Saturday, October 31, 2020

THE TIMES THEY'RE NOT A-CHANGING

Are these times more politically corrupt, chaotic, vindictive and deceitful than ever or is it that pandemic isolation makes us more aware of it all?

The vicious, relentless, unjust campaign to destroy Jereremy Corbyn continues unabated. They didn't only want him out, they want him crawling on his knees slobbering for mercy, signing an admission of guilt and accepting to be burned at the stake.

He is not going to sign since he is one of the rare politicians who value integrity more than popularity and he knows that the accusation of antisemitism is a vile smear against him, deliberately fabricated and orchestrated. Evidence of this is obvious to anyone who takes the trouble to search for the facts behind propaganda.

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Friday, October 30, 2020

REMEMBERING SACHA d'ARBELOFF

On this date 30th October twenty-four years ago my beloved father Alexander (Sacha) d'Arbeloff died in London aged 101. I've written about him several times here and my in--progress autobiography. At the moment I don't want to add words but here's a short video I made in 2011: Eternal Return, a visual poem about the nostalgia and mystery of my Russian ancestry, on my father's side.

https://vimeo.com/33949025

The soundtrack is Alexander Vertinsky, famous Russian cabaret singer of the 1920s, singing Liliowy Negr (purple black). My father loved Vertinsky's songs and with my mother Blanche saw him perform them in Paris nightclubs at that time. The photo of Sacha below was taken by George Cserna in New York 1955.

Eternal Return: my Russian ancestors from Natalie d'Arbeloff on No comments:

Friday, October 23, 2020

BIDEN 10 - TRUMP ZERO

Stayed up and watched the whole thing. No contest. Well-prepared Biden won. As for the other guy....what is there to say that hasn't already been said?

Thursday, October 22, 2020

HAIR TODAY

Just wanted the highlights to be more contrasty but the guy overdid it and now I'm almost white-haired. Or platinum blonde. Haven't been my real dark brunette self for many years now but this is beyond the pale. Don't know if I hate it or like it.

Tuesday, October 20, 2020

SELF-IMPRESSION

Sometimes I impress myself. It's okay to impress yourself as long as you stay in reality and don't get into Trumpish-type insanity which totally denies the existence of reality. My latest bout of self-impression was for a challenging bit of DIY which you wouldn't expect from a so-called Little Old Lady (LOL) if you believe those clichés about LOLs and LOMs (Little Old Men).

I was expecting delivery of a new sofa to replace the exceedingly uncomfortable, decrepit one I boastfully re-upholstered in another bout of DIY a while ago. I realised that the new sofa wouldn't get through the door of the living room and the only solution was to remove the door. This is what I proceeded to do. Unscrewing the rusty screws from the hinges was slow but not impossible (I stood on a box) but the middle bit, a long rubbery thing fitted into a hole, took a lot of tugging and wrenching. It eventually gave in to my efforts and the heavy door was released. Impressive, eh?

Well, yes, but the door being heavy I only managed to lean it against the wall. The delivery men brought the new sofa and, hurrah, it fitted through the door-less doorway. Now I have to ask a neighbour to help me put the door back on its hinges.

Friday, October 16, 2020

HIDEOUT

Waiting for proofs from dStudio. Many thanks to those of you who ordered Giclée prints, you'll have them soon. Meanwhile I've been working on a new small painting. Maybe it's finished, maybe not. It's kind of cartoonish but why not? I like it. HIDEOUT. NdA 2020. Acrylic & tempera on canvas. 30 x 30 cms. (12" x 12")

Friday, October 09, 2020

GICLEE PRINT OF "HABITS"

For the benefit of anyone interested, this post is about ordering Giclée prints of the image above: Habits-Stanislavski-NdA or other images by me. To get prices for Giclêe printing I contacted dStudio a company specialising in working for artists. Their website is very informative and well worth a browse.

I must now give a little lecture on the words giclée and limited editions because, as Michael Caine once said, not a lot of people know this. If some of you are experts on these matters please yawn quietly.

1.Giclée is from the French verb gicler - to spray or squirt - which is what inkjet printing equipment does. The difference between ordinary inkjet printing and Giclée printing is that the latter uses light-fast,pigment-based and longer lasting inks in a wider range of colours, printed at much higher resolution, producing sharper, more intense and durable results. Another crucial factor is that Giclée can be printed on a wide variety of media including museum-grade archival papers, canvas etc.

2. Limited editions: as an artist/printmaker who has created and printed on a hand press a great many limited editions in various techniques such as etching, relief-printing,collagraphs, stencils, monoprints etc. I get a bit pedantic when Giclée prints are called “limited editions” and priced as highly as if they are the same thing as hand-printed artist’s original prints. They are NOT the same thing. Each print in a bonafide traditional limited edition is an original, hand-inked from an original block or plate drawn by the artist. The Giclée printing process is excellent and produces excellent digital reproductions of an artwork. Nothing wrong with that and I’m happy to make use of this process now and then. But I am not jumping on the bandwagon and charging for a Giclée print what I would charge for my original prints. paintings or other artworks. End of lecture. Down to business now.

For an A4 size (29 x 21cms) GICLEE print of Habits-Sanislavski-NdA on Hahnemuhle 100% cotton Photo Rag 308gsm archival paper, plus a certificate of authenticity, I'm asking £60 which covers my costs and allows me a modest profit. You can pay me via PayPal or bank transfer. If in London you could if you wish collect a print from me, but dStudio will deliver prints anywhere. Their rates for delivery (see their pricing page for different options.) Please add relevant delivery charge to the £60 when you send me your order and include the address where you want the print or prints delivered.

Anywhere in UK: Standard delivery: £3.40 Europe: £6.50 USA and rest of world: £7.50
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