“12 Angry Men " is one of my all time favorite movies. My friend Ron listens to music as he paints. Many artists connect with music while working. I like painting while listening to a movie, not watching, just listening. The dialogue is great, direction is right on. It's a movie about men serving on a jury that teaches us about people. It’s about getting one to think about other people's lives and how other people think. It also has great acting by some very talented actors. My brush is always put down to watch George C. Scott react to the reading of a secret written vote by the foreman. Seeing a master actor perform is inspiring and makes me think, as a painter, am I doing my best? People in the arts can inspire.
Beautiful, talented dancers inspire me too. Watching them perform and knowing the pain they go through to get to that beautiful performance they give on stage. My first model, in New York, was a dancer who explained why her feet were so red and why she always asked for a reclining pose. Where a painting gets its bright or dark color sometimes comes in different ways than we think. I looked at that young lady a bit differently hearing her story. Forty years later another dancer posed for me, after three sessions she told me she danced topless at a strip club. Her story was a bit different. She was dancing to earn money to put her husband through college. I learned the club she performed at rents the stage to the girls. The girls get their tiny costumes stuffed with dollars, and then those tips are split 50/50 with the club owner. Again, I gave this model a reclining pose.
When my art teacher told me to never stop learning I never stopped learning - it’s just not always about art.
