Pasarea maiastra: the enchanted bird

Brancusi did a few sculptures – quite a few, in fact! – with birds and some with Pasari maiestre (in Romanian that means an enchanted, bewitched – or bewitching? – bird; a special, fantastic bird, anyhow…)

Here is a study for one I’ve recently finished… I am not totally happy about it but there are some things I like…

It’s an acrylic on board painting. It goes well with the fantascapes. In fact, it goes well with my bizarro-baroque stuff where you can find – I really don”t know why? – a lot of claws and beaks and, especially, a lot of eyes… That’s the way things are… to cite Kurt Vonnegut jr…

Another Fantascape

I’ve just finished 2 paintings – if you work enough each day (like 10-20 minutes) – you’ll get to finally finished one or two, once in a while… I have nothing more to say, for the moment. a painting should “talk” all by itself, I suppose…

Another fantascape: the turtle of the suicided

I really like this name: fantascape… I don’t know if miki or susan cornelis invented it but it’s a good one. Landscapes that are fantastical, imaginary, not real… Imaginary landscapes created as much by the hasards of paints and brush as they are created by the artist… I’m not sure, also, if the artist who invented the word would agree to my interpretation of it…

But them, the term is out there and the fate of a word is as uncertain and chance supporting as the fate of a person… The hasard and the necessity are ruling the world (even if one of those two is also called God)…

So, here it is : a small fantascape I finished recently, bending here and there some rules of composition and logic. In order to get away of the discipline and logic a fantascape is a great escape and escape sound also good and maybe the fantascape is about fantastic landscapes but also and escapism…

Copyright @ 2008 Dan Iordache, for the image and the text

My third fantscape: the golden hen…

Marvelous animals usually appear in my “fantascapes”… I do not know way…

It’s a paradox I could, for the moment, comprehend: when I start an “abstract” painting (no model or preconceived “plan” in mind) I usually end up with something figurative. And vice versa, I start with a model, something figurative, and end up, sometimes, with an almost abstract painting… Could be my congenital stubbornness, my indiscipline…

Anyway, here it is my third Fantascape. I hope Miki and Susan will see it someday adn tell me their opinions…

This is the golden Hen, “Pasarea maiastra” (Marvelous bird) from the Romanian folk fairy tales. It came to me naturally, insidiously, after repeated strata of painting…

My second fantascape

There isn’t much to comment about… I’ve tested some new acrylics, a Rich Gold from Kryla (Daler Rowney) and some other new (for me) colors, like the burnt orange… It’s just a form and color experiment and if somebody likes it, ok… if not, ok too…

Since 8-9 days, anyhow, the visits on all my blogs on WordPress dropped dramatically for no apparent reason… Vacation, maybe? suggested a friend. Well, maybe. I’ll continue to do my thing anyway. No better things to do anyway (Angelina Jolie being so bussy to procreate with Brad I couldn’t talk to her anymore…)

Fantascapes: my first green whale fantascape

Two exceptionally talented artists, Susan http://susancornelis.wordpress.com/ &

Miki http://mikiaboom.wordpress.com/ started a game. They did alternatively (or simulgtaneously?) published so called “fantascapes” (landscapes from other world, fantasy landscapes) on their blogs… They gave me the itch to play too… and since, sometimes, I do also landscapes which aren’t from this world, I asked them permission and VOILA! my first fantascape… One with a green whale… Don’t ask me why a whale and why a green one… There must be some freudian-shout explanation to that… Hope they (and you, whom read this) like it…

The pleasure of sketching

Since I’ve started with drawings and sketchings and cartoons I’ll give you one more: little boy I’ve sketched during the Bromont Art Symposium… Was it 2002? 2003? I don’t remember any more. But I know I did a lot of skethcing then, waiting for a collector to come and buy everything… Usually,  they didn’t bother but I still covered my expenses and leave there with a little profit… Danu, the capitalist… Anyway, recently I’ve seen some sketches by Watteau, this “artiste maudit” avant la lettre, dead at 37, like Rafael, like Modigliani, Van Gogh and others who “kicked the bucket” at this fatidic age… I was impressed by the spontaneity, the vigour and, at the same time, the exquisite delicacy of his drawings. I could only imagine him, drawing. All the pleasure that sketching would have brought in his poor life, all the joy. Painter of the so called “fêtes galantes of the end of the 17th and beginning of the 17th century in France, associated with “joie de vivre” and eroticism, he was quite and auster artist. Delicat, discretely erotic but not at all as Fragonnard or Boucher. I would say I will appreciate him even more for that… and he was a great draftsman, just as good as Bruegel and Rembrandt an Rubens. It is not rare to be able to tell more about an artist looking at his/her drawins. No “comission” for that… Just the artist, unadulterated,  “pure”…

So long for now/ Au revoir les amis/ Adio pana una alta, prieteni!

Since all things end at a time or another and since my energy is not, unfortunatelly, unlimited, I’ve decided to limit myself to one blog only, the most visited, “Van Gogh & I”. I’ll try to do there what I was doing on my other blogs too… Of course, I will not delete this present blog and those interested would be able to browse it and to comment, if they so wish… I promise to answer. So that’s it, folks: so long and have a good, interesting life…

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J’ai décidé d’abandonner, du moins pour le moment, ce blog. Mon énergie n’est pas, malheureusement, illimit et je vais garder seulement un blog, celui qui marche, apparement, le mieux: ‘Van Gogh & I‘. Il devra me suffire et je vais essayer d’écrire là ce que j’écrivais dans mes autres blogs. Bien sur, ceux intéréssés pouront fureter toujours ce blog and laisser leurs commentaires, s’ils/elles le désirent. Je promets d’y répondre. Au revoir, donc, mes amis et j’espére que vous allez avoir une bonne, intéressante vie…

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Pana una alta, adio, dragi prieteni! Fiindca energia mea nu e fara limite am decis sa ma limitez la un singur blog, cel cu cresterea cea mai rapida, ‘ Van Gogh & I‘. Voi incerca sa fac pe un singur blog ceea ce faceam pe 3. Desigur, nu sterg blogul de fatza si daca vetzi dori, il vetzi putea explora fara probleme si comentata, daca vetzi dori. promit sa raspund prompt si va dorest o viatza buna si interesanta…

Ion Vincent Danu

O vreme in care totul era posibil…decembrie 1989

I’ll write this post in Romanian. It’s a Romanian problem and there are my Romanian memories. Everything it’s Romanian in it… So…

Au trecut 18 ani de atunci. O viatza de om…

In decembrie acela fara zapada, cu temperaturi de primavara, cand Nicu si Elena au sfarsit (cum poate o meritau) intr-un santz, ciuruitzi de gloantze, chestie pe care n-as fi crezut aproape niciodata c-o s-o apuc, totul era posibil. Totul incepea sa fie posibil…in bine dar si in rau. Au fost vreo 2-3 saptamani in acel decembrie cand aproape oricine ar fi putut sa faca aproape orice. Cineva inclinat sa faca rau (si care nu era in mod prea evident securist sau militzian sau in nomenclatura comunista vizibila) ar fi putut sa-si omoare totzi dusmanii, comod, nepedepsit… sunt care s-au imbogatzit peste noapte, atunci. Sunt destui si cei care, cateva luni sau chiar ani, au stat cu frica in san pentru ca au fost legatzi de regimul comunist.

N-am facut parte nici dintre primii, nici dintre ultimii…Eram, pe atunci, un amarat de profesor de tara, intr-un sat nu departe de Sibiu, om relativ serios, cu copii mici si nevoi mari. Fotograf amator. Jurnalist amator. Pictor amator. “Revolutzionar” amator… daca as fi vrut (ca oricine altcineva cu un buletin de identitate sau bun de gura) as fi putut sa pun mana pe un AK 47 sau pe un pistolet, pe care, la un moment dat, armata le impartea din camioane, la Sibiu. Sibiu, oras martir. 92 de mortzi si peste 300 de ranitzi, se spunea, imediat dupa revolutzie. Acum, dupa 18 ani, numai Dumnezeu din ceruri ar putea spune – daca-si da interesul sa aibe o contabilitate exacta – catzi au murit si catzi au fost ranitzi, atunci, la Sibiu. Eu am avut noroc. Nimeni nu m-a impuscat si, cu toate ca ceva gloantze mi-au fluierat pe la ureche, nici un glontz ratacit (din cele care, zic eu, au facut cele mai multe victime) nu si-a sfarsit traiectoria prin carnurile mele… Nici o multzime nu m-a luat la bataie ca ii fotografiam (cum a patzit un amic, fotograf si el) ba, dimpotriva, au pozat pentru mine. N-am facut rost de nici un AK 47 si nici de alte arme si munitzii – desi, dupa ce luptele s-au terminat (as zice o ora – doua dupa) am vizitat si eu, cu un prieten, subsolurile (reputate ca sinistre) ale Securitatzii si Militziei. M-am ales cu o Mein Kampf legata in piele cu coltzuri de sidef din 1923 (cred) pe care am sparlit-o fara mustrari de constiintz, salvand-o din amestecul de hartii, cenusa si apa care forma podeaua de atunci a securitatzii (dupa ce ambele cladiri, vecine, fusesera ciuruite de gloantze de toate calibrele si arse de lovituri de bazooka. In plin centrul orasului! Iata cateva din pozele pe care le-am facut atunci – intre 21 si 27-28 decembrie. Cei care sunt slabi de inger sa se abtzina sa priveasca (desi, cu toate ororile aratate zilnic la tv, cine mai e slab de inger, astazi? suntem cu totzii veteranii a nu stiu cate masacre si genocide…)

Le paradoxe Nietzsche – intro

J’ai terminé à lire, il y a quelques jours, “Le Crépuscule des idoles”. C’est la première livre de Nietzsche que j’ai lu depuis la première jusqu’à la dernière page… Évidement, ça ne me fait pas un expert en Nietzsche… Mais il y a dans ce livre (et je crois que ce n’est pas le seul…) un paradoxe qui m’intrigue. Et je travaille à un petit essai sur le sujet… Comme je ne l’ai pas terminé encore je vais vous donner seulement ma première impression (et pour l’illustrer, la dernière variante, finale, de ma peinture “Le cinquième journée de la Création”…)

Quand tu lis un livre de Nietzsche c’est un peu comme si tu regarde certains films de David Lynch; tu te dis: celui-ci c’est soit un génie, soit un lunatique. Ou les deux. Plus probablement, les deux…

Quand je “faisais” les Symposiums de peinture…

Deux ou trois années de suite, 2002-2003 je crois, j’ai participé au Symposium de peinture apellé Bromont on art. Bromont étant un petit ville touristique, fameuse pour son Festival du chocolat et pour son chateau (jamais vu par moi) et pour ses pistes de ski d,un proche montagne. Dans le temps, je partageait avec mon fils cadet, Theodore, une Mazda 323 qui avait 7-8 ans. C’est avec elle – et dans elle – que j,ai participé au Symposium. Je l’ai utilisée – Red Green would have been satisfait parce que j’ai use beaucoup de ruban a coller – même comme support d’exposition et j’ai dormi dedans 2 nuits (et je peux témoigner que la petite Mazda 323 n’était pas faite pour dormir, seulement si tu veux la considérer comme une sorte de lit de Procust…) L’exposition se faisait autour de l’Église anglicaine (je crois) de Bromont et les participants était pas mal les mêmes caque année… pas mal de figures pittoresques, moi inclus…

Cette peinture, un peu naive, avec des forts couleurs (j’étais encore ébloui par la force des couleurs acrylique, par leur vivacité…) c’est une de 2 ou 3 que j’ai vendu. Chaque fois que j’ai participé (avant que les organisateurs devient trop “gourmands” et demande des frais de participation impossible – avec la promesse de t’inclure dans un sorte de livre-catalogue…) j’ai reussi à vendre juste assez pour avoir un petit bénéfice – pas grand chose 100-150$ en plus des dépenses… D’habitude, la merveille se passait au dernires moments, quand j’avais perdu presque l’espérance… La petite histoire avec celui-ci c’est que le jeune couple d’Américains qui l’a achété m’a payé 20 $ DE PLUS que j’ai démandé ce qui m’a faite une enorme plaisirs. Ceux-là, ils ons vraiment aimé m’a petite peinture; il l’ont achété PARCE QU’ILS L’AIMAIENT et pas pour faire un investissement ou parce que la couleur allait avec celle du sofa du salon… Je leur fait cadeau un autre dessin, à leur choix et ils l’ont accépté avec plaisir et sans façons… Un jeune couple (étudiants, probablement) très très sympatique… Je crois surtout que la fille a aimé la combinaison de l’expression de la fille du fauteuil (ma fille, bien sur) avec l’expression satisfaite et les “griffes” impressionantes du chat…et de la fille… (Elle en as toujours).

Dan Quixote

I’ve wrote something lately: about Nietzsche. Again… But it puzzles me and I’m not yet entirely satisfied. So I’ll entertain you (I hope so!) with a drawing – well, a graphic work – I used to do quite often in the years of my depression… 2000-2001… I have entitled it Dan Quixote because I always felt a bit like battling the windmills since I’ve become a full time artist… At the time, I was experimenting with composition and new graphic techniques; I’ll have to tell you one thing: depression has it’s bright side, paradoxically… If you are an artist, it could happen very well that your creativity – and productivity – increase very much, a lot, during depression. Well, not if you are catatonic (I never was)…but a bit of depression can stimulate the hell of your peripheral vision, can encourage you to explore roads you wouldn’t take otherwise… I’m not saying get depressed to get creative; I’m just saying, if this is the case and you ARE depressed, and this increase your creativity-productivity, why not take advantage of it? Even the worst situation MUST have some good sides… When somebody dies, someone else inherits… It’s sad, it’s cruel, maybe, but these are the facts of life (you can call it Wall Mart philosophy or such but it doesn’t make it less true… I remember reading an interview with Paul Schrader, the writer of Taxi Driver. When he wrote the screenplay made famous by Martin Scorsese and Robert de Niro, he was depressed au bout, comme disent les francophones…

Two bitches

Usually, I love animals, especially if they don’t bite me… But reading this story, about a bitch (a real bitch, a DOG bitch) who inherited 12.000.000 usd really made me mad. It seems that her master, another bitch (condemned to prison for fiscal evasionism; she said “only poor people pay taxes”… and their financial empire was 4 billiards worth!) left her the 12 millions so that “Trouble” (that’s the first bitch’s name) could bite everybody without being kicked… It seems, La Presse Canadienne writes, that her annual expenses are about 300.000 $… don’t ask me how can “she” spend 300.000 USD a year! I could live quite well for 15 years with what the bitch spends in a year! See, when communist propaganda in my former communist country, Romania, wrote about this kind of eccentricities, we didn’t believe it. “Propaganda!” But La Presse Canadienne is not a communist agency and the fact are there – you can check them. No wonder the little bitch receive death menaces and had to be moved somewhere in Florida… It all comes to slogans but can you avoid thinking that the “overture” song of Malcolm in the Middle is untrue? That life is unfair? Just imagine the number of PEOPLE whom could be helped to work and live decently with 12.ooo.ooo USD! Even if usually, as I said, I love animals (if they don’t bite, like Trouble) some high end, snobbish, immensely rich REAL bitches could make you REALLY mad! (or puke!)

Here is the story (in French):

http://tinyurl.com/325nso