Darkness in my soul...

Yesterday afternoon we mounted my exhibition in the Eye Clinic. The first painting I put on the wall, in front of the entrance door, was the biggest one, the one from Polop I presented in my last entry (but without the gay flag, of course!).
The reaction came at once:
"It is so dark and so big... don´t you have something else?"

Saying that, his face told such an horror story that if I were not so well-educated, I would have left at once, with all my paintings. Instead of that I humbly hung the painting where he said, on another wall which is most of the time hidden by an open door to another room. The other paintings, luckily, were brighter... although by one of them, the man said:
"I guessed Hamburg..."
and it was featuring a harbour here in Spain... 2 kilometers away from the Eye Clinic location! My fault I guess, as i painted it in northern colours...

I wanted to show you today some photos of the exhibition, But I was so fed-up that I couldn´t do any... and the rest of my day was spoiled! People sometimes are so cruel with us, artists. I don´t even believe they mean to be, and perhaps it´s only me who has such an extremely high sensitivity...

But don´t worry, I´m fine now, and all my energy is back.
I have just started the new "Give me a Title" competition on Planet Goodaboom. Feel free to participate and... there is something to win!
Here is the painting featured in the competition:

Buying my place in Paradise...

Planet Goodaboom, Friday 9th March 2007

My parents live in a flat in Tarbes, in the French Pyrenees, in the first floor. Underneath there lives alone a very old Catholic priest, he must be about 90 years old now. A very funny figure. I remember when I met him for the first time on the stairs there, I was on the way to my kick boxing training. My mother told him that, and he suddenly got very bright eyes, asking me if I had seen the film „X“ –sorry, I don´t remember the name!- with a woman as a kick boxer... he said that he loved the film. And as he said bye to me, he started wildly throwing his fists and legs in the air, in the manner of a kick boxer!
He is also the one who bakes special butter-laden cookies for Maya, my parent´s dog... he knows that my parents don´t want that the dog to eat too many cookies, so he just waits until they turn their backs and he feeds her with all the cookies within 2 minutes! You should see his innocent, sinless eyes after!
Anyway... some days ago he went to my parents flat and saw some of my paintings there. He was fascinated by the abstract ones, especially the one with the very bright colours, „La dame en noir“. Which I gave my mother last year for Mother´s day:

The priest said that he was something of a connaisseur in art and literature, and made many compliments about my work.
„You can believe me, I know what I am speaking about, she is a great artist!“
Oh God!

He spent a long time sitting there, and watching the Lady in Black, At the end he took a very sinful look and asked, with a very shy voice:

„Can you ask your daughter if she can give me one painting? Just a tiny one? I know it is very shameful of me, but... it is so beautiful, I can´t resist!“

My mother was quite embarrassed to tell, me that, but why? I feel quite honoured, I must say! I always feel honoured when somebody loves my paintings so much that he wants to hang one at home, either paid for, or not!
So I have chosen for the priest today one of my favourite „Impressions“, called „Phantasm“, and Kevin will put a beautiful frame around it. My mother thinks it´s too much, but as I told her just now on the phone:
„It might help me to get a place in Paradise!

Smaller than the bank note!

www.goodaboom.com


Planet Goodaboom, Wednesday 28th February 2007


I was back in the Street Gallery last Sunday, after 4 weeks pause forced by the police and even more by the weather. And as I told: it was a successful day!
It seems that people had missed me and were happy to see me again there with all my paintings.
If I were arrogant I would dare to say:
„I bring the colour to that town!“


I sold that painting, called by Kevin „The Solitary Pine“. By the way, since I have know him, he is the one who gives titles to my paintings! This is the reason why they suddenly all have English titles...I hate to do it myself, perhaps because I hate to look at my paintings when they are finished: past is past!

This was the first one of a large series of miniatures I painted last year. My wise father had told me to do it, suggesting that many of my clients are older people who already have a long life behind them and have filled their house with a lot of stuff, and surely haven´t much place for a new picture on their wall!
How right he was! Many clients told me the same already. And this was exactly the point with my old Norwegian lady on Sunday. She loved my art, and wanted one at any cost, but had no place on her walls. She chose the smallest one!
Lucky for her, I would say, as the smallest also happens to be one of my favourite landscape paintings.
It was a very strange feeling, at the end, as she paid me: the note was bigger than the painting! I can tell you: this is an immense feeling of happiness, because it demonstrates so obviously that for some people, art is more important than money!

So... the solitary pine will soon hang on Norwegian walls. There are already many paintings from me decorating Norwegian walls, as these folk are my best clients. Norwegian love art, and love it with a natural simplicity. When they see a painting which they like, they don´t think twice: they just buy it, wherever it is, and without even asking who painted it.
Nice!