Aponovich and Johansson At Home and Away: A Year In Painting

Showing posts with label A Year In Painting. Show all posts

Tuesday, April 11, 2017

FIVE ROMAN ARTICHOKES { A Year In Painting}

JAMES APONOVICH

A YEAR IN PAINTING

La vita e breve

L'arte e lunga

As our planet makes its journey around a star we call the Sun, I make my own journey in painting. Each week I present some aspect of our shared life experiences through the medium of paint on canvas.

"Old men ought to be explorers."

-T.S. Eliot, The Four Quartets

____________________________________________________________

FIVE ROMAN ARTICHOKES

James Aponovich

Five Roman Artichokes

Oil on Canvas, 18" x 24"

When I arrive in Italy, there is a period of transition, usually about three weeks,

where everything is left behind and I await new prospects. This time is not fallow,

Elizabeth and I draw quite a bit as I search out new subject matter to keep the brush moving.

Since we arrived in the middle of artichoke season......

Sunday, April 2, 2017

BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU WISH FOR / LA CELLA {A Year In Painting }

JAMES APONOVICH

A YEAR IN PAINTING

LA VITA E BREVE

L'ARTE E LUNGA

As our planet makes its journey around a star we call the Sun,

I make my own journey in paintings. Each week I present some

aspect of our shared life experiences through the medium of paint on canvas.

" Old men ought to be explorers."

- T.S Eliot, The Four Quartets

________________________________________________________________

BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU WISH FOR

LA CELLE

THE CELL

I was never one for a grand studio, in fact I often described my needs

as a 9' x 6' 'cell', just enough for me, an easel and a painting table.

Well, here in Italy it's my dream come true. It kinda reminds me of the

Monks cells in San Marco in Florence.

We are going soon.....I'll show you in a couple of weeks....and

a few words about the Mad Monk from Ferrara.

Wednesday, March 22, 2017

THIS MAN WANTS TO HURT YOU {A Year In Painting}

JAMES APONOVICH

A YEAR IN PAINTING

LA VITA E BREVE
L'ARTE E LUNGO

As our planet makes its journey around a star we call the Sun, I make my own

journey in painting. Each week I present some aspect of our shared
life experiences through the medium of paint on canvas.

"Old men ought to be explorers"
-T.S. Eliot. The Four Quartets

_________________________________________________________

THIS MAN WANTS TO HURT
YOU

James Aponovich
Detail, Oil on canvas
Untitled

His name is Scotty but they call him Suds. That's because he drinks too much.
He likes to hurt people and he became pretty good at it.
He was a Boxer, a Champion once, Lightweight Division, now his brain is broken.
He goes from bar to bar where they give him free drinks.

James Aponovich
Untitled ( in progress)
Oil in canvas, 32" x 24"

We'd better go now
We don't belong here.

Monday, March 6, 2017

ABANDONED FARMHOUSE, PANICAROLA {A Year In Painting}

JAMES APONOVICH

A YEAR IN PAINTING

LA VITEA E BREVE

L'ARTE E LUNGA

As our planet makes its journey around a star we

call the Sun, I make my own journey in paintings.

Each week I present some aspect of our shared life

experiences through the medium of paint on canvas.

"Old men ought to be explorers."

-T.S. Eliot, The Four Quartets

_______________________________________________

ABANDONED FARMHOUSE, PANICAROLA

FROM THE TRASIMENO SERIES

James Aponovich

Abandoned Farmhouse, Panicarola

Oil on canvas, 13" x 21"

You see them everywhere, they await the English, German or North Americans to

'fix' them up. They will be beautiful, but the one thing they will never be is

what they were......Italian. So it goes.

Umbria is called 'The Green Heart of Italy' and it seems even Nature cannot stand so much

verdant color. To balance it She sows beautiful crimson red poppies

that when they are in bloom.....are amazing!

Monday, February 27, 2017

Isola Polvese [ A Year In Painting ]

JAMES APONOVICH

A YEAR IN PAINTING

LA VITA E BREVE

L'ARTE E LUNGO

As our planet makes its journey around a star we call the Sun, I make my own journey in paintings. Each week I present some aspect of our shared life experiences through the medium of paint on canvas.

"Old men ought to be explorers."

-T.S. Eliot, The Four Quartets

___________________________________________________

ISOLA POLVESE

From The Trasimeno Series

James Aponovich

Isola Polvese

Oil on canvas, 13" x 21"

It sits in Aquamarine and Cerulean, is covered with Viridian and Emerald and it is all under a dome of Cobalt and Ultramarine. It is called 'La Isola Incantevole', The Enchanting Island,

largely uninhabited with a Medieval fortress and a monastery in ruins.

They say that the olives grown on Polvese produce the finest oil. I don't know about that, but dreams of the Templar Knights, Dragons and unabated Romance is there.

Monday, February 20, 2017

THE PINES OF TRASIMENO {A Year In Painting}

JAMES APONOVICH

A YEAR IN PAINTING

LA VITA E BREVE

L'ARTE E LUNGA

As our planet makes its journey around a star we call the Sun, I make my own journey in painting. Each week I present some aspect of our shared life experiences through the medium of paint on canvas.

"Old men ought to be explorers."

- T.S. Eliot, The Four Quartets

____________________________________________________________________

THE PINES OF TRASIMENO

James Aponovich

From the Sketchbook

Pencil on paper

" It doesn't matter how you swing the bat,

you gotta hit the ball."

- M.Z. - My old painting teacher

They are called Umbrella Pines. For a painter, the landscape around Lake Trasimeno is rich with potential. Fulfilling that potential is another matter. When we are in Italy, Elizabeth and I usually spend the day drawing landscapes of Umbria and Tuscany. Success is never assured. Just finding a place to park is often a challenge. But every now and again, you stumble upon the right elements and for a brief moment......

You swing at the ball

James Aponovich

Trasimeno Pines

Oil on canvas, 13" x 21"

James Aponovich

Trasimeno Pines ( detail)

Monday, February 13, 2017

WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING AT { A Year In Painting}

JAMES APONOVICH

A YEAR IN PAINTING

LA VITA E BREVE

L'ARTE E LUNGA

"Old men ought to be explorers"

-T.S. Eliot, The Four Quartets

_____________________________________

WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING AT

James Aponovich

Untitled Study

Oil on canvas, 16" x 12"

You never saw it coming. All your life you followed the rules, work hard, serve your Country, have a family, work harder. Then you watch it fall apart all around you. Suddenly, all you know collapses. You look in the mirror and wonder where the past 30 years have gone. The disconnect is not gradual, you have become expendable, they have moved on.

Now you are alone

You are old and obsolete

They have pulled the plug

Have a nice day

James Aponovich

Untitled

Oil on canvas, 32" x 24"

Monday, February 6, 2017

ORCHIDS AND O {A Year In Painting}

James Aponovich
A YEAR IN PANTING

LA VITA E BREVE
L'ARTE E LUNGA

As our planet makes it's journey around a star we call the Sun, I make my own journey in paintings. Each week I present some aspect of our shared life experiences through the medium of paint on canvas.

"Old men ought to be explorers"
- T.S. Eliot, The Four Quartets

_____________________________________________________

ORCHIDS AND O

James Aponovich

Orchids ( detail)

When flowers are in bloom, there is no time to waste, so often I will paint them as studies, hoping that eventually they will find themselves in a finished composition. They sit in the studio, waiting. So it was with these orchids, just white flowers on a dark background. Then came O. ( see previous post, Portrait of O).

RIBBONS OF LIFE SWIRLING IN THE WIND

Late in her life, my mother described a dream she had to Beth, ( my mother was not one to talk of dreams). She said she was in a field with brightly colored ribbons swirling around her. "I have never seen such a thing," she said.

Tibetan prayer flags came to my mind, "she is preparing to die", I said.

She died a week later.

James Aponovich

Portrait of O

Oil on canvas

So I gave the orchids to my friend, Robert. They are his field of swirling dreams, of what his life is. Now it was time to finish the 'study'.

James Aponovich

Oranges and Lemons in a Metal Basket

Oil on canvas

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Monday, January 30, 2017

THIS POST IS BROUGHT TO YOU BY THE LETTER O ....James Aponovich A Year In Painting

JAMES APONOVICH
A YEAR IN PAINTING

VITEA E BREVIS
ARS E LONGUS

As our planet makes its journey around a star we call the Sun, I make my own journey in painting. Each week I present some aspect of our shared life experiences through the medium of paint on canvas.

" Old men ought to be explorers."
-T.S. Eliot, The Four Quartets
___________________________________________________

THIS POST IS BROUGHT TO YOU

BY THE LETTER

James Aponovich

Study: 'O'

Pencil on paper

His name is Robert Oksner and he is my friend, or to be exact, my buddy. More than a few years separate us but he and I would enjoy a good laugh and in particular a good meal. We did not dine, we ate. Robert was not afraid of food.

In the early days he was an Ad Man on Madison Avenue, as he would say a "Jingle Guy". He was one of the original Mad-Men even though he never drank or smoked. After that he worked with Jim Henson and Frank Oz as a writer for Sesame Street. He looks like a muppet!

One day when we were visiting Robert and Judith in New York, I found some of his old scripts. One was called,"Why Oscar The Grouch Hates the Letter H".

"Holy smoke," I thought, I remember watching that very show with our daughter Ana when she was a little girl! And I hated it! No matter, I had to paint him.

James Aponovich

Portrait of O (detail)

Oil on canvas

Robert loved coming to the studio for sittings. In fact, he loved going just about
anywhere ( as long as lunch was on the agenda). He was 89 years old, or so, when I began this portrait. I wanted him talking to us, gesturing, holding his crimson 'talking stick'. Above him swirl all his life dreams disguised as orchids. In back of him is blood red, the first color.

Usually, I don't let people see their portraits until everything is complete. But after I finished his face I let him see it. He looked and yelled:
"Holy ship! That's me! That's me there!
That's more me than me!,
It's freaking me out!"

James Aponovich
Portrait of O
Oil on canvas, 34" x 24"

Maybe I 'captured' him. I hope so because Robert Oksner died earlier this month, four days short of his 91st Birthday.

Farewell friend
I will miss you.

Copyright 2017
James Aponovich
{ 5 }

Sunday, January 22, 2017

THE MUSE { Aponovich: A Year In Painting}

JAMES APONOVICH
A YEAR IN PAINTING

VITEA E BREVIS
ARS E LONGUS

As our planet makes its journey around a star we call the Sun, I make my own journey in painting. Each week I present some aspect of our shared life experiences through the medium of paint on canvas

"Old men ought to be explorers"
-T.S. Eliot. The Four Quartets

_____________________________________________________

THE MUSE

James Aponovich

Oil n canvas, 8" x 9"

Not exactly what you'd expect as a Muse, no wings, no wand, and not even any inspiration dust...

just Peter, but hey, you gotta take it where you find it.

The background story is I used to see this guy stacking vegetables at our local organic market and I thought, " Boy, Rembrandt would have painted this guy!" Well, I'm no Rembrandt, but Peter is now my model. During the next year you will see him in many different roles, living long gives some people depth, often painfully.

REACHING OUT

A painter paints on an invisible skin. As the brush hits the surface, reality ceases and the painter reaches into depth. The viewer is on one side and the painting is on the other, the point in between is where the magic happens.

James Aponovich

Study for The Soup Kitchen

Oil on canvas, 12" x 12"

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Monday, January 9, 2017

ARTICHOKES { A Year In Painting }

JAMES APONOVICH : A YEAR IN PAINTING

VITEA E BREVIS

ARS E LONGUS

As our planet makes its journey around a star we call the Sun, I make my own journey in paintings. Each week I present some aspect of our shared life experiences through a medium of paint on canvas.

"Old men ought to be explorers."

- T.S. Eliot, The Four Quartets

___________________________________________________

ARTICHOKES

James Aponovich

Hanging Artichokes

Oil on panel, 20" x 16"

"He was a very valiant man who first adventured on eating thistles."

-James Fuller

" I eat to live, not live to eat."

- my Mother

THE DAILY CHORE

I grew up in a house where eating was characterized as a necessary evil. The Original Sin redeux. It was all viewed as drudgery and dinner only became a stage for family fights. With the exception of corn in the summer, vegetables came in cans and for some reason, they all tasted the same. It wasn't until I was living on my own that I discovered that vegetables came fresh. One of the more mysterious among them was artichokes, armor plated, prickly and with an inedible, aptly named 'choke'. It was nasty and my mother proved right, it was a lot of work! Boiling, scraping, dissecting and eliminating the fuzzy choke. It was all a daunting task but the reward was there, for deep in the interior was the 'heart'. With only some olive oil or melted butter, lemon, salt and pepper it could outshine any meat. It is a glorious food and, from an artists eye, a very pleasing form.

SLICING AND DICING ( not just the veggies)

James Aponovich

Trasimeno Artichokes

Oil on canvas, 14" x 10"

So, here I was, lying on an operating table ( non-life threatening stuff) with my surgeon, hard at work (on me) telling me how much he loves artichokes. He had just seen my Trasimeno Artichokes painting and he was explaining in detail how he prepares them on the grill with olive oil, lemon, etc. His parents were born in Italy, they know artichokes and taught their son accordingly. I knew he belonged to the club.

ALL PAINTINGS, GREAT AND SMALL

Last week I posted a portrait of my friend Tonino, surrounding him are all sorts of objects, all related to his occupation, or in the case of Tonino, his passion. As a group they work just fine, but sometimes a single object is enough to carry a painting.

James Aponovich

Single Artichoke

Oil on canvas, 8" x 9"