Updated my blog at my website.

I've updated my blog on my website. It is difficult to just port it over to blogspot. So, if you would like to check it out:

http://www.laurajeannegrimes.com/laura-grimes-artist-blog.html

And, here is one of my latest drawings. Good ol' Jorge. No matter how often I draw him, he always ends up looking like Jesus. The effect is not noticeable in conversations with him. When his face is at rest, I always seem to see Jesus.

Two conversations, and how they strangely interconnect

Saturday morning, I went to the Farmers Market in the parking lot of Lakeline Mall, here in Cedar Park, TX, where I enjoyed the best chocolate milk I have ever tasted. Chocolate goat milk. The secret? One pound chocolate/one gallon milk. And, I had a delightful conversation with the young woman "manning" the booth. She is part of a family business, the goat dairy.

Our conversation ranged over several topics. Life on a dairy farm in Waller County, Texas. Her 11 siblings. (Yes, 11.) She had visited Europe for two months a few years ago. Being an Italia-phile, I asked, "Where?!" The first city she mentioned was Verona. "Verona!," I exclaimed, "Romeo! Giulietta!" And, she had visited Venice during Carnevale. This tipped me off. Carnevale occurs during the school year. Which group of students gets to go to Europe for two months during the school year? Best bet: homeschoolers. My guess was correct. She shared family stories, happy memories. Our conversation was the best part of the morning.

That evening, I attended the Dr. Sketchy event in Austin, held at Elysium, which is a scuzzy bar at 7th and Red River. They don't even have pretzels. I ordered soda water. They have a dance floor, where chairs were set up for us, and a stage. We artists met there to sketch members of the Apophenia Belly Dance troupe. We began with gesture poses (1 minute each), progressed to 5 minute poses, to 10, and finally to 20. The dancers performed between poses. The sword dance. The candle dance. Great fun.

I had parked around the corner on 6th Street. For you out-of-towners, Sixth Street is the live music/bar scene part of town. Think pub crawl. So, after an evening of furious sketching, I walked to my car, around 10 pm, by myself, with my rolling cart of art supplies. As I opened my trunk, a man ran up and immediately said, "Don't be scared of me! Don't be scared of me!" I assured him I wasn't scared of him. "I'll help you put that in your trunk," he said. I thanked him, and he did. Then, he asked if I could help him out with a little money. "I'm tapped out," I replied. And, I honestly was. "I've been here two days," he said, "And I've been cold." I asked him if he had tried the Salvation Army. I've asked others that question before, and the answer is always the same. I get my number, but they're full before they get to me. I believe it, especially as cold as it's been. I mentioned Mission Possible, on 12th and Chicon, as a possibility. He asked if I had anything at all I could give him. "I've got a coat in the car you can have," I said, "a woman's coat." He brightened up, I got it, he tried it on, and, how about that, it was short in the arms and looked more like a jacket on him than a coat, but he managed to button it. "They're going to say I'm a pimp," he exclaimed, laughing. Since the coat was bright yellow, I agreed that was quite possible. It was a vintage cashmere coat I bought at a thrift store a few years back, probably for less than 10 dollars. And, he needed it more than I did.

He asked me if I had anything else. I rooted around in the car. (I drive a very, very messy car. Sort of a big purse on wheels.) I pulled out a box of crackers, some power bars, a small bag of Fritos, and a big jug of apple juice. And, a grocery-store bought "green bag" to carry it all in. He was grinning from ear to ear. He was delighted. We talked, somehow the subject of my age came up. I'm 56. About the same age as his mother, it turns out. He shared with me that she is in Oklahoma, with his step-dad. She raises herbs. I asked him, "When is the last time you talked with your mother?" A look came to his face, an indescribable look. I can only call it a spasm of wordless grief. "Perhaps," I said, as gently as I could, "You could call your mother." The look on his face lasted only a moment. Then, he was smiling, telling me I couldn't possibly be 56. And, he bent over, held my hand tightly, kissed my hand, and thanked me. As he stood back up straight, I noticed the t-shirt shirt he was wearing. On the shirt, the words "Romeo" "Juliet" and "Verona". I had talked with a young woman that morning about her trip to Verona, about Romeo and Juliet. And here a homeless man stood before me, those words on his shirt. We said our goodbyes. I hope he stayed warm that night. At least, he had something to eat.

A strange, strange coincidence. How did this man end up with a tourist t-shirt from Verona, Italy? And, I meet him on that day, a day when I had already talked about Verona with a fresh-faced young woman, her whole life in front of her. What was God telling me about these two encounters? I am puzzling over the question. Perhaps, He simply was telling me that He was present at both conversations, and in both conversations.

Addendum: I'm writing this on Wednesday. As I mention below in a comment, I have concluded that there are three possible explanations for the amazing coincidence of the shirt. One: That night, as I slept, my mind processing the days events, perhaps I dreamt of the shirt, and it was so real that it became imbedded in my memory of the event. Two: At the age of 56, a person will experience a few amazing coincidences over the years. I've still never drawn a royal flush. But, random chance can lead to strange juxtapositions. Three: God was at work. This is the explanation I favor. But, come to your own conclusions. And, even if you don't believe that God intervenes in our world, or you don't believe in God at all -- still, consider that the third explanation might very well be the correct one.

For more info about the Swede Farm in Waller County, Texas, visit their website: http://swedefarm.com/

For more info on Dr. Sketchy, visit the the MeetUp page: http://www.meetup.com/drSketchyAustin/

For more info on homelessness in Texas, visit: http://www.foundationhomeless.org/

To visit my website for more jpegs of my work: http://laurajeannegrimes.com

My website, and a book

I've been doing all my blogging, etc. on my website. Check it out at: http://www.laurajeannegrimes.com/

In addition, I have put together a self-published book, titled Objects Found, available at blurb.com. This book incorporates digital photographs with my thoughts and conclusions regarding things I have found on long walks. I use the word "object" loosely, as I include structures, flora, fauna. You may preview the first 15 pages, and order the book if you like at:http://www.blurb.com/bookstore/detail/1903638

One of the more recent "objects" I have found on my journeys on undeveloped tracts of land (the ones still left out here in the suburbs) was this coil of barbed wire. I immediately thought of the cross of thorns, worn by Jesus at the crucifixion. Random objects can lead to unexpected connections.

Those Who Were Truly Great...And The Rest of Us

"I think continually of those who were truly great," begins British poet Stephen Spender (1909-1995).

in my family, less than an "A" on the report card was failure. I graduated 5th in my large high school class and thought myself a failure. In our entertainment-driven culture, we celebrate the Big Stars, forget the Has-Beens, and pity the Wanna-bees.
I made a B+ in my first college drawing class. Therefore, I believed I was a no-talent failure. So, I majored in art history instead of studio art, as I had planned.

About 5 years later, I returned to school and earned that BFA in Studio Art. "So there!" I could tell my past self.

Twenty five years later, am I famous? No. Does it matter? Not at all. Will I achieve the stature of a Leonardo, a Michelangelo, a Raphael? Extreeeeeeeemely doubtful. Will I ever even be a big fish in a small pond? Does it matter? What matters is to keep at it, despite the lack of glory, fortune and fame.

Perfectionists get very little done, you know. Sometimes a "good enough" job really is good enough, if you put your heart and soul into it. I give you a Leonardo. And, one of my small paintings. His is magnificent. And mine? Well, it's good enough.

And, here is Stephen Spenders poem, in its entirety:

I think continually of those who were truly great.
Who, from the womb, remembered the soul's history
Through corridors of light where the hours are suns,
Endless and singing. Whose lovely ambition
Was that their lips, still touched with fire,
Should tell of the spirit clothed from head to foot in song.
And who hoarded from the spring branches
The desires falling across their bodies like blossoms. What is precious is never to forget
The delight of the blood drawn from ancient springs
Breaking through rocks in worlds before our earth;
Never to deny its pleasure in the simple morning light,
Nor its grave evening demand for love;
Never to allow gradually the traffic to smother
With noise and fog the flowering of the spirit. Near the snow, near the sun, in the highest fields
See how these names are fêted by the waving grass,
And by the streamers of white cloud,
And whispers of wind in the listening sky;
The names of those who in their lives fought for life,
Who wore at their hearts the fire's center.
Born of the sun, they traveled a short while towards the sun,
And left the vivid air signed with their honor.
~ Stephen Spender ~

A Portrait

"A portrait is a painting with something wrong with the mouth." "Every time I paint a portrait, I lose a friend." Both quotes by American Impressionist painter John Singer Sargent.


After 32 years of marriage, I can draw a recognizable picture of my husband from memory. But it is still going to be a much better likeness if he poses for me. Imagine how frustrating it is to try to get a likeness of someone you don't know. For example, a model at an open studio session. Some artists have the ability to capture a likeness quickly. For me, what a struggle! I get closer and closer to a likeness the more often I have the same model. My favorite model is Senalka, who, alas, moved to San Francisco.

I offer a selection of my drawings of her. None truly come close to capturing her sweetness and strength.

Digital Photography

Digital photography. I've been taking pictures for quite a long time, of course, starting many years ago with a Kodak Brownie. How I wish I still had it! But, only recently have I begun to share those photos with others, outside of family. First on mySpace, then on Facebook. On my website (http://laurajeannegrimes.com). Now, here. I will share only a few favorites. A mushroom that looks like Mick Jagger's lips. An old, abandoned loveseat found in deep, deep shade under a cluster of cedars on undeveloped property. A chair sitting in front of a stone, on wooded property behind an elementary school. And, a broken car mirror. It spoke to me in its brokenness. The shards of glass still reflect the beauty of the sky. For now we see through a glass, darkly, but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known." βλέπομεν γὰρ ἄρτι δι’ ἐσόπτρου ἐν αἰνίγματι, τότε δὲ πρόσωπον πρὸς πρόσωπον· ἄρτι γινώσκω ἐκ μέρους, τότε δὲ ἐπιγνώσομαι καθὼς καὶ ἐπεγνώσθην.

Artists and Torture

I hate to use the phrase "to beat a dead horse" in this context. But, I know everyone is tired of hearing about torture. It's yesterday's news. In the United States, those who are pragmatic and those who are idealists argue round and round and round. Let's see how artists have explored this subject.

Alas, I haven't figured out how I can use blogspot to artfully arrange my pictures. For a clearer arrangement, view the blog on my website:http://www.laurajeannegrimes.com/laura-grimes-artist-blog.html


Early Italian Renaissance painter Fra Angelico depicts the torture of the damned in Hell. The demons obviously enjoy their work. At the bottom of the painting, Satan eats the poor, lost souls with relish. This work would have been meant as a cautionary tale to the faithful, of what could happen if they persisted in sin. Angelico was known for the sweetness of his work, and had to find a different approach for this subject. I imagine it was unpleasant for him, and that he was relieved to return to painting the Virgin, the baby Jesus, angels.


Northern Renaissance painter Matthias Grunewald depicts perhaps the most famous torture victim in all of history, Jesus Christ upon the Cross. We are very familiar with the cleaned-up versions of the Crucifixion, the calm, alabaster Jesus, hardly marked, a few drops of blood at His hands, His feet, His side. Here Grunewald shows us something closer to reality. Crucifixion was death by slow torture. The Romans were particular masters of it.


Next, a Dutch woodcut shows "The Water Torture". Was this during the Inquisition? Or were these government officials seeking information? We do not know. The man writing in the book appears quite calm, as he waits for the words of the man being tortured. He is documenting the interrogation, it seems.


Moving on to modern times, this World War II poster starkly pronounces the difference between the Allies and the Axis. Implicit in this work is the assumption that good guys don't torture, only the evil do.

In his graphic novel Maus, Art Spiegelman tells the story of his father, a Holocaust survivor. As he flips back and forth from present to past, we see the lifetime pain and anguish suffered by the father, by Spiegelman's mother, a survivor who commits suicide, and by the artist himself as the son. The Jews are depicted as mice, the Germans as cats, the Poles as pigs. He had a difficult time finding a publisher for this work. The subject matter seemed so inappropriate for the comic book style. Finally published, Maus won many awards, including a Pulitzer Prize Special Award in 1992.

In his Mercenaries series of the 1980's, the late American artist Leon Golub explored the dark world of those who fight, brutalize and kill for hire. As do the demons in Hell, his soldiers of fortune enjoy their work. We see the camaraderie of men engaged in a common activity. He said of his work: Artists are part of the information process... Visual history is important in providing a record of what is going on – levels of intention, levels of confidence, levels of aggression or control.

Best known for his paintings of pleasantly plump people engaged in light-hearted harmless activities, Columbian artist Fernando Botero also has turned his attention to the dark world of brutality and violence. Here we see a painting of a drug cartel's victims, men, women and children gunned down in the seemingly never ending cycle of violence in his native land. And, a photo of the artist with one of his paintings depicting the events at Abu Ghraib. Fra Angelico was commissioned to paint Hell and was no doubt relieved to return to depicting the Virgin with Baby Jesus, choirs of angels, etc. But, Botero chose these unpleasant subjects as a testimony to the world.


Cambodian artist Vann Nath is one of only seven survivors of the notorious Khmer Rouge prison S-21. About 14,000 people -men, women and children-perished in that horrific place. His skill as an artist saved him. He was put to work doing portraits of Khmer Rouge leader Pol Pot. Now, his paintings expose the brutal torture inflicted there. He has said: But during that whole time I kept wondering if the Khmers were simply destroying themselves. I wondered, how can we do this to ourselves? Is it self-hatred? Are we trying to wipe ourselves from the face of the earth?

What of myself as an artist? I have no political work to show. But, I have treated the subject of the Crucifixion. The work to the left is titled "Through Mary's eyes". As Mary was transfixed in helpless anguish, standing by the Cross, she must have still seen the little boy she loved. Below, we see her crazy with with grief over the lifeless body of her son. No loving mother wishes to outlive her child. And to see him die a slow death by torture must have ripped out her heart. Did she see the coming Resurrection? We do not know.