Opening this Saturday!

Artist, former Gallery owner, and fellow student Deborah Allison will be showing Texan landscapes at the Kchisos Gallery (located at the Inn and Spa at Loretto) this weekend. The artist will be on hand from 1:00-3:00, so if you are in town consider stopping on by to say hi. I hear there will be snacks...

A Poem

Below you will find a poem by Michelangelo Buonarroti that has recently been a favorite at the Ryder Studio. Enjoy!



You have a face more beautiful than a turnip,
Sweeter than mustard; it appears the snail
Has walked on it, it shines so; like a parsnip
The whiteness of your teeth is, and like treacle
The color of your eyes; surely the Pope
To such as this must be susceptible,
Whiter and blonder than a leek your hair;
So I shall die if I don't get your favor.

I think your beauty much more beautiful
Than ever in a church a painted man,
And your mouth is just like a pocketful
Of beans, it seems to me, and so is mine.
Your eyebrows seem dyed in a crucible,
And more than a Syrian bow they twine.
Your cheeks are red and white when you sift flour,
Like fresh cheese and poppies mixed together.

And when I look upon you and each breast,
I think they're like two melons in a satchel,
And then I am like straw, and start to flash,
Although I am bent and broken by the shovel.
Think, if my lovely cup I still possessed,
I'd follow you past others like a beagle,
And if I thought that getting it was possible,
Here and today I'd do something incredible.

From the Complete Poems and Selected Letters of Michelangelo, pp 11-12, translated by Creighton Gilbert.

Birthdays, Etc.

Sorry for the lack of posts! I promise to get my act together and post more often. Below are a few recent events at the Studio.


John has been baking some really amazing cakes!


Above: Emile makes a wish (and we all wish he could stay longer! We'll miss you Emile!)


Emile's girlfriend sent a big box of delicious pastries for his birthday. Did I mention how much we all love Emile and his girlfriend?


John baked an amazing chocolate cake for Alyssa's birthday

Randy Orwig

Hi everyone. Randy, in case you don't already know him, is a really wonderful model who is visiting us from Florida. Tony has painted him a couple of times (see here). Anyway, Randy has a fascinating Flickr page on which he posts all sorts of versions of himself by artists from all over the country. I will post a link in the links bar, and have linked to his page here.

Interesting Links from John

The first link is a source for Corian Palettes. Art Specialties International will cut the material to size, but it will require some polishing. No power tools are needed, just a couple grades of sandpaper (1000 & 2000 grit) and some polishing compound available at Auto Zone. I have some sandpaper and polishing compound left if anyone wishes to use it for their palette.

Only certain colors are available in ¼ inch thickness. Tony’s Corian palette color is Dusk. The cost is around 40.00 with shipping.



http://coriartspecialties.com/index.html



The other link is to a documentary film in production about Antonio Corsi an artist model who worked during the first quarter of the 20th century. Not a lot of text but some cool photos.



http://www.antoniocorsi.com/index.html

Mahl Madness

Above: Mahlstick


Above: Darthmaulstick

Happy Birthday David (Toga Party)

I don't want to give you the impression that we just dress up in costumes here, fight with our mahlsticks, and generally goof off, however... Over the weekend Randy, our wonderful model and studio elf, posed for an optional portrait session. This just happened to coincide with David's birthday, and since Randy was wearing a toga the result was a toga birthday party for David. Pictures below!


David, with the traditional plate of birthday curry


Above: Toga Party!


Above: Dangerous Neo-Neoclassical riffraff