After visiting Cairo, Fresno, to me, is quite a nice place to be. I appreciate the clean streets and neighborhoods, and orderly traffic much more now than I used to. I love the friendly faces I see in the Tower District, and there is no shortage of good company lately.
I am looking into a studio in Downtown Fresno at the moment, and I have found a few options to pick from. Im excited to get back to work, and the goal for 2012 is to learn to make frames. After visiting the Louvre, and the Rijks, and other museums of that caliber I have realized how important a good frame can really be. The frame is like a window into the artist’s world. Almost like a gateway into the vision of the artist. I really like this concept, and I think it adds much depth to the artwork.

One of the concepts that I really like about a lot of dutch paintings is their comic-esque qualities. I use this Rembrandt as an example. Here Jeremiah mourns the destruction of Jerusalem. It is hard to tell from this photo, but outside the cave is the small burning city of Jerusalem. So Rembrandt cleverly placed this little vignette off to the side of Jeremiah to show what he was thinking about. Well done Rembrandt.  I certainly approve.

I have heard many artists talking at FAA and occasionally I hear them bashing decisions like Rembrandt has made here saying that “he just painted the figure, and then put a background in.”  Often times it is said like it’s a bad thing, but I disagree. I think if the background is put in tastefully like Rembrandt did here, it can add many new layers of depth, and make the picture much more interesting. Yeah the background was stuck in there, but there was a purpose for doing so, and I think it works.

It wont be long before I settle back in to my new environment that is the Central Valley, and soon enough I will be learning the art of framing, and I should have almost every aspect of this wonderful obsession down. From making wood panels, to stretching and rabbit skin gluing linen, refining my own linseed oil, to making oil based gesso and grinding my own paint, all the way to making professional quality frames. I am very excited for 2012. It’s going to be a great year.

“Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back. Concerning all acts of initiative (and creation), there is one elementary truth, the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then Providence moves too. All sorts of things occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred. A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one’s favor all manner of unforeseen incidents and meetings and material assistance, which no man could have dreamed would have come his way. Whatever you can do, or dream you can do, begin it. Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it. Begin it now.”
― W.H. Murray

The way I see it. If I never made the bold move to go back to Europe outside of the Florence Academy, I would never have made this painting. I regret not going to more places to paint. We will just have to see what the future holds.

Holland is a wonderful country. A bit crowded, but still awesome. I plan on going to Den Haag tomorrow morning to go visit the Maruitshuis. The girl with the pearl lives there. Im excited to see what all the fuss is about. I think it’s a pretty decent painting from what I have seen from the reproductions. The anatomy lesson by Rembrandt is also there. I am extremely excited to see this painting, even with the flaws in the perspective. I don’t know what else to do in the Nederlands other than going to the museums. It should be boring. I have my sketchbook handy though.
The Maruitshuis in Den Haag (The Hague) has a fantastic collection of about 800 paintings. Im not sure exactly how many are on display but its the perfect size museum with am extremely high quality collection of paintings. I love the dutch 17th century for a number of reasons. The paint application and technique, and the meanings behind the paintings. I especially love the paintings based on old dutch proverbs. I love that they loved paintings so much in holland that many normal middle class people bought artwork for their homes. The dutch made lots of artwork just for the sake of making it, where as far as I have noticed other countries weren’t so interested in just making art for the sake of making art. Most other countries stuck to religious art, or mythological scenes. I have seen so much of the religious and mythological genre’s that I rarely get excited about one of those paintings.

I think the last religious painting I got excited about was “Le Christ” by Bonnat. It’s truly incredible. I was blown away by it. It happened to be hanging in the Musee D’Orsay in Paris. I saw this wonderful painting by Rembrandt. It’s absolutely breath-taking in person. Each face is so naturalistic that I felt as if they would blink or say something. Other parts of the painting aren’t perfect, like the drawing of the cadaver for example. It’s too short. The head is also too big. Also in a dissection they would never ever start with the arm. They would have gone through the torso and abdomen first. Rembrandt chose to dissect the arm first because it works better for the painting. It all comes down to intentions in my opinion.

Holland is quite amazing. I found a hostel for 14 euros a night. It provides a sketchy internet connection and the other basics. People in hostels a weird. Really weird. There was one musician type fellow dubbed “That American Bloke” by one of the British kids that was there ended up urinating in the room by my bed. How charming. Thank you American Bloke… Thats the funny thing about all of this. A drunk guy peeing in the corner is something you would see in a 17th century dutch painting. They embrace humanity and accept that people are weird and flawed. At least that’s the vibe I get from it all. The dutch seem to understand that people are weird, and will always be weird, and do weird things, and many people wont accept these weird behaviors. The mentality it seems is “We are going to let the weird be, but we will definitely learn from the weird.” Is this what tolerance is? It seems like it to me, but what do I know. In egypt they freak out if a man kisses a woman in public. It’s sad to me, because I think kissing is a beautiful thing, and when someone gets pissed off at a couple kissing in public it usually seems to be because they are envious of the couple. I have always learned from other people’s examples it seems.

Jan Steen did a great job of illustrating what example’s parents shouldn’t be setting for their children:

I love this painting because everyone and everything has meaning to it. Notice its obviously daytime and the parents are drinking, and the father figure (which is supposed to be a self portrait of Jan Steen himeself) teaches his son to smoke tobacco, and a nice young age. The wealthier dutch folk loved these sorts of paintings because of they showed a clear example of how not to raise children. Maybe these themes need to be revived. At least thats my opinion.  I am very interested in re-visiting some of these themes in the near future. I can’t wait in fact. I studied the frames extremely closely as well, making sure to study every frame that caught my eye. I have become very interested in frames that are more linear but still very complex and elegant. I made quite a few drawings of moulding that was derived from the frames that I appreciated. I want to attempt to make my own in the style of these particular frames.

I made it to three museums while I was in Amsterdam, ate good good, and had good drink. Its nice that I was so familiar with the place. I didn’t use a map all that much. I didn’t need a map when I walked to the Rijks Museum. That felt like an accomplishment. I also got an audio tour if the Rijks. The day before at the Maruitshuis I had a free audio tour and it really made a difference on what I had noticed. I really appreciated the commentary, and it helped me realize the consistency of the dutch themes. After a while the dutch proverb paintings began to really make a lot more sense to me. I think they are themes that would definitely hold true today and would be executable in a contemporary sense.

I made a huge mistake the second day of going to the Rijks again, but I made the best of it with the audio guide. I should have went to the Hermitage Museum, but it dawned on me too late. I was about 3:30 when I realized that Maureen told me to go. I guess I am just going to have to come back. I would like to bring a friend along.

After a little over a week in Florence… Actually at this point I don’t know how long I have been in Florence since I got back from Egypt. Was it a week, or a month? It’s difficulty to gauge without looking at the actual dates of arrival and departure. I feel like I had post traumatic stress disorder after going to Egypt and all the madness that went down with Bekkah. I felt like death after Egypt because of the air. I had a gnarly cough, and I was just plain worn out, so I focused on my website http://www.nigelrobertson.com to unwind from Egypt. I do hope you enjoyed the ranting. My mom didn’t. I barely remember writing all that. I was in some sort of trance like state where the thoughts flowed freely. Allora…

Florence was pretty awesome except for the fact that I was sick with a cough the whole ten plus days that I was there. I did manage to have fun. Basilio had three parties in a week, and I had a fun going away get together party. It was my turn to cook the most awesome meal in Florence. It was bacon cheeseburger night. Galambanino cheese on the burger with bacon over that with feta cheese over the bacon with grilled shallot and red bell peppers over the feta, and lettuce and tomato over that,with a specially made garlic aiolli spread for the toasted buns. The fries were fried in olive oil with rosemary salt, and finely ground crushed red pepper. I don’t really like to cook only for myself, but when it’s for other people I tend to go a little over the top. Its fun. Everyone was extremely satisfied. The rule in florence is that if you cook you don’t have to clean. Another reason for loving to cook in Florence.

Its costing me a fortune to make my way back to California. At least I have a suitcase full of paintings, and I have completely removed all of my junk from Florence from the past two years. Shipping everything back also cost me a small fortune. It’s not as bad as some of the numbers I have heard from other people. I have no complaints. I am just a bit numbed at the moment.

I still haven’t reached my one hundred plein aire sketches like I have been planning to do. I still have much to learn, but I am already seeing lots of progress. I’ll be posting all the good paintings soon, along with an available works page. I’m happy to be leaving, especially getting to spend a few nights in the Nederlands.

Max took me out to the Depositoria in Florence and let me look for my bike there. It was nowhere to be found.

I originally built this bike from the ground up, paint and all for Bekkah, but the second day of her riding it she crashed and broke her little finger, and never rode it again. I couldn’t let it go to waste so I took it to Florence and rode it for an entire year. Last friday it was stolen off the street. RIP green machine. You were a pretty damn good bike.

Goodbye forever.

I made the horrible mistake of locking my bike up on the street to a pole on the sidewalk for too long. I am guessing the building owner or one of the residents of the building felt that my bicycle was in the way, so they called the police to have the bike removed. which I admit it may very well have been in the way, but not to the point of needing to call the police to cut the locks. A lot of people have nothing better to do other than inconvenience people they don’t know. Its a shame how often people do this to eachother.
I looked up and down the street for the bike thinking I locked it in some other spot, and forgot about it, but soon I realized that the bike was nowhere to be found. I figured out which pole the bike was locked at, and stood there wondering what happened to my bike. There was a wine shop next to the pole where I locked the bike, and I asked the italians that were hanging out drinking wine at 1:00pm “Did you guys see what happened to a green bike that was locked up right here?” They told me the police had cut the lock, and it shouldn’t have been locked up there. Im guessing they may have been the ones to have called the polizia. Rats.
I soon found the foot police who write tickets for improperly parked cars and scooters and asked them where to recover it. He gave me a phone number to call. I called right away but my italian is bad and thats all the police speak. Luckily my friend Joachim speaks great italian and we figured out where to get the bike. Monday ill go pick it up.
I had a feeling that I might not ever see the bike again when I was locking it up that last time. The bike is full of bad memories of Bekkah. I originally built the bike for her from the ground up. She even picked the color out custom from the automotive paint shop in downtown Fresno. I had collected all the parts for over a year to build one of the lightest fastest bikes possble. When it was complete it weight 14.7 pounds and it was Bekkahs christmas present.
Bekkah and I were at Woodward Park in Fresno just the first day ever riding the freshly built single speed bicycle. We had a good time riding around the park on this cool Fresno overcast day, until she decides to quickly ride ahead out of my sight. Next thing you know she wrecks into a center divider in a parking lot. She had a nice case of road rash, and she appeared to have really messed up her right pinky finger. We soon got her all patched up with first aid supplies from Walgreens. She never rode the bike again. I ended up taking it to Florence. Poor Bekkah…

She just seems doomed to me…

I have been feeling a little bit under the weather, and aggressively trying to get better.

I felt I should write this because many Florence Academy students frequent my blog, and any FAA student knows that Florence beats your immune system down when it starts getting cold. The place turns into a giant freezer box because Florence is made of all concrete, bricks, and stone. The humidity makes winter bone chilling cold. So if you are a sick Florence academy student, or an Angel or Cecil student you may find these remedies useful.

I use a plethora of remedies to get better after catching something in Florence:

• One of the most effective remedies for beating a cold is eating a bunch of raw garlic. I also drink lots of orange juice and eat lots of oranges. A mild fast helps as well. I especially try to cut out all sugars because I read somewhere that the cold viruses grow stronger when they are fed sugar. I don’t remember where I read it but it sounds logical to me.
•    A remedy  I like that I learned from a British girl at school is to boil water, and  put rosemary in it, and then inhale the steam with a towel over your head. Breathe that steam until there is no more steam coming off the water. Blowing on the water encourages more steam to rise. This works as an expectorant. This remedy seems to really work great for that.
• Hot and Spicy ramen noodles also seem to help speed up the recovery of a cold. In Florence you can find very tasty hot and spicy ramen from the Asain Markets. There is one very close to Santa Spirito, and theres another near the Lion’s Fountain on Saint Egidio.  The hot and spicy ramen has tons of salt and the spicy stuff will make you sweat, which is good for fighting the cold as well…
• Gargle a bunch of warm salt water. Lots and lots of it. This will help kill the things in your throat that make you feel so terrible.
• Drink lots of green tea with ginger, mint and orange juice. Avoid sugar. Use honey if you absolutely need to sweeten it. Leave the green tea out at night so you can sleep better.
• The pharmacy sells cold medicine, and most of the pharmacists speak english. It helps especially supplemented with these more holistic remedies.
• Avoid pizza. Its difficult in Florence. I’m guilty.

I thought this was a good idea to post for the FAA students because when you are in the Florence Academy because you simply just do not have time to be sick. You are attending a very high pressure, expensive school, and you just cannot afford to be sick during school, and you don’t want others to get sick. Don’t be one of those people who spreads sickness around.

If you are going to get sick, try to hold it off until winter break, or spring break. When you get sick its just your body telling you that you need a break.

Until next time…

Picture unrelated:

I went a little crazy…

I was picked up from the airport shuttle around 11:45am and began the excruciatingly long journey back to Italy. I first flew to Zurich, Switzerland, Again. I have been there at least three times in the past three months. Im getting too familiar with the airport. I even know where all the bathrooms are, and everyhing. From Zurich I fly to Rome Fiumacino. I ride the Leonardo express to Roma Termini. I had an old ticket that I didn’t time stamp, and once again, there was no man that came through to check tickets. Another free ride.

I arrive at Roma Termini, the main train station in Rome, after this freakishly long day to find that I missed all the trains back to Florence. Luckily this nice I english speaking Italian girl helped me with that. She even said that if she was staying tonight she would bring me back and I could sleep there for the night, but she was staying at a friends house, so I couldn’t come with her. I thought that was still super sweet. We say our goodbyes and I start heading toward a hostel I stayed at before when this guy asks me if I needed a hotel, and of course I reply “Actually yes… I am looking for a place to stay for the night.” The hotel is super nice and its only 50 euros, comes with a bathroom and shower in the room and internet. I lucked out. Thank you god.
In I slept marvelously, and took my time getting up. I pack my things and head across the street to the train staion, and grab a coffee and a sandwich. My ticket back to Florence is 45 euros. Ow. But at least its the fast train. It only takes an hour and twenty minutes. Im feeling pretty good at this point. The italian landscape always makes me happy to see. THe whole ride from Rome to Florence is pretty nice. Old Roman architecture is sprinked about, along with Italian Farm houses and cyprus trees. Its quite marvelous. I wish I could stop the train and paint.
Im glad to leave bekkah behind. She had some great properties about her, but also some really bad properties as well. Her health for example. She thinks she takes good care of her self, but she doesn’t. I haven’t got sick in almost a year and a half because I take good care of myself. Bekkah on the otherhand always feels bad. Always is sick. Always coughing. And her mental health is bad as well. I was often the victim of moodswings and anger management issues. She brought out the worst in me. I could compare her to some sort of bad whiskey. You have a couple shots, you feel good, you have a couple more you feel drunk, a couple more you get crazy and silly, and a couple more you get angry and destructive. And then the next day you end up hung over and you have to drink more to feel better. This is the effect Bekkah has on me anyway, and I do not like it. Im no longer setting for just okay. Im so glad to have left my baggage with her in egypt, and it was worth spending the money to do so. I also got a camel ride out of it all. But nothing more.

Here are some photos from the Journey from the Maadi, to the Cairo Airport: