Wednesday, May 29, 2013

Cleverness

"When I was young, I admired clever people. Now that I'm old, I admire kind people."
~Abraham Joshua Heschel

I was 14 or 15 years old and wanted desperately to be clever. Someone I thought was clever had made a joke and since he wasn't around at the time, I pulled out the joke to get a laugh. It was about "the stupidest name in the world," just making fun of the sound of a particular name. I exaggerated the vowels and consonants, just as the clever guy had done. One of my classmates looked at me with quiet disappointment and said: "That's my father's name." I was immediately crushed by that simple truth and the love behind it.

That lesson took me two more tries before I actually learned it--two more situations in which I chose cleverness only to be stricken by the unkindness hidden inside it. To drive the lesson home, the universe made sure I actually got to see the faces of the people I hurt as I did so. Some of them weren't even part of the conversation; they just happened to overhear me trying to be clever.

I didn't mean to hurt anyone. I just wanted to be funny. One joke was even intended to be at my own expense. It wasn't worth it.

Sure, everyone needs a thick skin. People say things all the time and we deal with it.

But I've learned that kindness pays huge dividends. Both the giver and the receiver benefit. It's inexpensive to produce and easily distributed. It's natural. It's who we are.

There's someone nearby who could use some. Guaranteed.

Tuesday, May 21, 2013

Italy 2013 Challenge- (Final Day!) Day 15: "Leccio Home"

"Leccio Home" - version 2
-acrylic on canvas
- approx. 23.6x28.6"/600x725mm

One more from the Leccio excursion. As we came back from town, we walked down a dirt road past this lovely house on the hill. The sky was clearing behind it. The wind was blowing, and we thought: "Wouldn't it be lovely to live in a place like this!"

For the few moments we stood there and enjoyed the surroundings, we actually did live there.

Lucky us!

This is "version 2" of this painting because the first one had some compositional things I felt could use some fixing. I tried again and fixed some of them--though I doubt all the fixes worked! It was a good learning experience. My favorite part of it is still the sky. :)

Thanks for following the Italy 2013 Challenge! The whole idea was to see how much creative output could be inspired from a trip to a lovely place. I set a goal of 15 pieces of art for which some would also have writing and one or two would have music. I had a lot of fun working on this project, and I hope you enjoyed the results!

To see the rest of the posts, just search our blog for "Italy 2013."

Thanks again for coming along!  --Mark and Ping

Monday, May 20, 2013

Italy 2013 Challenge- Day 14: "Leccio Bridge"

"Leccio Bridge"
- ink and ballpoint pen
- approx. 9.9x6.9"/250x176mm

On the day that we went for a walk instead of going shopping, we wandered into the lovely little town of Leccio. The little creek was full of silty runoff from the surrounding hills. Arching over it were several little bridges, including this one that led to an inviting gate.

This little scene lent itself so nicely to the Inktense ink blocks and ballpoint pen. I really enjoy this medium! Ink is permanent; once it's on the paper, there's no taking it back off again! This attribute makes the medium very fast and spontaneous. I have to "think on my feet," choose, and move on.

I think in many ways, I am still learning to do that with life: be willing to use all my experience and skill to choose a path, and then go.

This path led us somewhere we really wanted to be--wandering the streets of town somewhere in Italy, seeing beautiful little places like this one.

Sunday, May 19, 2013

Italy 2013 Challenge- Day 13 "Amalfi Cliffs"

"Amalfi Cliffs"
- acrylic on canvas
- approx. 6.9x10"/175x255mm


The mountains surrounding the Amalfi Coast of Italy are famously rugged. Steep cliffs of exposed rock are all around you as you walk through the little towns. I've done more city and town images during this Italy 2013 challenge, so it was nice to do one of my favorite subjects again! Even at this small size, the immensity of the place comes through. Lucky us: we had a perfect day there!

This was my first attempt at acrylics after years of using colored pencil, alkyd, and then pastels. I was curious to see if I could handle the drying speed. I have gotten to the point where I can, and it turns out that acrylic on canvas just might be perfect for Taiwan which has a lot of humidity. I was quite happy to get the light I was hoping for in this painting!

Friday, May 17, 2013

Italy 2013 Challenge- Day 11: "Near Salerno"

"Near Salerno"
- Ink and ballpoint pen
- approx. 6.9x9.9"/176x250mm

The dizzying cliffs fall all the way to the ocean without a break. Perched up on a ledge near the top, a few houses look out over a vast sea. On days like this, you can see all the way to the horizon. Trees and scrub cling to every crevice that holds enough soil to nourish their roots. The rest is bare rock, the Bones of the Earth. Down below, waves wash incessantly as they have for millions of years, slowly, slowly, inexorably carving away, a few grains of sand at a time.

For a moment, we stood and saw what it looked like. Though we may not notice the changes, it will never be the same again.

Thursday, May 16, 2013

Italy 2013 Challenge- Day 10: "All That Remains"

"All That Remains - Pompeii"
- soft pastel on paper
- approx. 8x6"/21x15cm.

The behemoth that obliterated this place still looms on the horizon, quiet, for the moment. Overhead, the sun shines brightly, reminding us that it has risen and set thousands of times since it was hidden from view here by not one, but two searing invasions of heat and ash.

In some ways, nothing changes, and yet, everything changes.

Once again people walk these streets, chat in the theater, wander through the square and gather in the marketplace, but the conversations are different. These are observers, not participants.

Slowly, over time, the light of day is allowed to peer again through newly reopened windows, to warm the paving stones of roofless porticoes, and mark the hours as it shifts the shadows of the columns still standing. The revelation continues as the mountain's ashen breath is painstakingly removed, a spadeful at a time.

But the city is gone. These streets, these alleys, these sunlit walls are all that remain.

Wednesday, May 15, 2013

Italy 2013 Challenge- Day 9: "Piazzale Michelangelo"

"Piazzale Michelangelo"
- soft pastel on paper
- approx. 11.7x16.4"/30x42cm

Ping and I had hoped to get up to the Piazzale Michelangelo during some "free time" on this trip, but it turned out we didn't have time to make it up there on our own. From our seat near the front of the bus, we heard our driver, Vincenzo, ask our guide if she wanted him to take us all on an extra side jaunt. Imagine our delight when we got to go up there after all!

Monday, May 13, 2013

Italy 2013 Challenge- Day 12: "Red Dress, Venice"

"Red Dress, Venice"
- soft pastel on paper
- approx. 8.5x9"/290x320mm



Red Dress

By Mark Ivan Cole 

From a concept by Mark Cole and Ping Hsu

Alberto rolls his eyes and shakes his head. “Giulietta,” he says; “you’re a worse romantic than your namesake!”

“Maybe so,” she says; “but it’s worth ten euros to you if you’ll help.”

“I haven’t sung in ages,” he says.

“You’re a gondolier!” she insists; “and you can still sing. I hear you through the floor, you know. You sang in the shower just last week.”

“And I sounded like a pig in heat,” he says.

Giulietta smacks him on the arm. “You sounded like Placido Domingo—with a hangover. Alberto! Just one song! Bring them to the back door of the shop and help them out of the gondola as you’re singing. It will keep him from having to explain too much.”

Alberto gives her that sad, sideways grin of his. “How do you know this is the right thing to do?” he asks.

Italy 2013 Challenge- Day 7: "Leccio Fields"

"Leccio Fields"
- soft pastel on paper, approx. 8x6"/21x15cm

Everyone else had gone shopping. We still wanted to be outside. The storm clouds lingered overhead, but the rain held off as we walked around the perimeter of the outlet mall near Leccio, Italy. A vine-covered shed stood out in the middle of a wide field of vibrant green under heavy skies. Then the sun broke through! This was another one of those times we were glad we'd said: "Let's go take a look."

Italy 2013 Challenge- Day 8: "A Light in the Cathedral"

"A Light in the Cathedral"
- soft pastel on paper
- approx. 11.7x16.4"/30x42cm


"Hey! There’s a light in the cathedral window! I wonder why. Maybe there’s a spy hiding in the upper chamber, sending information back to some Nefarious Criminal Mastermind bent on taking over the world..."

My inner 10-year-old got inspired! For the full story in sound and pictures, click on the link below for a short, semi-animated video (2:22).
http://youtu.be/Zy9nhketSKQ

This painting was another real stretch (I seem to be doing that a lot!). The challenge here was to accurately lay out and depict the stonework and the architectural details without rendering every bit of minutia in this view of Milan's Gothic cathedral.

Saturday, May 11, 2013

Italy 2013 Challenge- Day 6: "Tuscan Hills, Italy"

"Tuscan Hills, Italy"
- soft pastel
- approx. 8.75x 11.25/210x297mm

Our red Ferrari fairly flew across the countryside as the indicated speed climbed ever higher: 250...275...300 km/h!

Outside the window, the hills of Tuscany lay placidly in the dappled sunlight, the higher summits playing peek-a-boo behind puffy clouds. A rambling stream sparkled under a blue, blue sky.

We marveled at the horsepower that propelled us forward, racing past the newly-budding glens, leaving league after league behind us effortlessly. Every curve felt like we were on rails. The beverage in my cup barely shivered.

That's because we were...on rails. Italy's newest bullet train was built by Ferrari. So now we can say that we've crossed Tuscany in a red Ferrari at speeds of up to 300 km/h (186 mph). Ping snapped this picture out the window. I just loved it.

Friday, May 10, 2013

Italy 2013 Challenge- Day 5: "Rainy Night..."

"Rainy Night at the Piazza della Repubblica"
- soft pastel on charcoal gray paper
- approx. 11.7x16.5"/297x420mm

Raindrops wash down from an inky sky, an endless cascade of tiny, dazzling droplets shining brightly as they fall past the lights of the piazza.

They dash to the paving stones only to splash up in a last leap skyward before settling back to the ground to find somewhere else to run off to.

Umbrella-topped pedestrians pick their way across the open space, unsure if the next puddle is a deep one, hoping it isn't.

Around the square, waiters inside wait as tables outside wait out the weather.

And you are here. And I am here beside you in the rain. And we are happy.

--Mark Ivan Cole
***
I really stretched with this particular painting! It's my first-ever street scene; I've done pencil sketches here and there, but nothing this ambitious or colorful. I laid out everything on a grid to help me get the drawing right. I did a little smearing on the sky and the building in the upper left, and I  occasionally "pounced" a fingertip to soften a mark, but most of the strokes I left as they were laid. I let the painting sit for a couple of weeks, and then did a few corrections. The poem was written as I was thinking about my wife and myself walking across the Piazza della Repubblica in Florence, happy to be in Europe for the first time, together, regardless of the weather.

Italy 2013 Challenge- Day 4 "The Way Out"

"The Way Out" - soft pastel, 300x420mm
Today, we go back to the Roman Coliseum to get one person's perspective from the inside. Follow this link to hear the original music written for this story (and finished only an hour before I posted this!).

The Way Out

By Mark Ivan Cole

I don’t want to go out there.

Not today. Not anymore.

Not against this boy.

Not for the roar of the crowd, the laurel wreath.

Not anymore.

I’ve done this too many times. My knees are crumbling. My ribs ache with every breath. That unlucky cut from the last fight still seeps a little.

I can’t go home again.

No one goes home once they’ve made it to Rome.

Wednesday, May 8, 2013

Italy 2013 Challenge- Day 3: "Ponte Scaligero"

"Ponte Scaligero, Verona, Italy"
- soft pastel on paper
- approx. 9x12"/215x310mm

Our trip to Italy was with a Taiwanese group, and the guide helped us take the best advantage of any time we had to explore on our own. In Verona, she suggested a side trip to Ponte Scaligero, also known as Castelvacchio Bridge. Ping and I lingered there as long as we could, crossing over to wander into a beautiful park on the other side.

What I enjoyed most was the deep reflections in the water flowing beneath us. It was a great way to end the afternoon.

When we got home, I decided to paint this great, sweeping curve of the Adige River as it winds through Verona.

Tuesday, May 7, 2013

Italy 2013 Challenge- Day 2: "Roman Coliseum Gate" Duotone

It's Day 2! "Roman Coliseum Gate"
- graphite and charcoal on colored paper
- approx 8.25x11.5"/210x297mm

Photographs of the Roman Coliseum really don't do it justice. You have to walk between these massive stone walls to sense their weight and feel the sheer magnitude of this place. Even after enterprising salvagers dug out the iron support bars (note the holes), these gargantuan arches still stand.

Wandering through the corridors, imagining the thunder of thousands of voices in the stands, I wondered: though the building remains, do we remember its heroes?

Nothing we do is permanent, though some of it may last awhile. What am I leaving behind? It might be around a long time.

Monday, May 6, 2013

Italy 2013 Challenge- Day 1 of 15: "Ristorante"

You can't "do Italy" in a week, but we certainly covered a lot of ground there recently--our first trip to Europe--just enough to whet our appetites for more! The people were wonderful, very helpful despite my [Mark's] Spanish-laced attempts to speak Italian. The whole aesthetic of the country was delightful; from storefronts to back alleys, everything was so inviting. Ruins lay scattered or stood heroically around every corner, and the landscape was fantastic! While we were there, I did an ink painting each morning--something we could see from our hotel.

When we got back home, I was so excited that I devised a challenge: How quickly could I do 15 pieces of art, 3 written pieces, and at least one piece of music, all inspired by this trip to Italy? Ping said: "What if some of the music and writing went together with some of the art?" Yes!

Six weeks later, the art is done! Okay, mostly done; I still