Milena Jesenska

hello people of the world!

After a week of fun in the sun,

I was in the mood last night for something soft

and monotone

and relatively easy to finish

before going to bed.

:-)

It was 10pm by the time i started painting.

This is Milena Jesenska

a writer from Prague -

who died in Ravensbrück concentration camp in 1944.

Whenever i think of the victims of the Holocaust,

i can't help but wonder what these people

would have become

had they been given the chance to live.

Had they not been murdered.

How would they have changed the world?

I began this painting with my fingers,

thinking i would do the whole thing with my hands.

It's on a crap piece of cardboard i had in my 'stock' pile...

an empty, cut up, clean box of store bought pizza. :-)

I thought it would be cool to paint the lights

and let the cardboard peek through

as the darker color.

But then i quickly realized it would suck with just white,

so i added brown. 

:-)

...just these 2 colors, liquid acrylics.

And here she is, in all her glory,

obviously done rather quickly.

I ended up hiding the cardboard more than i wanted to,

but i love how you can still see it a bit

on her cheek.

...and on her shoulder.

I love that her writing keeps her memory alive.

Thank you all for visiting

and putting up with my rambling...

xoxo

jewish man & grandson

I have at least 20 paintings in my studio,

just sitting there.

This is one of them.

It was painted a few years ago,

and i was never too happy with it

for several reasons.

But when i crop it different ways... it doesn't seem so bad.

So maybe i'll attempt a technique i've seen a few times...

where the painting is cut up & repasted on another canvas,

with added colour and/or texture.

I wouldn't use such a technique

for a ballerina painting,

but i think it would lend itself well to this subject.

Sorry about the bad lighting, but you get the idea... 

I love this part of the painting,

even though grandpapa's leg is too short...

There's just something about that little boy

hanging on to his loop,

and his dangling pocket watch...

Both grandson & grandfather were gassed in Auschwitz

during the holocaust,

too young and too old to work.

*****

And on a lighter note,

my little morning sketch...

wishing you all a wonderful weekend...

(even those of you who own a Bluetooth) 

:-)

boy and his grandfather

This is part of a painting i did a while ago, of a jewish boy & his grandfather.

Both died in the holocaust.

women writers...

Irène Némirovsky was an author who, at the age of 26,  sent her manuscript anonymously to a Paris publisher. He was floored at the quality of writing, and asked that the writer make himself known. He was floored a second time when he saw a young woman walk in. She was from a well to do Russian family, but neglected by her parents, so at the age of 13, immersed herself in books & writing.

When France was occupied by the Germans in 1940, Némirosvky & her husband were forbidden to pursue their careers because they were Jews. They sent their two daughters away for safety, and joined them later in 1941. During this time, she began another novel, "Suite Française", describing everyday life in France under the occupation. She finished part of 1000 pages, and in June, 1942, she was arrested and deported to Auschwitz, where she died a few weeks later. Her daughters kept the writings and years later - in 2004 - "Suite Française" was published in France with enormous success.

Stories like these make me smile and cry at the same time... 

father & child

This watercolor was done from a book called "The last album", by Ann Weiss. These photographs were meant to be destroyed - along with the jewish population. But somehow, these were hidden at great risk & after the war, were discovered in a locked room at Auschwitz. The thing that strikes me most about these gorgeous photos, is the "normalcy" of it all. A wedding, a picnic outside, a mother hugging her daughter, a toast by a woman with a glass of wine. These photos are all that remain for many of these families. This father & child is only one of many photos that tugs at the heart, when one thinks of their fate...

Holocaust children