ITALIAN ARTICHOKES

Artichokes

James Aponovich

oil on panel, 20" x 16"

The artichoke is the vegetable counterpoint to the lobster. Both wear armored spikes and are formidable opponents. In America, both are enjoyed simply....hot and dipped in melted butter. Here in Italy, the artichoke sings a different song.

THE KING OF VEGETABLES

The artichoke,that most Italian vegetable is in reality a thistle. The best artichokes come from the top of the plant, the Italians call these 'cimaroli' because they come from the 'cima' or peak of the plant. The season runs from December through April. The Roman artichoke is the round 'Romanesco' which is green. The other dominate variety is the elongated 'Violetto' with

 purple leaves (shown above).

CARCIOFI

The Culinary Holy Trinity of Rome

CARCIOFI ALLA GIUDIA ( Jewish Style)

Flattened and deep fried in olive oil to a deep golden brown. Crisp on the outside and warm and tender in the middle. Order these a Da Giggetto, next to the Portico d'Ottavia.


CARCIOFI ALLA ROMANA

The leaves are stuffed with chopped artichoke stems, garlic, parsley, lemon and Roman mint called 'mentuccia'. They are then braised in olive oil and water until very done.


CARCIOFI con I PISELLI

Artichokes stewed in olive oil with onion, prosciutto and peas.

!!!*** MEDICAL ALERT ***!!!!

I write this on Pasqua ( Easter Sunday). Pasqua is enjoyed with family with huge feasts. Tomorrow is Pasquetta and is meant to be spent with friends. Elizabeth and I had planned a dinner party with friends featuring 'Carciofi Lasagne' (Artichoke lasagna), but, unfortunately we haver"prendiamo raffreddore " (caught colds and cough). Perhaps next week.

To be continued....

CIAO

{week 31}

Copyright 2015 James Aponovich

FLORENCE IS BURNING!

Florence ( in progress)

James Aponovich

pencil and oil on panel, 16" x 20"

Florence fears death by water ( the Arno), not fire. But, as the year 1500 approached Florence was swept with Apocalyptic fever, many feared the Final Days and Resurrection were close at hand. This was brought to mind as I applied a wash of red ochre ( curiously called Burnt Sienna), to my drawing on panel. The wash creates an overall tone and makes the surface easier to paint on. Back to Florence, then

THE MAD MONK FROM FERRARA

Portrait of Savonarola

Fra Bartolomeo

His name was Girolamo Savonarola and he was born in Ferrara in 1452. Girolamo was an introspective boy, gloomy and pale with a large nose and piercing eyes. It was said that he fell in love with a Strozzi girl, the daughter of a Florentine exile. She firmly rejected him, he looked into the mirror and decided to dedicate his life to God, rigid austerity and sermonizing. he would have not made a very good dinner guest.

BONFIRES OF THE VANITIES

Fra Angelico
The Damned (detail)
San Marco

San Marco, interior

He became a Dominican monk and eventually ended up at

 San Marco in Florence, the City of God ( and the Medici's). He preached against what he saw as the physical excesses of the day and he proclaimed that God spoke through him to foretell the end of time. Thousands flocked to his sermons even though he spoke in a high pitched voice, heavy with Ferrara accent. They believed every word. He formed his own version of the Revolutionary Guard 

called the ' Blessed Bands'. Children in white robes and short hair would carry olive branches and red crosses and walk about the city collecting expensive clothing, jewelry, profane books and paintings ( the  Vanities) and build mounds of 'stuff' in the Piazza della Signoria and set it ablaze to singing and bell ringing ( the Bonfires). Even the painter Botticelli succumbed to the fervor and threw some of his paintings into the flames. Savonarola also condemned the Papacy for its rampant corruption. Rome was not pleased, in particular the corpulent and lascivious Borgia Pope, Alexander VI.

Fresco from San Marco

Fra Angelico

"Catch on fire with enthusiasm and people will come from miles to watch you burn."

                                              - Chinese proverb

Had Girolamo read this in his fortune cookie, he would have known his own demise was coming. The pope had excommunicated him and Savonarola saw and praised the invading French army under Charles III as the hand of God punishing the Italians. He was loosing his popularity, even his supporters turned on him. He was arrested, tortured and, along with two of his fellow monks, burnt to death in the same Piazza della Signoria where he held his Bonfires of the Vanities. Today, a plaque is set on the spot where he was exected. It is a strange sight to watch tourists walk over it, eating gelato.

UPDATE ON THE FLORENCE PAINTING

Florence ( in progress)

James Aponovich

pencil and oil on panel, 12" x 20"

{week 29}

Copyright 2015 James Aponovich

THE COCKTAIL ISSUE

THE MANHATTAN  ( Via Brooklyn )

Manhattan Cocktail with Cherries

James Aponovich

oil on panel, 5" x 5"

During the 1940's my mother lived for a while in New York City. Her favorite cocktail was, fittingly, the Manhattan, Rye Whiskey, Sweet Vermouth, Bitters and of course a cherry. It was and still is a noble drink, strong and balanced. When the war ended and she returned to New England to raise a family she softened quite a bit to the point where once a day she would drink something 

called a "Cape Codder"...hardly a cocktail. It reminds me of the Lobsterman, Dale from Bucks Harbor, Maine, dumping vodka into a Diet Pepsi and looking at me with a grin

 and saying, "My attitude adjuster, deah."

THE CULINARY ASPECTS OF THE COCKTAIL

"After you've made your Manhattan. add a cherry only if you're hungry."

                                          -Brad, Mixologist

"Come on , Brad!" I would bet that most of humanity, when they order a Manhattan and it comes without a cherry? Long faces and deep disappointment! But, really, what for? Most cherries you get are insipid, overly sweet, bland and cute! They are better served as a photo op on an ice cream sundae or in a painting ( like, above). But, there is the real deal out there and I came across it where else, Italy.

THE 'ORIGINAL'  MARASCHINO

That cute little red ball we know as a Maraschino cherry derives from a wild cherry called the Marasca. It grows on the Dalmatian Coast and the Veneto region of northern Italy. It is small, dark and a bit disagreeable but in the right hands it is cultivated into quite something.

Luxardo* Maraschino

* A raising of the glass to Frank W., of The Parker House, Boston.

The cherries are made into a clear liqueur normally sipped after dinner. The Italians also like to wash fresh strawberries with it. Whole cherries are immersed in Marasca syrup, tiny  but intense. This is the cherry for cocktails.

 SBAGLIATO 'BROOKLYN'

THE BROOKLYN MISTAKE

NO, I'm not talking about the Barclay Center, sbagliato is a difficult to pronounce word in Italian that means error............ I have to use it a lot.

As part of my research, I was reading Straight Up Or On The Rocks, The Story of the American Cocktail, by William Grimes, former restaurant critic for the New York Times. Much lore with a splash of confusion. His version of the Manhattan is a 3 to 1 mixture of Whiskey to Vermouth with a dash of bitters...cherry optional!

It was then I came across the Brooklyn cocktail, which includes a dash of Maraschino Liqueur, Yes!

I couldn't wait until 5:00 pm to arrive, however, in my haste and inattentiveness I misread the recipe. It calls for Dry(French) Vermouth , not Red (Italian) Vermouth. "Santo Cielo!" I had already poured red,so waste not, I made a 'Brooklynite' into a Manhattan with Maraschino, I know its a bit over the top but I'm sticking with it. Its a full figure Manhattan.

RECIPES

MANHATTAN ( William Grimes)

1 1/2 oz. Rye or Bourbon

1/4 oz. French (dry) vermouth

1/4 oz. Italian (sweet) Vermouth

1 dash Angostura Bitters

1 Maraschino Cherry (optional)

Shake in ice, pour

BROOKLYN ( Grimes)

2 oz. Rye or Bourbon

1 oz. French (dry) Vermouth

1 dash Angostura Bitters

1 dash Maraschino Liqueur

Shake in ice, pour (no cherry)

THE BROOKLYN SBAGLIATO  (Aponovich)

or if you can't pronounce that

THE 'PLUS SIZE' MANHATTAN

3 parts Bourbon ( I use Woodford Reserve)

1 part Italian (red) Vermouth (Punt e Mes)

1 dash Angostura  Bitters

More than a dash of Maraschino Liqueur (Luxardo)

2 Maraschino Cherries ( Luxardo)

Shake in ice, shake some more, pour

{week 27}

Copyright 2015 James Aponovich

WRAPPING UP THE AMARYLLIS (part III)

STAGE I

Amaryllis ( in progress)

James Aponovich

Don't touch it! It's finished!

STAGE II

Amaryllis / grisaille ( in progress)

James Aponovich

STAGE III

In The Night Studio, The Amaryllis
James Aponovich
oil on canvas, 20" x 12"


Complete (well, maybe)


First of all, I must apologize to anyone tuning in to this blog expecting an explanation on how to store an Amaryllis bulb until next year. Unfortunately, I don't have the foggiest idea, but it probably has something to do with newspaper and a dark, dry , cool place. No, this is about a journey of a painting. At this point it is done. Its relative success or failure is not for me to determine, it is only
 time to move on.


A NARRATIVE WITHOUT LANGUAGE

The Magic Shelf

(detail)
James Aponovich

(detail)
James Aponovich



Coming up......Florence





{week 26}


Copyright 2015 James Aponovich

THE GREEK CHORUS*

* A term used by Boston Globe Art Critic, Cate McQuaid, in describing a similar

painting in an exhibition of mine at Clark Gallery in 2013.

Still Life with Amaryllis (in progress)
James Aponovich
oil on canvas, 20" x 12"


There are those who would say, with some justification, "It's finished, don't touch it."
Perhaps they would be right, but there is something in artists that keeps wanting to push things further, to weave a more complex tapestry. "Less is More," not withstanding, I feel that more is needed  in this painting, so for the background, I have decided to fill it up with objects from the studio, my old warhorses.Since I have already determined the value gradient, all I have to do is choose the right objects that will complete the composition....Easy?....Not really. Remember it's a chorus, no off notes. There is a lot to control here, so at this point I turn to a very old technique....


GRISAILLE

The Flemaille Panel, 1420
Robert Campin (Flemish)


Grisaille is a monochromatic painting, usually grey. It allows the artist to concentrate only with value to create form ( color can quickly get out of hand). Since I had already established the overall values of the background ( darker to lighter), I had to make sure that when all the objects are painted, the total sum of the values would remain the same overall, it's complicated. But, how do I space the background for the objects?


TWO SQUARES OVERLAPPING

By overlapping two squares based on the width of the rectangle, I arrive at two important horizontal lines. These help in establishing the spacing of the shelves that will create the bookcase.


THE MEMBERS OF THE CHORUS

Still Life with Amaryllis ( in progress)
James Aponovich
oil on panel, 20" x 12"


Next up....Let's color up!




{week 24}

Copyright 2015 James Aponovich

WINTER LIGHT

VITA BREVIS

Q. I am outraged! I have been following your pet 'project' for awhile and all I am seeing are insipid pictures of flowers, candy, sticky notes and now a pineapple swan ! Hello! Wake up! Wht aren't you addressing the urgent social issues of economic inequality, our stagnant political structure,pervasive racial prejudice and racism's by-products, world hunger and disease?

                                                                                 - Alyssa M., Cambridge, MA

A. I thought I was.

ARS LONGAS

Calla Lily

James Aponovich
From the Sketchbook, pencil on paper


" Flowers are very hard to paint, much harder than faces or landscapes."
                                                             -Alex Katz, Pop Artist


THE UNCOMMON CORE

When Beth and I were asked to write an e-book for the California school system entitled, How To Read A Painting, I knew that we had our work cut out for us. The book was directed at the seventh grade. I once taught the seventh grade and in fact I was once a seventh grader myself. I knew it as a difficult transitional time in life. The clarity of the childhood vision was clouded over by the way things were 'suppose' to be. It soon became apparent what we were saying to them applies to adults as well. We were trying to explain how to not just look but to see and then see deeper. To wit, may I introduce........



THE AMARYLLIS

I usually paint flowers in the summer or fall when they are in bloom in our garden. The Amaryllis is an exception, it must be painted in winter light.

In my studio


I found an old, exhausted canvas lying around the studio that just had a light wash of a garden scene sketched on it, I knew that it was going nowhere so I covered it in an Iron Oxide ( black) giving me a dark ground. The shape of the canvas seemed appropriate, it's the Golden Section, more or less.

I began painting the flowers all prima, directly onto the dark ground, no room fro error. I had marked where the pot was to be and a small section of the table.


DIALECTIC / DIALOGUE

I have said before that when I use a cloth in a painting, it is to balance what is happening in the other parts, by texture, form and color. Because I had no room below the table to establish the cloth, I placed it on top of the table, in back of the pot, in what I call "the sleeping cat position." ( I once painted a sleeping cat into a still life ).

 I chose a brocade fabric with colors, if combined, would result in the same color of the flowers. I hesitate from calling it 'salmon', it doesn't seem right to use the color of the raw flesh of a fish to describe a petal of a flower....or maybe it does.

Amaryllis Flowers ( detail)
James Aponovich

The flowers are what you look at first, they are the stars, the lead singer. The cloth is there for support, the back up singers. I need to bring the eye up and down to both. I could paint water drop on the stem, but before I do that I've established a value gradation in the background, lighter at the bottom, darker at the top, nine values in all.

Amaryllis ( in progress)
James Aponovich

Now, to keep the lower part interesting, I've used some artistic 'smoke and mirrors'. The left side of the cloth is lighter against the background while the right side is darker against the same background, also before I paint the flower pot, the left side of the cloth is darker against the pot while the right side is lighter. There is a constant manipulation of value to keep the eye moving. but maybe the painting is a bit boring and uninspired. Perhaps its time to bring in......
The Greek Chorus

To Be Continued.


{week 23}

Copyright 2015 James Aponovich

E~N~E

E ~ N ~ E

"The dogfish are back" *

                                                    -Kimball Petty, Little Deer Isle, Maine

* Local Mainers response to the returning 'summer people', who like the small sand shark ( dogfish) only come when the weather is warm (er).

DOWNEAST

 Blue Hill From Parker Point

James Aponovich

oil on canvas

As far as I know, there is no agreed upon point as to where "Downeast" actually begins. To mariners gunkholing up the Maine coast, it starts when you set your compass East / Northeast to follow the coast after Cape Elizabeth. To others, it is when the glacially fingered Mid Coast opens to Penobscot Bay, home of ancient volcanos. To diehards, it's only after you reach lonely Naskeag and set out onto Blue Hill or Jericho Bay that the real Downeast begins,. It is also, as they say.....

.......A STATE OF MIND

Pine Tree, Sebasco, Maine

James Aponovich

oil on canvas

We have lived there, for fifteen years we owned a house on Eggemoggin Reach,  about a mile from the Deer Isle bridge. We lived amongst the aging hippie diaspora   who settled there seeking the "good life,' albeit on rocky soil and frigid waters. We also knew the Grindles and Grays,  descendants of English prisoners released on the shore of what was then Massachusetts Bay Colony, later the British exported 

their 'unwanteds' to Australia. We were friends with Consuela and Julia, aristocratic Atlanta belles who taught us gardening and grace. We were all there bound by one common question, often asked: "How did you ever find this place?" We all came there from different circumstances and for different reasons, but the convergence united us all until the tide turned and it was time to move on.

THE TIDAL POOL

The Tidal Pool, Low Tide

James Aponovich

Oil on canvas, 8" x 12"

The current thinking is that early in our planets life, the earth was only rock, no water and little, if any

atmosphere. Our little sphere endured an aerial bombardment of asteroids, leaving craters and somehow, water, which after countless eons, created oceans.We still go to the coast of Maine and find that primordial scene recreated, the ebb and flow of water and rock. The scars from that violent epoch are still visible on that other rock, our Moon. On Earth the scars are hidden, but here the sea gradually erodes the granite shore exposing the once molten, ancient basalt. As the land slips under the sea and the Earth spins under the Moon, it all becomes magic.

Moon Rise Over the Gulf of Maine, High Tide

James Aponovich

"The sea has many voices, many gods and many voices."

                              -T.S. Eliot, The Four Quartets

THE POST-IT NOTE QUESTION

THE POST-IT NOTE QUESTION

? 

James Aponovich

Assemblage: wood panel, paper, ink, 2014

To:  Aponovich 43

Re: Artwork

Title:  ?

Source:Blog post, # 15  A43

Dear A43,

I am quite interested in your use of the visual/ conceptual trajectory in your recent assemblage ? ( 2014).

 Your repurposing of the found object combined with the manual task of art marking engage and challenge the existing social matrix (zietgeist). The manipulation of a significant social artifact (post-it) coupled with the highly charged symbolic

 icon (?) enables you to reference the current, existential, nihilistic angst ( blank canvas/nothing). I find all this most refreshing.

    I look forward to following your explorations. Were you at ArtBasel? I don't recall seeing your work there.

                                   - Trevor F., Manhattan

                                      

A.  Uh.... No... I wasn't.

GOBBLEDYGOOK  ( GOB'  EL - DEE- GCOK )   n. ( coined by Maury Maverick 1895-1954)

                                                                Unclear wordy jargon.

THE ACCIDENTAL PAINTING

? Post-It Note

James Aponovich

oil on panel, 20" x 16", 2014

Sometimes you find paintings in the strangest places. In order to illustrate " Blank canvas brain freeze" in the last blog I set up a "still life' of a sticky note on a blank panel which became the basis for this painting.

The question is, why the question?

I don't really know.

ALL THAT GLITTERS

ALL THAT GLITTERS

Malted Milk Balls

James Aponovich

oil on canvas, 11" x 9"

R.T.A.

R.T.A. is gallery speak for a work of art that is "returned to artist." for whatever reason, they don't want it anymore, it may take up too much space or there is little interest, but as they say," we know where it is".......

....not always.

I have had many R.T.A.'s in my career and generally speaking, they have found new homes. Sometimes they stay and occupy a prized spot on a wall, other times they find themselves back in the studio like disorderly students

 who find themselves in detention after school, they sit in the studio and the question is asked, "what is wrong with you?"

Believe me, I am very familiar with this analogy.

BLANK CANVAS BRAIN FREEZE

?

James Aponovich
Post-it Note & Ink, 20" x 16"

The blank canvas or (or page) contains unlimited potential and it is up to the artist to release the latent energy within. I have tried to explain that one method to assist the exploration is geometrical proportion, but that by itself will not necessarily get you very far, it is only a substructure. It's what you put onto it that becomes the "art", which is ineffable and impossible to teach. When a sculptor looks at an uncarved block they must envision the form they want and just remove the excess (material) to release it. A painter adds only what (material) is necessary, no more....easy to say, difficult to do.

SITTING IN DETENTION

So, here I have a painting I 'completed'  a couple of years ago. The gallery didn't want it so I brought it into the studio for a look. I decided to have another go at it but keep the theme of a bag of candy. The malted milk balls seemed dull, so to get more visual appeal I needed glitz!...and I knew exactly where to go to find it.

"I only eat candy."

       - Andy Warhol *

EYE CANDY

If you follow the 43rd Parallel due east from Peterborough, you will arrive at the Revolutionary War Capital of Exeter, New Hampshire, next door is the town of Stratham, the American home of the Swiss mega sweet corporation,

Lindt Chocolate, and they have an outlet shop!

Bins of candy at Lindt

What's the line about a kid in a candy store? This is Lindt's outlet store and it is amazing. While Beth went to the cafe for a hot chocolate ( it was a cold day)., I started digging through bins of European wrapped chocolates. I was seeking total visual eye appeal and was more than happy to be beguiled by a fancy wrapper. Armed with my bag of visual munitions, I returned to the studio for one more round with the painting......so here it is.

SAME PAINTING TWICE

                                      -with apologies to Howard Mansfield

Bag of Chocolates

James Aponovich

oil on canvas, 11" x 9"

P.S.  The obvious question arises as to why use an old canvas? Why not just start with a new one, its all about mojo. Paintings must have the flame of magic in them and if there exists only a spark ( in this case, hardly an ember), then the 'failed' canvas must be continued,

 artists must be explorers and again.....

A painting is only finished when there is nothing

more you can do to make it any better.

* Early in Andy Warhol's career this is what his response was as to why he wasn' eating at a formal, upper East Side dinner. He didn't know which fork or knife to use........brilliant response.

THE PRIMARY CHORD OR THE GORDIAN KNOT UNTIED

THE PRIMARY CHORD OR THE GORDIAN KNOT UNTIED

The most difficult color chord to work with is the primary triad of red, yellow and blue. They are the starting point in the mixing of other colors ( i.e. yellow + blue = green), but likewise they cannot be created from other colors. They don't particularly like each other so are difficult to place side by side, they each vary in chromatic intensity with yellow being the most dominate and blue least. red is very symbolic.

This chord was the starting point for the Hydrangeas Over the Amoskeag I introduced in week 2. Working with red, yellow and blue is like dealing with three chromatic divas so I needed a color that could settle this crowd down and that color is green.

This particular combination was one of the first 'scientific" color chords of the early Nineteenth  Century. It was also the first primary color chord. It was developed by none other than Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe, the German poet, dramatist and Italophile who also liked to dabble in the new science of optics. A Phd. was not required then.

IS IT FINISHED?

Hydrangeas Over The Amoskeag

James Aponovich

oil on canvas, 34" x 55"

So, here I am and the long climb  is approaching the summit. The painting of ten thousand windows and a million leaves is slowing "coming together", but exactly when do I finally put the brushes down and consider it done?

I have said before that a painting is only finished when there is nothing more you can do to make it any better. true enough, for a painting is more than the sum of its parts. By parts I mean all the complex elements of color, line,energy, visual weight, balance of imagery, proportion of areas and a myriad of other things  that all need to rush to a conclusion, a finish. But should a artist cross the threshold and seek to extend the painting it becomes "overworked." The life quickly gets sucked out of it.

The artists responsibility is to recognize the point of conclusion and there remains only one more thing to do......sign it.

Hydrangeas Over the Amoskeag  ( detail)

WHAT LIES BENEATH

WHAT LIES BENEATH THE SURFACE

( won't always bite you )

Italian Nocturne

James  Aponovich

oil on canvas, 17" x 12"

Q. "Hey Jim!, I'm an artist and I'm reading your blog and all I'm reading is pumpkins, shoes n' stuff! Where's the art? What's the matter, you got no more hocus-pocus and golden whatever's to explain?"

                                                                                                      - Quin R., Brooklyn

A. "OK."

DYNAMIC SYMMETRY

Remember the squared circle? here it is again, but now I've drawn the diagonal of the square and used the length to determine the sides of a new rectangle. 

It becomes an irregular proportion (i.e. a 12" x 16" is a 3 to 4 ratio and regular,

 this rectangle is 12" x 17", thus irregular). It is called a root two rectangle.

MIX AND MATCH

Now that I have established the outer lines of the rectangle, I now draw a line down the middle, bisecting it. I locate the Golden Section points on the sides (dotted lines).

CHILDS PLAY

With a compass I've had since elementary school, I inscribe the two circles  from the center on the Golden Section points. The circumference of each is determined by the distance between the Golden Section points. Still with me?

The circles more or less determine my key elements, the flowers, and mirroring them, the fabric. Balance by symmetry.

Q.  "Come on Jim, you're giving me a headache! Whats with all the lines? Don't you ever just wing it? 

      You know .......create? That's what artists do....create."

                                                                                                   -Quin

A.  "Again.....naturally"

THE SHELL GAME

The Chambered Nautilus is an example of the Golden Section as logarithmic spiral as a growth ratio .

In other words, as it gets bigger the shape remains the same.

The ancients believed that all of nature is infused with the 'Divine Proportion'. That I don't know about but why not use it to structure and enhance your.....

CREATIVITY

Cards From Cortona

James Aponovich

oil on panel, 7" x 5"

PS.  In response to Quin from Brooklyn, more than valid concerns that these formulas are in and of themselves hindering creativity I would say that I have spent over a quarter of a century studying formal composition, as I would tell my students, Once you  have learned it....forget it. Let it sink into your visual memory so that you can re-cognize when you see it. In other words, "Just wing it.....with knowledge."