Yearly Archives: 2025

……………….My dear friends Alicia and Mike took me out to dinner for my Birthday the other night…..and the celebration continues!…..We went to one of my favorite restaurants in CT. called COLUMBUS PARK TRATORIA…….They have the best PORK CHOP with HOT PEPPERS…..hands down!…..It was a beautiful evening and we dined al fresco….Sorry, I forgot to take pictures of the food! We were all so hungry and excited when the pork chops came [we all ordered them], that we just ate them up!…..Afterwards, we went back to my house for desert…..but….this time I didn’t make it…………..Alicia did!……….She promised me a chocolate multi layer cake, my request, and it was OUT OF THIS WORLD!……I would have asked for the receipt, but after having one delicious bite I knew If I made it I would gain every pound I lost!…………I still have one more birthday dinner to go, but that’s going to take place in August……I guess it still counts, because it’s still under my sign of……..LEO!

…………….Chapter #9………..As you exit the Sargent show there are these blow ups on the wall of what critics had to say after the “scandalous” show in Paris…….You know what they say about critics?!………”Those that can do….those that can’t criticize”….This is the last chapter of my John Singer Sargent tour…….On to the next exhibit……..”SUPERFINE: TAILORING BLACK STYLE”….”THE DANDY”

………………..The other day, while tending to my garden with Franco, out of nowhere this HUGE wild turkey comes flying into my yard. It was so big at first it scared the begeebers out of me! I have seen wild turkeys before, but not where I live, and certainly not in my yard! Franco has recordings of all sorts of animal calls for when he goes hunting, and he started to play the sounds of a female wild turkey….and it worked….This young male came right up to us looking for his “girlfriend”, but all he found was us….he went off looking and searching as Franco continued playing his recording……………..BETTER LUCK NEXT TIME…….TURKEY!

………………Chapter #8………..In my humble opinion no other artist showed us what the wealthy people looked like during the “Belle Epoque”, and the “Gilded Age” like John Singer Sargent…..He showed us the sumptuousness of the era….the glamor and the drama, as the portrait of the Spanish lady at the far left magnificently shows…….He was a ‘fashion magazine” unto himself!……It is of no wonder to me what a sort after artist he was…..Who wouldn’t want their portrait immortalized by the genius……John Singer Sargent! If they could afford him!

……………….Chapter #7……………..I call this group of painting “Sittings”……There were the formal sittings for portraits, as the woman in the black dress and hat…but then there were the others….less formal….more relaxed….capturing a moment…..There were not many paintings of children alone. These were all commissioned works by the families…..The little girl at the far left, sitting on the bench, looks like her “mummy” told her to sit VERY still for Mr. Sargent….She looks a little petrified….while the little girl sitting on the floor playing with her doll…looks like she could care less…..The man at the left and the woman at the far right look like they were in the middle of a conversation…the man serious….the woman light and joyful…..He captured the wistfulness of the lady gazing out the window…..One could make up a story about what she was looking at….or waiting for…..There is nothing like seeing, and marveling over the actual paintings!