In Search of Duende: Buxton Festival in The Peak District

Three weeks ago I received a lovely mail with following words:

“Dear Miki

I’m writing from Buxton Festival, an opera, classical music and literary festival in Derbyshire, UK. We’re just about to go to print with our 2011 brochure and we’re trying to find an image to use for the brochure entry of one of our afternoon concerts ‘In search of Duende – the Spirit of Spain’. I came across your wonderful Flamencoscape 05 painting which I think captures some of the emotional intensity and power associated with ‘Duende’, and wondered if you would be happy for us to use this image….”

Flamenco Art by Miki

I, and above all, Kevin, was over the moon. As I replied to the lady, Kevin is from Derby, (with family from Matlock) so he knows the Buxton festival very well. And we both have even been together in Buxton and I was sketching with a deep pleasure in the Peak District on our way back from a long trip from Spain to the North of Scotland.

I am very happy and proud to announce that this painting has now been chosen to represent not only the Spanish afternoon concert, but also the whole music section in the printed brochure. I was also happy to hear that the singer of the “Duende” piece and the director really liked the image. What more can I ask as an artist!!!

The Brochure

The Buxton Festival which will take place this year from the 9th to the 27th of July (2011).

As written in their website, the festival is

“A feast of opera, music and literature, set in the beautiful Peak District”

I wished I were there, really. Not only because I love opera, music and literature, but because I love the Peak District too. As I said before, we have been there on our way up to Scotland, almost 3 years ago now, and also on the way back.We were in Buxton itself too, a beautiful town as I remember. It was even sunny that day, although the whole trip so far had taken place under rain. In the Peak District I adored the fields full of sheep, the tiny little stone houses and the long little stone walls crossing the fields everywhere …

After visiting Buxton, I spent the rest of the day in the countryside, sketching the sheep and the stone walls!

The Peak District - by Miki

Travelsketches in inks and watercolour

The Peak District - by Miki

Mugs back in The Shack

I love coffee cups and I love painting  them… is there still in the world somebody ignoring that important fact? 

About 3 years ago I exhibited for the first time some of my beloved mugs paintings  in a new cafe-bakery in Turre called “The Pasty Shack”. We loved to go there and get our warm baguette everyday. Unfortunately the Shack closed and my mugs came back home.

Some months ago the Shack reopened its doors with new owners from the UK, Neil and Mags. But this time as  a cafe-bakery and restaurant. Shortly before Christmas we went there for a typical English Christmas dinner including Turkey, with a chestnut stuffing, pigs in blanket, roast potatoes. carrots, Brussel sprouts and cabbage and crispy onion. The whole lot crowned by an incredible Christmas pudding. I have never before had an English Christmas menu in my life, and I know the best way to describe my feeling is:

I want it again next year!

We deeply enjoyed our meal and the whole atmosphere of the new shack. One day in January we went back there to try some of the other English specialities. I had seen on the menu “Jacket Potatoes with Cheddar Cheese”, and me being a huge fan of potatoes and cheese, I had to have them.

Well, what a delight for my tongue and tummy!!!!!

And when I think that my arrogant French compatriots say that English food is a nightmare, I must say, even at the risk of being ‘disenfrenchised’:

they haven’t got a clue about food, these Froggies!!!!!

While we were waiting for the meal, Neil came to our table asking if we knew a certain Miki. Yes, we did…  He had found on the net in a blog a post about the old Pasty Shack, showing some photos of coffee mugs by Miki. He asked if I still had them, as he would love to have them back in the Shack.

So, this afternoon Kevin went to The Pasty shack and hung my Mugs back up… I am glad that they are there, they love the smell of English food and it it is like a second home for them!

Mikis Mugs in The Pasty Shack in Turre

“If it were not for caffeine, I’d have no personality whatsoever…”

Miki's Mugs in The Pasty Shack in Turre

If you can’t come to the Pasty Shack to buy a print or greeting cards of my mugs, just click on the widget below

and browse around in my shop online.

But if you want some English turkey or jacket potatoes, I am sorry, I don’t sell them in my shop online, you will have to come personally to The Pasty Shack in Turre, Andalucia!

New Art Gallery in Turre : El Retiro

I live in Turre, a very small town in the north of Andalusia, at the foot of some marvellous mountains and about 5 kilometres away from the coast and the tourist- busy Mojacar. I love it here, it still has that typical Spanish atmosphere which always made me dream of living in Spain.

One month ago I heard some wonderful news: A new Art Gallery, “El Retiro”,  has opened here! It is mainly to exhibit the work of local artists, a wonderful opportunity for all of us. The owner, Curtis Helm, has spent 2 years renovating the building using local stones from the river bed to create the gallery. It also has a very rustic beamed ceiling, which adds to the warm ambience. The exhibiting space is a really lovely place and I am sure that each artist will love to exhibit his work there. Also, Curtis had the ingenious idea to open the gallery only on Fridays – market days, ensuring this way loads of visitors in the very short time of 4 hours.  This has for us artists the advantage of not having to be present everyday for some few visitors, something that happens in most of the culture centres of Spain. I personally love this idea, and also the fact that it is without formalities. There in El Retiro, I really find the freedom and unconventionality I need. In fact, the lack of liberty and the complicated formalities are exactly what made me stop organising exhibitions and instead turning my business to the net, where everything is much simpler, much freer and much more lucrative! But of course, the experience of exhibiting on the net is very different, much less satisfying from the human point of view. But in El Retiro, I guess we artists will have the best of both worlds!

A big thanks to Curtis for that wonderful idea and the great job he did!

I am happy to announce that I will have my first exhibition at El Retiro next Friday, the 28th of January. It will be focussed on my bullfight paintings, a selection of my acrylics and gouache works. Most of the readers of this blog are from overseas, so I doubt they will have a chance to pay me a visit there, but well, at least they can be in thoughts with us!

This is en example of one of my latest acrylics works, which I will exhibit on Friday.

And if you can’t come to the exhibition you can buy the original painting  (    ) by contacting me. And if you haven’t got enough money for it, you can still buy a Giclee print or even a greeting card… just click on the widget below.

Hen Love

Not that I love hen so much… I find they don’t have lovely and kind eyes, in fact their eyes are quite hard. And I don’t like the noises they produce, it really does not sound like music to my ears. Well perhaps I ma too hard with them, as I know a wonderful person who cherishes very much her hen, and always makes wonderful paintings of them, the most beautiful chicken paintings I ever seen of . In her paintings you can really see her love for her chicken. I am speaking here of Susan Cornelis.

Well I was working on one more of my new impressions: this time it was 2 chicken which appeared on my painting. I emphasized them, and here they are.

Hen Love - by Miki

The chicken heads were inspired by photos I saw on the net. I am not  familiar enough with these animals to be able to paint them from memory in the accuracy I wanted them here, as a contrast to their bodies which gradually vanish into the background.

I heard Kevin laughing as he read my title. He explained to me that the general name is chicken, and then there are the female chicken, hen, and the males, cocks. So apparently, I have painted a couple of lesbian chicken. Have I really? No idea if my chicken on the painting are hen or cocks or both! I must admit here I have no anatomic chicken knowledge! But I do know their wings taste wonderful on the grill with some special barbecue species!

If you chicken couple, you can buy a print or a greeting card directly online by clicking on the widget below

Born To Be a Star

Today, working on my new series of impressions (these weird paintings which start with an acrylic  background created in a quite random way, letting Mother Nature play with colours and water and Paper), I had a great idea, connected  to a little boy called Cohen, my partner’s Grandson. He was born just before Christmas 2009.One of the impression paintings was like a wonderful white flower, and I just had the vision of little newborn Cohen in the heart of that flower.

Born To Be A Star - by Miki

Then the title came to my mind, “Born To Be A Star”.

And then I thought: it is really not easy to become a Star nowadays…

Then came this fabulous idea:

All earning raised from sales of prints and greeting cards (for new birth announcements, etc.) of this painting will be put into a savings account for him, which he will receive when he is 18. This should help him in the expensive business of becoming a Star!!!

So people, if you like this painting, and want to help us to raise a star (not that we know if he has any kind of talent yet  , you can buy a Giclee print/Greeting card directly online by clicking on the widget below!

The Art of Cycling 01

Cycling 01 "Yime Lines" - By Miki

Acrylics on Canvas – 80 x 60 cm

Today I want to present to you my last painting on commission. I am not a big fan of paintings on commission, as there is always quite a risk, some kind of stress and above all, it is always connected to some restriction of freedom, which is my worst enemy. But a commission is also a challenge, and when the client is happy, the emotional reward for me is much bigger than by any other sales.

Anyway, just before Christmas, I was contacted by a professional in the Spanish Cycling World, asking me to make some cycling and other sports paintings on commission. Here is the first one, which I just finished.

In this special case I am very happy about the commission, for 2 very important reasons:

Firstly, I love sport, and I love to paint sport. I have always wanted to make some sports paintings, did some in the past but in watercolour and gouache on paper. But I wanted to do some work on canvas, just could not find the time so far, or at least it was not always on top of my priorities.  This commission is a wonderful occasion to start.

Secondly, concerning cycling, I have a special emotional relationship to this sport. As I was a child and we were still living in the French Pyrenees where I was born, we used to go and see the Tour de France when they were passing in the Tourmalet and other mountain passes. And it was always a big party. Painting that guy racing through the canvas really put took me back to that time, and in fact, I felt like going there again…

one more dream on my long list of dreams of places to visit and events to attend!

Painting By Countries… in Love with Art and Our Wonderful World!

As I said before in this blog, I have started a new project, called Painting by Countries. My aim is to exhibit on that platform as many paintings from around the world (scapes, towns,  nature, people, folklore) as possible, the challenge being to gradually cover the globe with paintings, according to the motto:

“Around the world in Arty days”

paintingbycountries.com is a site for artists and art lovers, run by an artist. I would love to invite painters from around the world to join me.

It is amazing how difficult it is nowadays to find artist interested in exhibiting their art in such places, even if it is free. I often wonder which is the reason. I suppose it has to do with mistrust, and doubts. But when you think about it, what is the risk here? I don’t see any, on the contrary. I give the artists the possibility to exhibit their work for free, linking them wherever they want, not even asking to upload good files, just good enough for the screen, so no risk to get stolen and misused on the net. Or do they think they are too good? I don’t know, but I find it worrying. For what is all this art good if nor to be seen and enjoyed?

Well, luckily, there are still artists who behave normally, and join. I want to welcome today our new member in Painting By Countries, Ion Vincent Danu, a wonderful artist and man born in Romania, and living in Canada. His works featuring landscapes and people from mainly Romania and Canada will be a great addition to the site.

Baie St Paul, Quebec, Canada - By Ion Vincent Danu

If you are yourself one of this artists who would love to go around the world with us in arty days, just contact me at

miki@paintingbycountries.com.

As I said, it is FREE, and you can link each exhibited artwork to wherever you want.

I would like  to add that my activity there is purely guided by my love for the art and our wonderful World!

Souls in Hell

Souls in Hell - by Miki

Acrylics painting

I painted this piece some years ago, starting randomly. By “randomly” I mean  putting some colours on the canvas, red to start with as I often do when I paint this way: red, orange, yellow, pink, these are the colours which seem to fire my fantasy. Anyway the painting turned out quite dramatic, and some people seeing it said it looked like people in hell. I have no idea what my finger and my brushes meant to represent, but when I look at the finished painting, I do see people going through fire, or at least their ghosts, or at the very least their souls.

I often wonder what people think when they see such a picture. Do they think the artist is in pain? A real mess? Going through Hell? Wishing other people to Hell?

I can assure you, none of them is true where I’m concerned. I have a wonderful life with a wonderful man and I wish all people the best. But Art really is a strange thing in this sense. Well, the whole human brain is strange (and therefore so exciting!). The weirdest things can come out when one lets the brain run free. This is really like dreams. My dreams are incredibly weird, and if I did not know better about my conscious state of mind, I would think I am ripe for the asylum…

Anyway, I had forgotten this painting, and  found it again yesterday among older stuff. I put it in my FAA gallery and got instantaneously the following comments, which I just find GREAT!:

“Whether one believes in the concept of hell or not, it is part of everyone’s world view. This is a fantastic rendering of the concept. I love this!”

“What a powerful and insightful expression of the human condition. Outstanding and masterful!”

“just read Dante’s Divine Comedy – you work is very much in the mood. Great painting!”

If you want to buy a print or a greeting card of this painting (which I sincerely doubt, who wants to buy souls in hell? apart perhaps from soul savers?!!!!     ). just click on the widget below

Epiphany… Epifunny!

Epiphany - by Miki

Today is  “El Dia de Los Reyes Magos”, The Three Kings day. A very important day here in Spain. As far as I am aware even more important than Christmas for the children: it is the day when they get presents and loads of sweeties. But to be totally honest, living quite as a recluse in my art world, I don’t really know what is happening outside there and even less between the Spanish walls… but I am quite sure that today is an important day here in Spain, the shops have been closed since yesterday afternoon, and more important than that, our indoor pool!

Yesterday we heard that they celebrate Kings Day’s Eve in a very special way in a fishing town about 5 kilometres away from where we live. Apparently, after nightfall, about 8PM, the Kings arrive to the town by sea, each one on an individual boat. When they have landed on the beach, they get transferred onto a float, and then roll through the town, throwing sweeties to all the kiddies on the road side. They say it is quite interesting to see.

I was tempted to go there, but then I remembered all these little naughty Spanish kids, who don’t stop screaming under my windows until they get what they want, and have no respect for anybody nor anything,  You will say, it is not their fault, they are badly educated. But still, children are not silly, they know what they do. Even badly educated, this does not mean that they should not have an ounce of good sense and respect inside of them. They do know what they do, one can see it on their faces. So I thought, I don’t fancy seeing these little devils being rewarded for all their naughtinesses, and I boycotted the show!

Now the funny thing is that  I misunderstood the show as they told us about it yesterday. I thought the kings arrive on the boats and take the children away!!!

Like the Pied Piper of Hamelin!

Isn’t it very EPI-FUNNY?!

And if you wish to buy a Giclee print or a greeting card of this painting, please click on the widget below:

In Search of Lost Hope…

Illustrations by Emmanuel Baliyanga

Some time ago I presented a new artist to you, new to me and new to most of the world I reckon – Emmanuel Baliyanga, born in Rwanda and now living in Cameroon. Apart from being an accomplished artist, he is working right now in a book publishing company, making books designs and covers. In the meanwhile, we have developed a great relationship, and I gradually discover this wonderful guy who never ceases to surprise me,

I managed to convince Emmanuel to start showing his work in the internet, something he thought was impossible as I met him, considering the little logistic facilities in his country. He did not realise. I think, that it does not matter where you are, as long as you can get a connection to the internet, you can always exhibit your work there without facilities of your own, apart from the possibility to digitally photograph or scan your work.. I explained to him that there are now many galleries for artists on the net, where you can upload your work, have your own exhibiting space, etc. There is not really something like Africa on the net.

Well, the result being that Emmanuel has now got his own gallery in Fine Art America, in Art Majeur and in my 2 theme sites Painting by Countries and Painting the Music. Recently he has even started his own blog, called “Painting Africa”. I am extremely impressed by his work, his courage and his intelligence. His past life has been a tragedy, and has destroyed in him the ability to hope, but when I see all these qualities which inhabit him, I can’t help to hope that he will find hope again. I have no doubt that the world will love to discover him and his work, as I have done,  and we all together will certainly contribute to give him his hope back.

I post here an example of a work he did. He illustrated a dictionary about Negro-African celebrities. the dictionary is full of portraits by him of these celebrities. He also designed the cover, which I found wonderful. And if you want to see more,  especially the back cover of the book, go to his blog.

He will post regularly there his new paintings, and also his past work, books illustrations, newspapers caricatures, etc.