Murray Tinkelman

Murray Tinkelman is the director of the MFA in Illustration program at the University of Hartford, and is one of the most amazing people I've ever met.

He's crusty and outspoken, compassionate and caring; he knows everything that ever happened in the history of illustration (and has an opinion about it); and as a teacher, has had an astounding influence on a generation of artists.

Recently Zina Saunders posted a very interesting and enlightening interview with Murray on her blog at: http://www.drawger.com/zinasaunders/

Read it and enjoy; I know I did.

(PS: in case it's scrolled away by the time you read this, the article is: Murray Tinkelman Profile, posted on July 25, 2007)

Finito

Here they are, all the actresses finished, framed and hanging at the Silpe Gallery at the University of Hartford.

and here's a link to the story:

http://www.hartford.edu/daily/news.asp?id=3091

one small step.

The Fair of Rosalind

From As You Like It by William Shakespeare
With Lily Langtry as Rosalind

Rosalind, the cross-dressing debutante, is one of the more visually picturesque figures in Shakespearean theater. On a quest to find her father, the banished Duke, Rosalind takes the name of Ganymede and travels with her friend through the forest of Arden, eventually coming upon her love interest, Orlando, whereupon Shakespearean hijinks ensue.

The painting shows Rosalind dressed in men’s clothes with her hair under her cap, reading the love letters that her beau-to-be has posted around the forest. The background replicates a section of a Victorian matte painting, while Langtry/Rosalind/Ganymede reclines on a stone while reading her lover’s missives. I could find no reference to the actual color of her clothing so red was chosen to provide a dramatic contrast to the primarily green forest background.

Lily Langtry, popularly known as Jersey Lily, was introduced to a modern audience by the Paul Newman movie, The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean, in which Langtry was depicted as Judge Bean’s lifelong obsession (though they had never met). Langtry was in fact a major actress and socialite of the late nineteenth century. She was mistress to the future King of England, Edward VII, and friends with the author Oscar Wilde and the painter James MacNeil Whistler.