of the Augustan age was unearthed beneath Lecce's streets. It remains the main feature of Piazza Sant'Oronzo, a large central piazza in the heart of the old city, surrounded by outdoor cafés and shops, in some of which Lecce's skilled artisans still practice the ancient craft of papier-maché, notable in this locale.

Roman amphitheater in Lecce (Janet Strayer photo)

For me, the main artistic interests in Lecce are architectural ones, in contrast to the splendid paintings and frescoes seen further north in Italy. But there ismuch to delight in, especially while walking upon ancient pavements, some filled with amazing mosaics, or looking up at finely decorated wooden ceilings and Norman arches, or at cathedral columns festooned with an incredible number of angel-cupids and other fabulously plentiful creations. Even in the less palatial houses in Lecce's historic center, you can often look up to balconies supported by caryatids and to cornices filled with faces created centuries ago. 

As for the people-watching, there aren't many tourists this time of year, and we try to blend in as much as possible.. as you can see in this photo:

photo by Janet Strayer

Street Music

Now is definitely not tourist season here, and foreigners are easy to spot. But the folk here are very friendly (except when driving!). There is an off-season sense of reality in contrast to the showiness that seems to accompany any city at tourism's heights. But there's also still a good sense of show here. Take, for example, this distinguished and appropriately well  attired busker with his dulcimer. He played beautifully in Lecce's old streets, and was most gracious to his admirers.

 

Costumed busker with dulcimer in Lecce (Janet Strayer photos

 

There's still very much to explore and learn in Lecce. But we also want to see other remarkable places in Puglia. Thankfully,  we have some time to do it.  And hopefully, I'll find the  time to keep you posted. 

Happy trails to you as well!

More Creative Life News

You can read and see more about Italy plus other travels and creative adventures by this itinerant artist at Creative Life News here.

Jet-Lagged in Southern Italy

After leaving Canada on January 15, we stayed overnight in London. It was a fine flight, but jet-lag really took its toll on this one. Too tired to see anything, we sort-of-slept in one of the non-interesting hotels near the airport, waiting for the next morning's flight to Rome.  You know how you can get so brain-muddled and dreadfully weary after altering your sleep cycles? All this when you have major baggage (including two trombones and paint supplies) to deal with, along with the winding maze of security checks and customs lines. It's a wonder we made it, with all our time-zone challenged non-sleep grogginess. I don't remember it hitting this hard before. 

In any case, we picked up a rented car in Rome and drove a long 6-7 hours south to Lecce in Puglia. Of course the Italians do it in less time, but we made it without too much mishap. 

 I'll write more about this lovely city of Lecce after it sinks in more. Right now it's much colder than I expected. Aside from getting our living situation set up as "home"and dealing with the basic orientation and chores needed for settling in( food shopping, electricity adaptors, cellphone changes and on and on), all I can look forward to at the moment is sleeping at Italian (not jet-lagged Canadian West Coast) hours. 

It's been four days and we're still clicking on foreign time. Who knew jet-lag could take so long to dissipate?  These time-space continuum flips of this rather ordinary little trip have been so disorienting it makes me marvel at how astronauts ever managed!

Figuring Out the Universe, painting by Janet Strayer

Good night all. Wake me up for lunch tomorrow! 

Regards, Janet @ https://www.janetstrayer.com

What's Music Got to Do with It?

Can you see and hear the connection of this painting, Night on Bald Mountain, with Mussorgsky's evocative music?

Night on Bald Mountain: painting by Janet Strayer

 Many painters I know like to listen to music as they paint. Not me. Music often takes me away with it,  my full attention absorbed, so that I can't be fully involved in the painting process.  Yet music often lingers strongly in my mind, affecting my mood and the rhythms of the next painting I start. That's the case with my Night on Bald Mountain. 

Though it was originally composed on St. John's eve (midsummer), this music always comes to my mind in wintertime when the ground is barren, the colors are muted, and the trees and land forms are silhouetted in a dusky atmosphere. 

Listening to Rimksy-Korsakov's orchestration of this tone-poem is especially wonderful on a winter night,  temperature falling as the dark flickers with with shadowed light. Surprising to learn that this famous piece of pictorial music was ill-received by Mussorgsky's mentor. It was pulled off the public charts by its young creator in mortification. Yet the music lingered in its creator's mind. Despite several attempts to shape it for public presentation, Mussorsky's version was never publically  performed during his lifetime-- only to become famous after R-K's appreciation of this work and his own orchestration of it after Mussorgsky's death. The music subsequently become riotously famous in contemporary times after Disney (with Igor Stravinsky's help) fabulized it in Fantasia (1941, click for youtube clip) 

Grateful to R-K for realizing Mussorsky's auditory vision, I'm left pondering (once again) the syncretic and generative nature of art.  Night on Bald Mountain demonstrates again for me the richness and depth of many art forms that beckon and beget themselves anew -- in slightly or even drastically altered form. This occurs in a single artist's own works and, of course, it occurs across artists. In this context, appropriation is no sin. Nor is it  to be regarded as a glibly cast-off hand-me-down. Rather, it can be a genuine tribute and enrichment of art for its own sake. Who is the "authentic" composer of Night on Bald Mountain? Depends where you want to start ... and stop.... your search.

Happy Winter Solstice and Holidays,   

 

Defiant Grief: Antigone Today

Defiant Grief is a painting from my archives. It is now on exhibit with other powerful  artwork at the Moat Gallery in Vancouver's stunning central library. The exhibition began on Canada's Day of Remembrance,  in honour and remembrance of the people slain in the Montréal Massacre, our own very poignant example of the worldwide violence towards women. The exhibition continues  until Dec. 28 . It encourages awareness of and social action against violence to women. Hope you get to see the powerful work displayed and organized by Vancouver Rape Relief and Women's Shelters.

My own personal statement about this painting is that I wish it to serve as a testament to the deep grief that underlies our defiant resistance to violence. It is called Defiant Grief  in order to acknowledge that this defiance is born of grief for all who suffer at the hands and will of the more powerful and unjust. This is a substantive grief that transforms into strength -- not just for endurance  but for wilful action. Both principled determination and a strong reservoir of feeling underlie women's resistance, not only to outrages committed against individuals, but also to aspects of society that permit such abuse.

Although the painting is an individual testament, it also calls to mind the ancient Greek drama of Antigone's resistance to the state/tyrant. Perhaps like this enduring heroine, we cry, we scream, we rage, and we gather our considerable strength to resist and work against such outrage.

As this season of political infamy turns to upcoming winter festivities and holiday celebrations, perhaps it is worth remembering.

And good wishes to you all.

More Creative Life News

You can read and see more about creative life, travels, tips and creative adventures by this itinerant artist at Creative Life News at https://www.janetstrayer.com

Regards, Janet 

Death, Art, and Maudie

Not the most attractive title for a blog, I know. But it succinctly captures the reality of my recent experiences, which might be of some more general interest or reflection.

I was called out from my peaceful slumbers early one morning on Saturna Island by the phone ringing at my bedside. It was a death in the family. Someone much too young and with a still young family.

I took the first ferry off island, and then onto a plane headed to the east coast.  A doleful trip. Those of you who know such loss and sorrow in your lives need no more details of the heavy, dull, yet churning emotions en route ... or of the communal experience a family funeral exacts.

Tired but needing to distract myself en route, I turned to the airline movie selection and chose Maudie. A biographical film about the Nova Scotia artist, Maude Dawley Lewis, and set in the 1930s, it is directed by Aisling Walsh and features fine performances by Sally Hawkins and Ethan Hawke. 

link to global news commentary

 Overtly crippled by arthritis and disparaged by family and small-town judgements, Maud lives and works as house-cleaner for a poor, inarticulate, and rough fish peddler, Everett, in a house that seems barely more than a shack. Hardly the scenario for art or romance or some sort of success. And yet it is ... of a different sort.

The improbable happens. Maud is affirmed in love and in art, the latter being celebrated from locations as unlikely as Nixon's White House. It is no fable, yet the story has a fable's simply constructed trials, wonder, and moral outlook. Where better to find the truth of what one seeks or hopes for?

I cried as I watched it, stuck in the middle seat of a plane full of people, my eyes spilled with rolling tears. I was too tired, too drawn out of my life, to care much about my public appearance at the moment. In any case, these were not sentimental tears, but ones that seemed just: for the harsh realities of life. In this art-as-life movie, they were for a woman so bent yet strong, so afflicted yet affirming, so simple, direct, persistent, and brave in her art and in her life. Her circumstances were harsh, her health impaired by multiple factors, and her resources so substantially and financially constrained. Yet she endured and enriched, without triumph but with affirmation.

And, as with empathy, in general, the feelings evoked in the movie expanded to my immediate world.  A world so different than Maud's, so jam-packed with greed, excess, deliberate hypocrisy and self-serving righteous attitudes, where the political and personal get so regularly demeaned that they become TV fodder displayed as info-tainment. Where art is so commodified and artists so competitive that one questions where the "spirit" in  inspiration went. 

I sometimes despair of such a world, yet cherish the moments of what I'll call "Maud's world" for their simple pleasure and appreciation of the richness of life when it is lived and loved for its own sake and on its own terms. Hers seems a world that, when death comes knocking, isn't met with an "Is that all there is?" summary but with "I loved and was loved."

Maud  Lewis outside her home, see global news link

"Can you teach me to paint?", a sophisticated woman asks. Maud smiles that incandescent smile of hers, and quickly dismisses the woman's request, chuckling a bit with her gaze turned upward. "Owh, you can't teach that," she simply says.

Perhaps you can't. That kind of art stems from the untutored and very personally experienced appreciation of life. Something so simple, so profound, it cannot be taught.  

More Creative Life News

You can read and see more about creative life, travels, tips and creative adventures by this itinerant artist at Creative Life News at https://www.janetstrayer.com

Regards, Janet 

Dreams and Loving Vincent a

This is a love letter. I love Loving Vincent.

Loving Vincent is the world’s first fully oil painted feature film. It is a masterwork,  A gorgeous and gripping ensemble of painted visual art cinematically woven together. Not cartoony, not animé, but its own uniquely lush and painterly rendition of cinematic action. It's emotionally gripping, even without the plotline, which adds a touch of detective drama and mystery to the circumstances of Vincent's death. 

It took five years to finish production of this film. No wonder, after you see it. It's a triumph of love and technique. Written and directed by Dorota Kobiela & Hugh Welchman, produced by Poland’s BreakThru Films & UK’s Trademark Films, it was funded by the Polish Film Institute. Kudos and appreciation to them for getting this huge ball of creative effort rolling. It's a stellar tribute and triumph.

The film brings the paintings of Vincent van Gogh to life and tells his remarkable story, with a twist of mystery added to it. Every one of the 65,000 frames of the film is an oil-painting, hand-painted by 125 professional oil-painters. Then there are the storyboard illustrators, animators, cinematographers, and all the crew it takes to make a feature film.

Although Poland has a wonderful tradition in both cinematic and graphic art, there reportedly were not enough qualified artists in Poland, so that local talent was enhanced by artists from across the world coming to studios in Poland and Greece to be a part of the production. Even the actors used as models in the production look uncannily like actual characters in van Gogh's paintings!

from online trailer 

Watching this fascinating film, I was stunned by how quickly and thoroughly it drew me in. The black and white scenes (like flash-backs in a traditional movie) were intense, and at times so photographic I thought they were filming actors in black and white, rather than painting them. 

The colored scenes are just thrillingly gorgeous, with enough quirky stylistic changes to peak your interest as you travel through, not only van Gogh's paintings, but the whole painted storyline with its interesting, amusing, and dramatic personae and plot. You hardly think about how impossible a feat it is to be watching paintings move! 

I read subsequently that it took about 12 frames of individual oil paintings make up each second of Loving Vincent. That means a total of 65,000 paintings were used to produce the entire film. The batallion of painters spent up to 10 days painting just one second of film.

The result is breathtaking. If you haven't seen it, you must. And if you have seen it, you might like knowing something more about its production. Here's a brief BBC video interview by Sarah Wimperis that will give you a glimpse behind the scenes and into the process: click 

I'm glad that paintings contributing to this film are available for sale. I very much enjoyed looking at the online site showing them, along with 16 pages of photos and profiles of the artist/painters . How wonderful and torturous their labors must have been. I do wonder, though, to whom the paintings belong: the film producers, the painters, ...? What a feat to be part of a masterwork in our own time!

Dreams

While thinking over my experience of Loving Vincent, another film popped into mind. I recalled Dreams, a Japanese film by Akira Kurosawa that I'd seen in the 1990s. He is one of my favorite directors and a master visual stylist, creating beautifully epic tableaus.

A departure from his typical films, this one (the only one written by Kurosawa himself) is composed of dream vignettes. In particular, one episode, "Crows", deals with  van Gogh (played by another fine director, if less-than-convincing actor: Martin Scorcese).

The camera begins in gallery and moves across several of van Gogh's brilliant paintings while a solitary art student gazes at them. At one point, the student leans into a painting of a stone bridge with women working below it. Suddenly, he is inside the painting, which now has become the actual French countryside, and he is asks the women where he might find van Gogh.

from Crow segment of  Dreams (click to see online video lnk)

 The student journeys onward through many identifiable van Gogh scenes, some of them films of actual countryside, others (like Loving Vincent) close-ups and sets of van Gogh paintings. The student is always photographed as in a usual film (not painted) and he remains so, even as the scenes he walks through change from photography to painting. 

For me, a surprising pictorial moment occurs when the student, walking in the actual countryside, finds it  has turned into an ink painting:

online link

He subsequently traverses more richly painted backdrops. But, as an actual person, he's not fully integrated into the painted scene (in contrast to in Loving Vincent). He remains a foreign body inserted into it.  It's a different kind of statement, but seems to me a trail-blazing precursor.

For example, having the student blunder into the thickness of the paint (see below)makes this a palpably different experience for us watching than the more unified Loving Vincent. The dialectic between the actual and the imaginative creation is visible and mediated by Kurosawa's film itself. He conveys the tension of engaging in creation in a way that is both highly sophisticated and joyously naive.

Kurosawa is one of the great directors of the 20thC, who made stunningly beautiful movies -- even of mass carnage in combat. To learn that he was also a painter, often spending time painting pictures of every scene, makes the Crow segment of interwoven film and paint media even more meaningful. In his own words, "My purpose was not to paint well. I made free use of various materials that happened to be at hand." But the actual shots framed in his films clearly represent a realization of what he'd visualized (and often painted) beforehand.

A personal footnote to the magic of the moving picture:

As a very young child I was fascinated by a TV show that encouraged its tiny viewers to draw on the TV screen (plastic overlay sheet required). Whatever you drew would be incorporated into the plot in order to complete the scene for the show's cartoon characters. For example, you would draw a bridge to help a funny little guy get across a river, or crayon in a ladder for him to reach a window, or give him wings so  he could fly.

The idea was that if enough of us created the needed device, it appeared on screen and our little person would get out of a jam or get something desired. And of course, in the next few moments, a bridge, ladder, or wings appeared in the show, and the action was completed on screen.

For me, this show was enchantment itself. I was the creator of a small bit of magic that worked. I saw it happen on TV! This engagement in the process of art making reality has never left me, though I do wish I could now be as effective in changing the world as I was then.

More Creative Life News

You can read and see more about creative life, travels, tips and creative adventures by this itinerant artist at Creative Life News at https://www.janetstrayer.com

Regards, Janet 

The Story of a Painting and What Makes It Sell

You know that I'm a painter, right? Like many painters who enjoy or are impelled to paint, I'm a prolific artist who completes more works than can shown in public exhibitions or sold. Still, sometimes I just know that a certain painting has a certain zing to it: it just has to been seen in public and sold to someone who loves it. 

I'll try to explain it this way: the painting hits the mark... my own mark first, by surprising me in ways that both ring authentic to what I intended and go a bit beyond this in interesting ways. I want to keep looking at such an artwork. And, getting anthropomorphic, it wants to go out into the world!

Typically, these zing-artworks do get reaction from the public, one way or another. Some of them also get purchased. Which brings me to what I think is an interesting story for all those who wonder about what makes a painting sell. I'll stick to specifics rather than try to speak to the generalities of selling art (a quagmire of opinions -- all of them right to some degree).

This story is about one painting that not only sold, but sold triple-times! The first time was when it was shown in an open-studio show I did presenting some  new works. Early in the show, a man who had been standing looking at this painting in less than the best viewing conditions started nodding to himself, called someone on his cellphone, then with speed and much excitement, walked over to me. "I'll buy it!" he pronounced. His cheque followed immediately. I wrapped the painting for him to pick up later that day.

Within a week, I got a call from the same man, now somewhat embarrassed. Would I come pick up the painting at his huge house and return his cheque? He loved the painting, he insisted, but his wife worried that it might offend some of their visitors. Poof!

Of course I did that. Who wants a controversial painting hanging in their house? (Well, you might answer that one differently). I was disappointed, but consoled myself that art is such an individually meaningful exchange, it's best when it fits well with its purchaser. 

I didn't show the painting again for a year.  I decided to change an aspect of the boy's face and hair in the interim and repainted part of it. I do this kind of thing when a painting remains with me to look at for a lengthy time. Sometimes, it starts telling me things. They were small changes, but I think the result was even better. 

I made a card of the painting and had it among other cards available for visitors to my Saturna Island studio. This past summer, I had quite a few visitors, and many conversations about art, island life, and whatever matters. The cards of this painting were often pocketed as souvenirs.

One day a visitor asked if I could bring the actual painting. He was surprised it hadn't sold (but it had, once before) and came again, with his wife. He wanted the painting and would pay whatever the asking price. His wife looked startled and asked him to step outside. 

Uh-oh. I knew at once. And you now also know what happened. I heard him protest in the hallway, "but I'll keep it in my study." I shrugged, knowing how this was going to turn out.

When they walked back into the studio, I immediately short-circuited things by mentioning that I understood this painting wouldn't really fit into their lives. I cared about things like that.  Nothing like "divorce-by-painting" for me. OK, done deal = no deal. 

By the way, it could just as well have been "woman-wants/man-doesn't" theme to these events, but it hadn't worked that way two times running. So, back the painting went into storage. I felt a bit sad about its history of two almost-but-no sales. Still, looking at the painting itself made me happy. 

About two weeks later, in another setting entirely, someone mentioned how much he'd liked the card he had of this painting. Yes, I agreed, it was popular. Especially now that Wonder Woman had been a popular movie, as well. "Was it still available?", he asked.

painting by Janet Strayer www.janetstrayer.com

Whoa!, I thought. Here we go again. I told him the story of its two previous art lovers. I guess it was a warning, and certainly not the greatest sales pitch in the world! But I really like this man and, despite wanting him to own this painting, I felt it had a history to relate.

I was delighted when he re-confirmed by saying "I know I want to buy it." Nice because it seemed like the perfect fit: he had the combined artistic sensibility, humour, and  generosity of spirit to enjoy it fully. This time, it was a final sale for Wonder Woman & Superboy.

This is a painting that pays homage to two periods in art history that revered the human figure: the European Renaissance and North American Classic Comic Book Art. Set in the traditional Madonna-Child pose,Wonder Woman and Superboy are pop representations of the abiding power of iconic imagery. Technically, as well, blending modern acrylics (pop art) with traditional gold leaf and pose helps link the centuries and merges the reverential with popular cultural forms -- a humanistic approach. 

Wonder Woman & Superboy are now where they belong.  I appreciate it. And I hope you appreciate this story of its journey.  

More Creative Life News

You can read and see more about creative life, travels, tips and creative adventures by this itinerant artist at Creative Life News at https://www.janetstrayer.com

Regards, Janet 

 

PRISM and FLOW: A New Venture

Suspension of Time, painting by Janet Strayer, Flow series

It's exciting news:
Next weekend is the opening of PRISM, a new showplace for art on Saturna Island. It's right near the ferry/sea-plane dock, so it will be easy for tourists as well as residents to stop in and browse.

Still a retreat and a haven of small island lifestyle for those who wish it so, Saturna (the southern-most of the Gulf Islands) has now become even more of a tourist destination with its dedicated whale-watching and marine educational focus (see SIMRES, etc.), newly developed campgrounds, kayaking, bicycling, and picturesque B&B's.

 And here is  PRISM's window view, and the same and from outdoors (standing on the nearby pub's outdoor  deck).

PRISM is a lovely little addition to the multi-talented Saturna art scene comprising painters, ceramacists, weavers, fiber-artists, and photographers (see ArtSaturna). PRISM is my new site, recently renovated, with a gorgeous view of the water and shoreline. You can see the sail boats,  pleasure craft and fishing boats, and even the ferries coming and going, as well as the sea-planes.

I'll be hosting the PRISM, and it will be open this spring and summer during weekends 11am-5pm, and by appointment on Mondays and Fridays.

Earth Dances with Sea, painting by Janet Strayer Flow series

My opening show, aptly entitled Flow, consists of all new, never before seen, paintings that are rich in flowing movement and interacting color. I've been working truly, madly, deeply, and much of the time happily to create them over the past 8 months.

Like flowing currents in the Earth's natural environment, these paint-flows interact with human kinetic energy and gesture to create irregularly beautiful patterns. Brilliant colors, cellular structures and lace-like details result from the interaction of different paint densities that are artistically controlled to an intuitive extent and layered for artistic effect.

Tectonic Shifts, painting by Janet Strayer, Flow series

Using mixed materials creates a free-flowing contour that follows the material flow of paint from its traditionally confined surface (canvas or wood panel) to more indeterminate forms that spill off the rectilinear and into the organic. A bit of a metaphor for the act of painting too.

Connecting Green, painting (acrylic, canvas, mixed media) by Janet Strayer, Flow Series

Come if you can. Both Saturna Island and the PRISM show will surprise and delight you!


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