Coffee in Portugal

If you think that France has a coffee society, come see what Portugal is like. Coffee shops are ubiquitous, some times they stand shoulder to shoulder along the same avenue. On a warm summer night, they are jammed packed and quiet well attended on a winters night as well. This drawing was penned on paper, I don't remember when, but I do remember the feeling at the time. It was one of those very rare occasions, when one was feeling relaxed and in tune with everything. Sometimes referred to as "in the zone". Although the brandy was at hand, it was not the cause of the feeling, but the rather the sheer satisfaction of a successful day's work (one can work daily and hard, and still not have this sensation). These rare feeling do not happen that often, so, they are note worthy to the person experiencing them. It is rather a selfish experience, it can not be shared with anyone. Probably a case of self-satisfaction.

Waiting Again

Does it not seem to you, that we spend a lot of our time waiting for some people. Not necessarily waiting for them to meet with you, but rather waiting for them to come to some sort of realization or the "Aha Ha" moment. When I used to frame pictures, a photographer arrived at my shop with some very thought provoking photos: one of these was a chap sitting on a bar stool. But once the artist explained to me how he took this photo, it became even more provocative than before. His explanation was that the subject was seated in the dark, the camera aperture was set to be open for a long time, and source of light was shone on the subject's feet. Very slowly the focus of the light was moved up the side of the man sitting on the chair. All this time the image was being captured by the camera. This impressed me no end, and so I casked the photographer if I may use his image in my art work, and thank goodness she did. So using gold and silver leaf on canvas, that had been glued onto masonite, the image was reborn. The frame has also been included into the artwork.