In private collection
2021-12-30
2021-12-12
2021-11-09
plein air : At the Sequoyah Birthplace Museum, Lavore, TN
This Historic site, The Sequoyah Birthplace Museum, in Lavore, TN, is on a river that was dammed up in the 1960s, in order for the Tennesee Valley Authority to build a nucear power plant. The construction resulted in flooding lands where members of the Cherokee Nation had been living.
Naming the site after a local Native American Indian was considered a small political token to the Cherokee in compensation for the dam-flooding and destruction of their historic sites that TVA required to control flooding on the Tennessee River.
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| At the Sequoyah Birthplace Museum, Lavore, TN ~ plein air watercolor (c) 2011 / Will Brady |
In a sense, the Sequoyah Birthplace Museum is also a monument to the "Second Trail of Tears" for the Cherokee Nation.
Acrylic painting ~ "Fully Involved"
"Fully Involved"
acrylic on canvas in frame.
Doing this was particularly intriguing - taking on a triple challenge of depicting water, fire and a night scene in the same piece.
(c) 2021 / Will Brady - in private collection
2021-10-20
2021-10-14
oil painting: Rose of Cairo
This is the Nile River delta. The colors are infrared colors so the large red section in the picture are actually agricultural fields.
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| oil on canvas board. |
2021-10-08
combine: "La Guerre des Anglais et Indiennes"
I was with friends recently who asked about if I'd completed any new combines, and I mentioned "La Guerre des Anglais et Indiennes" and they automatically reflex-stated "The French and Indian War".
So well incorporated is this war in the American psyche as the latter, the people fail to see that this is titled as the Canadians (the Quebecers, in particular) describe the war, which was about the exploitive English who made alliances with some of the Iroquois to fight the French and English colonists
2021-10-04
2021-10-02
September Watercolors
Pennsylvania Farmlands
Chrysler Building NYC
Moodus Res from MSC
Shady Acre, San Diego Area
2021-09-11
Remembering the World Trade Center
Remembering where I was:
I went to work on September 11 just returning from vacation.
At the time I was the senior patient advocate at a maximum-security forensic psychiatric hospital.
Typically, even when gone for the weekend there is always someone – usually two or three – who want to see me. I’d been away for over a week. Checking the voice mail, making note of those who’d asked to see me I expected I’d be busy all morning.
Once in the building while walking past the nurse supervisor’s office, some staff were inside talking about a plane crashing into the side of a building and how shocking this was. My guess was they were talking about a film on TV the night before. I gave it little thought. Given how many had called asking to speak with me I headed toward the units to make my rounds through the building.
The facility is constructed as a roundabout. Anyone going to one of the units quite literally passes through each one to get to the next.
During day hours there’s considerably more social and emotional distance between unit staff and the patients; interacting with some reserve except for when patients are attending groups or need fresh bedding, towels or some other items brought from storage. Yet that day things were different. Unusual for the hour (9 am) the nursing station on the unit was empty save for one person, and no one was in the hall.
Everyone had gathered in the two big common rooms. I could hear the TV’s on. There was virtually no conversation taking place. Even the clinicians (who usually didn’t interact with patient or direct line staff except in formal meetings) joined patients and staff filling the two TV rooms. I had to squeeze into one of the rooms to see what they were watching.
People acknowledged my presence, but everyone was focused on the screen. People who had called me said they’d speak to me later.
The north tower of the World Trade Center was on fire. Someone turned to me and said that an airplane had crashed into the tower, just like staff in the nurse supervisor’s office had said.
The second plane had yet to hit.
So I went on to the second unit. Same thing. Everyone crowded into the TV rooms. Everyone intermixed sitting and standing side by side. I don’t think I’d ever seen this before
Upon arrival on the third unit, the halls were empty. So was the nurse call station. The TV rooms were at the far end of the unit. Some were standing in the hall looking in.
As I came to the doorway of one of the rooms, I saw – as did everyone else – a second plane headed towards and witnessed it smash into the south tower.
Off unit activities for the morning were cancelled though people were permitted to go out into the courtyard.
The twin crashes of the towers brought everyone together in a muted unity. Any rancor that might usually have been reported remained unstated. All of us were stunned.
No one had anything to say.
2021-09-03
Distractions: Jigsaw Puzzling
I do jigsaw puzzles daily. About 20 minutes a day. As an exercise. On two different puzzle sites (I'll get to that):
The exercise helps focus on, and sharpen, observational skills needed when I make paintings, calligraphic style texts; or the Combine/Collages.
Some examples:
- aligning shapes with one another;
- recognizing the subtleties of color [for instance, the same color can appear darker or lighter; more of one hue than another);
- visual facets of f a subject in a picture appear alike together are quite dissimilar when apart . . . as two [or more] distinct puzzle parts.
Zimad's Magic Jigsaw Puzzles and Microsoft Jigsaw - doing the daily challenge - are my go-to.
The images are oft mundane, even boring ; but there is setting to change the puzzle form shapes that allows for some change in how the exercise plays through.
ASIDE: Suggestions are welcomed but especially:
- Outer Space / sci-fi / gamer image-ish;
- Anime
- hustle and bustle of life sites
- (cityscapes; farmers markets;
- busy bustle social scenes
- bodegas,
- arts & culture events;
- except for futbol/soccer; rugby, basketball; swim meets, wrestling matches; woodmen's competitions
- but NAH on pro sports extravaganza stuff.
And I >DO< use hints options sometimes, tho try not to. It's not cheating to use tools to help complete a task more adeptly and help improve skills. Magic Jigsaws has an easy to use hints button (lower right panel on this screenshot.
Used it to complete the puzzle and stay in my allowed time parameters [20 minutes] otherwise I could get totally wrapped up and forget everything I need to do for jigsawing.
Haven't the patience to do individual searches on these jigsaw visual options, but welcome site specific suggestions.
IMAGE : Screenshot of a Magic Jigsaw Puzzle I worked on today 3 Sept 2021.
2021-08-27
Waterscapes: six works in various mediums
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| Key West Squall - watercolor |
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| Leaving Belize - watercolor |
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| Night scene - CT River - acrylic on canvas |
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| CR River - Moonset - acrylic on board |
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| Maine Lake - Watercolor |
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| Misquamicut Beach RI - watercolor |
2021-08-06
2021-07-04
2021-07-01
2021-05-19
Pen + Inks: House Portrait
Commissioned - in private collection
House Portrait - 11" x 17" / 28 x 43 cm
2021-05-08
2021-05-01
Short story: Flat Tire
Flat Tire
In the hundred plus feet that I have to drive in
order to pull over [luck that; other parts of the road are not so generous] my
mind conjures all sorts of swear words and foul thoughts interlaced with terms
like "Yuppie Scum" and the "B" word. What you see above is how the woman "gifted" my truck.
I got out intent on
fixing the tire, hoping the rain promised doesn't start too soon. "Call
Triple A!" is the advice from home. I don't want to but when I can't get
the spare tire cable to lower [WD-40 wasn't cutting it] I decide why not.
By the time the
guy from the tow service arrives, at least I've got the front tire almost off.
A pleasant enough feller ~ a strapping, stalwart crew-cut blond, with a
workman's tan, sporting prison tattoos while wearing designer glasses ~ he had
an engaging demeanor, and set about to work at loosening the stuck cable with a
good pry bar and sinew.
He and I review
the problem here. I've had the truck over three years, never had to use the
spare, the bolt that holds the cable into place must have oxidized together ~
in short, they rusted.
Now they's stuck
together and can't come apart, like two dogs.
Two dogs?
Right. Two dogs.
Uh huh. I replied.
Old timer locals
drove by, slowing down, offering assists or good will; while those who could
have been the lady's friends rolled up their windows when they passed us.
After over half an
hour the cable still won't move. The Triple A guy says 'I'm gonna have to call
the flatbed'. I quickly calculate how much more it'll cost to bring a flatbed
up a narrow windy back dirt road plus extra tow miles I'm not covered for. I
ponder for a minute and says aloud, 'Even worst now is not being able to get to
the packy before it closes', then I grit my teeth and tell him, let's try this
one more time.
Both of us grunt
and tug at the tire beneath the truck, when suddenly ~ "clunk" the
rusted cable bolt gives way. We can change the tire at last.
After we're done, we engage in small talk and he gives me his personal cell phone number and we agree to hook up later on . . . which we eventually do.
Furthermore, I do make it to
the packy, but with minutes to spare. But I still get home too late.
Thanks lady.
2021-04-30
Portrait: Mike Sullivan: Champion Logger
Pencil on paper
7" x 8" / 18 x 20 cm
private collection
#©2021WillBrady
2021-04-29
2021-04-25
Vignette: Quick Rescue in Amsterdam
At the last moment.
I was a
neophyte visitor to Amsterdam, unknowing of the wiles of city life, much less
that of a foreign port. I came with a group of forty men on a flying road tour
but stayed aloof from the others, not wanting people to think me a tourist; so
I spurned their invites to roam about the red-light district. I was better than
that, I thought. Yet, like it or not, I was a tourist nonetheless.
I found out
how much a tourist I was after leave-taking from my acquaintances. Wandering
through the streets solo, I also wanted to try out a marijuana café, stopping
into a tobacconist for a pipe and rolling papers.
Not far down the road I spied such an establishment and ventured inside. It was poorly lit, with serving counter to one side with a couple of stools, all occupied.
The men on the stools, and the counterman, all looked like the cast of a B-grade film about dirty, violent bikers. At the bar’s end was a sign – in English – “More seating upstairs”.
I was hesitant,
realizing right then my hotel key, passport, money and all my identification
was in a bright blue pouch hanging around my neck, yet I was about to make a
step toward going upstairs.
At the last moment I felt a tap on my shoulder. I turned. Before me stood a tall, impeccably attired, muscular African man, hand outstretched, saying “You dropped your cell phone on the ground” and sure enough I had.
Just as quickly, in an urgent tone, he said “What are you doing here? Get out. Get out of
here NOW!’ and motioned me to follow him. Without any hesitation, I did and
we both rushed down the street to civilization and safety.
Cinema: My Top Fifteen
I was challenged to come up with a list of 15 films that changed my intellectual DNA. At first it was tough to come up with more than 6, but it ended up being more difficult to winnow out other films I found of import in my life.
On top of it, I shared this list with my partner Bruce, who came up with a list of his own. My list is annotated for the first 15; his list follows in paragraph form; then I've added a list of other films I've found memorable.Anyway, here's my list:
1- The Shameless Old Lady - Based on a Bertolt Brecht story, when an old woman's husband finally dies, she decides to live a life of pleasant pleasure. While her children argue about who will get her belongings when she dies, she goes about disbursing her possessions, sharing her funds and free time with her grandson and his prostitute girlfriend. It was the first time I remembered going to a film with subtitles without anyone else. Saw it in a suburban Philly PA movie theatre in 1968.
2- Privilege - I saw this in a
3- West Side Story - I was in, oh, maybe 7th grade and went and watched this six times in seven days. I had no idea who Robert Wise, Jerome Robbins, Stephen Sondheim nor Lenny Bernstein were. Not sure if it was the gang warfare stuff, the idea of macho guys dancing in a pack or the gritty fantasy [for me] of urban ghetto life.
4- Animal Farm - [animated] I think the film I saw was released in 1954, which would make sense since I saw it as a kid. It forever etched into my brain the image of Orwellian nightmare societies, the link between corruption and power and the near futility of railing against the same. Even the pro USA agit-prop TV series Rocky and Bullwinkle that I had begun to watch religiously, couldn't over-ride the economic social class warfare components of Animal Farm for me.
5- Babette's Feast - A classic. What happens when a successful restaurateur flees and goes to live in a remote fishing village ...but he still can't get away from his artistry, and eventually fetes the villagers. Later I enjoyed a second pleasure when some dear friends had the feast staged at a nearby restaurant while we all watched the film together between courses.
6- Yellow Submarine - I drove 40 miles in a broken down 1959 orange Fiat with 5 other people to watch this in a barn like auditorium in a booze-free town in rural western New York State. We were all doing LSD and sat in the first row of the auditorium. The townspeople referred to us as "their" hippies.
7- Alone in the Wilderness - At the age of 50 Richard Proenneke went and moved to a wilderness section of Alaska to live there, alone. [well, except for occasional visits from bush plane pilots]. Once there he built his cabin, foraged and hunted for food, gathered firewood and studied the world around him. He filmed a year of his endeavors on an 8 mm camera that later got converted into video.
8- La cité des enfants perdus [The City of Lost Children] - co directed by Marc Caro and Jean-Pierre Jeunet the film has the eerie quality of the computer game Myst, with a bittersweet story line and a penchant for Victorian era sci-fi technology. And while it wasn't the first time I'd ever seen Ron Perlman on screen, his presence in this film captivated me.
9- Brazil - Terry Gilliam's classic bureaucratic dystopian nightmare, I'd watch over and over again, though not all at once. Too close to the idea of a corporatist/fascistic state for my comfort level; far better than the tedious rendition of 1984 featuring John Hurt and Richard Burton, yet the subject matter was the same.
10- Pollack - Ed Harris as Jackson Pollack. Violent, tempestuous, passionate. I had to buy a copy to keep. First time I recall seeing a film about an artist that seemed real.
11- Metropolis - Fritz Lang 's silent film opus. Worth it for the special effects alone, considering that it was filmed in 1927 long before CGI or conventional color or anything else considered ho-hum innovative nowadays.
12- K-Pax - An arrogant, [though not unlikable] thinks-he-knows-it-all psychiatrist is assigned to work with a new patient, K-Pax, who reports he is from outer space. The new guy is quickly able to help his peers suddenly do better for themselves and confront their personal demons and get ready to go back out in the world. That was something that neither the doc, nor the hospital staff evidently had been incapable of accomplishing. The psychiatrist, stymied, suddenly finds new meaning in what it actually takes to help another soul in trauma.
13- Baraka - No theme; just a rich, lush, sensual movie that kept me captivated. It reminded me of another, similar film I'd seen as a kid, Ecce Homo, which was equally exotic, tho' more ribald. But that was no comparison for Baraka's lushness.
14- The Endless Summer - A lush, color saturated film [as I remember it] about surfing filmed around the world. I think I saw it in February, trudging through snow. Never made me become a surfer, but opened my eyes to exotic places.
15- "Z" - I saw Costa Garvas' dramatic depiction on the dictatorial takeover of a weak democratic government in
I'm adding one more memory not of a movie - but of a movie house, the Wayne Avenue Playhouse. It was up the street from where I lived as a young teenager. Run by a family, staunchly independent, who chose to show films they liked, the prices were still cheap enough for kids who collected bottles for movie money. Every summer they had an annual silent film festival, at some time each year an operatic film [I still remember first seeing Puccini's Tosca there] along with many films that people in the neighborhood probably would not have seen otherwise. The place surely opened my eyes to watch for original cinematography.
Bruce's most enduring films list: [the top 3] Carmen Jones; Dangerous Liaisons; All About Eve. [The rest of the list] 7 Brides for 7 Brothers; Gone with the Wind; Now, Voyager; Brazil; Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?; Chicago; Streetcar Named Desire; La Dolce Vita; Satyricon; Niagara; Is Paris Burning?. Finally, not to be forgotten [what Bruce says is "...the best gay porno film ever made..."] The Gage Brothers' Kansas City Trucking Company.
Other films that I found memorable [in no particular order]: The Wizard of Oz; Spirited Away, a Japanese animated fantasy film written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki; Michelangelo Antonioni's Blow Up; Midnight Express; Manchurian Candidate [the Angela Lansbury version]; Seven Days in May; Fargo; Disney's Fantasia; Soylent Green [thought Charlton Heston's character pretty dumb for not having figured it out sooner]; David Bowie in The Man Who Fell to Earth; Kurosawa's Ran; The Full Monty; My Beautiful Launderette; watching Midnight Cowboy kept me from moving back to NYC; Sly Stallone's Rocky [I saw it in Lake Placid, NY, and was briefly startled not to be in Philly when leaving the theatre]; Beautiful Thing; The Fisher King; Moonstruck; A little Trip to Heaven, with Forrest Whitaker, an actor who'd I'd watch in anything; To Kill a Mockingbird; Moulin Rouge; The 5th Element; Fight Club; 12 Monkeys; Dangerous Liaisons; Is Paris Burning?; Milk; like Bruce, I, too like Tim Kinkaid's [aka "Joe Gage"] gay porn trilogy [which actually have story lines]. I am sure there are others, but...
Public Spaces: "this Museum of Everyday Life" - the Museum Ettore Gautelli [Parma, Italy]
https://www.museoguatelli.it/en/
For more details, follow the link to the webpage: Museum Ettore Gautelli [Parma, Italy] - known also as "this Museum of Everyday Life" _ the "wonderful fruit of the passion and patience of collector and elementary school teacher Ettore Gautelli (1921 - 2000). There is a link to the Museum's website above this screenshot.
Thanks to Lena Young for posting about this. Lena's description attached to this is, itself, a fresh, succinct, and clear picture of a place now on my museum visit bucket list.
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