Author Archives: JMN

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About JMN

I live in Texas and devote much of my time to easel painting on an amateur basis. I stream a lot of music, mostly jazz, throughout the day. I like to read and memorize poetry.

Vivian Browne

Posted on March 18, 2019 by JMN

In 1965, the artist, educator, and activist Vivian Browne (1929-1993) began a series titled Little Men. Considered her first major body of work, it consists of oil and acrylic paintings of white-collar middle-aged white men… They’re dressed in button-down shirts … Continue reading →

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Yes, It’s in Focus, I Think

Posted on March 18, 2019 by JMN

Suh Seung Won, a pioneer of the process-based Korean painting movement known as Dansaekhwa, or monochrome, started out with hard-edge, translucent rhombuses that evoke unreal architectural spaces. In the large-scale recent canvases comprising most of “Suh Seung Won: Simultaneity” at … Continue reading →

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“The Birth of the World”

Posted on March 17, 2019 by JMN

The artist André Masson once likened this large (8-by-6½ feet) canvas [“The Birth of the World” by Joan Miró] in its radicalness to Picasso’s “Les Demoiselles d’Avignon” of 1907. It is still startling that the two are only 18 years … Continue reading →

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From Llandudno to Cromer

Posted on March 17, 2019 by JMN

I have a weakness for challenging place names. Mr. Rayner delivers handsomely in his article. I have reviewed [restaurants] from Marazion and Porthleven at the tip of Cornwall to Stornoway and Drumbeg in Scotland’s furthest reaches; from Llandudno in the … Continue reading →

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Gurning Expressions and Good Craic

Posted on March 17, 2019 by JMN

I’ve recently locked into “Derry Girls” on Netflix, of which I’ve just encountered this enthusiastic review in The Guardian. For me, a dialect wonk, the series is a bracing dip into Irish brogue, besides good entertainment. The world is ready … Continue reading →

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“Keeping Busy”

Posted on March 17, 2019 by JMN

I remember … what my teacher said [about a tree study]. “Your tree is beautiful, Sarah, but I don’t know what an art director is going to do with that tree.” No matter, no mind. I was on my own … Continue reading →

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“A Girl From Somewhere Else”

Posted on March 17, 2019 by JMN

I take myself too seriously, probably because I’m a human being. With our big brains and our bigger egos, we can’t help building the case to ourselves and others that we are very important creatures, when really we’re ludicrous. To … Continue reading →

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High Cotton in Language Land

Posted on March 14, 2019 by JMN

[Confession: I hesitate to register enjoyment of language that happens to come from a debate whose seriousness I readily acknowledge. Brexit is beyond my purview, but I hope whatever solution is reached benefits the UK and its citizens. With that … Continue reading →

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Sports

Posted on March 14, 2019 by JMN

I’ve studied at every level of American education — elementary through graduate school and law school — and have taught without distinction at most levels as well — middle school, high school, community college, and university. None of this qualifies … Continue reading →

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“Resolving Uncertainty”

Posted on March 14, 2019 by JMN

I’m trying to make the musical intervals stick in my head through associated songs, a technique I’ve only just discovered. I’m painting each interval on canvas, first the minor second,  exemplified by the theme of the movie “Jaws.” The article excerpted below  recommends drawing … Continue reading →

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