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.

Lyrics Again

Posted on November 8, 2018 by JMN

One of my playlists I call “aMix” is an eclectic selection of some 50 songs from various genres and periods. (There’s also a list called bMix.) This morning I heard Jacques Brel singing “Ne me quitte pas.” As the poignant … Continue reading →

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Otto Schubert: Paintings from the Trenches

Posted on November 8, 2018 by JMN

  Art student Otto Schubert (1892-1970) was 22 years old when he was drafted into the war. As the conflict unfolded, he painted a series of postcards that he sent to his sweetheart, Irma. … All pictures extracted from Postcards … Continue reading →

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Nabi Dictum: The Essence

Posted on November 8, 2018 by JMN

“A picture, before being a war horse, a nude woman, or some anecdote, is essentially a flat surface covered by colours in a certain order.” (Maurice Denis) (c) 2018 JMN.

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“Cream-colored Screams”

Posted on November 8, 2018 by JMN

“I swear if I had to do this over again, I would just do the paintings and never show them,” [Twombly] said in a 1994 profile in Vogue. “I was brought up to think you don’t talk about yourself. I … Continue reading →

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Leonor Fini

Posted on November 8, 2018 by JMN

“She always felt that identity was just a mask,” Ms. Rivera said. “So the masks that she chose to wear were more true than her biological face.” (Daniel McDermon, “Sex, Surrealism and de Sade: The Forgotten Female Artist Lenor Fini,” … Continue reading →

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Chrissie Hynde

Posted on November 8, 2018 by JMN

Rock stars becoming painters remains one the most cliched career transitions in showbiz… Hynde has reservations about entering this gang. “I mean, who the fuck am I? There’s so many people who’ve been doing this all their lives and they … Continue reading →

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Judith Kazantzis

Posted on November 8, 2018 by JMN

Ms. Kazantzis wrote in free verse, her language intelligent but not didactic, powerful but not polemic. It could be witty, with traces of sarcasm. She portrayed women as complex, to correct literature’s pigeonholing them in one-dimensional characterizations as goddess or … Continue reading →

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Lineman’s Whine

Posted on November 7, 2018 by JMN

(1) My love goes deeper than a Ditch Witch pokes, And higher than a cherry-picker soars. But I done caught you, darlin’, way ‘cross town Spendin’ my money in the Dollar Stores. (2) Baloney, rotgut wine, Chef Boyardee, Bags of … Continue reading →

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“Glenn Gould’s Scribbles”

Posted on November 6, 2018 by JMN

Those scribbles? That’s Glenn Gould, scratching on his sheet music as he recorded Bach’s “Goldberg” Variations in 1981. We reported this week on the newly rediscovered score, which offers some insights — barely legible ones — into Gould’s process and … Continue reading →

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The Young Woman and the Sea

Posted on November 6, 2018 by JMN

I’d worried about being lonely in France. I needn’t have. Brittany is the epicentre of sailing and everyone was interested in my journey. “You are taking on the nose of Brittany!?! By yourself? In this leetle boat?” This reaction became … Continue reading →

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