Artwords #21 theme: 'Miniature'

This is my 'Ode to Modi'

Title: "She would have given her left arm for one more day with Modi"

After seeing the movie 'Modigliani' about the life of Italian Expressionist painter

Amedeo Modigliani, I was moved to paint this little rendition of one of his most famous paintings.

(Andy Garcia 's portrayal of Modigliani is so beautiful, and so heartbreaking that I highly recommend this film to anyone with the spirit of an artist.)

This piece is painted in acrylics on a 6x6 gallery wrapped canvas. The difference between this miniature rendition and the original is that when he painted it he included her left arm...

I ommited her left arm and replaced it with her broken heart... hence the title "She would have given her left arm for one more day with Modi". What follows is the tragic story the movie was based upon...

Amedeo Modigliani was a Jewish/Italian Expressionist Painter in the early 1900's. He, like most painters back then, was poor, depressed, and on any given day either alcohol or drug abusing. He would sit in Cafe's and argue with Pablo Picasso mercilessly for hours over bottles of Absinthe. He was angry and brooding because he felt the art world didn't understand or accept him or his paintings.
When he was 33 years old he met and fell in love with a young French/Catholic Painter by the name of Jeanne Hebuterne (she was only 19 years old). They fell madly in love, and she became pregnant and bore him a daughter whom they named 'jeanne modigliani'. Her parents disowned her for being with a derelict, drunken, Jewish painter, and tried endlessly to have the child taken away from her.

As time passed Modi painted dozens of pictures of her, and when he found out she was pregnant with their second child, he asked her to marry him. As the story goes he was very sick with not only drug and alcohol related sicknesses but also Tubercular Meningitis. They believe it was the Tuberculosis which he finally succumbed to on Jan 24, 1920, and he died the very week of his largest gallery unveiling...

The most tragic part of the whole thing, is that Jeanne Hebuterne was so overcome with grief after his death, that she was whisked away back to her parents home in France. She felt she could not survive without her beloved Modigliani, and two days after Modi's death, she purposely walked backwards out of a balcony 5th floor window of her parents home, where she fell to her death taking her unborn child's life with her.

Here is a picture of the original painting if you would like to compare it with my rendition.

I hope you liked this offering... it is one of my favorites.

Until next time... Joan

Time moves forward through our artistic endeavors

Well, it is family weekend at University of Tampa ...

Can it be more than a month that she has been gone already?

This page is from my art journal... created recently when I was going through the anxiety of my daughter 'leaving home' for college.

It amazed me how channeling all of that energy into an art page did put things in perspective for me. It tells a story that upon reflection made me realize that this is just the progression of things... life moves on. I think the piece is self explanatory, but bears a bit of sharing anyway :)

That is her safely nestled in her 'home' where all of her roots are. As you follow her roots you return to her early years in the nest. I love the little heart tendrils sprouting so helter skelter from where she sits... She was two when this picture was taken. It is so hard to believe it has been almost 16 years since then... And of course as with life, you come full circle to where she is now. I decided to use an image of her hand as she balances her workload, never losing sight of her end goal, which is to be a US Senator one day... (you go Jess!!)

She is so smart, and beautiful, and so very young. And even though I will never totally let her go... processing all of the mixed emotions I was experiencing through an act of creativity, truly did help me to visualize her taking flight... and then, with the heart of a mother, to gently release her... and just watch her soar.

Just think... only 4 years until my son takes the leap from his nest...

Onwards and upwards...

Illustration Friday... Phobia

This is my offering for this week's Illustration Friday challenge.The piece is titled PhilophobiaPhilophobia is the fear of falling in love, or being in love.I chose to portray a woman who is beautiful, and giving, and has relinquished all for the love of a man. She cannot understand why her love was not returned in full, nor can she imagine what she might have done differently.Of course she is unaware of the truth, which is that this man is incapable of loving deeply and fully because he is bound by his own inner demons which alas, have absolutely nothing to do with her.The price she has paid for this illfated love? To forever suffer mercilessly with fear and doubt.Fear of her own worthiness, and doubt of her ability to ever find 'true love'. Okay, so now the technical part :)She is 8x8 and was created on 140 lb. Arches coldpressed watercolor paper.She is a hand drawn and painted original using Windsor Newton Watercolors, and water soluble oil pastels.She was then scanned into Printshop where the edges were distressed and the text was added. The difference between someone afflicted with philophobia,and you and I, is that we have eternal hope in the power of love.We believe that it is our destiny to love again,and to have that love returned completely.After all... "All you need is Love" Thanks for stopping by, and feel free to share your thoughts too.til then... Joan

Art Squared Challenge... China Girl

This month's art challenge for Art Squared was 'Song Title'. After giving the whole thing much thought, I decided on David Bowie's 'China Girl'. (She is 8x8 on 140lb. Arches coldpressed paper, and is done in Watercolor and Archival Ink.)I wanted her to resemble an old world Geisha... but to have a contemporary feel as well, rendering her a bit 'anime'... her eyes having a dreamy ethereal look, a look of longing. Maybe she is longing for a different life, or perhaps she is longing for the return of her Master. Either way, I really love the look on her face...And if one is to look closely enough, you will see that one eye is blue, and the other brown...just like Bowie's

Never put off until tomorrow... for what if tomorrow never comes?

Well, I have decided that if I wait until I learn html's to start posting, that blogs could be obsolete by then! ... so putting the technical stuff aside, I am officially just jumping in head first!

If you happened to stumble upon me by accident (happy accidents!) or if you found me through someone else... Welcome!! My hearts desire, is that we journey through the world of 'artistic exploration' together, and that every 'artist' and 'creative' will find a home and a voice through the miracle of cyberspace.

For me personally, this is a place where I will be sharing my art (even though I am a perfectionist, a blocked creative, and an artist seeking direction..) and also on occasion, my digital wanderings and literary ponderings.

So, get comfy, feel free to call me 'friend', and please leave comments, thoughts, or your own story... it is so important that in this busy world, we take the time, and explore new ways of becoming connected.. one with another.

I hope that you will visit often, and that together, we may find within these blogs a common thread down the Yellow Brick Road and through Strawberry Fields.

Until then...

Joan

This site is currently under construction while I attempt an original template!! Wish me luck!