A very good morning to you all on this damp grey morning in St.Peter, Lisa and I are back from a weekend in the country, where autumn has set in, with the leaves turning golden and a calm misty feeling everywhere. Staying in Lisa's dacha is like stepping back half a century except for our gadgets, we went for long walks warmed the house with log fires in the evening and watched movies on a tablet .... Today is a fresh Monday in a new month and here is an inspiring video by an Hungarian composer/pianist Balázs Havasi who I have been following for some years now, I haven't yet managed to get to one of his concerts, and sadly I will miss an upcoming one here in Russia because I am leaving 3 days before Balázs Havasi (born 18 September 1975) is a Hungarian pianist and composer. As a contemporary composer he has launched four completely different musical projects, including compositions for a symphony orchestra, rock drums and piano. Havasi wrote a song for singer Tracey Thorn and gave a speech at the TED Global conference about his efforts in musical innovation. He is known for his fondness of Asian culture and martial arts, which he practiced for years. Havasi’s works became known to millions within a short time. Havasi first played the piano at the age of four. In 1996, at the age of 21, he was already a teacher at Weiner Leó Conservatory. He then went on to study at Franz Liszt Academy of Music, one of the most prestigious musical universities in the world. His professors included then rector Sándor Falvai and Jenő Jandó , a pianist who contributed to more than 200 recordings of classical music. During his years at the Academy of Music, Havasi won first prize at a piano competition of Yamaha Foundation of Europe Havasi founded the band The Unbending Trees with singer-lyricist Kristóf Hajós in 2006. With English lyrics written and sung by Hajós, the sophisticated solo piano pieces of Havasi have resulted in a special musical world where Central European sounds merge with a little melancholy, perhaps akin to the style of Leonard Cohen, Scott Walker or Antony and the Johnsons . The band was offered its first record contract by British record publisher and producer Ben Watt, and soon released its first album called Chemically Happy (Is The New Sad).
Good afternoon to you all, my days seem to start later these days, I made a cottage pie earlier which we have just eaten half of for dinner, Lisa is going to a department meeting later this afternoon and I will sort out some photos on the computer. Enjoy your Tuesday.... A few paintings from the Russian Soviet artist Sergei Tutunov Soviet painter Sergei Tutunov (30 October 1925 – 12 October 1998) – Member of the USSR Union of Artists (1953). Sergey Andreyevich Tutunov was born October 30, 1925 in Moscow. His father, Andrey Tutunov was a major specialist in the poultry field. At the end of 1930, Sergei went to the famous Moscow Art School, where he first took on the sculpture department, since he felt shape and was good at sculpting different animals. However, later he moved to study at the fine art class. During the war time (WWII) the school was evacuated to Bashkortostan, and in 1943, the school returned to Moscow. In 1945-1951, Sergei Tutunov studied at the painting department of the Moscow State Art Institute named after Surikov. His teachers were outstanding Soviet artists VN Meshkov, DC Mochalsky, AM Gritsay, PD Pokarzhevsky, AP Shorchev and VV Pochitalov.
Hi, everybody. We went fishing down on the coast last weekend. I didn't catch many fish but I caught a glorious sunset. I love sunsets.
Good morning to you all, I am slightly less zombified today, I realised because I am taking the Amitriptyline daily now which does help with sleeping, the antidepressant effect is kicking in, which I have never experienced before it's like the days just float by without a worry in the world, but I feel I am never fully awake................I will stop taking them when we go to the Czech Republic in ten days time, because I will be driving every day, so need to be alert. It's a damp drizzly day and the municipal heating system is officially switched on today, so the indoor temperatures will rise from 22c to 26c (72f to 78f) Lisa is working so no plans apart from editing and enhancing some photos of Peru for Lisa's latest album. Have a great Wednesday..... Here are some paintings by a contemporary Russian artist Andrew Atroshenko I think the reason I am coming up with a lot of Russian artists, is because using Google.ru for searches it shows a bias Andrew Atroshenko is a romantic impressionistic Russian artist. Born in 1965 in the City of Pokrovsk, Russia, Andrew became part of a gifted child program at the Children’s Art School there, and was later accepted at the St. Petersburg Academy of Art, one of the world’s most prestigious art schools.
Getting ready for my sister to come and visit with me in a couple of hours. I am going to take her to see my middle daughter's home...the one that flooded last year and was completely remodeled. Then from there we will go and visit with my youngest daughter and see her new home and play with my youngest grandkids for a little while. Tomorrow my sister will be heading back to her home in Pensacola, FL with her husband and I will not be going back with them. It just will not work out for me to do this this time around. My oldest sister is here too and may be coming to meet us. Her best friend's daughter died this past weekend and the Memorial is tomorrow so I'm not sure yet if she will be to busy helping her friend with last minute details and will be able to get away to join us or not. I have spent quite a bit of time talking to her on the phone so if we don't get to see each other face to face this time that is okay too. So sad about all the people who died and were injured in Las Vegas. At the same time this was going on we loss one of our Policemen here in Lafayette, his death was senseless to me too. He was murdered at a Convenience store Robbery and the murderer shot him once (which maybe he would have survived), then when the policeman fell to the ground the Robber walked over to him and shot him a few more times to make sure he didn't survive. So senseless...just like what happened in Las Vegas. I hope everyone has a peaceful day.
Good morning to you all, I feel a bit flat today and am a bit slow starting, so on my third coffee, Lisa has the day off but a lot of computer work to do, it's raining out and grey, so we may go out for a walk if it stops. I have put a couple of pork steaks in the slow cooker with some apples and veg for dinner, with probably roast potatoes. Enjoy your day.......
It's finally feeling like Autumn over here in the mornings and we're so enjoying the break from hot weather. I had a wonderful visit with my sister that shares the same birthday as me yesterday and I'm so glad we had that time together. I'm driving my Honey this morning to get a haircut and a mustache trimming. It's been about 3 weeks since he quit driving and so far it is working out okay. He's not one to complain about things but I know in my heart that he has some days when he misses the freedom of just getting in the car and going to run his own errands without me having to take him for this. This afternoon we will go pick up his paycheck and go deposit it at our Bank and run a few more errands together before we come back home. The good in this is that we spend more time in the car together now, and my having to drive more is making me more comfortable with this too. Life is good....hope it's good to each of you too today.
A very good evening to you all, it's a drizzly day here so no walks today. I cooked a chicken for dinner part oven, part slow cooker, we had it with roast potatoes and veg. I am slowly coming off the amitryptaline tablets, so I will be properly awake for next weeks holiday/vacation... Enjoy the weekend.... I came across these two artists by chance while browsing earlier this morning, an interesting story below how they met, also unusually they work together on their paintings, MICHAEL & INESSA GARMASH — Michaell and Inessa Garmash have created beautiful paintings, stained-glass windows, mosaics and drawings exhibited all over Europe. An Art Love Story – Michael was born in 1969 in Lugansk, Ukraine. He began painting at the age of three and by six started his formal education at the Lugansk Youth Creative Center. In 1987, he graduated valedictorian from the Lugansk State Fine Art College and became an art teacher there. He later graduated from St. Petersburg Academy of Art at the head of his class. Michael Garmash exhibited his works throughout Russia and France, adding stained-glass to his list of talents. During his stint in the army, Michael returned to his former school on a two-week vacation. The last day of his visit he met Inessa at a bus station; the next day Michael didn’t return to his division. Inessa woke that day to her image painted all around the city surrounding her house—on the road, on the walls of buildings and the walls of her apartment staircase. Michael had spent the night painting; he was arrested first by the city police, then handed over to the army MP’s, but he was not punished. (Even military personnel can sympathize with true love!) One year later, Michael and Inessa returned to the same bus station. Michael hung a bouquet of flowers on the station sign to commemorate the place where they met; the beginning of their “at-first-glance” love story. In similar spontaneous fashion, the two began painting together. Several years after their marriage, Michael began a painting of their daughter for a project at school. However, their two-year old found the painting during his absence and painted her own version of the subject. Inessa, not wanting Michael to be upset, fixed the painting, packed it up and gave it to him to submit. Michael handed the painting over for review and was told it was his best work ever. He was surprised to see the “new” painting and immediately recognized his wife’s hand. Since then, Michael and Inessa have worked together creating paintings, stained-glass windows, mosaics and drawings. They have exhibited in Sweden, France, Russia, Ukraine, Belgium and Finland. They continue working with their daughter Polina as a model and occasionally include themselves in their compositions. Inessa Kitaichik was born in 1972 in Lipetsk, Russia. Since early childhood she has excelled in ballet, gymnastics and music. Inessa attended classes in all three disciplines and, after graduating from music and ballet school, entered the Lugansk Fine Art School at age fifteen. At seventeen she was honored as that year’s best undergraduate. Michael & Inessa are a husband and wife pair. Both work on the same piece, which is extraordinarily unique in the art industry. Together they create a classic impressionism that remains both beautiful and timeless.