another althingsconsidered

an artist a day keeps the dark horse away ...

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al things considered — when i post my masterpiece #1624

first posted in facebook july 24, 2026

alexandre-gabriel decamps -- "the experts" (1837)

"what a delightful thing is the conversation of specialists! one understands absolutely nothing and it's charming" … edgar degas

"i'm the world's expert on stereotypes held by academics about athletes and held by athletes about academics. to me, both of them are caricatures" … a. bartlett giamatti

"i am just a caricature as the world's expert on athletes and artists … but at least i think hard about both" … al janik

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al things considered — when i post my masterpiece #1623

first posted in facebook july 23, 2026

jean-étienne liotard -- "le petit déjeuner de la famille lavergne" [i.e., the lavergne family breakfast" (1752)

"i came down as soon as i thought there was a prospect of breakfast" … jane eyre

"in this painting, a woman is shown watching a little girl dip her biscuit in a cup of coffee with milk. both figures wear fine clothing and eat off an expensive lacquer tray. liotard has made a unique decision to emphasize the items on the tray. he used thick pastels to create dimension to mimic pottery-like reflections on the tea set. we know it is a breakfast scene for two reasons. one obvious clue is that the little girl is wearing paper curls in her hair, which she had slept in the night before. the second example is the coffee and breakfast biscuit" … anna ingram

"i went to a restaurant that serves 'breakfast at any time' so i ordered french toast during the renaissance" steven wright

"why, sometimes i've disputed as many as six possible things before breakfast" … al janik

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al things considered — when i post my masterpiece #1622

first posted in facebook july 22, 2026

uemura shōen -- "honō" [i.e., flame] (1918)

"drawn to a flame she is far away out of reach" … stephen stills

"although feminine beauty is the subject of many of my paintings, my ability to delve into the inner thoughts and soul of my subjects raises them above the vulgarity the genre often falls to" … uemura shōen

"the title of uemura shoen’s painting, 'flames', is somewhat in a discord with the painting’s gentle, subdued appearance. the title 'flames' implies the flames of jealousy and the woman portrayed here is lady rokujo; the heroine of murasaki shikibu’s eleventh century novel 'the tale of genji' […] the motives of leaves and delicate spider webs speak of the tranquility of nature, but the feelings rising in lady rokujo’s soul are all but tranquil. the lady’s pale skin hides a scarlet coloured rage, but still waters run deep and rokujo’s feelings are deep and passionate. she is biting the strand of her long, long black hair and this gesture speaks of the tormenting state that this lady has found herself in. the pose that she is in; stylised and contorted also adds to the tense, anguished mood that she is in" … asya [creator of the 'byron's muse" blog]

"you never felt jealousy, did you, miss eyre? of course not: i need not ask you; because you never felt love. you have both sentiments yet to experience: your soul sleeps; the shock is yet to be given which shall waken it. you think all existence lapses in as quiet a flow as that in which your youth has hitherto slid away. floating on with closed eyes and muffled ears, you neither see the rocks bristling not far off in the bed of the flood, nor hear the breakers boil at their base. but i tell you — and you may mark my words — you will come some day to a craggy pass in the channel, where the whole of life’s stream will be broken up into whirl and tumult, foam and noise: either you will be dashed to atoms on crag points, or lifted up and borne on by some master-wave into a calmer current — as i am now" … mr. rochester

"you can only be jealous of someone who has something you think you ought to have yourself" … offred

"although masculine yearning is often the subject of my posts, if i delve deep into my inner thoughts, and IF i had long, long black hair, i'd bite a strand of it too" … al janik

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al things considered — when i post my masterpiece #1621

first posted in facebook july 21, 2026

wyndham lewis -- "edith sitwell" (1935)

"we are two good old enemies, edith and i, inseparables in fact. i do not think i should be exaggerating if i described myself as miss edith sitwell's favourite enemy" … wyndham lewis

"lewis began to work on the commissioned portrait of sitwell in 1923. he was at the time close to the wealthy sitwells and hoped to develop a long-term relationship where they would support him financially. according to edith sitwell, she modelled for six days a week during a period of ten months, but lewis' 'manner became so threatening' that she stopped, which is why the portrait has no hands" … wikipedia

"i am patient with stupidity but not with those who are proud of it" … edith sitwell

"i am impatient with my enemies … but not proud of it" … al janik

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al things considered — when i post my masterpiece #1620

first posted in facebook july 20, 2026

jack youngerman -- "banlieue" [i.e., suburbs] (1953)

"chicago happened slowly, like a migraine. first they were driving through countryside, then, imperceptibly, the occasional town became a low suburban sprawl, and the sprawl became the city" … neil gaiman

"i could have made mashed potatoes, but we're having that tomorrow" … jeanne dielman

'i grew up in the western suburbs of chicago … but my address was not 23 quai du commerce … living there was like a migraine … mashed potatoes was part of every meal … they made me gag … i use to fill my mouth with as much as i could fit in, excuse myself from the table, and race to the bathroom to spit it all out into the toilet" … al janik

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al things considered — when i post my masterpiece #1619

first posted in facebook july 14, 2026

antónio dacosta -- "não há sim sem não -- o eremita" [i.e., "there is no 'yes' without 'no' -- the hermit"] (1985)

"the oldest, shortest words - 'yes' and 'no' - are those which require the most thought" … pythagoras

"god is love. yes or no? no." … samuel beckett

"… and yes i said yes i will Yes" … molly bloom

" … and no i said no i won't No … well, maybe" … al janik

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al things considered — when i post my masterpiece #1618

first posted in facebook july 11, 2026

olga boznańska -- "girl with chrysanthemums" (1894)

"why don't you get a haircut? you look like a chrysanthemum" … p. g. wodehouse

"every year, in november, at the season that follows on the hour of the dead, the crowning and majestic hour of autumn, reverently i go to visit the chrysanthemums in the places where chance offers them to my sight" … maurice maeterlinck

"a chrysanthemum by any other name would be easier to spell" … william j. johnston

"like the fires caught and fixed by a great colourist from the impermanence of the atmosphere and the sun, so that they should enter and adorn a human dwelling, they invited me, those chrysanthemums, to put away all my sorrows and to taste with a greedy rapture during that tea-time hour the all-too-fleeting pleasures of november, whose intimate and mysterious splendour they set ablaze all around me" … marcel proust

"like a fire caught on canvas by a great polish woman painter, they invite me, those EYES, to set ablaze the month of november" … al janik

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al things considered — when i post my masterpiece #1617

first posted in facebook july 10, 2026

eva gonzalès -- "portrait of a woman in white" (1879)

"i shall obtain independence by presenting and making no secret of my intention of emancipating myself!" … berthe morisot

"woman in white just happened to be the dress she was wearing that night" … current swell

"there are paintings that seem to breathe inwards rather than out. they do not ask for attention. they hold it. eva gonzalès painted such spaces. rooms where time pauses, where gesture and glance carry more weight than action. in her work, stillness is not absence. it is presence, carefully composed. before we learn her story, we encounter her sensibility. a woman at rest, a woman observed, a moment held just long enough to reveal its inner life" … rebecca budd

"i obtain freedom by making no secret of my lack of knowledge of art history … i look … and i learn" … al janik

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al things considered — when i post my masterpiece #1616

first posted in facebook july 9, 2026

frits thaulow -- "washerwomen at quimperlé" (1902)

"the best painter of water you’ve never heard of" … dzhang (discussing frits thaulow)

"in the summer the river will have no color" … frits thaulow

"wash woman i know you're tired of taking in clothes a dollar three-eighty a day know your back is hurtin' and that's for certain been bendin' over half of the day" … mac rebennack

"i'm gonna wash that color right outta this stream i'm gonna wash that color right outta this stream i'm gonna wash that color right outta this stream and send it on its way (away, away, away)" … al janik

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al things considered — when i post my masterpiece #1615

first posted in facebook july 8, 2026

serge sudeikin -- "the iron monger's overheated wife" (c. 1930?)

"… and something unpleasantly stupefying, like this room—overheated, too well lit, too" … serge sudeikin

"i'm overheated, can't be defeated can't be deleted, can't un-believе it i'm overheated, can't bе defeated can't be deleted, can't be repeated i'm overheated i'm overheated" … billie eilish

"if you can't stand the heat, step out on the fire escape" … al janik

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al things considered — when i post my masterpiece #1614

first posted in facebook july 7, 2026

balcomb greene -- "the beach" (1969)

"if you remember me, then i don't care if everyone else forgets" … haruki murakami

"it's like he's not just showing us a beach, but also how it feels to be there. and isn't that what art is all about?" … the artera "curator" [regarding balcomb greene's "the beach"]

"it's not like i'm just remembering a beach, but it's also like reliving what did or did not happen there … and isn't that what memory is all about?" … al janik

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al things considered — when i post my masterpiece #1613

first posted in facebook july 6, 2026

samuel peploe -- "still life with coffee pot" (1905)

"if this is coffee, please bring me some tea; but if this is tea, please bring me some coffee" … abraham lincoln

"you know, this is—excuse me—a damn fine cup of coffee! i've had, i can't tell you how many cups of coffee in my life, and this, this is one of the best" … agent dale cooper

"you know, this is--excuse me--a damn fine still life … but IF it IS a coffee pot, please bring me some coffee" … al janik

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al things considered — when i post my masterpiece #1612

first posted in facebook june 28, 2026

aleksandra waliszewska -- "cat with baby on the fence" (2021)

"i'm just sitting on a fence you can say i got no sense trying to make up my mind really is too horrifying so i'm sitting on a fence" … mick jagger

"i was full of illusions regarding the coolness of the artistic world at the time. luckily, school sobered me up … someone wrote 'LOUSY' in golden ink under one of my paintings" … aleksandra waliszewska

"in ancient times cats were worshipped as gods; they have not forgotten this" … terry pratchett

"LOVELY" … al janik (in golden ink … above one of her paintings)

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al things considered — when i post my masterpiece #1611

first posted in facebook june 27, 2026

károly ferenczy -- "red wall" (1910)

"a great work of art is created through the sum of perfect details" … károly ferenczy

"i read the news today, oh, boy" … john lennon

"i'm standing in the alley with my hands on a red brick wall" … the waco brothers

"well you can change tomorrow’s news now you’ve got nothing to lose is it really gone away? the red wall is coming back one day" … the samples

"al and all, we ain't just … bricks in the red wall" … al janik

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al things considered — when i post my masterpiece #1610

first posted in facebook june 26, 2026

jock macdonald -- "bird romance" (1946)

"a fine romance with no kisses a fine romance, my friend, this is" … dorothy fields

"a well a don't you know about the bird? well, everybody knows that the bird is the word!" … the rivingtons

"as it turns out, the sex life of birds is practically as complex and varied as that of humans, with strikingly similar, and equally aberrant, behavior. there are happily monogamous birds, deadbeat dads, trashy moms, polygamous males, ménages a trois, male and female harems, prostitution and just about every other quirk and kink found among humans" … bob bowers

"and that's why birds do it, bees do it even educated fleas do it let's do it, let's fall in love" … cole porter

"though i never got the chance, it was a fine romance" … al janik

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al things considered — when i post my masterpiece #1609

first posted in facebook june 25, 2026

judith dana parker -- "head beach, maine" (ca. 2010)

"she was creative, beautiful, radiant, and kind—her million-dollar smile and warmth made life brighter for everyone around her. she was a quiet example of resilience and grace. many knew her as the owner of tavecchia, the clothing and jewelry shop she ran in the old port for 32 years; others as a wonderful mom, sister, and friend. she was the best mom and oma" … julie parker

"let's go fly a kite" … al janik

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al things considered — when i post my masterpiece #1608

first posted in facebook june 24, 2026

christine t. rafal -- "nighttime hiker" (2026)

"fly me to the moon let me play among the stars" … bart howard

"i paint moments of awe, hope, memory repair, etc." … christine t. rafal

"midnight moon on our shoulder daybreak another one older darlin' heavenly blue glories fade into view let's go under the stars that are beating under the moonlight" … patti smith

"the main reason [that i make art] would be to encourage everyone to make what they feel inspired to make … everyone who has the urge to make something, go for it! making art expresses love for yourself and for others (the subjects and the recipients)" … christine t. rafal

"the main reason i post art is to encourage everyone to fly to the moon … and jupiter … and mars" … al janik