Went To See, Experience, Be Drawn Into, Mesmerized, Pulverized, Infatuated, Enflamed, Passioned By The French Movie HAUTE CUISINE yesterday Afternoon On Columbus Day With My Wife, Monday, october 14th, 2013

     Loved HAUTE CUISINE the French movie about the personal chef to French President Francois Mitterand at the Elysee Palace at 55 Rue Saint-Honore in Paris, France, back in the nineties. I lived there in Paris with my now-wife/ then girlfriend in the seventies when Giscard D'Estaing was the French President. What great times those were. Wish I were still there many times. Our son will soon be there in a week's time. What a great opportunity that he is getting to enjoy now in college and studying abroad in Europe. He needs to see HAUTE CUISINE when he gets a chance, so does our daughter. I have much to write still but will post this now : " as is " and add to it tonight and tomorrow. I am so excited about having seen this movie that I want to give it a big : " shout out ! " and tell everyone to go see it immediately! It's playing here in northern Virginia at the Cinema Arts so you can see it on a big screen. I would love to have it come to the Uptown Theatre in Cleveland Park : that's where it really deserves to be experienced. A bientot for now. Sante a tous, and think carefully and thoughtfully about drinking the 1968 CHATEAU RAYAS Chateauneuf-du-Pape with fresh truffles spread on a toasted piece of bread with what I believe was a butter, oil and garlic and herb spread, with thin slices of these truffles placed on top?!? Cheers,  Anthony ( TONY ) Quinn  Tuesday, October 15th, 2013

Night Drawing / The Morning-After Review Tuesday October 15th, 2013 : Listening To Jimi Hendrix's " Rainbow Bridge " 10:27AM

     I'm pleased, pleased as punch. Is it my best work, no. Is it something I am happy to be doing : yes. Is it an extension of what I have been doing : yes. Is it bright, spontaneous, rough and raw and gutsy : yes. These are things that I value, that I appreciate. Do others ? Probably not. Do others get me and my direction ? probably not. Am I getting the proper exposure for my art ?  : again probably not. Do I need to work on getting better exposure ? Definitely. And I will this week.

     Am I moving along and forward? Yes, I certainly think that I am. It's exciting, it's raw and it's primal and pithy and earthy and murky and messed and scratched and ragged and edged and not pristine or perfect : it - these six drawings of last night stand starkly and certainly and make whatever statement that they make. For me that's impressive, it's a lot, it's well-worth my efforts that will continue tonight.

     Not being able to see still results in tremendous clarity and boldness and vibrancy that shines through any murk or mire or muddiness, which there is still some of! I still have the pastels on my two hands as I type this. They are my badge of honor, of authenticity, of authorship. I should paint my whole body with them and wear my whole skin as a testament to this week and what I will do with these " Nights Drawings " of mine.

     The one I am looking at now reminds me of the mood of Halloween that is coming at the end of this month. I am sure I will draw others that will do much the same thing. Only time will tell. I cannot wait and am also tempted to start doing some in the daylight when I can see what I am doing and not have to rely on instinct and trust to : " what will be, will be ", and that it does not matter, because it's my process of doing and dealing and grappling and resolving and moving along and further that ultimately is  my test to myself : my moment in moments marked and preserved for me in these oily pastels that have a brightness, a dullness, and thickness, like thick layers of skin applied over time, quickly, with little added thought, little redress : just a serendipitous reaction of my senses to time and place and any thoughts and feelings that accompany us on this path.

     And me stripping to my birthday suit and drawing : " au naturelle ", ohhhhh so naturally, so comfortably, so with ease and pleasure?!? I love it : I'm fully liberated and relaxed and so at my best. I'll do it again. And the cold and the chill of the evening? It's further stimulus for me to keep busy and active and move along because I never know when it will become too much for me?

     It's all been a great discovery me so far. I am absolutely delighted with last night's results and will continue again later today. I will take pictures of my work as I go along and add them here as time permits. I will also continue to write here daily to preserve my thoughts and feelings and emotions. I'm high and low in emotions now : not much in between. It's a hard emotional time for me as I have baggage and parcels and boxes and pockets and nooks and crannies all crammed full and I am trying to address all of them, air all of them, and give some extended and more expression- comment-dealing-of-them as they do gnaw at me and I have to gnaw back until I can better deal with them. Cheers, Anthony ( TONY ) Quinn  10/15/13  Tuesday morning now in northern Virginia at 10:47AM   Cheers!

Drawing At Night By Moon Light, Candle Light & 2 Deck Lights : Close To Midnight Of Monday, October 14th, 2013 : Columbus Day!

     What a thrill this was! You can hardly see anything. You have to both feel your way as well as sense it. Not an easy thing to do. You must have faith that the journey and the path you both take and are led down is the real reward, no matter whatever else you might get. I managed to do six oil pastel drawings , like looking at a book and opening it with two pages to draw on to get more drawing space. it's pretty neat what I got. The last one, #6 may, in fact be my favorite and my best.

     I was drinking some SEPPELT Tawny port from Australia as I drew. There's some sediment at the bottom of my glass as I type here on my HP laptop computer. It warms me. I have opened to my left #6 drawing and I am quite pleased with it and will continue to do more drawings like this one on my vacation.

     I did some " Night Drawings " like this this summer at the beach in August at Avon, North Carolina at the Outer banks. The thing is you pick up colors in the dark and do not know what they are. You simply draw your inspiration from the moment and you wait to see later what you have. There's no way to know and I like this, I like this a whole lot. Some would call it a handicap but I call it liberating.

     It was cool outside and there was a beautiful three-quarter's moon up above our house and that was a big part of all of these drawings.. The darkened tree shapes and our roof top and the dark sky was what I drew my infinite inspiration from.

     I worked the drawings and really pushed the colors into the paper. These being my first they often seem the most labored. As I go along for the next few nights I will discover both more about me and my moment, the elements and the weather and my reactions to all.

     What made this evening especially interesting is that I was for the very first time stripped naked to see what the cold hitting my skin might do? I felt free and comfortable and amazingly liberated and fresh and fully ready to draw to my nakedness' content. That's exactly what I did, too on this first evening. Cheers. I will take pictures of what I do and include them here as I have a chance. Take care, hope everyone enjoyed Columbus Day. My wife and I got a chance to be truly inspired and see the movie HAUTE CUISINE at the Cinema Arts out here in Annandale, Virginia. I highly recommend that everyone go and see it! Cheers,  Anthony ( TONY ) Quinn   10/14/13