"The wizard of Oz" and Judy Garland

Judy Garland
as Dorothy Gale in "The wizard of Oz"

Many years ago, I liked very much to paint and draw using only a few colors, two colors in most cases. The results were not less satisfactory than when I used a lot of colors.

I think that in painting and drawing there are many possibilities available, many ways of work, but in the end there are no "better" ways or methods than others. Some techniques may appear at first sight far less sophisticated than others, much more "simple", but the results can be exactly as rich and full of nuances as the most "complexes" ones.

It can be a very satisfying activity to work with many colors, but it is never a good thing to be "intoxicated" by so many chromatic possibilities at our disposal.

Piagordo, the country where I live
Three colors: simplicity, poetry and magic
Photograph by Juan Bielsa

Many years ago I was enchanted and like living in a world of magic when painting and drawing with only two or three colors. And that same feeling I've experienced again when I recently watched the old (and great) movie "The wizard of Oz ". I'm pretty sure you've seen it. I had already seen this movie long time ago, but I had forgotten in many ways how wonderful this picture is, how full of magic.

"The wizard of Oz", as a picture in this case, is a classic for children... but don't be fooled by that, in reality is a present for all of us who want to keep some of the innocence of life, some of its fantasy. I truly think this movie is amazing, a miracle of art. And Judy Garland... what can we say about her performarce here? We can say that she is the perfect angel that could give life and credibility to the role of "Dorothy Gale". Even Toto, her dog in the picture, performs without equal.

Judy Garland (as Dorothy Gale) and Toto
Singing "Over the rainbow"

In some parts of "The wizard of Oz", at first and in the end, you'll be struck by the wise use of color, which adds an aged and mythical flavor to the movie and makes all appear under a light of DREAM. And this relates with which I said earlier about the intelligent use of a few colors in the palette of the artist.

Many years have passed since the days "The wizard of Oz" was made, in 1939, but all of its magic remains the same and one could rightly say that this movie is far more beautiful and magical than most of the movies that are produced today. Quality and imagination will never have whatsoever to do with "special effects" and more "advanced" techniques.

Juan Bielsa

My e-mail addresses :
pintura@juanbielsa.com
jnbielsa@yahoo.es

- My website in English :
www.poeticpainting.com

 

Marilyn Monroe, forever

Marilyn Monroe
Eternal

During all my life I didn’t pay much attention to Marilyn as an actress or even a celebrity. Of course, I knew what everyone knows and I had seen her many times on television, books or magazines.

It is true that like most people I always found Marilyn, as an icon in this case, beautiful and potentially interesting, but never found sufficient motivation to investigade more closely her life or her career as an actress. For me were even more familiar the artistic interpretations that Andy Warhol made of her than her movies. I knew her, as I’ve already said, as a simple icon of a certain time, but I had always missed the most important part of her: her ART.

But all that was about to change. One day, some five years ago, I bought a newspaper and it offered the possibility of buying also a film of Marilyn at a good price, and even was announced that the entire collection of Marilyn’s movies will be available in the next weeks. Well, I bought the dvd containing the movie, without many expectations I must say. I remember, that movie was “The seven year itch”, a classic that I enjoyed very much and I’ve seen many times since.

I saw that movie... and... I fell in love with Marilyn. Forever. Not with Marilyn’s myth, not with a “scandalous” Marilyn, not with an “obscure” or distressed Marilyn. No. I fall in love with THE ACTRESS Marilyn. I remember well: with the newspaper came along a second dvd, as a bonus in this case. In this dvd one could see, if one liked it, all the events that surrounded Marilyn’s death, real facts in same cases as well as many guesses or suppositions. But you know what, I hardly saw some minutes of that dvd, and now I don’t know where it is, perhaps lost. I don’t care, because I found these stories about the causes of her death, real or imaginaries, disgusting. I don’t was interested at all on all that.

I bought, week by week, all Marilyn’s movies, and certainly some of them were better than others. There were among them extraordinary movies and ordinary ones. But, you know what, always there was a light on all of them, there was Marilyn’s light, an EXTRAORDINARY ACTRESS, regardless the myth, regardless of the tragedy of her life. And watching her in these movies one can even sense how marvelous being she was along with her tremendous value as an actress.

The real myth incarnated by Marilyn always will be present, forever, in her wonderful performances in so many unforgettable movies. There is no need to always recapitulate the tragic circumstances of her life or death to make her a myth. It is a myth by the virtue of the real worth of her ART. Many people have been shocked by the extraordinary quality of Marilyn as an actress when they’ve seen without prejudices her performances. It is not possible describe the emotions and feelings that Marilyn can awake through her actings. For me, she is a true magician than can uncover for us beauties of the world as well as beauties of the soul.

Oh, Marilyn, what a great soul you had, what a great soul you will always have, eternal. You are more than a myth, you are an angel whose true land was not this Earth of ours, but a realm of goodness and wonders and beauty. What a heritage of light! Marilyn, thank you forever for existing.

Juan Bielsa

My e-mail addresses :
pintura@juanbielsa.com
jnbielsa@yahoo.es

- My website in English :
www.poeticpainting.com

 

My new blogs

Jessica Simpson
I have created some new blogs about
beauty, fashion and celebrities.

Recently I have created some new blogs, mostly about beauty and travel.

I’ve had fun creating all these blogs. But the real challenge will be mantaining all of them alive and posting very often. It is curious, but I have much more fun creating sites or blogs than running them. No doubt, the latter is more difficult than the first. In reality, giving birth to a blog is the easy part.

I know that some of these new blogs will have continuity, and others... who knows. When I launch each one of them, I’ve a concret idea, but I don’t know exactly where this idea can lead and its potential. At the same time, all of us have at our disposal a limited amount of time and energy, and that’s an important factor to ponder.

I must say that I like experimenting. Or playing... Sometimes we discover something unexpected and wonderful surprises, as if we were for a walk in a solitary way in the fields... In my youth I liked wandering aimlessly on the moors of my country, or walking with a book under my arms in the little solitary valleys. Sometimes I was absolutely shocked when I discovered wonderful places. Some times I believed that I was in earthly paradises, so beautiful were these unknown spots.

So I’ve created these new blogs and each one of them is an adventure. They can lead to some land full of joy and beauty or perhaps they will have a short life. My illusion and determination is the same in relation with every one of these blogs, but we can’t control completely circumstances and reality.

So, I’ve created one blog about travel in Spanish, viajesia.blogspot.com, which is already listed in Blogged. It’s funny, but this is the most successful of my new blogs so far. I say it’s funny because I thought my new blogs about beauty, music or celebrities would have much more visits than this. I’ve said it's funny also because most people travel more than I. It is true that I have a great knowledge about geography and maps, though, and a real passion for all of this since my childhood.

As I’ve said I’ve created blogs about beauty, music, celebrities... In Spanish we have belnia.blogspot.com, and in English celebsia.blogspot.com, belsei.blogspot.com. Obviously, by now you’ll find on these blogs little content, as in microdirectory.blogspot.com, my latest blog. There is an important risk in running multiple blogs, and that is losing focus on your main sites. Concentration is always a good thing. But, what can I do, I like to play...

Besides, to all of these blogs mentioned I would have to add the existing ones, that is, my blog in my mother tongue, Aragonese, artebielsa.blogspot.com, my blog in Catalan, bielsart.blogspot.com, my blog in Spanish, juanbielsa.blogspot.com, my blog in Italian, bellezzarte.blogspot.com, and finally my blogs in English, mapsia.blogspot.com and this blog, poeticpainting.blogspot.com. Many blogs? You bet. And then there are my sites...

But all of this can give you a wrong idea about the whole thing. Many people work harder on a single blog than I do on all my blogs. They post almost daily on them. I do what I can, but because I own so many blogs and sites I must have a different approach.

I like (and praise) simplicity, and nevertheless I always end up in situations where certainly simplicity is absent in many ways. I see myself at this moment like a juggler playing with many balls. A lot of “fun” is expected...

Nevertheless, I hope I’ll post very often on this blog. Because it is special to me. And I hope you’ll follow this travel towards the lands of art and beauty.

Juan Bielsa

My e-mail addresses :
pintura@juanbielsa.com
jnbielsa@yahoo.es

- My website in English :
www.poeticpainting.com

 

Contemplations

Sweet fairy
Painting by Juan Bielsa.
Oil on canvas

Lately I have not been posting very often.

In our lives sometimes is good to have time for reflection. Our art and our attitude about things change after such a periods. Sometimes for the better, or maybe not, who knows. But we are in a constant change, that's for sure.

As we grew older, we know much better what are the better things to do, what is the best direction to follow... But, life is so hard... We know what to do in many cases, but it is not always so easy to follow our convictions. The person who will do that, who will have the necessary courage to do what he believes in, he will be a successful person.

In relation to my art, I must say that I mostly like a kind of symbolism that approaches to abstraction. People agree on that in the sense that enjoy very much my semi-abstractions. I also like playing with the forms of the human body or portraits. The American poet Walt Whitman once said that one can see God in many human faces. I agree.

There are things in this life that I absolutely like: to investigate in the metaphysical field and a kind of fresh aestheticism, a kind of playful representation of what we think Heavens could be... I see beautiful landscapes and there is God, I see lovely faces and I see God (Whitman), I see innocent animals and there I see a Paradise, I see or hear or touch perfect works of art (paintings, songs, sculptures...) and there there is a piece of Heavens, that's an evidence of Heavens.

I must say: I'm very platonic and what I love is a representation of Beauty rather than things in themselves. I know that events and phenomena are absolutely transient, what I like of them is all the beauty and goodness that are hidden in the inside, because that is the place of our dreams. Life is so short. We always dream of beautiful paradises. In any case, I don't want to lose that innocence.

My friend Lesly Finn says to me often that I must not complain of my English. That's right. My English is bad, but you are right Lesly, so here I stop my complaint. I remember when I was a child, those lovely lessons in French. Yes I liked very much French and I still have those old books where I learned to write and speak (but not perfectly...) that beautiful language. But now the International language is English, even in Europe (and even the German language has surpassed French...) Yes, things change...

Things change... and we can always discover new paradises. Thanks to my (bad) English I can travel now to the beautiful land of old movies in the original language. Right now I have seen an old movie, a precious jewel. I just love Gene Kelly's movies, do you? I see miracles without end in those wonderful performances and music and dances...

Contemplations... To move from a thought to another one, like a butterfly in a sunny colorful garden, without any concrete purpose. But many times poets write their most beautiful poems in that manner, without trying, as if God was within their hearts, writing through their hands...

Juan Bielsa

My e-mail addresses :
pintura@juanbielsa.com
jnbielsa@yahoo.es

- My website in English :
www.poeticpainting.com

 

My paintings in juanbielsa.artelista.com

Parable of the vine and branches
Painting by Juan Bielsa.
Oil on board

I have some of my paintings in a virtual exhibition and this is one of the paintings which people like the most.

This is the address: juanbielsa.artelista.com

Artelista is a site on art where painters can exhibit for free their art. It is one of the most important sites in Spanish exhibiting original art.

I honestly must say that this site, Artelista, works very well in many ways. Besides, it is very easy to use, both to the artist or visitors... My experience is very positive. It also provides statistics where artists can see how many visits receive every painting, visitors can vote and so we know what people think of our work, their favourite paintings... All of this provide a very useful information for artists.

Juan Bielsa

My e-mail addresses :
pintura@juanbielsa.com
jnbielsa@yahoo.es

- My website in English :
www.poeticpainting.com

- My Amazon.com stores :
Success Books   -   DVD

 

Mary's heart

Mary's heart
Original painting by Juan Bielsa
Oil on board, 61 x 48.6

My e-mail addresses :
pintura@juanbielsa.com
jnbielsa@yahoo.es

- My website in English :
www.poeticpainting.com

- My Amazon.com stores :
Success Books   -   DVD