tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-70899765491300749242024-03-05T08:07:33.259+01:00David Abse - ArtDavid Abse: Paintings and stuff.
Regular updates regarding new work,
exhibitions and other art-related
stuff of interest.David Absehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02666046492339046735noreply@blogger.comBlogger244125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7089976549130074924.post-50255697423525097972020-02-20T17:02:00.000+01:002020-02-20T17:02:39.108+01:00RepaintingSitting in my studio with my paintings all around me, usually left out to dry - oil paintings take several months to dry completely - I often find myself looking at some of my work and thinking "that's not quite right..." So sometimes I pick them up and do some additional work on them. This ranges from minor changes, a bit of varnish here and there, a refreshment of something that looks dull to painting over the whole damn thing! So at the moment I am working on one very large painting intending in the end to represent the Merthyr Rising in some way or another, whilst at the same time a portrait of African revolutionary Thomas Sankara ("Africa's Ché") and at the same time repainting and adjusting some older works - the portrait I did recently of William Davidson -which needs a lot more work, the portrait of Robert Owen that I did a couple of months ago - minor changes to enhance and improve, and the portrait of Elaine Brown I "finished" a while back. I've pretty much finished with the latter two, so here's what they look like now:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzDW7m9SRrBHdwpkGMkT2L5Z7hh8FpoBFIooh5iP7pUTL2kZ_VvNu3E9xI342msSsHFWy-Ai4p3KYRJi5BvqjiCycy8fRPpBu3pE3KElHbJzc2rUCeONHELWKATklU_jTuKuQhKDEWpD44/s1600/elaine+brown2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1474" data-original-width="1210" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzDW7m9SRrBHdwpkGMkT2L5Z7hh8FpoBFIooh5iP7pUTL2kZ_VvNu3E9xI342msSsHFWy-Ai4p3KYRJi5BvqjiCycy8fRPpBu3pE3KElHbJzc2rUCeONHELWKATklU_jTuKuQhKDEWpD44/s400/elaine+brown2.jpg" width="327" /></a></div>
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Elaine Brown</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnmbfI0N6MKnvLXUzp-GeJXcTwCjdgCFXDzgjlZHKiiwo1iqOagmFGNXvPAQOG-X3OuZ5lQKAZug54UvBtYa6iD9LKR5S4Zou2AG-A4Xr52T08ZPj5z35-y8CFZRYmG6inchd-Q5b0DEL2/s1600/robert+owen2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1437" data-original-width="1187" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnmbfI0N6MKnvLXUzp-GeJXcTwCjdgCFXDzgjlZHKiiwo1iqOagmFGNXvPAQOG-X3OuZ5lQKAZug54UvBtYa6iD9LKR5S4Zou2AG-A4Xr52T08ZPj5z35-y8CFZRYmG6inchd-Q5b0DEL2/s400/robert+owen2.jpg" width="330" /></a></div>
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Robert Owen</div>
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And here's what Thomas Sankara looks like at the moment. Finished?? Who knows...</div>
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<br />David Absehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02666046492339046735noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7089976549130074924.post-14361391873828981552019-12-11T20:27:00.001+01:002019-12-11T20:27:58.778+01:00Painting againI haven’t been well for the last week or so and thus haven’t been painting. Before that I finished a portrait of William Davidson. William Davidson was born in 1781 - the illegitimate son of the Attorney General and a local black woman. At the age of 14 he travelled to Glasgow to study law. Press-ganged into the Navy he returned to Scotland and studied mathematics at Aberdeen. Before completing his studies he moved to Birmingham and became a cabinet maker. He later moved to London and following the Peterloo massacre he became interested in radical politics and began reading radical newspapers and also became interested in the works of Tom Paine. Soon he joined a Spencerian group of radicals, and not long after was part of the group of 11 radicals who were set up by a government agent to attempt the assassination of government cabinet members. The Cato Street Conspiracy. They were all subsequently captured and sentenced to death. William Davidson along with 4 other conspirators was hanged and decapitated outside Newgate Prison on May 1st 1820.<div><img id="id_2b41_112d_16e5_c5ea" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/r1pzCuvaw9wyuLGRo0mFFL_yQ1klqBoc0HDhgQtbzXPvp7YxGMiH1ccpWQY" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 353px; height: auto;"><br><br>Since finishing that, I started working on a new thing, which I will reveal when I think it’s worth showing - still on the revolutionary theme but a lot different. And whilst working on that I felt the need to be working and playing with something even more different. I wanted to play with shapes, lines and colours in a different, lighter way, and this is what I came up with:</div><div><br></div><div><img id="id_5f83_8590_49d9_4973" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/8Casv49N7Va1nLgGq21DN3B0pxKO9k8InkM_zn2xn5BTRQ6d_RAxFXEjll4" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 353px; height: auto;"></div><div><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);">“Dare”, Oil on canvas, 90x70cm.</span></div><div><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><br></span><br><br><br></div>David Absehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02666046492339046735noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7089976549130074924.post-41177697288608584082019-11-12T22:58:00.001+01:002019-11-12T23:00:40.654+01:00Durruti. Oil on canvasBienventura Durruti led an anarchy communist army in the fight against fascism in the Spanish Civil War. I get the depressing impression that the Spanish Civil War is ignored and forgotten by young people which is sad. Many socialists of my parent’s’ generation- or perhaps a little older - went to Spain to fight to defend the elected left wing government from the fascist coup led by Franco and his army colleagues. A sad part of European history that served as a prequel to the Second World War, and a practice ground for Hitler who provided support for Franco, as they bombed and murdered many hundreds of thousands of innocent Spanish citizens. Many Catalans escaped from fascist Spain by climbing over the Pyrenees to safety in Catalan France. Not far from where I live. The bitterness still exists as is visible in Catalonia to this day. Durutti was executed by fascists, but remains a revolutionary hero.<div><br></div><div><img id="id_14e9_893d_932f_e71c" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/ozkcrrsysgoGuZUiuldxPGIBkWHSWOypJSFbdZNWrmI-T0cZm4wU5gYiT3A" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 319px; height: auto;"><br><br><br></div>David Absehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02666046492339046735noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7089976549130074924.post-68898856375174466922019-10-19T22:02:00.001+02:002019-10-19T22:02:26.486+02:00Sandinista!Finally finished my portrait of Sandino- great inspirational revolutionary leader in Nicaragua in the early 20rh century and inspiration for later revolutions in Nicaragua. And of other Latin American revolutionary action against CIA backed corrupt governments in the region. And the great Clash album too. It has been good to be painting again after being unable to for a while because of the return of arm and shoulder pain. Thankfully that’s gone and now I’m just suffering from m foot/ankle pain which doesn’t prevent me from painting. No brushes between my feet!<div><img id="id_5043_dfc1_6402_be7b" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/X3SvSSswvTDNepRLAlZu1_YoMl9lwssKIbaEXudM4UeyGOS8yXo52cCSr_E" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 353px; height: auto;"><br><br><br></div>David Absehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02666046492339046735noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7089976549130074924.post-43278079830874829972019-10-12T16:30:00.000+02:002019-10-12T16:30:10.658+02:00Bearded white menOne of the issues I have in continuing with my series of portraits of revolutionaries is finding interesting enough photos of people who I am interested in because of what they have done. I don't <i>just </i>paint people because of what they have done and because I find their lives, writings or place in history, I have to find a photo of them interesting enough to inspire a painting. A big problem here is the large number of<i> bearded white men</i> involved in the revolutionary history. I am reading about people from all periods of history from all around the world, but as everyone knows it is a lot of men writing about men. And in fact a lot of white men writing about white me. And I am beginning to think a lot of bearded white men writing about bearded white men. Especially when you get to looking at revolutionary Europe in the 19th century. Here's just a few:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBlJ935bZhERESgTm7ijw-Vwa1T32hADKPVlwOfXbUA2katFK-GwC_pIJyfyZenq_m95qiJWDrVffdn_WTDQ6C5pYMGGbnhDivMkPOt7s6F_MKpAcTRJ89ql-plxLlElaT1hypDgopu67m/s1600/kropotkin-eller-kaos22-copia1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; display: inline !important; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="815" data-original-width="700" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBlJ935bZhERESgTm7ijw-Vwa1T32hADKPVlwOfXbUA2katFK-GwC_pIJyfyZenq_m95qiJWDrVffdn_WTDQ6C5pYMGGbnhDivMkPOt7s6F_MKpAcTRJ89ql-plxLlElaT1hypDgopu67m/s200/kropotkin-eller-kaos22-copia1.jpg" width="171" /></a><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgplo14CQi0vcnBaXFNegQRqzXDRRckZqSscWPDmPL3nxMsL6UoJ9ROlZJizX-i0b_g0CXT84q6w0amVlCaFsVQBAXN_6XKEu0_3V_JVFqyHlRkk0JIeL0MZ47hjvWXd1oMZsj_9x7eHwmC/s1600/madero.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; display: inline !important; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="495" data-original-width="308" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgplo14CQi0vcnBaXFNegQRqzXDRRckZqSscWPDmPL3nxMsL6UoJ9ROlZJizX-i0b_g0CXT84q6w0amVlCaFsVQBAXN_6XKEu0_3V_JVFqyHlRkk0JIeL0MZ47hjvWXd1oMZsj_9x7eHwmC/s200/madero.gif" width="124" /></a><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHXlcKtkTT5-tWyVKHMucGTs6AOwIy9_JNINniiunkOd05DjieX15e2duEsmaEvNBpHFHZ3b1C4_NrbRyKR-ynOILcKZ85iMsm_K2hLdLNfP7MOwK9ZwGKk3bh-4UC_Go0STBkOwJP_wlf/s1600/bakunin.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; display: inline !important; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="207" data-original-width="245" height="168" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHXlcKtkTT5-tWyVKHMucGTs6AOwIy9_JNINniiunkOd05DjieX15e2duEsmaEvNBpHFHZ3b1C4_NrbRyKR-ynOILcKZ85iMsm_K2hLdLNfP7MOwK9ZwGKk3bh-4UC_Go0STBkOwJP_wlf/s200/bakunin.jpg" width="200" /></a><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJktDEl40y9tvIRo3OqfN88aRmGCTRI9hUiMgGil4gVGw-IK-n5pZtxk7rHLrhZ9WfLS76nbvIBLauLw-tJfi9TQul19YSk7judCDIRRVAjzmTWJWWc2t7Bnqzjm0sDEPezjfNMBCcWLkn/s1600/engels.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; display: inline !important; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="258" data-original-width="195" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJktDEl40y9tvIRo3OqfN88aRmGCTRI9hUiMgGil4gVGw-IK-n5pZtxk7rHLrhZ9WfLS76nbvIBLauLw-tJfi9TQul19YSk7judCDIRRVAjzmTWJWWc2t7Bnqzjm0sDEPezjfNMBCcWLkn/s200/engels.jpg" width="151" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9DdyGX4v9pJGrJzXO1zE3JhwNn_05hapyeVKDJsuSc_UH4lKOMslWnznXCBM8XBVUmX-btKQmRD59lh0extPHaoDLM_NkCuJMHPukPmkXzV65GHenHXB24KjYL9X5vNzuHbUqSpC38WGH/s1600/revolutionary.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; display: inline !important; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="266" data-original-width="190" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9DdyGX4v9pJGrJzXO1zE3JhwNn_05hapyeVKDJsuSc_UH4lKOMslWnznXCBM8XBVUmX-btKQmRD59lh0extPHaoDLM_NkCuJMHPukPmkXzV65GHenHXB24KjYL9X5vNzuHbUqSpC38WGH/s200/revolutionary.jpg" width="142" /></a><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhVZgwDd1tZUclpKW5mnrTtMl0vkDU_xebnwWlqV2zC53ksUrhWE46wQcRpvmv2Txwcca155GImptMnQwMyleMz1k7k80Lk1nbjEnTH6eBq96u87JmKKnjZ08J7rfB7g2dD2fFZzcq14vn/s1600/martov.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="276" data-original-width="183" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhVZgwDd1tZUclpKW5mnrTtMl0vkDU_xebnwWlqV2zC53ksUrhWE46wQcRpvmv2Txwcca155GImptMnQwMyleMz1k7k80Lk1nbjEnTH6eBq96u87JmKKnjZ08J7rfB7g2dD2fFZzcq14vn/s200/martov.jpg" width="132" /></a></div>
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I am sure you recognise a few of these - the obvious ones such as Lenin and Marx at least - but the others? I was looking for a portrait of Pavel Axelrod you can see him amongst the guys above - the bearded white guy ... OK the 9th of the photos above, just after Martov and before Lenin. His story is quite interesting and different and he isn't well known, so I though maybe I could add him to my list of potential portraits. But no. Just another bearded white guy. I like that photo but I have had enough at the moment of bearded white men as subjects. So what I am working on is another man - but not with a beard, and not European. Sandino. Outline sketch below:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlK4b2bnzv19mWJm9T4hx7gjyiUdEwv8JZUAGMdX_VY-ftqNxf0Vc5B-UHy2jyV3KwEiC0cOfNTtZFn_1xj5bqjwK1M38kmzZdMQC5ZG9cSekglLehBQ6YCaR_OGaswxS1WTx6ojWdWAnA/s1600/sandino+sketch.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="545" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlK4b2bnzv19mWJm9T4hx7gjyiUdEwv8JZUAGMdX_VY-ftqNxf0Vc5B-UHy2jyV3KwEiC0cOfNTtZFn_1xj5bqjwK1M38kmzZdMQC5ZG9cSekglLehBQ6YCaR_OGaswxS1WTx6ojWdWAnA/s400/sandino+sketch.jpg" width="340" /></a></div>
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<br />David Absehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02666046492339046735noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7089976549130074924.post-80614091762762543372019-09-23T11:31:00.001+02:002019-10-12T15:46:10.754+02:00More portraiture... photography, copyright, composition This blog is finally catching up with the portraits I have done but not shared. I am just getting back into painting and drawing again after my summer of pain. Shoulder and arm and knee pain have reduced to acceptable levels - now I only have my ankle and foot to deal with. X rays on Tuesday to see if there’s a break. So here is Nadezhda Krupskaya a recent portrait I have done. she was a leading player in the Russian Revolution and was at one time Chair of the Russian communist party- as well as being the wife of Lenin.<br />
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So here she is. Or rather here is a painting of her. Or rather here is a painting of her using an old black and white photo of her I found on the net. Or rather here is a photo of my painting of her. So which is the art? The photo of the painting? The painting itself? The original photo? Hmm.</div>
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<span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);">Here’s my 10 pence worth: the original photo was not a piece of art. It was a photo taken for official purposes and not meant as a piece of art. Even so I would argue that it does have some artistic value as an original piece of creativity. The photo of the painting isn’t art - it’s a digital reproduction of a painting- which is the art. I may be wrong but I don’t think this is controversial. </span><br />
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<span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);">B</span>elow is a photo I took last year in the National Portrait Gallery in London:</div>
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A portrait of Harold Wilson by Ruskin Spear . A great piece of art, a great painting. I love it. Is my photograph of the painting art? Of course not. No one could say that. It’s a photo of a piece of art. Yes?<br />
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I don’t think that’s controversial. No here’s another photo I took, this time in Barcelona:</div>
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Is my photo art? Or just a photo of someone else’s creativity? There is at least one photographer selling his photos of other people’s graffiti. Hmmm. I know of another one who likes recording graffiti everywhere in homage to the graffiti and the graffiti artist. He doesn’t sell his photos, he just shows them on Instagram. He does it because he likes doing it. He has even less followers than I do and just does it for fun. He doesn’t think he is creating art, he thinks he’s recording art. I agree. Somehow photographing other people’s creativity doesn’t feel like art to me. It’s clear to me that there’s a difference between creativity and recording. And the fact that one person does it on their mobile phone and the other does it on a fancy SLR camera doesn’t make any difference. To me selling your photography of other people’s artwork without giving any credit or royalties is tantamount to plagiarism. So here’s one more photograph:</div>
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It’s a portrait I did of my dad, Dannie Abse, several years ago. Today would have been is 96th birthday<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEio9_y4rfubnVicdX0I-UCGCGjp-m2se6tBkCFCmBbfx5QUN14H8XyvNsgitgwsFEBTwOYwcoCELpKL2kLDImtNzGjgp_lFu3AMSgSQVz3e42GJyJG3I6-Jo_DKyBxTiUzct1SN2d6Zk3Tg/s1600/dannie+abse+portrait+small.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1056" data-original-width="800" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEio9_y4rfubnVicdX0I-UCGCGjp-m2se6tBkCFCmBbfx5QUN14H8XyvNsgitgwsFEBTwOYwcoCELpKL2kLDImtNzGjgp_lFu3AMSgSQVz3e42GJyJG3I6-Jo_DKyBxTiUzct1SN2d6Zk3Tg/s320/dannie+abse+portrait+small.jpg" width="242" /></a></div>
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David Absehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02666046492339046735noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7089976549130074924.post-24794544609655755132019-09-11T13:27:00.001+02:002019-09-11T13:27:03.533+02:00Portraits Pain and Mobile appsWell to start with I have downloaded a mobile app to encourage myself to do more on this blog. I tried this once before and it didn’t work but hopefully this app will be better.<div>Secondly (in reverse order in case you hadn’t realised) I have had a painful summer. First my knees went- I have put on so much weight and my arthritic knees couldn’t take it. Injections of artificial cartilage eventually cured this. But then the return of tennis elbow after four years crippled my arm and this unsurprisingly spread back to my shoulder. Aaargh. And I won’t even mention my sprained ankle. Oh ok I will.</div><div>Before all that I managed to carry on with my portraits series. </div><img id="id_35ee_1208_9827_4716" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/BOlgaEeEzdVeh1JFEPKQip08jDZy_HhTY2LYwivP19foBfadErafVtDj2jU" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 353px; height: auto;"><br><br><div>Above is Elaine Brown- former Black Panther leader. She was for a while chair of the Panthers and their education officer. To this day she’s still a political activist and should for Senate in 2008 for the Green Party.</div><div><img id="id_b036_7ab8_6193_4e6d" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/4KCkfOxGBaT8biCAhkkSVwl6xN8ixdLgc07vL5hi8QtUM0TJpzGa9pg-_m4" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 353px; height: auto;"><br><br>The painting above is of Welsh Socialist, reformer and a founder of the cooperative movement Robert Owen. I painted this alla prima - wet on wet. I think I need more practice with this technique, it’s hard but in many ways more rewarding- more accidents- more intense. It is so different to adding glazes, layer over layer. Generally I find myself somewhere in the middle of this!</div><div>Last but not least:</div><div><img id="id_a224_159_c15c_ffdb" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/jK6wVpd85KTleQJX3OGLmhzD5V180EPv5wuWxqizb34Z5zXj7L1fer-kpro" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 353px; height: auto;"><br><br>I am really doing something wrong if you don’t recognise Fidel Castro above, and if you have no idea who he is- READ!!</div><div><br></div><div>Back soon with some other recent paintings.</div>David Absehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02666046492339046735noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7089976549130074924.post-17270040320962383322019-02-15T12:03:00.000+01:002019-02-15T12:03:58.731+01:00Durruti and Roma<h4>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">It's been kind of a busy time. I have finished a weird painting of Buenaventura Durruti which I have mixed feelings about: I like the technique I used and how the paint looks, but unfortunately I think I have made Durruti look like a moronic clown - a bit like a version of Guignol - the scary looking French puppet which I guess is a pit like Punch and Judy. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">I am sorry about this because in many ways i admire Durruti, who led a column of anarchists to fight against the fascist Franco during the Spanish civil war. I don't think Guignol did anything as admirable. I was going to put a picture of Guignol on here too, but he is too scary and horrible looking.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>"<span style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222;">It is we the workers who built these palaces and cities, here in Spain and in America and everywhere. We, the workers. We can build others to take their place. And better ones! We are not in the least afraid of ruins. We are going to inherit the earth. There is not the slightest doubt about that. The bourgeoisie might blast and ruin its own world before it leaves the stage of history. We carry a new world here, in our hearts. That world is growing in this minute."</span></i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">— <cite style="font-style: inherit;">Buenaventura Durruti </cite></span></div>
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Rome</h4>
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The news about Rome is that I am honoured to have been selected for <a href="https://roma.artroomsfairs.com/" target="_blank">Artrooms Roma</a> an international Art Fair to be held at the end of March. It is an unusual event - each artist is allocated a room at the Church Palace Hotel (a four star Hotel in central Rome) and turns this room into a mini gallery for a few days. I am looking forward to it - as well as being excited about the exhibition, I actually haven't been to Rome for 42 years, and plan on driving there - 1000km each way - which in itself will be an event. I am now frantically framing and tidying up paintings as well as working on a commission which has to be completed soon. So there's nothing like a bit of procrastination by writing this blog!</div>
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<br />David Absehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02666046492339046735noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7089976549130074924.post-858209340713990212018-12-28T16:00:00.001+01:002018-12-28T16:00:42.964+01:00The Greatest Another portrait - a bit different, Ali, the Greatest. An inspiration too many. His political views upset some, as an active member of the Nation of Islam, but he contributed to civil rights fights in the USA, and refused to fight in Vietnam, costing him his freedom. He was a man of principle, and without question the greatest boxer who ever lived - as well as being a fantastic showman. I love him, and consider him to be another great revolutionary.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ali<br />oil on canvas 90x70cm</td></tr>
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I wish I could photograph the painting a bit better - the black background makes it hard!David Absehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02666046492339046735noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7089976549130074924.post-21594307487096802372018-11-28T15:26:00.000+01:002018-11-28T15:26:15.758+01:00Trotsky - whatever happened to our heroes?I had to get around to Russia sooner or later, and Trotsky's exile in Mexico and his interesting looks make him a good subject. What's the difference between Stalin and Lenin's views and Trotsky's? Put simply Trotsky believed in internationalism, not the concentration of communism in one state - the Soviet Union. Trotskyists believe that his views were more reflective of Marx's. Leninists don't . Meh. As Bakunin said- A dictatorship of the proletariat is still a dictatorship. Stalin was the real problem, as he ended up believing in the dictatorship of Stalin. Simplistic? Moi? Stalin purges Trotskyites in the Soviet Union, and eventually murdered Trotsky. As the Stranglers once noted "He got an icepick that made his ears burn".<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Leon Trotsky - Oil on Wood Panel 40x52 cm</td></tr>
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<br />David Absehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02666046492339046735noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7089976549130074924.post-8156679793858334662018-11-01T17:56:00.002+01:002018-11-01T17:56:25.444+01:00It's been a long time... More revolutionary portraits and other stuff<span style="font-family: inherit;">It's been a long time since I've updated the blog. Lots of stuff has happened since then, and I have done lots of work of different types, quality etcetera. I have managed to keep my main website at davidabse.com up to date so for missing artworks take a look there! Mainly I have continued with my portrait series of revolutionaries. Here are some them:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">This is<b> Franz Fanon.</b> A very interesting man. He was born in Martinique and was therefore French. He trained as a doctor became a psychiatrist, and is noted for his writing on philosophy, politics and race. And of course as a revolutionary and a Marxist. He swapped sides in the Algerian War of Independence and became a member of the Algerian Liberation Front. He worked on the front line of the war supporting wounded and traumatised Algerians. His written work became hugely influential, particularly his analysis of the effects of colonialism black people. It's very hard to simplify his life down to one paragraph, but here's a quote from leading African scholar and philosopher Lewis R. Gordon: <i>"<span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222;">Fanon's contributions to the history of ideas are manifold. He is influential not only because of the originality of his thought but also because of the astuteness of his criticisms. He developed a profound social existential analysis of antiblack racism, which led him to identify conditions of skewed rationality and reason in contemporary discourses on the human being"</span></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">This is <b>Giuseppe Garibaldi,</b> 19th century revolutionary, mainly known for his influential involvement in the unification of Italy, but also because of his revolutionary activities in South America and France. He was born in Nice (then part of Piedmont) in 1807. He worked as a merchant seaman, and as a young man joined the then illegal "Young Italy" movement founded by another Italian revolutionary Giuseppe Mazzini. After being condemned to death for his anti-Austrian revolutionary activities, Garibaldi spent many years in exile supporting revolutions across the Atlantic, always looking, however to return home and fight for the unification of Italy. He loathed the dominance of the Catholic church and what he saw as its misuse of power in Italy and in other latin countries. He famously wrote "God didn't create man, man created god". His ideas for his time were revolutionary, and he supported always increased rights for ordinary people.<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjF1FWqVmPpOW2c0_aMqpZkMilo-wrE5AUd8trVlKbm_d_qFzxwLw4J6N6DaalE1PoImzFpz7L7LWJYT8pQeBbRM0hCfVdT7mfOXNZf9Usdj7nXs52OCcadYZrV8PnrDOesmQriwbWq2W0I/s1600/zapata+sm.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="990" data-original-width="800" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjF1FWqVmPpOW2c0_aMqpZkMilo-wrE5AUd8trVlKbm_d_qFzxwLw4J6N6DaalE1PoImzFpz7L7LWJYT8pQeBbRM0hCfVdT7mfOXNZf9Usdj7nXs52OCcadYZrV8PnrDOesmQriwbWq2W0I/s320/zapata+sm.jpg" width="258" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222;">Emiliano Zapata Salazar</b><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222;">8 August 1879 – 10 April 1919) was a leading figure in the </span>Mexican Revolution<span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222;">, the main leader of the peasant revolution in the state of </span>Morelos<span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222;">, and the inspiration of the agrarian movement called </span><i style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222;">Zapatismo</i><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #222222;">. He fought for the freedom of ordinary Mexican people from the dictatorship of Porfirio Diaz, which had last for 35 years, and caused immense poverty for agrarian workers. He fought all his life for land reforms that would give ordinary people control over their land and lives, and whilst he succeeded in getting these reforms implemented in Morelos, Mexico deteriorated into a series of battles, wars and disputes. Series of governments refused to issue reforms that revolutionaries had fought for, and Zapata viewed that a number of his contemporaries sold out, so he had little option but to keep fighting. Government forces killed Zapata eventually by tricking him to come to a meeting, and then gunning him down.</span></span></span></div>
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<br />David Absehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02666046492339046735noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7089976549130074924.post-87412835789186100002018-03-29T18:00:00.003+02:002018-03-29T18:00:39.177+02:00And more political portraitureI have continued with the portraiture. I commission which I won't publish yet, and a couple of others: Huey Newton and Emma Goldman. Emma Goldman was an interesting woman. She left Russia (actually now Lithuania) as a teenager in 1885. Many Jews did at that time, including my great grandparents, escaping anti-Semitism. It wasn't a safe place to be a Jew at the time. She ended up in America and became a famous anarchist and activist, fighting for the rights of women, and the rights of workers. She was jailed numerous times in the US and was eventually exiled to Russia in 1917, where she for a while embraced the revolution, but ultimately condemned the bolshevik state for its dictatorship of the proletariat, as other anarchists did.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSLhSoKAGKXIPwyp5rDauWzNK2UNT9aJl80g_AfzkT7YOwHmxt5rlxugX5kVwoZMS6uNxxDA1CTNXHU6-2SeULioRDmVMCUfqRIQO53HAWDK7QrCaeuVcUwodrxyuF9Lpg8xO-Qq9VmwW3/s1600/IMG_8414.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1090" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSLhSoKAGKXIPwyp5rDauWzNK2UNT9aJl80g_AfzkT7YOwHmxt5rlxugX5kVwoZMS6uNxxDA1CTNXHU6-2SeULioRDmVMCUfqRIQO53HAWDK7QrCaeuVcUwodrxyuF9Lpg8xO-Qq9VmwW3/s400/IMG_8414.jpg" width="272" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Emma Goldman<br />Oil on Canvas 35x24cm</td></tr>
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Huey Newton was one of the founders of the Black Panthers in the 1960s in the USA, alongside Bobby Seale. Despite getting regularly into trouble as a teenager, Newton was extremely well-read, intelligent and qualified. There is so much written about his life and about the Black Panthers I can't hope to put anything useful in writing here. It's impossible to write about everything Newton and Goldman did and said, but it's worth anyone's time doing the research. Both advocated the use of violence on occasion to attempt to achieve their aims. Given the oppression of black people, of women, of discrimination and of persecution that they both suffered, it is not a surprise, nor easy to condemn.<br />
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Jeez this is possibly the most illiterate entry I've ever written on this blog! Just look at the pictures and forgive my inadequacies...<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijNLZYkqLVKIcueysHZ5WcitEY3AGNV9hk8pwCba7QASGtAbgKFXNbkxq-JbmvfQ4aprF8HIPetc_-1DBWzJggrd_y-o_mKZyvf0gsnD9QwxLVRV86OYIs9v41a3pp6GaaELpp4GtnHZv_/s1600/fullsizeoutput_7d2.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1600" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijNLZYkqLVKIcueysHZ5WcitEY3AGNV9hk8pwCba7QASGtAbgKFXNbkxq-JbmvfQ4aprF8HIPetc_-1DBWzJggrd_y-o_mKZyvf0gsnD9QwxLVRV86OYIs9v41a3pp6GaaELpp4GtnHZv_/s400/fullsizeoutput_7d2.jpeg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Huey P Newton<br />Oil on canvas 60x60cm </td></tr>
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David Absehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02666046492339046735noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7089976549130074924.post-50205013612465580152018-02-06T22:20:00.000+01:002018-02-06T22:20:00.335+01:00Anarchist portraitsI've completed a couple more portraits. One of William Godwin who was very interesting in many ways. He was influenced by both Bakunin and Proudhon and amongst other things was father of Mary Shelley - author of "Frankenstein". There's a lot more to him than that but you can look that up. The other is of Rosa Luxemburg, another interesting anarchist-communist. She disapproved of what became of Soviet Russia and she also was influenced by Bakunin. The point of these early anarchist/anarcho-syndicalists was that they believed that better communities would be built if each community or workplace was self-governed, not ruled by the state. Bakunin argued that a dictatorship of the proletariat was still a dictatorship...<br />
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These ideas could not not be more opposite to the "individual" anarchists in the USA, many of whom support Trump. These right-wing anarchists (as they style themselves) believe in individual "self-rule" with no responsibility to society or their communities - or anyone else. They are nasty fuckwits who have perverted a philosophy for their own ends.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivJKh3Jz1PGtsiQ6yx84gtvFzVHnsy5a2ToCszNYFbx-VNW2SKEYai_Zy5pHgAL_fF0OBxzkYa3A8Pz1wri7rKmJbpby-glp-djfMgEy1Ty11lOdnzaWF_tmOEjavNZILJdVnCeEHTZkY0/s1600/william+godwin.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1060" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivJKh3Jz1PGtsiQ6yx84gtvFzVHnsy5a2ToCszNYFbx-VNW2SKEYai_Zy5pHgAL_fF0OBxzkYa3A8Pz1wri7rKmJbpby-glp-djfMgEy1Ty11lOdnzaWF_tmOEjavNZILJdVnCeEHTZkY0/s400/william+godwin.jpg" width="263" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">William Godwin, Oil on canvas</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUBQCLV3EzZwP6r8eU3E7kzRgO88_HOT9wEsiBadkncO05iK-AEXEH-DQo990U6CXVTYT14Je0s1VTg_FI6SUWDOomhc3rHkRbvaJPyTXj-jyuv32TNEI410MuxZZc0U4thN-LfFsNUicf/s1600/rosa+luxemburg.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1600" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUBQCLV3EzZwP6r8eU3E7kzRgO88_HOT9wEsiBadkncO05iK-AEXEH-DQo990U6CXVTYT14Je0s1VTg_FI6SUWDOomhc3rHkRbvaJPyTXj-jyuv32TNEI410MuxZZc0U4thN-LfFsNUicf/s400/rosa+luxemburg.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rosa Luxemburg<br />Oil on Canvas 60x60cm<br /></td></tr>
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I've also been doing some portrait drawings. Here's one: Spanish anarcho-syndicalyst and anti-fascist fighter, Juan Garcia Oliver:</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhM3K95in78iAnLUoMougglzYuI-i6GfDjhRllHN7XUi5e9k0IQYsHdTIP1hSARxUNHfkC6NLXeJ9KyK0NnQc2b4KFHc93iRhF7AmbpzhFgsvbGZO-bnVLFJIk7UxZFIO8if_hNrJ29vg4P/s1600/juan+Garcia+Oliver.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1027" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhM3K95in78iAnLUoMougglzYuI-i6GfDjhRllHN7XUi5e9k0IQYsHdTIP1hSARxUNHfkC6NLXeJ9KyK0NnQc2b4KFHc93iRhF7AmbpzhFgsvbGZO-bnVLFJIk7UxZFIO8if_hNrJ29vg4P/s400/juan+Garcia+Oliver.jpg" width="256" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Juan Garcia Oliver<br />Ink on paper</td></tr>
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<br />David Absehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02666046492339046735noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7089976549130074924.post-1198678197539664812017-09-19T17:37:00.001+02:002017-09-19T17:37:42.078+02:00Portraits and politics. And history.I have been continuing with my portraiture. I find it relaxing and I use it to research things that interest me. For example the paintings below. The first is of Pancho Villa, the Mexican revolutionary general, who led successful battles against reactionary forces, who were (of course) supported by the USA. Villa's army was not ultimately successful, and he was assassinated in 1920.<br />
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Throughout the 20th century (and beyond) the USA increasingly used its growing power and influence to undermine democratically elected governments of South American countries, whose politics the USA felt (and feels) is/was undermining of US capitalism. The role of the US in these acts of oppression throughout the American continent ( and elsewhere) - it's extraordinary what sort of anti-democratic acts America has got away with - and continues to - whilst it defends the (ahem) "Free World"<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGSUF2gEdUw9ZxaX2utRwlAbA7IDubS3SOZWLCrLAySAqSYM-h-xRKJ-dCXZrx0-YJt4KNU746rX0zbA7efSpL-V9bhRepoHaHrMGD5k4mPTuCFD6m9Dkmb3Wrjl1ur5wiUqXKFKp7eHqZ/s1600/IMG_7492.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1255" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGSUF2gEdUw9ZxaX2utRwlAbA7IDubS3SOZWLCrLAySAqSYM-h-xRKJ-dCXZrx0-YJt4KNU746rX0zbA7efSpL-V9bhRepoHaHrMGD5k4mPTuCFD6m9Dkmb3Wrjl1ur5wiUqXKFKp7eHqZ/s400/IMG_7492.jpg" width="313" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pancho Villa </td></tr>
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The second portrait is of Earl Browder, the former leader of the US Communist Party. These days the whole concept of a thriving Communist, Socialist, Anarchist movement in the USA seems so unlikely and so against contemporary mainstream thought, because people like Browder, and others were suppressed, repressed and persecuted. The reference for the painting is a photo when a young Browder was jailed as a conscientious objector during the first world war.<br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgI9mcEX6LD2uQr1RfoG98T7IgcnC_TPuJl4_LuxdgCd-RwAyfIVasYPp4SNDvX5q3B_HCqOgz6_kYQP4Ie_e7Nryg3XlqEZAgbZReTUoAHc2QZDM2MKbPdo6DRnBKtrioAKJgDms9Hh4S0/s1600/IMG_7493.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1229" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgI9mcEX6LD2uQr1RfoG98T7IgcnC_TPuJl4_LuxdgCd-RwAyfIVasYPp4SNDvX5q3B_HCqOgz6_kYQP4Ie_e7Nryg3XlqEZAgbZReTUoAHc2QZDM2MKbPdo6DRnBKtrioAKJgDms9Hh4S0/s400/IMG_7493.jpg" width="306" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Earl Browder</td></tr>
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David Absehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02666046492339046735noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7089976549130074924.post-33044284372103185242017-09-13T23:56:00.001+02:002017-09-13T23:58:09.693+02:00More portraiture, me and Sacco and VanzettiI am continuing with portraiture, with varying degrees of success. Unposted is a portrait of my wife, which (despite many days' work) I just can't get right. I seem to have a greater problem with painting women than men, and I am sure someone will give me a good Freudian reason for this. So instead here's a self portrait, which I'm quite pleased with, and a portrait of Sacco and Vanzetti - two innocent anarchists who were executed in the USA for crimes they didn't commit. See <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sacco_and_Vanzetti" target="_blank">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sacco_and_Vanzetti </a> for a decent bit of history and background. Poor guys,<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtRO8fNC5oG57UThHtTUMZaI_lGxlOAffO8OHgMvWXuyWVuLZszFO85jWOwm0zUgtZZslT8HmFslgjBq0uvvRlkHxAZS2OZHZGDDHWdavTH4YI4hc6h4QrrotmwPn3xOxGWTpCdjJ1OAiu/s1600/self+portrait+2017+sm.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1270" data-original-width="984" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtRO8fNC5oG57UThHtTUMZaI_lGxlOAffO8OHgMvWXuyWVuLZszFO85jWOwm0zUgtZZslT8HmFslgjBq0uvvRlkHxAZS2OZHZGDDHWdavTH4YI4hc6h4QrrotmwPn3xOxGWTpCdjJ1OAiu/s640/self+portrait+2017+sm.jpg" width="492" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Self Portrait<br />
Oil on Canvas 64x56cm</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh406I81yTTU8hK0PxMZePNAd3hLp6b5CORjx8HqAbPawsuhWbGyNzhBKNrGWn7iuqV2eIz7ZyL7nD-FsQ4cip-6w_IFJPY8qeeOjtat5EWgugjZNWWbbalbbjzJ4KTvA_Yh41ELExGNWO5/s1600/fullsizeoutput_889.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1511" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh406I81yTTU8hK0PxMZePNAd3hLp6b5CORjx8HqAbPawsuhWbGyNzhBKNrGWn7iuqV2eIz7ZyL7nD-FsQ4cip-6w_IFJPY8qeeOjtat5EWgugjZNWWbbalbbjzJ4KTvA_Yh41ELExGNWO5/s400/fullsizeoutput_889.jpeg" width="376" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sacco and Vanzetti<br />
Oil on Canvas 60x60cm</td></tr>
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<br />David Absehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02666046492339046735noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7089976549130074924.post-41257646721315250492017-07-09T21:52:00.002+02:002017-07-09T21:52:49.934+02:00Portraits After my fun and games with Simon Bolivar, I have followed it up with three more traditional portraits, copies of paintings that give me the opportunity to experiment with oils further, and with various methods and surfaces. I am still following my revolutionary theme however and below are three portraits, of Thomas Paine - great American-British-French thinker, philosopher and revolutionary - oil on wood, Anacharsis Snoot - another revolutionary in France - oil on clay board, and finally Joseph Proudhon (based on a Courbet portrait) great thinker, anarchist and revolutionary. Oil on canvas, but much bigger. It's inspiring living in a country with a long history of revolutions. And inspiring personalities, be they French, British, American or Dutch.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXwS7xo4SxPeXRTVQjifytyjA3LaUVh1y-7oLRuJfJdvFVAVRlJvRQqfBu2U3ghq232ugRe5WRvhVpiVFDPqVsnHRwbifvltJKCsDPuo6qhVxvWUhCaZ9MfxDVBIB0u-1094rfWNkpTmsz/s1600/Paine+small.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="589" data-original-width="461" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXwS7xo4SxPeXRTVQjifytyjA3LaUVh1y-7oLRuJfJdvFVAVRlJvRQqfBu2U3ghq232ugRe5WRvhVpiVFDPqVsnHRwbifvltJKCsDPuo6qhVxvWUhCaZ9MfxDVBIB0u-1094rfWNkpTmsz/s400/Paine+small.jpg" width="312" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Paine,<br />33x41cm, oil on wood</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlnrJQ_2VMPttfED-SvRD2HtuneMVQraVgLvjC8081koWYK-l-NwRXYANbhUcmPTVK9UpWKMuH2l3u_X6VuvaEov8MR1wVlRG3DcJjEGnNtpvYm3_DfGwWxuvEnkfuWHMDYTTbCADdUMA2/s1600/Snoot+small.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="691" data-original-width="687" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlnrJQ_2VMPttfED-SvRD2HtuneMVQraVgLvjC8081koWYK-l-NwRXYANbhUcmPTVK9UpWKMuH2l3u_X6VuvaEov8MR1wVlRG3DcJjEGnNtpvYm3_DfGwWxuvEnkfuWHMDYTTbCADdUMA2/s400/Snoot+small.jpg" width="397" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Anarchasis Snoot<br />15x15cm, oil on clayboard</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3iFArFbv4V8RRNYFiRurGJ-m_XwD4s89qKERwUM-2B-kGZgMQjVt2pqGdrWAP03nCCVgiL8gDf-QMmoElraH9g12AN-GPSSPvL9jwL08ShMo-Q-9GPugHYqhUWA9QWNVo5hSPnnajjvL6/s1600/proudhon+small.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="626" data-original-width="496" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3iFArFbv4V8RRNYFiRurGJ-m_XwD4s89qKERwUM-2B-kGZgMQjVt2pqGdrWAP03nCCVgiL8gDf-QMmoElraH9g12AN-GPSSPvL9jwL08ShMo-Q-9GPugHYqhUWA9QWNVo5hSPnnajjvL6/s400/proudhon+small.png" width="316" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Proudhon<br />76x60cm oil on canvas</td></tr>
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David Absehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02666046492339046735noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7089976549130074924.post-25041844514907872302017-05-18T17:56:00.001+02:002017-05-18T17:56:18.442+02:00Simon Bolivar, Hearts and the problem with BloggerI have been doing both abstract and figurative work recently. I felt in the need to undertake a copying exercise - I think a useful training thing. So here's a painting, in oils, I have done of Simon Bolivar, the great South American revolutionary. It's interpretive copy of a painting of Bolivar by someone I cannot find out who! There are lots of paintings of Bolivar, including numerous versions based on the same image. Confusing.. Anyway, here's mine:<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhy1aYb31QzT84fzdBI94rxpR5uqQzMlfdm_vqS9yidiDzJtL0Pei8bCt8NeOZ5A99klLPoH45lWdYTaGcYlwANjsOMAogxl6-p5wXIZe3jbH58gL5sYKO0RF5zXhmcc37TlaTBsfMrECwx/s1600/BOLIVAR+sm.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhy1aYb31QzT84fzdBI94rxpR5uqQzMlfdm_vqS9yidiDzJtL0Pei8bCt8NeOZ5A99klLPoH45lWdYTaGcYlwANjsOMAogxl6-p5wXIZe3jbH58gL5sYKO0RF5zXhmcc37TlaTBsfMrECwx/s320/BOLIVAR+sm.jpg" width="214" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Simon Bolivar<br />Oil on Canvas 22x33cm</td></tr>
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I have also been working on a series of abstract heart paintings. I am often inspired by death and dark things. But I felt I wanted to do something more positive, and produced one for my wife . Following that I have done some more. I am pleased that she likes hers best.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiK6TZSB9asaHqHF4nzuuRSS3GYVGvChlwCqWn16jvYI2MknGIp3j6eWAjTUrL9EEz8sYFGYdw-4761lfjwMhvGZ6lDB8KbP9FkwW1TbH_sNURCezRzz6g_IBX1TpNxrTyhdok2CFN39g2a/s1600/2HEARTS+SM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="192" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiK6TZSB9asaHqHF4nzuuRSS3GYVGvChlwCqWn16jvYI2MknGIp3j6eWAjTUrL9EEz8sYFGYdw-4761lfjwMhvGZ6lDB8KbP9FkwW1TbH_sNURCezRzz6g_IBX1TpNxrTyhdok2CFN39g2a/s320/2HEARTS+SM.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Finally, I am frustrated by Blogger making it so hard to update from an iPad. Like many people I use my tablet and phone for internet stuff more than 90% of the time: but I can't update my Blog, and, to be fair, neither can I update my website, except from my PC. This all seems a bit out of date. I am thinking of changing everything to WordPress or Wix or something, but it's a bit painful...</div>
David Absehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02666046492339046735noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7089976549130074924.post-27318862180863558822017-03-22T16:24:00.000+01:002017-03-22T16:24:28.049+01:00Illustrations<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As mentioned in my last entry In have been working on illustrations for a book. Some however, didn't get used, so here they are (the other ones will be available in the book which is due to come out in the autumn):</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There are 26 (or 27?) other illustrations that did get used- the title of the book is "<i>Alaskan Lonely Hearts Club</i><i>…And other unlikely travel tales" </i>by Paul Gogarty. I don't <i><b>think </b></i>I'll get in trouble for that!</span></div>
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<br />David Absehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02666046492339046735noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7089976549130074924.post-47134422017074863622017-02-16T17:06:00.000+01:002017-02-16T17:06:30.873+01:00Painting over things - illustrations - book covers - acupuncture - painI was looking for a painting recently that someone saw on line at my website <a href="http://davidabse.com/">davidabse.com</a> but I couldn't find it for a while, and I wondered if I'd painted over it. I don't remember exactly, but I remember my wife not liking it at all and not being that keen on it myself, so I though it was entirely possible I'd painted over it. But while I was looking through my stock of paintings I came across loads of other old paintings of mine that really I don't like. They don't exist on my website, but still do on other websites, so I have always been reluctant to paint over them - just in case! I did sell a painting last year that I'd forgotten about and didn't like - and that made me a few hundred quid, so I have been reluctant to paint over them. But no more!<br />
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What they generally are is failed abstract compositions that just <b>don't work </b>as far as I am concerned. There are some I have that haven't been sold, haven't ever been liked by many people but are significant to me, so I'm leaving them alone. But this pile - about 15 canvases in total, none of them very big (except one which I will get to another time) to me are all no good as they stand - but offer something to me in terms of background work. I am probably too interested in <a href="http://www.artcyclopedia.com/artists/dine_jim.html" target="_blank">Jim Dine</a>'s hearts at the moment but anyway, I'm going to see what happens.<br />
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Meanwhile I have been working on black and white illustrations for a new book by <a href="http://www.paulgogartycommunications.co.uk/" target="_blank">Paul Gogarty</a> based on his travel writing experiences over the last 25 years or so. Here's a couple to keep you interested - I think the book is out later in the year.<br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="text-align: left;">Whilst on the subject of books, one of my recent paintings "Revolutions" features on the cover of Jeremy Robson's new book of poems, to be launched in March by</span><span style="text-align: left;"> </span><a href="http://smokestack-books.co.uk/" style="text-align: left;" target="_blank">Smokestack Books</a><span style="text-align: left;">. Here it is: </span></span></div>
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Finally, I should add that the Parsonage-Turner Syndrome (PTS) hasn't departed. I am only able to draw or paint a couple of hours a day before descending into horrible shoulder and arm pain. None of the drugs they have given me have worked, unfortunately, so I am trying acupuncture. I had my first session yesterday - and as I was warned, today I am in bad pain. Mostly I am just trying to get along with my life, but pain is bloody tiring! Ah well, I hope that the acupuncture starts to take effect soon. Or at all. Or the bloody PTS just goes away!!</div>
David Absehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02666046492339046735noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7089976549130074924.post-71565579461254866112016-12-19T14:50:00.001+01:002016-12-19T15:24:31.296+01:00PainI've lived with pain for a long time. A lot of people do - they have all sorts of physical problems that you can't necessarily see. It's hard to know who is suffering with what. Who knows who is working and living with what. We don't often talk about it. I guess I do more than others - well, I do when it's bad. Currently, as I said in the previous blog, I'm suffering from Parsonage Turner Syndrome, which means I have constant shoulder pain, and the muscles in my write arm are bit-by-bit withering down, which means it's tiring, and painful, using my right hand/arm. Including typing this. And including anything that involves any precision, as I am ridiculously right-handed. And yes that includes drawing and painting.<br />
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It's not helped by the carpal tunnel syndrome and tennis elbow I have too. It's kind of comical in some ways. It means I pop too many (prescription) pills (Oh yeah, I'm diabetic too...) and some days it all becomes a bit much. So this painting took longer than many: I can only paint in short bursts and am trying to use my left hand some of the time. Anyway, guess what? I've called it "Pain".<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgR5U2dM4cg9gkhH2HB0GAfUgXMZzyNqT486RHyPxoU5kfOH_LZ1xP45JDhTa1FkbTtuRAje6vyLSCA3o-zUkleF6llv0nDK6ehCyYgP5I4vvKOH1jsT4o-YlWAJ2ReTa3wEJPbXlkQVBkk/s1600/pain+sm.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgR5U2dM4cg9gkhH2HB0GAfUgXMZzyNqT486RHyPxoU5kfOH_LZ1xP45JDhTa1FkbTtuRAje6vyLSCA3o-zUkleF6llv0nDK6ehCyYgP5I4vvKOH1jsT4o-YlWAJ2ReTa3wEJPbXlkQVBkk/s400/pain+sm.jpg" width="330" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pain<br />
Mixed Media on Canvas<br />
65x54cm</td></tr>
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<br />David Absehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02666046492339046735noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7089976549130074924.post-32582549675822485772016-11-10T19:28:00.000+01:002016-11-10T19:28:01.623+01:00Parsonage Turner SyndromeFor the past six months or so I have been suffering from pain in my shoulder. This started after sleeping on a very hard bed in a hotel in Gerona. The pain was awful at first, but diminished after some osteopathy and some prescription meds. The doctor assumed I'd torn a muscle and sent me for physiotherapy which I had twice a week for 12 weeks - and this enable me to carry on working all summer with (see <a href="http://www.purplecatpiscines.com/">www.purplecatpiscines.com</a>) my swimming pool maintenance business with discomfort but not unbearable pain. I carried on with a regular dose of paracetamol. The physiotherapy stopped roughly the same time work petered out as summer faded away. Since then the pain has built up, and it has been harder and harder to do things - like painting. And lifting. And reaching up high. But still. Anyway, the doc sent me for a CT scan, an x-ray and an ultrasound. The radiologist looked at all that and said "Hmm, there's something bizarre there, I better send you for an MRI" - which I had today. And now they have finally diagnosed me as having <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parsonage%E2%80%93Turner_syndrome" target="_blank">Parsonage Turner Syndrome</a>. It means my muscle, fat and other stuff in my shoulder has atrophied, and it's all inflamed. I guess this isn't as serious as it sounds, but at least it puts a label on it and explains the bloody pain! The annoying thing is it will take ages to go away - there's no cure, but it does resolve itself. Minimum time is within 6 months, maximum 5 years. For men in their fifties - i.e. me - the average time it lasts is 3 years. Bugger. And I will need more physio. And painkillers. I'm going to need to work out how to live with this better than I am. Moan over. Until next time. And obviously the one after that. It also explains my lack of painting productivity. It's hard painting when it hurts - and I really am useless with my left hand.<br />
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<br />David Absehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02666046492339046735noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7089976549130074924.post-82656307167660372852016-11-08T17:52:00.001+01:002016-11-08T17:52:26.825+01:00Tattoos of MemoriesWe live in interesting times. However, you do know this is a curse <i>"May you live in interesting times *spit*". </i>Today Americans are voting for their president. As I write it could either be Hillary Clinton, or Donald Trump. Jesus. Donald Trump - how did that happen? The stupid Brexit vote showed frightening levels of stupidity in the UK, but Trump trumps that. Whether he wins or not a lot of people are going to vote for him. Why? I keep hearing he's <i>"not part of the establishment"</i> - of course not, he's a multi-multi-billionbaire. <i>"He cares about the ordinary folk"</i>. Don't be ridiculous, of course he doesn't. He<b> despises</b> <i>"ordinary folk</i>", and all he cares about is whether you vote for him or not. I fear, like many others, that he's a fascist-in-waiting - but it's hard to be sure because his whole campaign has been based on getting stupid white men (as described by Michael Moore) to vote for him. He has gambled on their being enough white racist sexist idiots to sweep him into power. And as someone once said, you don't lose on gambling on people's stupidity. In the UK they read the Mail and the Sun and vote for Brexit, in the USA they watch FOX and vote for Trump. Meanwhile in Russia there's Putin, in France and elsewhere in Europe the right-wing racists are gaining support, and out in the middle east crazy people are supporting ISIS. What the fuck? When did everyone decide to be morons? Did I miss a meeting?<br />
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Anyway, here's a new painting. "Tattoos of Memories". As usual the title is a stolen lyric, randomly taken from my painting soundtrack. I hope you have the time of your life. Or at least an <i>"interesting"</i> time.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5bs7Wz5XSpIYo1h9VhbM2jIWK4oe_bbLYxRHkf-a4Sllml3tmAvTiLIq9TG9w7BWDZdOHgBQcA2t23sZzrXyd0cCBqulO_xWLJtzr2azKVtp7nhAH5HMOj_AfIncRFHWQHNc2pVLb5xHI/s1600/tattoosofmemories+sm.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5bs7Wz5XSpIYo1h9VhbM2jIWK4oe_bbLYxRHkf-a4Sllml3tmAvTiLIq9TG9w7BWDZdOHgBQcA2t23sZzrXyd0cCBqulO_xWLJtzr2azKVtp7nhAH5HMOj_AfIncRFHWQHNc2pVLb5xHI/s400/tattoosofmemories+sm.jpg" width="328" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tattoos of Memories<br />Mixed media on canvas 62 x 40 cm</td></tr>
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David Absehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02666046492339046735noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7089976549130074924.post-40966539351295793222016-09-04T18:06:00.002+02:002016-09-04T18:06:37.307+02:00Art Scams (Part Three) - Salons, Art Fairs and Gallery Websites - and the good guys!As you can tell by the blog entry title this isn't the first time I've written about this. The first two concentrated on mainly email scams related to two types of ways to rip off artists - fake purchases from from people, and vanity publishers and galleries who want you to give them lots of money to show your work. The first is a straightforward scam, along the same lines as the nice man from Nigeria who wants you to look after all of his inheritance in your bank account - if you can just send details... The second appeals to the less well-known or amateur artist's ego. A chance to show your work without the risk of rejection - all for a "small" fee (usually a few hundred euros or more). Unfortunately nothing ever sells, and you don't get better noticed in the publication. That's because the gallery has absolutely no interest in selling your work because they make their money straight from the artists' payments, the publisher only cares about your payment and hardly prints any copies (those that they do they are happy to sell to artists for 20$ a copy!) and no one in the art world goes to those galleries or reads those publications anyway because they soon become well known as the vanity scams that they are. In fact, being involved can damage your reputation - at least that's what I have read.<br />
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So this time I am concentrating on a couple of other more subtle scams. First, Salons and Art Fairs. Generally these are the same thing, our at least in recent years that's what they have become. I am sure there are many organisers of these events would leap up and down with outrage at being called a scam, but for unrepresented artists, the way they work is little difference to how a vanity gallery works. To put it simply, an art fair (or salon in France) works like any other large exhibition/trade show you may have seen in an exhibition or hall, whether it's the Ideal Home Exhibition, the Motor Show or something exciting about Health and Safety. Everyone exhibiting at these events, whatever it is about, pays for the space where they show their thing: whether it's paintings, Ford Capris (I'm old), books or whatever. It's a trade show. There is no quality control, anyone can hire a space. This made sense when it was galleries who hired the space (like at Frieze), but many of the Art Fairs now make most of their living (I was going to say "small art fairs" but it's not true any more) from individual artists - who hire a space for 3 or 4 days for several hundred (or more) euros (plus programme costs, plus furniture, lighting etc) in the hope that a visiting gallery will like their work. Salons in France work the same way, with the rider that some artists have organised themselves cooperatively to share space, and some manage to get grants to help pay their costs. All in all though, it's brutal, and it's a rip off. The only people really making money out of these events are the organisers - and believe me, they are raking it in.<br />
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Then there are gallery websites. By that I mean websites whereby artists upload their work and sell their paintings via the web. <u style="font-weight: bold;">By no means are all of these a rip off.</u> <i>In fact many of them are brilliant!</i> The ones that are brilliant work hard to sell artists' work by publicising their site, the ones that are brilliant don't charge artists, they take a commission (like a proper gallery), the ones that are brilliant advise and support and communicate well with artists. I have written separately about this before, and listed my favourites - I'll do so again with a shorter list of my favourites at the end of this post. There are, however, some bad boys: websites that charge artists for uploading and websites that demand artists sign away their copyright to works uploaded. All these are people ripping off artists: the brilliant websites prove they don't need to do this, by simply NOT doing that and by actually selling work!<br />
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There are also some websites that just are no good - websites that demand you change the shape of your work to fit into their standard sizes, websites that are so primitive it takes a week to upload a file, and websites that simply never sell anything.<br />
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Like many artists, I'm sick of people who try to rip me off, whatever way they choose, but I would like to congratulate the few BRILLIANT gallery websites by listing them here:<br />
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<a href="https://londonart.co.uk/" target="_blank">LondonArt</a><br />
<a href="https://www.artfinder.com/" target="_blank">ArtFinder</a><br />
<a href="http://www.artistbe.com/" target="_blank">ArtistBecome</a><br />
<a href="https://www.turningart.com/" target="_blank">Turning Art</a><br />
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This is a pretty small list compared to the last time I did this, partly because some of the ones I used to use no longer exist, and partly because some of the others have proved to be a waste of time - I get no sales and little or no contact/referrals from them. But if you use another site with great success, please let me know by using the "comment" form below.<br />
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Thanks<br />
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<br />David Absehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02666046492339046735noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7089976549130074924.post-23041265509134572172016-08-28T18:32:00.003+02:002016-08-28T18:32:52.636+02:00New stuffSo I've got some new stuff to show off. Some things I have been working on for a while and gone back to time and time again until I'm happy enough to put them to one side and say "finished" - or "finished enough so I'm not going to fiddle with them any more". Three paintings that have little in common, but here they are - in no particular order:<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuST02anfGI7khOJbRww5-DUUwX0NFyjBrOUJZy3Bugv5Bi_w2bNCj_MVEmtwu-AEd-VWQ6dc6hij0i_rT5204S71KpR_sEe6F_w7Tt6dOLkJB119XUbVk_JzxY-84kqp6Ib-oRNPU7xEw/s1600/luca+brassi+s.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuST02anfGI7khOJbRww5-DUUwX0NFyjBrOUJZy3Bugv5Bi_w2bNCj_MVEmtwu-AEd-VWQ6dc6hij0i_rT5204S71KpR_sEe6F_w7Tt6dOLkJB119XUbVk_JzxY-84kqp6Ib-oRNPU7xEw/s400/luca+brassi+s.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Luca Brassi he sleeps with the fishes<br />60cm x 60cm mixed media on canvas<br /></td></tr>
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<i>"Luca Brassi he sleeps with the fishes"</i> is an abstract picture, I guess inspired by a combination of things: the fact I'm in or working with water all the time, my normal habit of listening to music - Catatonia if you don't know ("<i>I am the mob</i>") plus, obviously, The Godfather. A pretty good combination of things I think.<br /><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiEdvVKI66K-nQzYUY1-DL57Wq5BpMoO_DLDMth3tLsecS08chPTKZcQe9QeIsxJgT_59P2G89-FQ4NmGlrzUZD-tGfM7_GoPNA8FEQMKb-0-anWRRxaHZAeoUS5b3OoDHfzdgZllGDmlX/s1600/pyrenees+sm.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="283" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiEdvVKI66K-nQzYUY1-DL57Wq5BpMoO_DLDMth3tLsecS08chPTKZcQe9QeIsxJgT_59P2G89-FQ4NmGlrzUZD-tGfM7_GoPNA8FEQMKb-0-anWRRxaHZAeoUS5b3OoDHfzdgZllGDmlX/s400/pyrenees+sm.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pyrenees<br />115cm x 163cm, Mixed Media on Canvas</td></tr>
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For one reason or another I have spent a lot of time in and around the Pyrenees this summer. Also, we can see them on clear days from our house. Although what we normally see is <i>"The Canigou", </i>this isn't it! It;'s weird looking at the little digital reproduction above - which I think looks like a small drawing on paper - whilst just a metre behind me sits the monster-sized painting!</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhe5hv-saPaOD0Sxjzj5_fDJe0MjWhpL9N4q_BpPXiM8fAda8p6XtFid5P59u776R5Y7mJveeqON7VP80tzp4PazztWqNwIZIWaaHpruXPupnxDXGJn9AxSKheWFJeFj6ms_hC2JgmewbfH/s1600/Big+Bill+sm.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhe5hv-saPaOD0Sxjzj5_fDJe0MjWhpL9N4q_BpPXiM8fAda8p6XtFid5P59u776R5Y7mJveeqON7VP80tzp4PazztWqNwIZIWaaHpruXPupnxDXGJn9AxSKheWFJeFj6ms_hC2JgmewbfH/s400/Big+Bill+sm.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Big Bill Hayward<br />650x60 Oil on canvas</td></tr>
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Last but not least is the portrait on the right of "Big Bill" Hayward, a leading light in the Wobblies many years ago in the US. I am fascinated by left wing political history in the US - so much of it has become obscured and untacked about. Whilst the CIA were doing really shit things after the first world war until - well, still, probably - they have hidden a lot of that history and at the same time driven the history of socialism in the USA underground. If you are interested in Big Bill, on this occasion Wikipedia is pretty good: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_HaywoodDavid Absehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02666046492339046735noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7089976549130074924.post-54595039195066814962016-04-08T19:19:00.001+02:002016-04-08T19:19:19.725+02:00RevolutionsFor the last couple of months I have been listening to the brilliant "Revolutions" podcasts, by Mike Duncan. You can find out more on his website <a href="http://www.revolutionspodcast.com/" target="_blank">here</a>. The story of the French revolution is so much more complicated than I ever learned at school, and he tells the story so well over 55 half-hour podcasts. Just amazing. So bloody. So bloody amazing. It's depressing that something that was originally so well-intentioned, so (I guess) noble, deteriorated into a blood-soaked orgy of power-seeking. This bloody revolution shaped the country I live in, and have lived in now for nearly nine years. The French are proud of their revolutionary heritage - and how they feel that it's the people of France who have shaped the country for last couple of hundred years or so. But so many people were killed, and so many men tried to use the situation for their own ends - to advance and increase their power. And so many of them died, were executed, guillotined or in pointless civil war. So here's my newest painting. It was going to be called "Bread and the Constitution of 1793", but the painting changed, and turned instead into a reflection of the bloodiness of it all. So here it is, simply called <i>"Revolution"</i>.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivs7dzUIVbE76dTFGfhacNusxavSx4Y_8wHaRwwvCpSjz60yMFjDA81RIBUGFUdEb0iL-5USfqs2AKAzKb31GlUTjQQfIGCEfsAQdaZS7ywalRs_Efk6QyoQG6vuIb8ASvGV05HdLVUgTE/s1600/revolution2+sm.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivs7dzUIVbE76dTFGfhacNusxavSx4Y_8wHaRwwvCpSjz60yMFjDA81RIBUGFUdEb0iL-5USfqs2AKAzKb31GlUTjQQfIGCEfsAQdaZS7ywalRs_Efk6QyoQG6vuIb8ASvGV05HdLVUgTE/s400/revolution2+sm.jpg" width="317" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Revolution - Mixed Media on Canvas, 91x71cm</i></td></tr>
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<br />David Absehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02666046492339046735noreply@blogger.com0