Three cloves in search of a title

 

  I like creating titles.  My father, a writer, used to test possible book titles on anyone who came in the house, be they a guest or a repairman.  Often times, when a painting is just a notion in my head, the title will announce itself.  This one is nameless.  And it's crunch time.  Next week it will hang in my the show at the Art League of Alexandria.   Possible titles:  "The Anti-V", "Vampires Beware", "Skins" "Clove Love" and "Russian Antibiotic".  Like I said, I need help...

Shanghaied in Singapore

The internet has created a small, twisted world...A few years ago, I received an email from Isabelle V. Lim who lives in Hong Kong.  Ms. Lim, a pastelist, had recognized my artwork from an article in International Artist.  She  attached cell phone images of my work which she had seen on the wall of a seafood restaurant in Singapore.  This surprised me as I was pretty sure they were still in my basement.  My compositions had been lifted and mass produced. The designer  hung them upside down and sideways, either not caring or believing this voided the copyright infringement.  I called Singapore.  They were shocked(!!!!) to learn the images had been bootlegged.  The restaurant blamed the designer, who was Australian.  And there the trail ended.  Much to my dismay, no one was publicly caned. 

all my images have disappeared!

Help. Everything is gone!

How the hell did I do that?

The above, Asian Influences, is one of my favorite pieces.  It sold a few years ago, so I can't study it directly. I spent long weeks on this piece and when I thought it done, I showed it to Danni Dawson.  I asked what else I should do to it.  She looked at me as if I had shown her a mud pie.  Her advice, "Refine it," led to more long weeks.  I doubt I could paint it again as well.  Visual memory is tricky, especially when the rest of the memory is a sieve.  I would surely be lost without my little green sketchbooks, eight years of  color combinations, techniques, and advice from teachers, friends, books, videos, workshops and whatever I had discovered on my own.  What if there were a fire?  So, I gathered my eight years of notebooks and copied the highlights on to my computer.  I backed it up on a disk and to an external hard drive. All of which would melt in a fire.  So, I emailed a copy to myself so it would always be available. All hail the ethernet!

which came first?

In my case, Le Poulet, or "Ms Salmonella" as my daughter calls her, was painted first.  I don't know why I have such tender regards for this piece.  The eggs were bought from Kurt Schwarz, an artist who raises chickens.  I suspect he is 'bogarting' the blue eggs for himself.  I can hardly blame him, I'd have hoarded the green ones as well.