The title is the approximative translation of a Romanian saying. When you put yourself in the ridicule (or, sometimes, favorable,prestigious) position to talk philosophy to Plato or religion to the Pope... The favorable, prestigious position being when Plato asks for your advice concerning the Ideas or the Pope asks you how he should formulate his next encyclical... Well, let me tell a (short) story... a full-time artist, who doesn't have "independent means" has to participate at all kind of exhibitions, symposiums etc. to try to sell his/her stuff... In 1993 (I think, it could also be 1994) I was taking part in an Art Symposium at Bromont (a small turistical town, renowned especially for its Chocolate Festival). All kind of artists were there - from the color photograph reproducers to the gestualist abstract ones... The Honorary President of the event (it was in August and was sleeping in my car, the 2 nights of the 3 days)was
Michel des Marais, a very nice painter, specialized in Quebec landscapes with sheep (no sheep, no Michel des Marais original...) He's an artist who do very well for himself (especially since his wife seem to be the financial manager). A Mercedes SUV proved the thing without any possibility of doubt...
And, folks, Michel des Marais, nick-named The
"Prince of the Sheep" bought the my above reproduced
Portrait of a Sheep! I wasn't expensive, of course, me not being the Prince of anything (and owning, at the time, a 12 years old small Mazda 323) but still:
to have The Prince of the Sheep buying from you a Sheep Portrait... not bad, not bad... So that's about it. One of my happy moments... Someday, when I'll be the Prince of something, maybe I can go arround in a new Roadtrack motorhome, doing the art symposiums in the vast Quebec or even in the even more vaste Canada. When I'll arrive in the US (Taos, New Mexico), I'll consider myself the Prince of Everything...
Since the "Dead fish" post seem to revulse the readers - my hit counter dropped almost dead! - I must do some-
No mystery that these days everything I write and do (like, for instance, choosing a reproduction for this post)has some dark touch... Even this 2004 fish looks more dead than normal on that plate... But, what can I do? I am who I am and I do what I do... A very intelligent and perceptive Romanian writer (usually that means that nobody but some Romanians have heard of him...)said once: "Do not EVER say something good about yourself because nobody will believe you. And do NOT ever say something bad about yourself because everybody will believe you..." (Garabet Ibraileanu) So, it's not very clever to say that I'm depressed, maybe bipolar? True, almost everybody's depressed these days - c'est "à la mode" - and even bipolarity isn't that rare... So, enjoy my dead fish - if you can - and do not be too harsh with me... Depression is for everybody and one day you'll try it too, maybe...
That's what Eugène Délacroix said: "A painting should be a feast for the eye." There are a lot of painters who agree with that. Some are great names, like Renoir and Matisse, to mention just two. Some are just quasi-anonymous artists, like myself. But I believe it firmly. Why else should you paint if not to create a joy for yourself and for the eventual onlookers? (Of course, things are more complicated than that... as things have the bad habit to be, but essentially that's it: paintings are - should be - a feast for the eye...) I can understand the experiment and experimentations of the conceptualist and abstract artists but, let's be honest: what joy do you get from looking a black square on a white square? 
The title is the approximative translation of a Romanian saying. When you put yourself in the ridicule (or, sometimes, favorable,prestigious) position to talk philosophy to Plato or religion to the Pope... The favorable, prestigious position being when Plato asks for your advice concerning the Ideas or the Pope asks you how he should formulate his next encyclical... Well, let me tell a (short) story... a full-time artist, who doesn't have "independent means" has to participate at all kind of exhibitions, symposiums etc. to try to sell his/her stuff... In 1993 (I think, it could also be 1994) I was taking part in an Art Symposium at Bromont (a small turistical town, renowned especially for its Chocolate Festival). All kind of artists were there - from the color photograph reproducers to the gestualist abstract ones... The Honorary President of the event (it was in August and was sleeping in my car, the 2 nights of the 3 days)was Michel des Marais, a very nice painter, specialized in Quebec landscapes with sheep (no sheep, no Michel des Marais original...) He's an artist who do very well for himself (especially since his wife seem to be the financial manager). A Mercedes SUV proved the thing without any possibility of doubt...
