Flora..I don`t have a camera! Here is my son`s Puter!

Flora,I have no pics of my Puter, [no camera] . Here is my son`s.

Vince

M O N E T "The Dahlias " [garden at Argenteuil] Biography Below.

Claude Monet
(1840-1926)

Special thanks to the Microsoft Corporation for permission to use following biographical information from Microsoft® Encarta '97:

Claude Oscar Monet was a French impressionist painter who brought the study of the transient effects of natural light to its most refined expression.

Monet was born on November 14, 1840, in Paris, but he spent most of his childhood in Le Havre. There, in his teens, he studied drawing; he also painted seascapes outside with the French painter Eugene Louis Boudin. By 1859 Monet had committed himself to a career as an artist and began to spend as much time in Paris as possible. During the 1860s he was associated with the preimpressionist painter Edouard Manet, and with other aspiring French painters destined to form the impressionist school—Camille Pissarro, Pierre Auguste Renoir, and Alfred Sisley.

Working outside, Monet painted simple landscapes and scenes of contemporary middle-class society, and he began to have some success at official exhibitions. As his style developed, however, Monet violated one traditional artistic convention after another in the interest of direct artistic expression. His experiments in rendering outdoor sunlight with a direct, sketchlike application of bright color became more and more daring, and he seemed to cut himself off from the possibility of a successful career as a conventional painter supported by the art establishment.

In 1874 Monet and his colleagues decided to appeal directly to the public by organizing their own exhibition. They called themselves independents, but the press soon derisively labeled them impressionists because their work seemed sketchy and unfinished (like a first impression) and because one of Monet's paintings had borne the title Impression: Sunrise (1872, Musée Marmottan, Paris). Monet's compositions from this time are extremely loosely structured, and the color was applied in strong, distinct strokes as if no reworking of the pigment had been attempted. This technique was calculated to suggest that the artist had indeed captured a spontaneous impression of nature. During the 1870s and 1880s Monet gradually refined this technique, and he made many trips to scenicareas of France, especially the Mediterranean and Atlantic coasts, to study the most brilliant effects of light and color possible.

By the mid-1880s Monet, generally regarded as the leader of the impressionist school, had achieved significant recognition and financial security. Despite the boldness of his color and the extreme simplicity of his compositions, he was recognized as a master of meticulous observation, an artist who sacrificed neither the true complexities of nature nor the intensity of his own feelings. In 1890 he was able to purchase some property in the village of Giverny, not far from Paris, and there he began to construct a water garden (now open to the public)—a lily pond arched with a Japanese bridge and overhung with willows and clumps of bamboo.

Beginning in 1906, paintings of the pond and the water lilies occupied him for the remainder of his life; they hang in the Orangerie, Paris; the Art Institute of Chicago; and the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. Throughout these years he also worked on his other celebrated “series” paintings, groups of works representing the same subject—haystacks, poplars, Rouen Cathedral, the river Seine—seen in varying light, at different times of the day or seasons of the year. Despite failing eyesight, Monet continued to paint almost up to the time of his death, on December 5, 1926, at Giverny.

Pablo Picasso "gertrude stein "

Pablo Picasso was born in 1881 in Malaga, Spain, and grew up in Barcelona, where he associated with a large group of artists and writers that gathered at the Quatre Gats café. In 1904 Picasso settled in Paris and became friendly with artist Georges Braque, with whom he developed Cubism, and writers Max Jacob and Guillaume Apollinaire. Picasso's painting style changed many times throughout his career, and he produced a range of images, from classical figures to radical abstractions. He exhibited widely and is considered one of the most important and influential figures in twentieth-century art. Besides being a prolific painter and draftsman, Picasso was also an accomplished sculptor and printmaker and produced ceramics and theatrical designs. He died in Mougins, France, in 1973. Along with her brother Leo, Gertrude Stein was among the first Americans to respond with enthusiasm to the artistic revolution in Europe in the early years of the twentieth century. The weekly salons she held in her Paris apartment became a magnet for European and American artists and writers alike, and her support of Matisse, Braque, Gris, and Picasso was evident in her many acquisitions of their work. For Picasso, this early patronage and friendship was of major importance. Picasso's portrait of the expatriate writer was begun in 1905, at the end of his Harlequin period and before he took up Cubism. Stein is shown seated in a large armchair, wearing her favorite brown velvet coat and skirt. Her impressive demeanor and massive body are aptly suggested by the monumental depiction. In her book "The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas" (1932), Stein described the making of this picture: "Picasso had never had anybody pose for him since he was sixteen years old. He was then twenty-four and Gertrude had never thought of having her portrait painted, and they do not know either of them how it came about. Anyway, it did, and she posed for this portrait ninety times. There was a large broken armchair where Gertrude Stein posed. There was a couch where everybody sat and slept. There was a little kitchen chair where Picasso sat to paint. There was a large easel and there were many canvases. She took her pose, Picasso sat very tight in his chair and very close to his canvas and on a very small palette, which was of a brown gray color, mixed some more brown gray and the painting began. All of a sudden one day Picasso painted out the whole head. I can't see you anymore when I look, he said irritably, and so the picture was left like that." Picasso actually completed the head after a trip to Spain in fall 1906. His reduction of the figure to simple masses and the face to a mask with heavy lidded eyes reflects his recent encounter with African, Roman, and Iberian sculpture and foreshadows his adoption of Cubism. He painted the head, which differs in style from the body and hands, without the sitter, testimony to the fact that it was his personal vision, rather than empirical reality, that guided him in his work. When someone commented that Stein did not look like her portrait, Picasso replied, "She will."

courtesy Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

SHAKESPEARE SONNET XII

When I do count the clock that tells the time,
And see the brave day sunk in hideous night;
When I behold the violet past prime,
And sable curls all silver'd o'er with white;
When lofty trees I see barren of leaves
Which erst from heat did canopy the herd,
And summer's green all girded up in sheaves
Borne on the bier with white and bristly beard,
Then of thy beauty do I question make,
That thou among the wastes of time must go,
Since sweets and beauties do themselves forsake
And die as fast as they see others grow;
And nothing 'gainst Time's scythe can make defence
Save breed, to brave him when he takes thee hence.

sarah brightman`s eyes

Picasso Mandolin and Guitar

James and the Animals Part 7 [See Part 6 Below]

James spent the night in turmoil. Every part of his body ached and there was this infernal itchy feeling through his body, as if his insides had been infected by sumac or ivy. Carrie had cleaned him up last night, and she seemed very confused. "Jimmie, your neck stitches have held, look clean and your wound is completely closed. And I don`t see any other cuts on your body! I can`t figure out where all that blood came from that was all over you!"

"Leave me alone, will you Dammit ",shouted James as he got out of the bed. Carrie began to cry, and this seemed to effect James. " I`m sorry, Hon, I don`t know what`s wrong with me. Just leave me for a bit so I can think."

As Carrie left the bedroom and started making breakfast for the kids, James heard a car pull into their front. He ran to the living room and looked outside. The Sheriff!

James sped to the kitchen and spoke to Carrie." The Sheriff`s come visiting. Stay here in the kitchen with the kids and for God`s sake, don`t say anything about last night." He leaned closely to his wife,"and don`t say nothin` `bout the blood", he whispered.

As Sheriff Taylor reached the front porch, James opened the front door and met him. "Morning Sheriff, what can I do for you?" "Mornin` James, just thought I`d stop by and see how`re you`re doin`." "How`s the neck", asked the Sheriff. "Doin` pretty well, Sheriff, thanks for asking"."Anything else I can help you with"?

The Sheriff lit a cigarette, then said,"Well, James I`ve been stopping at all the farms up this way. You know the sheepherder that has property up the treeline? Well,looks like something attacked one of his ewes last night. Tore up its throat, blood all over!

"That`s terrible, Sheriff ! I wonder if it has anything to do with that animal that attacked me?" Taylor finished his cigarette, lit another, then shook his head. "That`s what I`ve been wondering. See, the sheep wasn`t the only thing tore up last night. Jack,the herder,must have tried to protect his sheep from whatever it was. Got him, too, Neck cut open, chewed up a bit. I was wondering if you saw anything, knew anything about it?'

James and the Animals Part 6

James recovered rapidly and, against Doctor`s advice, went home three days later. He felt quite well physically, but his thinking was muddled. He couldn`t understand what the Sheriff had told him; that a man`s body was found next to his on his back porch! With a pitchfork in his chest! What happened to the animal that attacked him? Who killed the other man?

With no answers, James went back to his chores. Carrie seemed overly solicitous,always telling him to sit, relax...He was getting tired of it. And the kids were getting on his nerves. Every night he took it as long as he could, then he had to get out, out into the open. He felt strangely calm outside, gazing at the moon. He was enjoying watching the moon grow. Every eve` it seemed a little larger, a little brighter!

One evening the moon seemed full, and James found himself pacing in the yard. His mind was racing with images, blood and gore, wolves ; He heard sounds of baying, screams of pain, and then nothing. He seemed to fall asleep, and then he dreamt.

James dreamt of himself racing to the trees, the moon glowing his path. He came to  a flock of sheep and suddenly felt parched, arid! He must have something to drink! James fell upon a ewe, and dreamt of what it must be like to bite at its throat, gnashing, gnawing. He dreamt of the blood gushing, and his sating, and he awoke from his dream.

"James, James, You`re Bleeding ! Wake up, Jimmie, please!" As James awoke he found himself shaking, crying. Carrie was crying over him, and she bent down and gathered him to her bosom.

Vince Deabler  C 2004

Monet Water Lilies

Another of the great Monet Water Lily Paintings.

POEM " G A L L E R Y "

Sitting in a cold,dreary office

a desk piled with work present past and future,

as life`s seconds tick endlessly onward

My mind returns to you.

 

Time slows and stops

then reverses, as mental pictures

    [the portraits I draw best]

Burst upon the scene,

are hung with care,,,,           and gazed upon

in the privacy of my gallery

 

Vince D. [this was an early post,but one of my favorites]

POEM "The King Of Temperance "

The candle flickers, illuminating your smile

but can do little for your sparkling eyes,

which always were infinity. 

 

The conjunction of positive and negative

causes sparks from knee to knee,

which surge through my body

gain the throne

and command a smile.

 

Hands become inoperative,

Awill of their own, demands

touch and caress, caress and touch.

On his throne, the King smiles at his work,

And sighs.

 

This time, for His Majesty,

it was simple,

Like conquering the world

After the holocaust.

 

vince deabler

Starry Night Van Gogh

James and the Animals Part 5 [read part 4 first,below]

  The next few days were full of questions from the Sheriff, Questions  he had no answer for. "Are you sure it was an animal that attacked you? "It was big and strong and growled, Sheriff, what else could it have been?" "Well James, here`s a picture of the dead man. Have you ever seen him before?' James stared at the picture,dumbfounded. "Sheriff I never saw this man in my life!" "Are you sure James ? Maybe at Church?"       "What the hell are you accusing me of Taylor? I never saw this man before, in or out of church!" Sheriff Taylor sat down on the little chair next to the bed. "Now James, I`m not accusing you of anything, but we do know that you might have seen this man before, like all of us might have. Up until a few weeks ago, he was a patient at the Psychiatric Hospital up the road, in the Forensics Unit. Must have been doing pretty well, `cause he was with the group from there that used to come to church services on Sundays." " No,Sheriff, I don`t remember seeing him, just the group that sat in the back, with the guards. I`ll bet you don`t remember him either!" "Well,you`re right there, James, I don`t rightly remember any of them, `cept the Doc." Sheriff Taylor leaned back in the chair and felt his hand venture to his shirt pocket." Boy, i sure could use a cigarette, damn hospitals. Well anyway James this man named Larry Dean was convicted of a killing spree upstate, couple of years ago. Tore up 3 men, 2 women and a child in 3 separate attacks. Got found not guilty by reason of insanity and was sent to the Hospital here right after. Crazy! Tried to plead that he was a werewolf, asked the judge to put him to death! Doc says he`s settled down with Meds, `cept about once a month they put him in isolation for his own safety. Anyhow, he seemed quiet enough that they took him to church service a couple of times. The last time, `bout 6 weeks ago, he slipped out a side door while pretending to go to Communion! We`ve been looking for him ever since. Anyhow, James, looks like you did us a service, taking him out. Just a shame he had to rip your throat like that" James, feeling the strength and energy rippling through his body, was strangely silent,lying back on the bed, a slight smile on his face.         

James and the Animals Part 4

  Sheriff Taylor looked down at James, lying in the hospital bed. "Well,that`s our problem,James. We didn`t find any traces of an animal, just the dead man`s body on the porch next to you."James looked away from the Sheriff, looked at the ceiling,looked at his hands."Sheriff are you saying that you think I killed this man ?" Taylor responded,shaking his head,"Well, James, your wife said she heard a bang on the back door, then saw something crawling towards the house. Must`ve been this guy." James felt very strange, like his blood was racing through his body,like something was impelling his body to race. He puhed himself up to protest, then Blackness again. When he awoke, James felt strangely refreshed, strangely resilient. He opened his eyes and saw his wife sitting next to him. "Oh baby, I was so worried! How are you feeling?' James looked at his wife and felt a strange warmth pervading his body. How could he explain, make her understand; he felt better, maybe better than he had in years! { How can he understand it himself?} " Oh, I`m doing fine Carrie, really fine!"  

Philadelphia Flower Show March 7, 2004

Ayn`s Multiple World

Anyone has a little time,stop over anetal`s Journal,leave a message,if you wish....

She could use a little cheering up [like we all do sometimes].

Vince

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe " To Luna "

TO LUNA

by: Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

ISTER of the earliest light,

Type of loveliness in sorrow,

Silver mists thy radiance borrow,

Even as they cross thy sight.

When thou comest to the sky,

In their dusky hollows waken,

Spirits that are sad, forsaken,

Birds that shun the day, and I.

Looking downward far and wide,

Hidden things thou dost discover.

Luna! help a hapless lover,

Lift him kindly to thy side!

Aided by thy friendly beams,

Let him through the lattice peeping,

Look into the room where, sleeping,

Lies the maiden of his dreams.

Ah, I see her! Now I gaze,

Bending in a trance Elysian,

And I strain my inmost vision,

And I gather all thy rays.

Bright and brighter yet I see

Charms no envious robes encumber;

And she draws me to her slumber

As Endymion once drew thee

Arguably,Shakespeare`s only competition as the greatest of the Western lyric poets.In the 1st World War, all German soldiers were issued a copy of Goethe`s works alomg with their rifles.

THINKING TOO MUCH

T H I N K I N G

Men fear thought as they fear nothing else on earth -- more than ruin -- more even than death.... Thought is subversive and revolutionary, destructive and terrible, thought is merciless to privilege, established institutions, and comfortable habit. Thought looks into the pit of hell and is not afraid. Thought is great and swift and free, the light of the world, and the chief glory of man.

Bertrand Russell

Formula 1 Season Starts This Weekend !!

Graphic courtesy of my son,Sean.

Formula 1 racing starts this Sunday from Australia ! This is a big time for my son and myself. There are 18 races,bi-weekly, until October 24, 2004, in Brazil. The races are all on road courses [Ex. streets of Monaco ],and the machines are the most sophisticated in the world!  The four major contenders for championship points are Ferrari [Michael Schumacher; Reubens Barichello]: BMW [Juan Pablo Montoya; Ralf Schumacher]: Renault [Fernando Alonzo; Jarno Trulli]: McClaren Mercedes [Kimi Raikkonnen; David Coulthard ]. Ferrari is the defending champion and Michael Schumacher is the driver`s champion. M.Schumacher is generally considered the greatest driver in the world and one of the five greatest of all time.

The live races occur on all continents so often, on  Eastern Std. Time, you may have to wake up in the middle of the night to see races live. My son and I have a routine :1. turn on Formula 1.com for live timing of race; 2. Set up AOL IM between ourselves, with mikes,so we can talk to each other; 3. turn on Speed TV to watch live race; 4. lots of Coffee!

Anyone interested can check out Formula1.com...