by Marty Coleman | Sep 23, 2023 | Trust - 2009 |
I am republishing this from 14 years ago today. The quote is still true. I feel like I have progressed some since then. Not completely but I feel I am a more trustworthy person than I was in 2009. Why do I think that? Because I have tried to practiced it. That is the only way anyone gets better at anything. If you don’t practice it repeatedly, you’ll never become it.
Original text – I am basically preaching to myself this week. This isn’t because I am not a trusting person, I am. More than most probably. I assume the best of intentions, I assume people will do what they say they are going to do. It doesn’t always happen, but I would rather get burned once in a while and be a trusting person than always be safe but have to trust no one.
Why I do need to hear this stuff about trust is because I am always needing to work on being a more trustworthy person. I think I am better than some, not as good as others. But I am not as trustworthy as I would always like to be. It’s a process of doing the right thing, the good thing, the promised thing, again and again and again. It takes patience and discipline, knowing boundaries and constantly remembering what I have promised.
I suppose most of us struggle with it, at least I hope I am not alone with it, am I?
Drawing and commentary © Marty Coleman
“To be trusted is a greater compliment than to be loved.” – George McDonald, 1824-1905, Scottish author and Christian minister.
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by Marty Coleman | Sep 13, 2023 | Series, Sketchbook History Tour |
I recently finished a sketchbook. It’s a weird thing to finish a sketchbook. I always feel like a relationship is ending. The feel, paper, size, look are all unique. How it takes ink, how I hold it, how it fits as I go somewhere is different with each sketchbook. Some allow me to draw inconspicuously while others are too big to hide. Some say ‘hippie natural’ while others say ‘serious conformist artist’.
But most importantly, what I draw in it is different based on all those things. Some lend themselves to drawing live while others tend to move me to draw purely imaginative images. It isn’t exclusive, I draw live and imaginatively in every sketchbook but there is an inclination depending on the book.
Here are some from a sketchbook that lent itself to a lot of imaginative drawing. I chose recent paintings that include polka dots or other type of recurring pattern on the clothing. I often do this so as to give definition to a form or to define a something as in front of or behind something else. They also include a lot of people holding microphones. That is because I often start the drawing in church, lightly memorizing the person on stage during the singing, then drawing a version of that person once the sermon starts.
Enjoy and let me know what you think. Do you have a favorite?
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by Marty Coleman | Aug 24, 2023 | Art, Artists I Love |
This summer I went to visit my daughter Rebekah and her family in Virginia. I was particularly excited to spend time with my 10 year old granddaughter, Vivian. The first day we went museum hopping in Washington, DC. We spent time seeing selections from the National Portrait Gallery, the National Gallery of Art and The National Archives. Vivian was a trooper, walking over 9 1/2 miles that day with nary a peep. Bribing her with Boba Tea at the end helped.
The first four shown here are from an exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery called ‘BRAVO!” which highlighted people in the entertainment industry over the decades. I was particularly taken by these paintings of women and their stories of overcoming strong obstacles to achieve their goals. The fifth, ‘Amarilla’, was elsewhere in the museum but I really liked it so I included it.
Harriet Hosmer by Sir William Boxall
Harriet Hosmer – close up
Harriet Hosmer – Biography
Juliana Westray Wood by Rembrandt Peale
Juliana Westray Wood, close up
Juliana Westray Wood – Biography
Lotte Lenya by Saul Bolasni
Judith Martin by Victor Edelstein
Judith Martin – Biography
Amarilla by Joseph A. Fleck
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by Marty Coleman | Aug 9, 2023 | Art, Collections |
50 years ago I graduated from High School. Do you know what that means? No, not that I am old, which I am not (I know this to be true because everyone tells me I look so young I could be celebrating my 49th, not my 50th…)
It means I recently attended my 50th High School Reunion (Darien High School in Darien, Connecticut.) I moved there at the beginning of Jr. High and moved away after High School, living in the town for only 6 of my 68 years. But what a 6 year span it was. My identity was forged in those years and I left with the vision and intention to become a practicing artist, which I did. So did many others in my class. We had a strong art department in our school and many of us went on to have vocations and avocations in the arts. Many others didn’t go into art immediately but had their talent and practice come out later in life. Either way, there was and is a lot of creative activity.
The result of that was the planning committee including an art exhibition and opening as part of the weekend. There are a lot of fantastic pieces so if you are near Darien, Connecticut go check the show out at the Darien Public Library. It’s up until mid-September, 2023. I sent in a suite of 9 napkin drawings as my contribution. Here they are. They are for sale at $200.00 a piece, framed. They are approximately 6″ x 6″ so they fit perfect in small areas. Contact me at marty@martycoleman.com if you are interested.
Click on any image to see a slide show of them all.
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by Marty Coleman | Mar 25, 2023 | Art, Artists I Love, Series |
Amon Carter Museum of American Art
I recently ran the Cowtown Half Marathon in Fort Worth, Texas and took the opportunity while there to visit one of my favorite museums, the Amon Carter Museum of American Art. I’ve been a number of times before while visiting my niece who attends TCU nearby but this time I made sure to take pictures of some of my favorite pieces in the collection.
The Carter is one of 3 museums in the same location. The others are the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth and the Kimbell Art Museum, both of which are incredible in their own right, both architecturally and because of the permanent collections and temporary exhibitions.
No offense to Fort Worth’s more attention-getting cousin, but Dallas doesn’t have anything on Fort Worth when it comes to museums. Don’t get me wrong, I love the DMA, but these three museums are really special.
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