Tomorrow, May 8, off to Holland for a commission. Sorry, no post this week. Come back next week.
Off to Holland
A great guitarist, a big hitter
Will Sophie
A month ago Will Sophie was visiting us in Spain. I’ve told you about him before. He plays guitar on some of my recent videos. We are cousins. We come from the same social background. He got into music and I started painting. Two different people with different characters. But we had things in common: we both had a dream, and we shared the inability to survive in a nine-to-five job. I did that until my early twenties, and Will not much longer. The choice for individual independence in our milieu was not very obvious. Which does not mean that our parents were not proud of what we did and achieved. On the contrary. (Behind my back my father gathered my discarded drawings and if something appeared in print he secretly made a small collection). Will has made an impressive career for himself, and I think he belongs to the Top Ten Dutch guitarists. I’m proud that he gave me permission to use his music. It adds so much luster to my videos.
Check out also his video channel.
Spring has started well.
After a dry winter this week spring began. And it started fantastic: yesterday it rained cats and dogs and that was more than welcome. We have yearned for months for some rain here. From memory it has never been this dry. But now the vegetable crops are washed crisp and clean. The fava beans already carry flowers and it is not long before we will see the first beans.
Last week we had a special visit. The Deputy Director of the China Millennium Monument/ World Art Museum in Beijing came to see us on her spanish tour of some artist studio´s. We agreed to see whether there are possibilities to run a number of portrait painting workshops in China. So, who knows…
A great day in Amsterdam
As I told you, we were in Amsterdam. Bas and I, we had a meeting with Sjef to discuss new strategies for this blog. Soon we will publish the second long video tutorial. At the same time we want to do some changes to make this site more accessible. I get huge numbers of visitors on my blog and on my Youtube video channel. And I want to expand even more that success. More information on Portrait painting open to more people. That is why we had this meeting. I made the video shots with Helma´s photo camera, so quality is moderate. You see Bas, my webmaster, at the wheel, Helma my wife and Sjef, the expert on internet affairs. After the meeting we went for a short lunch and later we dropped of Sjef at his office.
Recipe Tomato ketchup
You saw Helma´s kitchen garden. Now it is TOMATO TIME.
Here is a recipe for a delicious tomato ketchup:
- 2.5 kilo´s of tomatoes (remove the seeds from the tomatoes as much as possible in order to make the sauce less runny)
- 1 red pepper
- 2 medium size onions
- garlic clove, from the press
- 100 ml of vinegar
- 75 gr. sugar
- 2 teaspoons grated ginger
- 2 teaspoons paprika
- 2 teaspoons nutmeg
- 1 pinch cayenne pepper
- 1 tablespoon coriander seeds
- 1 clove
- pepper
- juice of half a lemon
Wash the tomatoes and cut them into pieces. Wash peppers and cut into pieces, remove the seeds.
Add the tomato, pepper, onion, lemon juice and garlic with a dash ofwater in a saucepan and simmer about 1 hour on low heat. Stir occasionally to avoid sticking. Add, if needed, a little bit water. Mash the sauce, off the fire with a hand blender.
Put it back on the fire and add the vinegar, sugar and spices.
Allow the sauce to simmer for another 1.5 hours, or until it has thickened sufficiently. Test it on salt and pepper. Pour the hot sauce into sterile jars. Seal the jars with a matching lid and turn it upside down to cool.
El huertecico de Helma, Helma´s kitchengarden
Earlier in this blog I already wrote about the Helma´s kitchen garden. It is her “pride and joy” I said. And still it is. Now, in August, it is time for the tomatoes, courgettes, aubergines, onions, lettuce and whatnot. A continuing harvest throughout the year. The video I made this week, shows the watering procedure. Chelva has many springs and small rivers whose water is used for agriculture. Through a network of channels, in Spanish “acequias”, the water is directed to the vegetable gardens. A system that has been in use since Roman times.
You see Helma stabbing a small wooden board in the pit of the acequia, thereby draining the water towards our garden. It takes us half an hour to irrigate. It is our turn every week from Tuesday morning’s sun rise, until Wednesday evening sun’s demise. Annual costs: €2.75 . Peanuts!
Mark Knopfler, sweet memories
In 1996 my daughter and I went to a concert of singer Laura Pausini. At the time, a popular teen idol. It was a birthday gift when she became 12 years old. Father & daughter going out to the Velodrome in Valencia. We really enjoyed the concert (together!), I remember it very well.
For last Friday night she was alble to get two tickets for the concert of Mark Knopfler in Madrid, in Las Ventas. For my 62nd birthday. Again father & daughter on the scene. She could not do me no greater pleasure. The music of Knopfler has accompanied me a big part of my life. During the hours that I was working behind my easel and during the long hours driving my car when I was bound once more for the Netherlands. My daughter knows my music taste like no other. And I know hers. Pausini then and Knopfler now. During the concert I mused on what happened in the intervening years. Sweet memories of the past times during a fantastic concert next to my dear daughter. Beautiful!
Pride and joy.
This photograph has nothing to do with portrait painting, but everything with our daily life here in Chelva. The kitchen garden is Helma´s pride and joy. We are lucky to live in a tranquil farming village, where each has a vegetable garden and where everyone shares his plants. One sows tomatoes the other onions. And anyone trying to grow as pure as possible. Life here is quiet but with great dynamic. Far away from the Monsanto debate, that affects us all and threatens the whole world.
Roman aqueduct of Chelva
Roman aqueduct of Chelva
Today no information on portrait painting. This weekend we had a visit of my eldest sister and her son. This morning we made a long walk and showed them the beautiful surroundings of Chelva towards the Roman Aqueduct and the Peña Cortada.
We had a coffee in Calles and back home again. Along the way we found over a kilo wild asparagus and prepared it for lunch. Delicious veneered with poached eggs. (Thank you Simon!) Glass of wine … so not many tips on portrait painting today. Next week better.
Wild asparagus
Yesterday night I returned from my “Commissioned Portrait Peregrinate”. Safe & Sound back home. I had some very nice encounters with clients. And this time a variety of portrait commissions. A chairman of an international building company. Some children´s portraits and a portrait of an elegant lady. Three different categories, and each one with their own attraction. I love them all. Later I hope I can show you some of it. (Depending on the consent of the clients.) But in order to get going I spend my first day home with important trivial things like emptying suitcases and reading my mails. Weather was excellent this morning in Chelva so we left for a fairly long walk in the mountains around the village. It´s really the season now for good, wild asparagus. We found without searching, enough to have a good starter for dinner. Fried with some garlic and a scrambled egg. Delicious! Makes me feel home again.
Next Sunday I will come back and I will tell you more about my approach towards my models.