Sunday 31 May 2009

Julian Smith

Julian Smith plays sax with soul, really tugs at the heartstrings, and I wanted him to win Britains Got Talent! I consoled myself with a drawing.
I've not got back into the swing of a face a day yet, sorry, hopefully I will soon.

Wednesday 27 May 2009

Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II


D-Day snub to Queen: Palace fury as Sarkozy refuses to invite royals to 65th Anniversary.
The Queen and other senior royals have been 'snubbed' by the French over D-Day commemorations
Buckingham Palace voiced anger last night after the French snubbed the Queen over next week's D-Day commemorations.
Aides said senior royals had repeatedly made clear their eagerness to support the historic 65th anniversary events in Normandy.
But last night French officials crushed any remaining hopes, admitting they had never had any plans to invite members of the British Royal Family.
They said President Nicolas Sarkozy was focused on the 'main event' of hosting U.S. President Barack Obama.
There was also anger at the British Government for failing to secure a Royal invitation from their French counterparts. Protocol means they cannot simply invite themselves.
The failure to invite the Queen - who is head of state of both Britain and Canada - will be seen as an insult to the memory of the 17,556 British and 5,316 Canadian troops who died to free France and are buried there.
The figure does not include many airmen and sailors whose bodies were never found.
Ministers had refused even to treat the 65th anniversary as a major event until shamed into a U-turn by a Daily Mail campaign earlier this year.
Senior Buckingham Palace sources made no attempt to hide their frustration. One said: 'We have made it very clear from the start we were keen to support the Normandy veterans in any way we could. No-one is keener to honour their sacrifice.
'There have been several conversations with the Foreign Office but no invitation has been forthcoming.
'We have gone through all the normal channels and had conversation after conversation, but received no feedback. It is very frustrating.'
President Sarkozy's officials were dismissive of the whole issue.

Disgraceful!
Something new for me, scribble drawing, in ink, inspired by Aliaena, a brilliant, exciting artist who has just begun blogging. Go see for yourself, because I love her work, but you have to make up your own mind. I did it this way today because I have to stop fiddling. I found it totally liberating, firstly, to make marks, lots of them, with little thought, and, second, to be unable to erase. Beginners luck, maybe, but it isn't a bad likeness, either!
Thank for your visit. Happy painting!

Saturday 23 May 2009

Tustin Mains



Boy, 6, Takes Wheel After Dad Passes Out.


A six-year-old boy grabbed the wheel of his family's pick-up truck and stopped it from crashing after his father became unconscious in the driver's seat.

Tustin Mains told police in North Platte, Nebraska, he was in the back seat with his three-year-old brother when their dad Phillip slumped over at the wheel.
He had been driving the family home from a restaurant when he suffered a low blood sugar attack and suddenly passed out.
Brave Tustin leapt into his father's lap to steer the Chevrolet Avalanche for several blocks, even turning around when he entered an area he did not recognise.
Although Mr Mains' foot had slipped off the accelerator, the vehicle continued to travel at 10-15mph with the boy at the wheel until it was spotted by police.
North Platte officer Roger Freeze ran up to the moving truck, reached through an open window and slipped the gearstick into neutral before rolling it into a park.

Bravo, Tustin! I love stories like this, much preferable to the interminable saga of the goverments' fraudulent expences, here in England!

I see I have made Tustin look older and I vow to leave a drawing for an hour, then take another look, before I post. I'm always in such a hurry.

Also, apologies for missing yesterday. I FORGOT to draw. In my defence, I was unpacking boxes and moving furniture, which has to be done!

Thursday 21 May 2009

Sir Ranulph Fiennes


Sir Ranulph Fiennes has reached the summit of Everest on his third attempt at conquering the Himalayan giant.

Arriving at the summit just before 1am BST, the veteran explorer became the first man to cross the north and south poles and climb the world's highest peak.
At 65, he also becomes the oldest Briton and the first British pensioner to climb Everest.
The record-breaking adventurer, who hopes to raise £3 million for cancer charity Marie Curie, had a triple heart bypass in 2003 following a heart attack.
Well done, Sir Ranulph! I love that trait in folk where they don't give up. Some call it stubborn, but I think nothing would ever be achieved if we didn't keep trying. Whatever the goal!
Happy painting, thanks for your visit.

Wednesday 20 May 2009

Saint Fabiola


A gem of a one-woman show.
Francis Alÿs: Fabiola / National Portrait Gallery, London WC2

Francis Alÿs's images of a 4th-century saint raise tantalising questions about the power of the portrait.

It would be hard to imagine a more startling show of portraits than the 300 heads now assembled, with barely an inch between them, in Fabiola at the National Portrait Gallery. The spectacle is overwhelming. It is not just the critical mass of so many faces, floor to ceiling, nor the fact that some of these works might not ordinarily be found in a public gallery. It is that they all show exactly the same woman.

The same woman, what is more, in exactly the same pose: facing right, her head in profile, hooded in a red veil against a dark background. That she is a cult figure is obvious, even to those who have no idea who she is; that the cult is religious becomes apparent from the veil. But beyond that, what strikes over and again is the paradoxical sense that no matter how alike these images are - how alike they aim to look - each is tellingly different.

To read the whole review, go here.
I find Karin Juricks' DSFDF blog endlesly fascinating, so this review had an immediate pull for me. Overwhelming, yes, I would agree, and somehow ....... very weird. Anyway, here, I add my version of Saint Fabiola. Not the best drawing I have ever done, I feel, but I was in such a hurry to post something! It is good to be back.