Life and Art are hopelessly intertwined and that is how is has always been. The cavemen drew on walls with charcoal to celebrate their bounty and lives. Fast forward to today and we have digital pictures in our pockets and purses by the billion--celebrating our bounties--this will never change. Pictures of kids, pets, loved ones, beautiful sunsets, friends, parties, medals from track meets--this is a running blog. Family portraits have always been a staple of "normal" life. Every parent and grandparents have the head and shoulder portrait that they had made at the local Olan Mills. These pictures were retouched to eliminate any defects and highlite the stuff that needed to be highlited. I have some in my attic right now from deceased family.
Linda and I have never had the family "portrait" done because we just were not ready to take that plunge. I had some work commissioned a few weeks back of Linda and it was supposed to be a Christmas present, but it was way too good to keep under lock and key that long, plus it needed to be displayed. As soon as Linda saw the work, and it is incredibly good, she commissioned a portrait of me as well. The above is the portraits on display at the artist's home. Matt Jenkins did the work and we are thrilled with these our portraits. He uses drum heads as the media and adds bits of the person's life in the background of each portrait. Just magic how this works. Matt's mother was an artist and he is following in her footsteps and I wish him well as he builds his reputation. These portraits will hopefully survive and will passed down to someone's attic in the future.....
My idea for a portrait was hatched when Linda and I were visiting Matt and Cynthia at a dinner party at their house. They had recently married and we hosted a brunch on their wedding weekend and they were throwing a party to say thanks. Matt had a drum head with a picture of Jack White that was bright and sparkly and just looked smart and unique. I approached him about doing a Linda portrait and I thought it would be on wood--which he also does a lot of-but it is a 22 inch drum head skin. I sent a couple batches of pictures and added some story about her life and interests and in a couple weeks I got a text to come and check it out. Nice! Matt adds crystals on the pictures and he added some on Linda's glasses and they sparkle just like the pair she wears all the time. It is lifelike! Sometimes, way too lifelike..........
While we are on the art subject, we are redecorating our living room.. The new recliner has arrived and is in service. Two new storage end tables are unpacked and in use too. We are waiting on a new sofa, and have relocated the TV, and with all this done, we need to move all the art work in the living room to properly fill the wall spaces. We have enough art to fill a 6000 square foot house, so we have to work hard at finding places to display the good stuff. Many times, it is like a traveling exhibit is in our house and we change multiple pieces at once. Time for a new exhibit at the Fly House.
In a couple weeks, the Canyon trip is on the books and I am excited about the Rim to Rim adventure. You never know when it could be your last hike to the bottom and I plan on making this a fun trek. Linda will go along and visit a bunch of family and one of her best girl friends. Linda does not do the hike, she will stay in Phoenix. I need to get the heavy pack out and do some hiking work to get the knees ready.
My idea for a portrait was hatched when Linda and I were visiting Matt and Cynthia at a dinner party at their house. They had recently married and we hosted a brunch on their wedding weekend and they were throwing a party to say thanks. Matt had a drum head with a picture of Jack White that was bright and sparkly and just looked smart and unique. I approached him about doing a Linda portrait and I thought it would be on wood--which he also does a lot of-but it is a 22 inch drum head skin. I sent a couple batches of pictures and added some story about her life and interests and in a couple weeks I got a text to come and check it out. Nice! Matt adds crystals on the pictures and he added some on Linda's glasses and they sparkle just like the pair she wears all the time. It is lifelike! Sometimes, way too lifelike..........
While we are on the art subject, we are redecorating our living room.. The new recliner has arrived and is in service. Two new storage end tables are unpacked and in use too. We are waiting on a new sofa, and have relocated the TV, and with all this done, we need to move all the art work in the living room to properly fill the wall spaces. We have enough art to fill a 6000 square foot house, so we have to work hard at finding places to display the good stuff. Many times, it is like a traveling exhibit is in our house and we change multiple pieces at once. Time for a new exhibit at the Fly House.
In a couple weeks, the Canyon trip is on the books and I am excited about the Rim to Rim adventure. You never know when it could be your last hike to the bottom and I plan on making this a fun trek. Linda will go along and visit a bunch of family and one of her best girl friends. Linda does not do the hike, she will stay in Phoenix. I need to get the heavy pack out and do some hiking work to get the knees ready.

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