ARTISTIC ENDEAVORS

March is nearly out ... thank goodness... That means spring is just around the corner. To be fair we have had a reasonable spell of early spring weather but days can still be cold.

We thought we had escaped the bugs this winter but it seems it is the wee ones who have had it the worst.  Iain and I have not been laid low with anything so have been in a position to hold on to Harriet (nearly 4 years old) and/or Ellie (2 years old) because of sickness and diarrhoea probably picked up a Nursery.   

Here is Ellie writing on the wall (where there is a plastic growth chart).

Harriet is learning to use a paintbrush. Also she is picking up the shapes for the letters of her name.  This photo shows that she can keep inside the lines well. What I find fascinating is her dexterity!  She can hold pencil or paintbrush 'properly'.  She has fine motor movements so makes assured stokes.  I get her to 'dab' and draw wiggly lines and then big circles. I spend ages with bits of paper taped on to an old Habitiat easel just watching her 'create'!

I came across this Caravaggio painting recently. What appealed to me was the chap on the right. He is so self-assured and cuts quite a handsome figure in his feathered hat and velvet-looking jacket.

I had a double-take however ... I have the image of the boy on the right as a background 'wallpaper' on my iPhone.  (I find I can read the apps and time easily with Carvaggio's particlular colours.)  Harriet was holding my iPhone and said to me "That's Alastair!".  Heavens!  So it is!

The character of the boy kind of fits too:   The painting shows a good looking foppishly-dressed boy having his palm read by a gypsy girl. The boy looks pleased as he gazes into her face, and she returns his gaze. Close inspection of the painting reveals what the young man [with his self-satisfied gaze] has failed to notice: the girl is removing his ring as she gently strokes his hand.

And furthermore ....  this is the title of the Louvre painting: 
La_Diseuse_de_bonne_aventure,_Caravaggio_

Yes... [The Gypsy and] ... the Bonadventurerer .... suits Alastair to a T!