Meadows NW LA Artists' Triennial Opening

Do go to YouTube for my video of last night's opening of the NW LA Artists' Triennial Competition. Its rather brief and doesn't nearly begin to cover this exhibit that fills nearly every space in the Meadows Museum.

Its brief because I put away my camera and was delighted to greet and meet with artists such as Nevelyn and Caroline Brown, Jane Hagen, Mark Charleville that I hadn't seen for a very long time. It was great too to chat w. Robert and Talbot Trudeau as we no longer serve on the Exhibition Committee; is there a new committee of less rebellious members? Sad to hear about the economically caused cutbacks at the Meadows, but proud at how the museum staff has handled the crisis.

The show itself is what I'd call "democratic"...it looks as tho' the jurors selected at least one work from each entrant, plus showing their enthusiasm for other entrants by selecting all their submissions. However, I didn't agree with many of their choices, i.e. only one print, DISH, from this obviously outstanding graphic artist; more than one print from someone else that looked like undergrad work. This makes for an uneven, albeit, interesting exhibit. I will return for a more intense visit. Hope to see you there.

Paprika: new painting

These images are taken from the video I have posted on YouTube...details of my latest painting, PAPRIKA. These patterns were inspired by my recent visit, in Budapest, to St. Matyas. It was in St Matyas that the Hungrian student revolution begain. Though I haven't done such a detailed painting in a very long time, I enjoyed these patterns which are derived from Nature; a few are directly copied from those on the church walls, others are inspired by those designs.

James Cameron's Roses

How many degrees of separation?...these roses centered James Cameron's table at the glittering awards dinner. The centerpiece was afterwards given to daughter, Shari. Here they're the centerpiece on her dining table.

Snow in Shreveport

A perfect snowfall on Wickford Circle...the streets are clear yet the homes and flora look Christmas card perfect.

The snow began coming down, mixed with rain on Thursday morning, Feb. 11, and the morning of Feb. 12 when the snow fall stopped, the melt began. The various kinds of sparrows, bluejays, robins, cardinals, and doves this morning were in the puddles at the foot of our feeder, feasting on the seeds that had floated to the top.

For video of the event, please go to YouTube, Artsmaven75...photos and videos taken as the snow began, during the evening and then the next morning.

From the Past

Today, as I scanned the headlines of the online NYTimes, a name under the Obits jumped out. I brought up the article and a familiar face, albeit only a bit older than my image of him, proved my connection. The article was about Hans Trefousse, author of several books, professor emeritus at Brooklyn College, etc.

Mr. Trefousse, in 1953 was my instructor for the 2nd half of the Brooklyn College required basic History course. The faculty had wisely decided not to use any current history texts, but rather to teach the course using copies of original documents so that students would not receive an author filtered view of the subject. Therefore, each student bought books that contained bound mimeographed pages of the documents...as I recall, about 5 1-2" books for each course, a heavy load. Unlike the instructor I'd had for the first course, Mr. Trefousse lead lively discussions about those letters, deeds, government edicts, financial transactions, etal. He was a superb teacher and I remember the hours spent in his class with pleasure. His obit informed me that he was a mere dozen years my senior; his experiences and intellectual gifts lead me to believe he was much older.