MOVING ON

To supplement my income from freelance part-time jobs, I'd be doing interesting gigs that I see posted on Craigslist. I tell you, looking into these gigs and jobs on Craigslist New York will give you a better understanding of how people's minds go about currently. I even think I get a better view on the window on how people go about their lives when I read those postings on Craigslist than reading a respectable broadsheet (as they're more up-to-date, just like Twitter or Facebook). One posting for a gig I responded to was about "fine art naked portraits" nearly 2 years ago. I thought I can do a nude portrait gig, as I figured I won't be having this physical state of body I still got 20 years from now. The forces of gravity and demands of daily living will certainly take their toll, as my God-given body will give way to the slow process of nature's ravages, even if I really take good care of myself now. And I needed some dough just to make up for my living ...

A self portrait by Gustave Courbet Something about Courbet reminds me strongly of my own struggles to pursue creative works. I've not known much about him before my visit to the Met Museum. And I'm writing down these thoughts months after I dashed one weekend to make it to the last day of this Courbet exhibit at the Met, even just by myself (and I never felt so gratified, after I read about him on a catalogue from an art magazine). He certainly has been a trailblazer during his time, but you'd see his works pale in comparison with what we see and take for granted these days!! He was not among those artists based in the main city, which was Paris then (even perhaps up to now). He was proud of his social background which I understand was "middle class" during that period, his local culture which looked like very rural compared to the very urban Paris at that time, and his art of which he has proven he's got the abilities and strength to see thru the completi...

I took advantage of opportunities to take pictures of paintings from both the Metropolitan Museum of Art , and Museum of Modern Art showing the nude form. Nothing much to say, except that the human body remains a delightful creation to see, even when drawn in modern, and traditional approaches in paintings. The painters with the corresponding title of their paintings are listed by order of appearance in this posting. Pablo Picasso's Woman Plaiting Her Hair Pablo Picasso's Two Nudes Pablo Picasso's Les Demoiselles d' Avignon Pablo Picasso's Bather Paul Gauguin's The Moon and the Earth Henry Matisse ' Male Model Henry Matisse' The Serf Henry Matisse' Goldfish and Sculpture Pierre Bonnard's The Bathroom Henry Matisse' Bather Richard Hamilton's Pin-up Pierre Puvis de Chavannes ' Cider Jean-Leon Gerome 's Pygmalion and Galatea Pierre Puvis de Chavannes' The River Gustave Courbet's Nude with Flowering Branch Gustave Courb...