Modeling and Curating

Hellooooo!!! Happy Sunday my friends! Hope everyone is well.

So this Tuesday, November 1st, is the deadline for Museworthy Art Show submissions. Now if someone submits on say, Wednesday or Thursday, of course it will go in the post. I’m not a strict rule-enforcer. But the thing is that starting Monday, I have seven straight days of busy art modeling, and not much free time. So the earlier I receive the images, the easier it is for me, which is why I set the deadline. For those of you who haven’t sent in yet, try to get it to me as soon as you can. Don’t forget to include medium, description if you have one, your name, and location. And remember to put Museworthy Art in the subject memo.

Also, if you did NOT get an email from me at some point confirming the receipt of your work, then please email me again, as I may not have received it for some reason. Or I just forgot to confirm and need you to remind me! Again, my email is claudielh at aol dot com.

I’d like to post a painting that I’ve wanted to have on Museworthy for a long time but never got around to it. It’s George Bellows’ Nude Girl, Miss Leslie Hall, from 1909. A student of Robert Henri, Bellows was an American realist painter best known for his works of New York City scenes, urban environments, and boxing matches. But like all great artists, he also did nudes. This particular painting interests me because it is not idealized at all. The model is tired, disengaged, distracted, almost jaded. Her pose is awkward, with no pretense toward beauty or elegance. She’s just not into it, her body aches, and wants to be left alone. Or at least that’s the disposition Bellows wanted to capture. I’d say he did it well. It also looks like how I feel when I’m getting dressed after working an exhausting double!

A superb analysis of this painting and more background on Bellows’ nude work, can be found at the Terra Foundation of American Art. I found it quite interesting and I think you will too.

Happy Halloween everyone! Check in here during the week for possible Art Show updates and info, and whatever blogging I can manage during these next several days. I’ll be around

Bounce the Moon

I do believe today is October 26th, and that means one thing here on Museworthy: Happy Birthday Mom! She’s 76 years young today and Frank Sinatra is going to sing for her in a moment. But first I just want to say a few things about this great lady. She is both spunky and sensitive, monumentally generous and nurturing, fun, warm, intelligent, ebullient, strong-willed, supportive, artistic, and incredibly young at heart. Don’t even try to tell my mother that she can’t or shouldn’t do something. Just don’t!

But the one detail of Mom’s life that makes her the envy of many women her age is this: both of her adult children, in spite of their busy, chaotic lives and occasional testy moods and impatient snapping at her badgering questions (oops) ALWAYS find time to call her, every single day. No matter what. Believe me, that says a lot more about her than it does about my brother and me. The woman is loved. And she’s earned it

Mom is a huge fan of Sinatra, and who can blame her? Her generation had Ol Blue Eyes, today’s generation has that zero charisma punk-ass bitch Justin Timberlake. Need I say more? Here’s Frank. Happy Birthday Momma! Love you. See you tonight!

Link Parade

Hi everyone! This week’s music will be posted on Wednesday instead of Monday, due to a special occasion. Stop by then and check it out

Today I’d just like to share some goodies with all of you, cool stuff I’ve discovered through Twitter, Tumblr, email, and around the web. Hopefully some of it will pique your interest. So here I go, riding the link parade:

My friend Emily Rapp recently had a poignant essay published in the NY Times titled Notes From a Dragon Mom. Beautifully written, as always from Emily. On Tumblr, Summer Anne Burton is doing a wonderful project of drawing every member of the Baseball Hall of Fame. Terrific fun, especially for baseball fans. My dear friend Fred Hatt has posted a marvelous and informative blog post on color charts that’s definitely worth checking out. The witty and whimsical Doug Rogers has published his Cat Book of digital artworks. The new issue of Glasschord is now online, exploring the theme “Conformity” through art, photography, poetry, and prose. Visit an excellent blog entry on Berfrois and learn about a legendary dog – an Akita named Hachikō – and a review about the book Empire of Dogs: Canines, Japan, and the Making of the Modern Imperial World. Go to Ordinary Finds just because it’s one of the best Tumblrs for music, art, and photos. Also check out the fabulous ladies at Two Nerdy History Girls for a daily dose of days gone by, history, vintage, fashion, and other great stuff. My friend Sam Goodsell has finally gotten his website up and running. I guess, after all these years, my nagging finally paid off! Museworthy reader Bill sent me a cool link from Neil Gaiman’s blog on his visit to the Degas show at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. Deacon Greg Kandra shares some thoughtful, spiritual, and topical issues at his fine blog The Deacon’s Bench. And last but not least, a reminder that you can always visit me at my Tumblr and my Twitter.

I have a lovely day ahead – meeting a friend for coffee and catch-up convo <— alliteration, yeah! – and then to short pose modeling session tonight. Have a great Monday everyone and I’ll see you soon! :kisses:

O Me! O Life!

Oh me! Oh life! of the questions of these recurring,
Of the endless trains of the faithless, of cities fill’d with the
foolish,
Of myself forever reproaching myself, (for who more foolish
than I, and who more faithless?)
Of eyes that vainly crave the light, of the objects mean, of the
struggle ever renew’d,
Of the poor results of all, of the plodding and sordid crowds I
see around me,
Of the empty and useless years of the rest, with the rest me
intertwined,
The question, O me! so sad, recurring–What good amid these,
O me, O life?

Answer.

That you are here–that life exists and identity,
That the powerful play goes on, and you may contribute a verse.

- Walt Whitman

Me in watercolor, by Carl. September 2011:

The Art of Anguish

A new biography of Vincent Van Gogh is causing quite a buzz in the art history world. The authors present new speculations about the Dutch artist’s death by gunshot in 1890, long believed to have been an act of suicide. The new theory suggests that Van Gogh may have been shot by another person, possibly by accident, and that Van Gogh chose to cover up the incident while on his deathbed. He implicated no one but himself, insisting that the wounds were both self-inflicted and intentional.

The suicide story always struck me as a bit sketchy. Van Gogh was shot in the stomach, which is unusual for a suicide. Most suicides by gunshot are aimed at the head. Also, where exactly Van Gogh would have gotten his hands on a pistol has always been a mystery. Mortally wounded, he somehow managed to stumble back from the fields near the French town of Auvers, up the stairs to his room where he died on his bed 30 hours later. His loyal brother Theo was by his side. The gun was never found, nor were Van Gogh’s paints and easel ever retrieved from the field.

Last night, the CBS program 60 Minutes did a lengthy segment of the subject and talked with the book’s authors, Steven Naifeh and Gregory White Smith. It was very interesting and thought-provoking, but it was also extremely sad. We all know that Van Gogh was a deeply troubled, maladjusted man who had great difficulty functioning in life. But after watching the program, it seems that Van Gogh’s situation was even worse that I thought. According to the authors, he had literally NO friends. Not even Gauguin was a real friend. Van Gogh was a loner but not by choice. He was an outcast who desperately longed for human companionship and kindness. Tragically, he found none in all his 37 years, with the sole exception of his brother who had his own problems and poor health to deal with.

In the 60 Minutes segment, the authors discussed the circumstances in Auvers, a place where Van Gogh hoped he could just paint and find some semblance of peace. Apparently some shithead local boys (alleged players in the shooting theory) found amusement in taunting and teasing the troubled Van Gogh. They made fun of him, laughed at him, thought it totally hilarious to humiliate him. Listening to that made me seethe. I became upset and angry to the point I wanted to throw something. Van Gogh was in tremendous personal pain to begin with, suffering from epilepsy, believing himself a failure at life, unloved and misunderstood. And these asshole kids decided to fuck with him for kicks. Tell me you wouldn’t want to travel back in time and beat the piss out of those brats? I would, and I’m not ashamed to say it. I’ve never beaten anybody up in my life but I’d make an exception in this case. I don’t even care if those boys had anything to do with the shooting. They still suck. Poor Van Gogh. But at least he got the last word with the enormous success of his artwork after his death. It’s OK Vincent. The whole world loves you now

Let’s make today’s Music Monday in honor of Vincent Van Gogh. This video is nicely done. Van Gogh’s art set to the music of Edvard Grieg’s marvelous “Holberg Suite”:

Degas in Boston

While New Yorkers are swooning over and raving about the de Kooning retrospective at MoMA, the good people of Boston have an art exhibition of their own to celebrate. The Museum of Fine Arts is now showing “Degas and the Nude”, and it looks fantastic. If de Kooning is considered a “must-see”, then the Degas show is “must-must- see”! That’s my personal opinion, of course. I am an artists’ model after all, so figurative nudes will always trump abstract expressionism. And Degas nudes? Oh yes! The Boston curators are a group after my own heart

So sometime between now and February 5th, I’ll be taking a train ride to Boston. I think my mom and I should make this a mother-daughter excursion. Degas is her absolute favorite, plus we have a dear family friend, Karla, who lives in Boston. Maybe around the holidays. I’d really like to see both Karla and Boston at Christmastime.

I don’t know if this pastel work is in the Boston show, but I hope so. From 1884, this is Degas’  Woman in the Tub:

Sunday in the Park with John

Hellooo everyone!! Greetings and salutations! Before I get to Music Monday, I want to thank those of you who have already submitted your works to the Museworthy Art Show. They’re great! And it’s really exciting to see them in my email inbox To everyone else, you still have plenty of time to submit. The deadline in November 1st, so no worries.

This weekend here in NYC was – and still is! – the most magnificent October weekend on record. The weather has been positively sublime, with clear blue skies and unseasonably warm temperatures. Gorgeous, wonderful. I was on the Upper West Side all day yesterday doing various things, but my main destination was to Strawberry Fields in Central Park where the annual commemoration  for John Lennon’s birthday (October 9th) was taking place. I’ve been attending this gathering for years and years. Musicians set up around the Imagine circle, play Beatles’ songs and lead the crowd in a sing-a-long. I managed to maneuver my way to an empty spot on a bench where I could stand up and take some pictures.

One of my favorite John Lennon post-Beatles songs, and one of the best for the Strawberry Fields sing-a-long, this is the excellent “Watching the Wheels”, digitally remastered. Great lyrics, great vocals by John. Enjoy

“Think Different”

In the early 1980s, we students at Ryan Junior High School in Queens, NY were required to take a class called simply “Computer”. Our teacher was the sideburned, bell-bottom wearing Mr. Berkowitz. The class, in a word, sucked. And I sucked at it. The only reason I passed was because Berkowitz didn’t give a shit and basically passed everybody.

I hated computers after that experience. Even as computers evolved over the years and became popular I still harbored an aversion to them. In fact, I was slow to get on the computer bandwagon compared to others. A friend of mine had a computer in her home – a PC. I tried to use it a few times and it frustrated the hell out of me. How do I work this thing? What just happened? Huh? Aargh! Computers just seemed more trouble than they were worth. Plus, they were ugly.

And then, years later, I was talking to someone about my computer ineptitude, and I’ll never forget what he said: “You should just get a Mac”. I didn’t think much of it at that moment. I knew that Mac was a computer and I sucked at computers so what could possibly be so different about a Mac? As far as I was concerned it was just another computer to aggravate me and remind me how incompetent I was when it came to technology. After I groaned some more this guy said again, without any elaboration, “just get a Mac.”. As if it was the definitive end-all solution to my problem. I was skeptical.

But I took his advice. I got a Mac. A laptop called an iBook. I distinctly remember the first night I spent with it – taking it out of the box, setting it up, smiling at the cheerful prompts, the cute Apple logo and attractive screensaver. It turned into hours of fun. No, it was better than fun. It was discovery. “This computer doesn’t hate me!”, I thought. This computer wants me to use it. I wasn’t just getting the hang of it. I was getting into it. Key difference there. I believe I stayed up until 2 or 3 in the morning, me and my new iBook. It was like a romantic date night!

With the sad passing of Apple founder and chairman Steve Jobs, I knew it wouldn’t be necessary for me to discuss the man’s accomplishments. You all have access to it. Obituaries and tributes are everywhere on the web, and they are as fascinating as the man himself. The words “creative genius”, “innovator”, “visionary”, etc are being applied, rightly and accurately. He absolutely was all of those things. So I figured I would simply share my own story about how Apple  brought me personally right here, to this very moment: typing this blog post on my MacBook keyboard. All Museworthy posts have been done on a Mac. I’ve never owned a computer that wasn’t a Mac. It was Apple which brought me into our world as it is today. Many people didn’t require Apple to make that transition and I understand that. But I did require it, and I am grateful. I think many people had their psychological “computer barrier” fears broken down by Apple. For so long I had no flair for any of this. And now I am totally comfortable. Sharing, communicating, learning and exploring. Very cool.

RIP Steve Jobs. Adopted child, Buddhist, college dropout, entrepreneur, Apple founder, cancer sufferer, California native, husband, father, restless ambitious dreamer, the Thomas Edison of our time. Thank you

Saturday at Spring Studio

Sunday is supposed to be a day of rest. So after a long art modeling double at Spring Studio yesterday I plan to indulge fully in the rest decree. I slept late which means I’m off to a good start! As for the rest of the day I intend to do absolutely nothing that involves physical activity. I got my more than fill yesterday on the modeling platform.

As tired as I am, Saturday was still an excellent day. I think I posed well for everyone, and presented my legs for Minerva’s anatomy demo. I also got to do doubles in the afternoon with the terrific model Luke. Before I begin my lazy lounging on the couch, I’ll share a few sketches from yesterday’s work.

Here’s two from Bob Palevitz, my quick poses when I was solo in the morning session:

Luke and I sitting back to back, by Kathi Kirkpatrick:

Luke and I doing quick poses together, fast sketches from Bruce Williams:

My final pose of the day, around 5:00, again from Bruce. I think he should title it “Tired Model”