by Marty Coleman | Dec 3, 2014 | 'In The Gallery' |
Prologue
She was born in 1975 in Tupelo, Mississippi but moved with her family to Paris, France at the age of 2. She had been married but her American husband had been killed in the Iraq War. She was an accountant and liked to do crafts. She had one son.
Chapter One
The mom brought her son to see the museum exhibition of the famous artist’s work. She had been a muse for the artist, posing for a giant sculpture of her head, as well as a number of paintings. The artist had painted 10 paintings of her but only two were in the show. Both were big paintings of her jumping. In one, she was jumping over a fence to escape a bear. In the other she was jumping into a pool to escape a fire.
Chapter Two
After they saw the paintings they went into the gallery that had the giant sculpture. She explained to her son that she had to sit still for a whole hour, then would get a 5 minute break, then would have to sit again for another hour and how this went on for about 4 hours each day for a month. The son thought that would be really boring.
Chapter Three
The son also thought the sculpture was boring because it was just his mom, only really big. The son got excited though when two young women came up to his mom and asked her if she was the model. They asked all sorts of questions about the artist and wondered if the artist was looking for models because they thought it would be cool to pose for a famous artist. The mom said the artist was always looking for models and to just email the artist through the artist’s website. The son pointed to the giant sculpture and said, “My mom had to sit still for like forever and barely ever got to go pee.” The two women laughed and patted him on the head.
Chapter Four
They looked at the other paintings in the exhibition and the son asked all sorts of questions. His mom answered them all as best she could. He told her he thought the paintings of her jumping to escape things were the best in the whole show and asked if they could go back into that other gallery to see those paintings again. He also said the painting of the man with the blue penis was really funny because no one really has a blue one.
Chapter Five
After they left the museum they went for ice cream as it was a very hot day. The son told the mom she was prettier than the art she was in. The mom smiled and was happy.
Epilogue
What is the gender of the artist?
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Drawing and short story by Marty Coleman
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by Marty Coleman | Dec 2, 2014 | Abraham Lincoln, The Future - 2014 |
It’s day #3 of The Future!
The Big Picture
As a coach of runner’s moving up in both distance and speed I regularly come across a lot of doubts and fears. Their goal is a race about 12 weeks away at the start of the season and they are often petrified about their ability to achieve their goal. They can run a 5k race (3.1 miles) but a 10k (6.2 miles) or 15k (9.3 miles) or 1/2 marathon (13.1 miles) race? THAT is something beyond their abilities and thus they fear they can’t do it.
And you know what my response to calm their fears and give them confidence is? I tell them this: You are right, you can’t do it…
Yet
I teach them that three letter word, ‘yet’, and it makes all the difference. It makes a difference because it helps them understand two critical things. First is, they don’t have to run a 1/2 marathon today. All they have to do is run the training run slated for today. That means they have to run 3 miles, maybe 4. Not 6 or 9 or 13, just 3, which they know, and I know, they can do. They can relax that way and just focus on the small picture, a much easier task.
Second is, training (and life) is a cumulative process. That brick wall you sometimes hit in training? While it stops you dead in your tracks, it also returns some value. And that value, otherwise known as ‘experience’. will come in very handy, perhaps at the next training run. Or maybe on your rest day. Or maybe 10 weeks down the road at the race. Who knows when you can spend what you earned from that workout. I don’t know. But I know you earned it and it’s in you and you will need it later on in the future.
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Drawing and commentary by Marty Coleman
Quote by Abraham Lincoln, 1809-1865, American President #16.
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by Marty Coleman | Dec 1, 2014 | Visual Poems | Photos |
Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition
Every three years the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C. holds a juried portrait competition. The process is very competitive, as you might imagine when the first prize money is $25,000.00. The time frame is long. The semi-finalists will be announced in March, 2015. They will then send their actual work for consideration and the finalists in September, 2015. The exhibition will open in March, 2016.
I waited until the last day to enter this year. I had created a portrait collage earlier in 2014, using photos taken of my friend, the Meteorologist, Brittany Rainey, at Philbrook Museum of Art and at her home. It is one in a series called ‘Visual Poems’ that includes images and written text. It’s also a continuation of my long-term ongoing series, ‘IN Public/Private’ on public personalities in Tulsa, primarily TV news anchors and reporters.
The Meteorologist’s Poem
Here is the image reduced in size. The printed image should be around 4 feet wide.
I also sent a closeup detail so they could get a better idea of the piece.
Find more of the Visual Poems Series here
Find the ‘IN Public/Private’ series here
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Photo-collage by Marty Coleman
Model – Brittany Rainey
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by Marty Coleman | Nov 27, 2014 | Thanksgiving |
Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
I thought it would be cool this year to show a selection of drawings from past Thanksgivings. Some have links back to the original post, others don’t because the original post was just the drawing.
2013
Original Post – Perfect vs Wonderful
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2011
Original post – The Gratitude of Escape
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2010
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2009
I did a 5 part series on gratitude that year.
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by Marty Coleman | Nov 24, 2014 | George Will, The Future - 2014 |
This is yesterday’s future napkin.
The Unannounced Life
My late father, Skeets Coleman, home from World War II, did not return to Iowa where he was raised but instead stayed in the San Diego area and operated the Del Mar Airport in the late 40s. The secretary he hired? She, Dorothy Lee Powell, became his wife and my mother.
My late ex-father-in-law from California, Dwight Johnson, was in military training in Vermont back in the Korean War era. He needed an ironing board and being the do-it-yourself type, he went to the local hardware/lumber yard to get a flat 1×6 piece of wood to use for that purpose. The person who sold him the board? She, Vivian Lambert, became his wife.
In the 70s I transferred to UC Santa Barbara after having left a college on the East Coast. I got involved with a Student Christian group on campus. At a Halloween party I met a girl dressed up as Pippie Longstockings. She, Kathy Johnson, later became my wife.
In 2000 my oldest daughter, Rebekah Coleman, left Oklahoma and went to St. John’s College in Maryland. One of the first people she met, Patrick Evans, is now her husband.
After my divorce in 2000 I started dating via online dating services. Unbeknownst to me a woman, Linda Reynolds, divorced a few years before, also was dating online. We had a date and 3 years later we were married. I gained a step-daughter, Caitlin Reynolds.
In 2011 my 2nd youngest daughter, Chelsea Coleman, moved to Berkeley to escape the cold and dreary winter in Seattle while her then husband was deployed for 6 months. She started playing music with various people. One person she played with, Graham Patzner, became a friend, and after her marriage ended in divorce, they started to date.
How the Future Arrives
My point in reciting this family history is simple. To remind myself that the future arrives unannounced every day. Whether it’s for good or bad, all our planning and organizing of life will never overcome that one inescapable truth. When we understand and accept that, our lives become easier and happier.
The Result is Thanksgiving
One result of these unannounced futures is that I am now Papa Marty and Linda is MeeMee to Vivian Isabel Evans and Otis Martin Coleman-Patzner. Another result is we are headed to Dallas for the Thanksgiving weekend to visit Caitlin and go to the Dallas Cowboys football game.
And for all those futures past, I am filled with gratitude and thanksgiving.
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Drawing and commentary by Marty Coleman
Quote by George Will, 1941-not dead yet, American writer and political pundit
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