The Advantages of Living in a Very Old City

Already more than a year since I left Sibiu! and Iohannis – or Johannis? is now the President of Romania! let’s hope that he will be better than Obama for the Americans and will not disappoint those who vote for him and even those woho didn’t…It will be a nice surprise!

Van Gogh and I

One of the main advantages, the one I’ll illustrate for you: there are a lot of festivals, events, exhibition and you can imagine yourself living in more than one epoch…

These are photos I took the last 4-5 days at the Medieval Festival. Very easy to imagine oneself living in that epoch in a city like Sibiu (Hermannstdt). Downtown, everywhere you turn old houses and chrches and fortifications reminds you of the time of Draculya, Vlad the Impaler…

An ancient flame lighting system

…and some very old and particular skills: hawk and owl tamming…

A Hawk landing for its reward – raw meat…

And you meet old friends…

Nelu, sometimes a guitar player and an old friend

or beautiful young women… dressed in the Renaissance fashion…

Dulcinee from Basarabia

The Beauty and the little and cute beast

Eventually, if you are lucky, you can catch some pretty funny characters, like…

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Still kicking…

…and not yet the bucket…

I was lucky. I’ve found at an art supply store a Windsor and Newton easel, a solid one, a real easel for serious artists (one can paint a 2 x 3 m canvases, if so enclined…) at half price. Somehow, I managed to borrow the necessary $ from a friend and bought it.

Somehow, it was like a “sign”. And the blockage which, until I had that easel, mysteriously prevent me to paint, disappeared… At least, to me, having the easel seemed to be the moment when my creativity came again to life. Curious and mysterious ways our mind has…

Since then, about 1 month ago, I’ve painted 5 canvases of 16 x 20 inches and some nude drawings too. Here there are, in an approximative chronological order;

Laboured Fields Under Moon Light

I started with this re-interpretation of an older landscape I made a few years ago probably because that one was the first painting I’ve sold for a decent sum (750$). It was a full of hope period and a good painting then. This one is probably ok.

The Night in May When it Snowed 

This one was inspired by the photo of a tomato flower and by a unusual intense snowfall.

Lake and Clouds Reflexions

With this landscape (inspired by a B&W photo) I’ve tried to remember the happy times I had  at the Village Museum in the Dumbrava forest, near Sibiu, my native town.

Errant Greek-Orthodox Monk

Also a rememberance: I’ve met this monk, one that they called sometimes, Crazy After Jesus monk, because of their simili-franciscan faith and demenor (begging for their monastery and only then for themselves, a leaf of bread…) in a proud Transylvanian village near Sibiu, called Saliste. I took a photo of him in the church and was impressed by his sincerity and humbleness.

North of Quebec “Taiga”

Some years back I’ve travelled 1750 km to go fishing, with a compatriote, Stephan and a quebequer friend, Clément. So, it’s also a remeberance of beauty and wilderness (I didn’t catch a fish but did some nice watercolors and took lots of pictures…), painted after a B&W photo (again! I like to do that because it gives me more color freedom…). I’m not unsatisfied with it. It ressembles the XIX century Russian realist paintings. No wonder since the Quebec Taiga is very similar to the Siberian Taiga. Minus the tigers, fortunatelly…

In conclusion, still kicking and happy to paint and draw, a bit. As long as I can do this, no matter what, things will be ok.

 

 

 

There is a Time for Everything

…Ecclesiastes dixit. A time for living and a time for dying. A time for health and a time for sickness.

For me, it seems, it’s the time for sickness. I’ve got diagnosed with a rare (they say only about 6000 Americans got it in a year which is 0,00189 %) form of cancer, quite advanced since I was told initially I have indigestion and treated myself for a month for that…I have a knack for rare sicknesses since my only other time when I was life treathening ill was when I got, in Romania, botulism…(no wrinkles cured, by the way, just gotten sick, sick sick…but I was still young and got away with it…)

In 2006 I draw this “masterpiece” (ha,ha) in which the “artist” paints a pregnant model. I was kind of puzzled when I found it in my portfolio (I didn’t even remembered to have it painted…).

Anyway, I will fight back with my will to live (I’m only 57, almost 58, which, they tell me, it’s quite “young” for Canada and US) and the help of my family, grandsons included. Not much else to fight back with. I lost about everything in 10 months in Romania: my economies, my credit, my car… I’m sorry I had to leave my 85 years old father alone back there in Romania. But what use would he have had from a very sick and unassured son?

I still hope to have some little time to paint some more.

And I play every week – well, I will when the welfare check will come through…- the lottery, hoping to win at least the price of a slow juicer from Jalinis to give me a supplementary fighting chance with fruit and vegetable juices…Since Mecenas seems to be an extinct species…

Maybe, at least now and then, I will even write a post here.  Maybe even interesting posts since the ones close to kicking the bucket have nothing to loose and they, usually, tell the truth, even the unpleasant and embarrassing truth…

Thank you to all my friends who red or comment on my blog. I made some very good friends here and it was interesting. Hope to be able to write them personally in a while, since my maximum energy is about a blog post long…

Gabriel, Thomas, me and nero, our new tomcat

Bye for now.

The Advantages of Living in a Very Old City

One of the main advantages, the one I’ll illustrate for you: there are a lot of festivals, events, exhibition and you can imagine yourself living in more than one epoch…

These are photos I took the last 4-5 days at the Medieval Festival. Very easy to imagine oneself living in that epoch in a city like Sibiu (Hermannstdt). Downtown, everywhere you turn old houses and chrches and fortifications reminds you of the time of Draculya, Vlad the Impaler…

An ancient flame lighting system

…and some very old and particular skills: hawk and owl tamming…

A Hawk landing for its reward – raw meat…

And you meet old friends…

Nelu, sometimes a guitar player and an old friend

or beautiful young women… dressed in the Renaissance fashion…

Dulcinee from Basarabia

The Beauty and the little and cute beast

Eventually, if you are lucky, you can catch some pretty funny characters, like this swarthy guy, trying to improve his looks wearing a helmet…

A man with rather bad teeth trying a Medieval Iron Helmet

Or some bored medieval dressed vendors, tired at the end of the 3rd day of Festivities…

Boredom, medieval fashion and…electricity cable…

So, one did not get easily bored in Sibiu…lots of things to see and experience…You should try it (and No, the tourist board doesn’t pay me nothing; but this is my native town and I’m surely proud of it).

A Portrayer (III)

New portraits, a couple a days ago:

Paul, an expressive and street smart guy, worked in Toscany (sienna) as a waiter…

Paul’s Portrait

nd Paul’s girlfriend, Andra:

 

Andra

Andra’s portrait

 

 

 

 

Being a Portrayer, Again

Yesterday I was drawing portraits at a nice, cozy restaurant in Sibiu, called “La Pasaj” (because is based at the bottom of the locally famous Pasajul Scarilor – see photo). I made a deal with the owner. He will reserve me a small table 2-3 times a week and I will give a bohemian, artistic “cachet” and attract, maybe, some clients…

This is the place where I will draw portraits this summer

It was the first time and I didn’t have any great expectations. Quite quickly I had plenty of “clients” / models since I did the portrait of Petrica, a little boy, a bit sad

A bit sad, Petrica did me a great “service” repeating to everyone that I do portraits for free (It was my first, so I gave him the portrait…)

I had the time, until my father called me to my dayly duties, to make another portrait (this one I really like) and a sketch. Here they are:

A “Gavroche”, quite street and IT smart (he did photograph himself his portrait – that I kept). Nice blue eyes.

The portrait of Roberto, 11.

Here it is the sketch. No big deal but then it was only my first day as a street (ok, restaurant) artist after a very long pause. Sure hope the searing heat of the last days will cool off a little… This first experience gave me the taste and I love it…

Just a sketch, between portraits…

 

 

 

 

Good Omens?

I certainly hope so…

The first day I had the chance to get out on the Corso (the name we, Sibiu natives,use for Main street) I’ve fall onto this 3 rather overgrown, mature Cupids, getting their arrows gently trown to women of all ages…

I will let the images speak for themselves but I had a good feeling about this. Maybe the artist in me (even it’s more the photographer for the moment) is not dead and burried under de mundane and painful happening of old age (mine and my parents)… Maybe there is still some hope…Maybe I will still have some more time to fulfill my destiny as an artist… who (apart God) knows?

 

Maybe it wasn’t a big deal (just some funny street entertainers) but , boy! did it felt good to be again with a camera in the middle of an event… I’ve missed that. A lot.

Coming back, to my native birth place, Sibiu, Transylvania, to take care of my old father is also a chance to begin again drawing and painting. And I’m telling you, I’ve brought almost all my colors and watercolor paper, enough to last me for a long time… And omens are good, it seems…