After spending a couple of years in the Orient, I returned with a love for all things Asian -- Asian films, books, woodcuts, pottery and art. Here is a drawing portraying one of those elegant Chinese women. She's dressed beautifully and has an air of sizzling sophistication about her.
This YouTube video of Gary Cooper features the song from which the title of this print is taken. He was dashingly handsome and I can see him falling desperately in love with this woman.
I have sketchbooks filled with mostly pen and ink drawings -- some are enhanced by ink washes. This is a sketch of a coffee mug we have had for years. Can't begin to count all the delicious brews that have been poured into this stout little clay vessel and sipped out.
I came across the sketch the other day and decided to give it a pop look. Now it is trendy and modern and even has graphics.
For your pleasure and mine, I have added an old tune performed by Frank Sinatra -- I remember hearing this as a little girl. At that time, coffee was percolated. You put water in the pot, filled up a small metal basket with ground coffee that had tiny holes in it, put on the lid and set it on the hot stove. The lid had a glass dome so you could see the coffee percolating up through the basket with the coffee in it. You could tell when it was done by the color of the coffee.
Still waiting for that love letter? Here's how to get just the one you want!
There is an old song written in 1935 called “I’m Going to Sit Right Down and Write Myself a Letter”. It starts with these words—I'm gonna sit right down and write myself a letter And make believe it came from you….
I created this pen and ink drawing on an old book page with text that includes the words "letter", "postmark", "sat at home", "his-might-have-beens"... and it reminded me of Sinatra's song and that gave me an idea for the title of this artwork. Thought you'd like to hear ol' blue eyes pour out his heart.
Here are the lyrics:
I'm gonna sit right down and write myself a letter
And make believe it came from you
I'm gonna write words, oh, so sweet
They're gonna knock me off my feet,
A lotta kisses on the bottom,
I'll be glad I got 'em
I'm gonna smile and say:
"Gee, I hope you're feeling better."
And close "with love" the way you do.
I'm gonna sit right down and write myself a letter
And make believe it came,
I'm gonna make believe it came from you.
My print entitled "Blue Geisha" reminds me of all things Japanese. Remember the film "Memoirs of a Geisha"? I hope this video brings back fond memories of the love story.
Whenever Joey on the TV program “Friends” was interested in a woman, he would put on a cocky grin and ask, “How you doin’?”
My painting of this offbeat, strutting male blackbird is on the lookout for a sultry springtime mate and uses Joey’s seductive line continually. Don't think the girls are going to fall for it!
I sat cross-legged on the floor in front of the mirror on the door and sketched this first portrait of myself -- I was about 30. Looks pretty serious, but it takes intense looking to get yourself flowing through your eyes, down your arm, into your hand and onto the paper.
Now, so many years later I wanted to give it a title--which is tricky business--and the song "Hang on Little Tomato" happens to be the tune that I find myself humming. Here is a video of that song -- she begins to sing about halfway into it. See the lyrics at the bottom.
Since I usually paint on really large canvases, I thought I'd try a tiny one -- 5 x 7 inches. Here is an optical trick. If you paint big on a small canvas, it makes the size expand and vise versa. Paint tiny and the canvas will appear very small.
I found this vidio of changing portraits and thought you'd enjoy seeing them.
