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.

Clarice Beckett – The Present Moment — leonieandrews — Silicon Valley Types

Posted on March 25, 2021 by JMN

“roll up your catalogue and view each picture through it. … You will be rewarded with a wonderful suggestion of light and air and sufficient detail, and finish.” So said critic Percy Leason and  fellow student of Clarice Beckett (1887- … Continue reading →

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Neruda LXXXV

Posted on March 25, 2021 by JMN

[LXXXV]Del mar hacia las calles corre la vaga nieblaA seaward-springing hint of fog runs through the streetscomo el vapor de un buey enterrado en el frío,like steam from an ox interred in the cold,y largas lenguas de agua se acumulan … Continue reading →

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Animales/Animals

Posted on March 25, 2021 by JMN

Learn Spanish Knowing Mexican Culture/Blanca Caballero Animales/Animals

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‘El Borracho’ de Joaquín Sorolla

Posted on March 24, 2021 by JMN

“As if in preparation, with this deeply human painting he returned to his engagement with the Spanish peasant and, perhaps as important, to making brilliant use once more of the indispensable Spanish colour – black.” (Mark Brown, “National Gallery buys … Continue reading →

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Travesía (6)

Posted on March 22, 2021 by JMN

Versión castellana del poema “Crossing Brooklyn Ferry” (1856) de Walt WhitmanEnglish text at http://www.poetryfoundation.orgSpanish Interpretation by JMN [Translator’s note: I’m uncomfortably aware that I border on paraphrase and not translation in the last line particularly. The line casts flicker down … Continue reading →

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Still Life

Posted on March 20, 2021 by JMN

(c) 2021 JMN

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Neruda LXXXVI

Posted on March 18, 2021 by JMN

[LXXXVI]Oh Cruz del Sur, oh trébol de fósforo fragante,O Southern Cross, O cloverleaf of fragrant phosphorous,con cuatro besos hoy penetró tu hermosuratoday your beauty pierced with four kissesy atravesó la sombra y mi sombrero:and crossed over the shadow and my … Continue reading →

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Story Power

Posted on March 17, 2021 by JMN

There is one form of power that has fascinated me ever since I was a girl… the power of storytelling. In this May, 2019 essay, novelist Elena Ferrante writes that the “Decameron” by Giovanni Boccaccio (1313-1375) made a great impression … Continue reading →

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Travesía (5)

Posted on March 14, 2021 by JMN

Versión castellana del poema “Crossing Brooklyn Ferry” (1856) de Walt WhitmanEnglish text at http://www.poetryfoundation.orgSpanish Interpretation by JMN [Translator’s note: Though officially Spanish has imported the word “ferry,” I haven’t been happy with using it in the title of my rendering … Continue reading →

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The Humble Art

Posted on March 13, 2021 by JMN

I support the premise, aspirationally, that translation “involves being a writer,” to quote this article. The premise piggybacks on something I took on board long ago — that the first asset of a capable translator is to write well in … Continue reading →

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