Tag: Gypsy

MORE FREE ART

I Have Given Away 340 Pieces Of Free Art Since March 11, 2022

I give away a FREE downloadable Art Print every Friday to my email subscribers. They tell me they are enjoying their free art prints. Do you want some FREE ART? I bet you do!
Well I got you covered.👇

I’M GIVING MY ART PRINTS AWAY FOR FREE to everyone for a limited time. Yes really. (I’ve already given away nearly 200 the past 2 weeks!)

I am giving away ALL SEVEN prints of the GYPSY ART COLLECTION. But that isn’t all; You will have a lifetime access to the collection so that you can download new art FOR FREE as it is added.

CLICK FOR MORE INFO

The GYPSY On His V45 Honda 2006

The Artist Life: Gypsy Meatloaf

The Recipe For A Big Life Is Full Of Small Moments

It was February of 2007 and the weather was 60 degrees and sunny in Independence, Kansas. Here let me repeat that just in case you didn’t hear me the first time; It was February of 2007 and the weather was 60 degrees and sunny in Independence, Kansas. I bet that if you think hard enough you will know what I did that day. If you said, “Ride your motorcycle” you are only partially correct.

I cannot tell you how it felt to put the wind in my face. I cannot tell you because I do not wish to explain it. Those, like me that ride, know what it felt like, those that do not ride cannot even imagine. My bike and I got re-acquainted with the road today. My bike coughed and protested it’s awakening from its winter long sleep but I soon had the cobwebs blown out of her. Soon she purred like a content lion as we hugged each and every curve.

In Riverside Park I saw a father blowing bubbles with his son. An elderly woman walked her dog along the road. Big horn sheep frolicked upon icy slopes in the hollow along the road that passes the zoo and all was right with the world.

When I returned home I saw patches of green within the yard fighting to force back the grays and browns that have dominated for so long. I went into my home studio and started on a painting that was inspired by my friend Jana. It will be outstanding when completed because it was inspired. I had been in a creative slump for awhile and it felt good to make my brush do my bidding as it skipped and danced upon the canvas.

I also did some cooking in the kitchen, real cooking, not Hamburger Helper. It had been awhile since I had felt like exercising my culinary skills. I had debated what to fix. I had thought about Spaghetti with a nice thick meat sauce and Asparagus patties (recipe courtesy of my friend Dianna), but I opted instead for something that I had not made for along time, Meatloaf. “What, Meatloaf again, that’s the third time this week!?” For you maybe but not for me. So I rolled up my sleeves and went to work.

I wish that I could give each and everyone of you a taste because it came out fantastic but since I can’t I will do the next best thing. I will give you my recipe so that you can make it yourself and melt into its rich and many layered fountains of flavor.

GYPSY MEATLOAF

Gypsy Meatloaf with Southern Style Collard Greens and Scallop Potatoes with Mushrooms
Gypsy Meatloaf with Southern Style Collard Greens and Scallop Potatoes with Mushrooms

Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit

INGREDIENTS:

  • 1 pound of Ground Beef
  • 1 can of Rotel Diced Tomatoes with Chili, Cilantro and Lime Juice
  • 1 Can Tomato Soup
  • 1 small yellow Onion
  • 1 7.5 or 8 ounce can of Tomato sauce
  • 2 tablespoons minced Garlic
  • 2 large dashes of ground Basil
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 sleeve of Ritz Snack Crackers
  • Pam butter flavor spray

Preparation: 

  • Peel and Dice the whole Onion into fine cubes.
  • Crush the Ritz crackers into an almost fine powder.
  • Drain the juice from the Rotel.
  • Combine all the ingredients, except for the tomato sauce, into a round oven proof casserole bowl.
  • Get your hands into the bowl and thoroughly mix the ingredients together.
  • Make the mixture into a large loaf and remove from casserole bowl. Place on plate.
  • Clean and dry the bowl and coat liberally with Pam butter flavor spray.
  • Place your loaf back into the bowl and gently pat down until it covers the entire bottom of bowl. DO NOT hard pack the loaf.
  • Place casserole onto center rack of oven and bake for 30 minutes.
  • Remove Casserole and drain off grease.
  • Pour the can of Tomato soup evenly over the entire loaf.
  • Cook 15 More Minutes
  • Remove from oven and allow cooling for 15 minutes before serving.

Serving Suggestion:

A large baked potato with real butter, sour cream, real bacon bits and shredded sharp cheddar cheese. It makes a perfect side to my Gypsy Meatloaf. I would also suggest adding Texas toast with Garlic butter to complete the meal. A nice Merlot goes well with this meal. Bring your appetite because you’ll need it.

This is a very moist meatloaf and very flavorful. You will taste it for hours afterwards and will not be able to resist the urge to sneak bites from the leftovers. You can make it dryer by cooking for an extra 15 minutes but I don’t recommend it.

I have other meatloaf recipes and if you like this one I might share the others with you someday.

It was a great day and I got to do three of the four things that I enjoy most in the world. And who knows I still might get to number four before midnight. So how was your day? I hope that it was at least half as enjoyable as mine. And if it wasn’t don’t worry because there is always tomorrow.

-The GYPSY-

Circus Posters from The GYPSY's collection.

The Artist Life: Rare Circus Art

Circus Art Is Created To Create Feelings Of Excitement And It Works.

The Circus Poster Hailed The Most Magical Time Of The Year… Circus Time!

I own the two circus posters pictured and a couple of more. Every time I look at them they make me smile and bring back wonderful memories of fantasy, fun and family. But they also represent so much more than that to me; they represent a colorful history and a captured moment in time.

As a child I would wander the downtown streets of Topeka. My mother was the Toy Department Manager At Pelletier’s Department Store and my Grandmother was the Children’s Department Manager at the same store. I spent a lot of time at the store but when I became bored the downtown streets became my playground.

I would walk the streets looking in store windows, browsing the book store for the newest comics and reading the fliers of coming events taped to store windows. When the circus posters appeared on the windows my excitement was untamed. The bright colors, laughing clowns, performers and animals rendered by skilled artists took my child’s mind into a world I wanted to live in.

Little did I know at the time was that many of my people, Romani, had been and still are circus performers. The history of Gypsy circus performers is a long one and maybe my desire to be part of it was something that is within my blood.

I would pester my mother and grandmother without mercy until they would say, “Yes, we are going to the circus.” I had daydreams of becoming a circus clown, making people laugh and yes… creating the artwork for the great posters that fueled those daydreams. But my talents took me down a different artistic path in my life though for a couple of years in the late 1990’s I did become a professional clown.

Where the circus started has been discussed by historians for years but it is believed that the modern circus began in the United Kingdom in 1768. Circuses needed to market themselves as they began to tour and their popularity grew, In the 18th and 19th centuries, circuses were truly the realm of magic and dreams.

Since circuses are often in a town for only a couple of days a sense of anticipation was necessary. The promoters of the circus this and so the circus poster was used to communicate the fantasy and excitement, and the momentary magic of a circus’ brief stay. 

Circus promoters used some of the earliest forms of aggressive marketing, like saturation advertising. The urgency was necessary to lure attendees to an event that only happened nearby for one day out of the year. Circuses are not strangers to a little bit of exaggeration and the circus poster reflects this. Headlines such as ‘The Greatest Show on Earth’ or “Renowned Great Show”, written in bold type and colorful font were used to entice potential attendees. The circus poster used stylized printing techniques, with the use of lithography, which gave circus posters their vivid, colorful look. 

Circus posters capture the color of the circus, animal images and the carnival atmosphere of the circus show. Circus poster are remarkable artform and those who collect them appreciate the unique aspect of the art. I have collected circus poster images from all over the world and from all periods of time but by far, in my opinion, the American Circus Poster is the most colorful and artistic.

The artistic aspect of circus posters help correct misnomers and stereotypes around the circus. Fear of clowns or misinformation put forth by well meaning animal rights groups can all be dispelled by looking at a circus poster. Movies like “Killer Clowns from Outer Space” or Stephen Kings “It” helped nurture a fear of clowns. But how can someone look at the smiling and cheerful face of the clown on a circus poster and be afraid? 

Likewise the animals portrayed on the posters echo the actual animals of the circus. The animals show, within the poster, that they are well cared for and loved, so it is with the actual circus animals. American Circus animals, just like American zoo animals, are governed by rules and regulations set up by the Federal Government and closely monitored by the Humane Society of America.

Circus posters lesson the fear of clowns and dispel misinformation about circus animals through artistic interpretation and a high level of integrity. Some of the greatest Circus Posters ever designed were by Ringling Brothers Barnum-Bailey Circus. They preserve and record the history of the circus; animals, clown and performers. Circus posters keep the excitement and anticipation of the magic and fantasy alive.

It will always alive in me and I will always continue to smile and be uplifted whenever I look at the art of the Circus Poster.

-The GYPSY-

Andalusian Dancer In Cave Café At Sacro Monte" By: The GYPSY

Anatomy Of A Painting “Andalusian Dancer In Cave Café At Sacro Monte”

Acrylic On 16″ x 20 ” Gallery Stretched Canvas.

GYPSY WOMAN

She stands on the tips of her toes

Letting the music ease her woes

Centuries rest within her line

A silken thread strong and fine

Her Gypsy blood courses true

As her dance entrances you

Rhythmic beat of tambourine

Silver coin with twinkling sheen

Turning twisting left then right

Dancing by the campfire light

Gypsy woman of ancient way

Lover at night Mother by day

The road it knows her secret name

Her Gypsy heart will never tame

This painting was my last of 2021 and my first of 2022 having started it on 12/22/2021 and finished it the afternoon of 01/01/2022.
The photo that this painting is based on comes from the National Geographic book “Gypsies Of The World”. This picture has always held a fascination for me. My family migrated from Sacro Monte, which is near Granada, Spain, to Enigen, Germany in 1543 to escape the Spanish Inquisition. My family consists of Artisans, Craftsmen, Healers, etc. and were prime targets.
Romani businesses and skills are passed from one generation to the next. I cannot help, when I look at the photo of the dancer in the café, but think that perhaps my ancestors visited the café and enjoyed a nights entertainment much as the people are doing that I have depicted in my painting.
I have taken liberties with the photograph and have added my own take on the people within the café. I have also included, in the photos on the wall, members of my family as well as the family crest. Most notable is a picture of Berta Hummel also known as Sister Maria Innocentia Hummel. She is a distant cousin of mine and the Artist who inspired the Hummel Figurines.
There are many surprises and a multitude of stories within this painting. I hope you enjoy them all.

-The GYPSY-
“Art must evoke an emotion in order to be art. If it only creates indifference then it is not art, it is garbage!”

Before The Storm Oil On Canvas Board By The GYPSY

Anatomy of a Painting: Before The Storm

“Before The Storm”

By Romani American Artist J.A. George AKA; The GYPSY 16″ x 20″ Oil on Canvas Board.

A Throwback Thursday offering. This painting from 2006 was my first attempt at painting a seascape. I had always shied away from seascapes but on this particular day I was feeling adventuresome.
I originally had not intended to make the clouds so bold and dramatic but as I started layering them I could not help myself. The sea was originally calm with gentle waves but with the boldness of the clouds I could feel the approaching storm. To offset the drama of the clouds I gave the water it’s own boldness as it rolled in “Before The Storm”.
I do a Christmas giveaway every year of one of my paintings and this one went to a sweet lady in Coffeyville, Oklahoma who had some health issue. She said of the painting, “I feel like I am the sea and once I get to shore I will be calm. This painting makes me feel peaceful.”
-The GYPSY-

The Blue Albino Woman Of Topeka By The GYPSY

The Artist Life: The Blue Albino Woman Of Topeka – By: The GYPSY

The Blue Albino Woman Of Topeka

Watercolor Illustration and Story By Romani American Artist J.A. George AKA; The GYPSY

This Watercolor Illustration Was Used In The Blue Albino Woman Episode of Discovery Channel’s Monster’s and Myths in America.

Allow me to relate the strange tale of the Albino Woman to you my faithful readers. The story of the Albino Woman is a ghost story that has touched me in the past and will again become part of my story in the future. The cemetery she haunts, Rochester Cemetery, is located on the northwest outskirts of Topeka, Kansas and is the final resting place of my family as it will also someday be the final resting place of my wife Raychel and I.
This ghost story has its roots in the life of a strange albino woman who wandered her north Topeka neighborhood at night and glared at children on their way to school during the day. As a child she had been mercilessly teased by her classmates. That taunting had followed her to adult hood as the neighborhood children would call her names and yell insults at her. After the friendless woman died in 1963 of mysterious circumstances residents began reporting a glowing white female figure walking in the area after dark especially along Shunganunga Creek.
Often the sightings were near Rochester Cemetery where the woman was buried and near which Shunganunga Creek flows. To this day employees of the nearby Goodyear Tire Factory claim to see her regularly, and some neighbors see the apparition as often as once a week.
It was August of 1964 and I was trying on clothes in the dressing room of the children’s department on the second floor of Pelletier’s Department store which my Grandmother was Manager of. It was time for me to get my new school clothes. School was going to start soon and I would be entering the second grade.
Suddenly the door to the dressing room flew open and there stood a tall veiled woman dressed entirely in black. her red eyes were visible through the dark veil as she reached out a gloved hand towards me. As the arm came closer I saw with horror the pale almost bluish flesh of the arm between her sleeve and glove. I let out a scream and she froze in her movement. Appearing behind the tall frightening figure was the small stature of my Grandmother. Summing up the situation quickly my Grandmother forcibly ordered, “Leave! You are not welcomed here!” The veiled woman slowly turned as I crouched back against the wall. I heard my Grandmother repeat, “You are not welcomed here.” She then ordered, “Now leave!” The tall figure with the red eyes and bluish skin silently glided past my Grandmother and towards the stair well. I ran to my Grandmothers arms and watched, along with the employees that had come running when I screamed, the frightening figure descend the stairs and quickly disappear.
I was to learn later that this was the Albino Woman who had died the next year. I was not to learn until four years later why she had sought me out.
The Rochester Cemetery’s caretaker and his wife had a close encounter with the ghost of the Albino Woman late one night in 1968. As they pulled their car into the driveway they saw a figure scurrying among the gravestones. Thinking it a child playing a prank, they aimed the car’s headlights at the figure, which was then kneeling before a grave. When the caretaker got out of the car, the ghostly figure stood up and glared angrily at him and walked deeper into the cemetery. The caretaker was so upset he called the police but the officers found nothing.
The ghost’s route was so regular that one resident began watching for it as it strolled across his lawn on clear nights. Eventually, he claimed, the figure began to pause and gaze at his house as though it wished to speak to him. It began to pass closer and closer to the house until one night it stood at his children’s bedroom window and watched them as they slept. The man was badly scared, but the apparition never harmed his children.
This was not the only house that the Albino Woman looked within the windows. One hot summer evening in 1968 as I lay asleep, my bed by the window to catch what little breeze drifted into the bedroom. We were poor and air conditioning was not a luxury we could afford so a rotary fan moved the stagnant air around the room. I was awakened by a scratching sound at my window. In my groggy, half asleep state I thought it was my cat, Blue Boy, scratching at the screen. “Stop it girl,” I mumbled. That is when my cat hissed. I opened my eyes to see Blue Boy, her back arched, her hair on end and hissing at the window. I rolled over and looked into the glowing red eyes of the Albino Woman who was standing right outside my window glaring at me with an intense stare that was without emotion. I screamed and scrambled out of my bed.
My Mother came running into the room and saw the hideous apparition standing at the window. “Leave us alone, damn you,” my mother screamed, “leave us alone!” My mother grabbed my arm and shoved me from the room. “I am sorry, OK?! I am sorry! Now leave us be!” My mother yelled as she exited the room and slammed the bedroom door close.
I found out that night that the Albino Woman had lived in a house in my mothers childhood neighborhood. My mother and her friends had taunted the poor hapless woman everyday as they walked to and from school.
I have not had an encounter with her since the night my Mother apologized almost 40 years ago now. But it is said that she still walks along Shunganunga creek and prowls the interior woodlands of Rochester Cemetery at night. Do me a favor will you? If you are ever in Rochester Cemetery and you meet a tall woman dressed in black with piercing red eyes and pale bluish white skin, don’t tell her that you know me or that you know where I live. I’ll have a word with her after I am laid to rest there.

-The GYPSY-


Art Prints and Print On Demand Merchandise Of This Artwork Can Be Ordered By Clicking Here


Thank You For Looking At Our Listings. May God Bless And Keep You And Yours Always.
-The GYPSY and Mad Hatter-

Copyright Tatman Productions LLC – All rights Reserved. No pictures or text may be copied and or used without the express written permission of the artist and author


Please Visit Our Sister Sites: Artist Alley Studio & GalleryAblazable.comArtist Alley Studio Tattoos & PiercingsArtist-Alley.Pixels.com

Return To Home Page

"Fritz Durien Hall Of Fame Warehouse" By: The GYPSY

The Artists Life: Fritz Durien’s Hall Of Fame Warehouse

THE ARTISTS LIFE: “FRITZ DURIEN HALL OF FAME WAREHOUSE”

Water Color on 9“ x 12” Cold Press Paper By Romani American Artist J.A. George AKA; The GYPSY

What Carry Nation did to keep Kansas dry, Fritz Durien did to keep Kansas wet. From his Hall of Fame Saloon Topeka Barkeep Fritz Durien kept stashes of the good stuff at various locations under the floor boards of his Saloon. Not one to go down easy Ol’ Fritz fought the battle against Kansas Prohibition all the way to the high court.

The photo that this painting is based on struck me for it’s stark simplicity of an act of defiance. Fritz is not making a grand gesture rather the gesture is simple and speaks volumes. You can almost hear Fritz thoughts as he stashes his treasure; My customer’s will not go thirsty. But more importantly neither will I. 

Fritz’s battle with the government hit’s close to home for me. I also had a battle with church people and a city government that wanted to close down my little neighborhood tavern in Baxter Springs, Kansas because of the evilness of liqueur and beer. I fought the good fight but eventually grew tired and moved on. Fritz also eventually gave up the good fight, closed his Saloon and headed off to Germany. In a strange twist of ironic fate the “Hall of Fame” Saloon went from selling hard liqueur to selling soda pop after Fritz had left the building.

-The GYPSY- July 7, 2021

“Art must evoke an emotion in order to be art. If it only creates indifference then it is not art, it is garbage!”

Return To Gallery Listing

Copyright Tatman Productions LLC – All Rights Reserved. No pictures or text may be copied and or used without the express written permission of the artist and author.


Please Visit Our Sister Sites: Artist Alley Studio & GalleryAblazable.comArtist Alley Studio Tattoos & PiercingsArtist-Alley.Pixels.com

Return To Home Page

Madam Thorney: She Told Fortunes - Acrylic Painting By The GYPSY

The Artist Life: Madam Thorney: She Told Fortunes

“MADAM THORNEY: SHE TOLD FORTUNES” By: J.A. George AKA; The GYPSY

Acrylic On 16” x 20” Gallery Stretched Canvas
 
“SHE TOLD FORTUNES, This English Gypsy called Madam Thorney, and she held my right hand tight. I expected her to study my open palm; instead, she searched my face.” – Bart McDowell, National Geographic Senior Editor-
 

THE STORY OF “MADAM THORNEY: SHE TOLD FORTUNES”

So what inspired “Madam Thorney: She Told Fortunes”? That is a long story…

When I was 15 years old my mother, Shirley Elizabeth Hummel, gave me a hard cover book she had ordered from National Geographic; ‘GYPSIES WANDERERS OF THE WORLD’. “Read this”, she said as she handed it to me, “it should answer most of your questions.” I had grown up knowing we were Gypsy and as I got older I had more and more questions. My mother suffered from mental illness and my endless questions must have been taxing on her. She smiled as she handed me the book, “It will fill in the gaps after you read this.”
I was an avid reader, I still am when I can find the time to do it, so reading this marvelous hard cover edition was no problem for me. I quickly read it cover to cover. My mother was wise in giving the book to me because it answered most of my questions. As I closed the book for the last time the only questions, I was left with were those that concerned my own family.
I found the history and life of my people contained in this volume fascinating and intriguing. The book made me even prouder of my heritage but the thing that captivated me the most was the photographs by Bruce Dale, a National Geographic Photographer. What author Bart McDowell had captured in words Bruce Dale had captured in his photographs. It was the perfect blending of words and images in this one book that started me on my own path of combining my words with the images I create.
As I looked at the marvelous photographs that documented the life of my people in the late 1960’s, I could see my own face within their faces. I told my mother, “Someday I will paint the people in the book.” My mother had always been encouraging of my artistic endeavors. “I know you will”, she said. Life moved on and I was well into adulthood before I did my first painting based on a photo from the book; ‘Romani Messiah: Tattered Canvas’.

LOST AND FOUND

The flood of 1993 robbed me of the cherished book my mother had given me in 1971 and I thought it was gone forever. Until one day in 2001 I received a package in the mail that contained a first edition copy of ‘GYPSIES WANDERERS OF THE WORLD’. Scrawled on the face page was, “To Gypsy, the only real Gypsy I know, (first name illegible) Dempsay. I wish I knew who this person was so I could thank them, but alas, I never found out. I was overjoyed to have the book again and I re-read it. I renewed my commitment to paint my version of the photographs in the book.
When I painted my first version of ‘Romani Messiah: Tattered Canvas’ in 2007 and I was not happy with it. There was a time I would destroy things I created I was not happy with but this painting I gave away to someone that liked it. I tackled ‘Romani Messiah: Tattered Canvas’ again in 2020 and was happier with the result which encouraged me to tackle the next photograph that had inspired me to paint my versions of them; ‘Madam Thorney: She Told Fortunes’.

ART CANNOT BE MEASURED IN TIME

At this point you may be looking at the large gaps in time between my first commitment to paint the photographs that inspired me to the point that I am doing it. Any artist can tell you that distraction is our curse. It is way to easy for us to get distracted with other projects and put other things on the back burner. The other curse for an artist is that when they are dissatisfied with a project, they walk away from it. There are projects an artist will walk away from and never come back to; there are projects that take a while to come back to. So, it is with this project. But with my satisfaction with ‘Romani Messiah: Tattered Canvas’ and now ‘Madam Thorney: She Told Fortunes’ I am encouraged to create more of my versions of the photographs from the book.
The photograph of Madam Thorney and her description intrigued me:
 
“I studied this fortune-teller with puzzled respect: her arresting, heavy lidded eyes and her strong, gentle features – a face suggesting nose-jewels and saris.”
As I set about to capture Madam Thorney, I took quite a few artistic liberties with my rendition of the photo. Those things in my painting that remain unchanged are her sign, her posture, general features and eyes. Notice that I said, “General Features”. As I looked at the photograph of Madam Thorney by Bruce Dale and Bart McDowell’s description of her, I saw all her ancestors that had made her who she was. As I painted, I did not even try to copy the photograph, that was not my intent. My goal was to capture the spirit of what the photograph had captured, her heritage, her history and her bloodline.
Madam Thorney, in the photo, appears to be in her late sixties or maybe early seventies. The photo was taken at her wagon where she was telling fortunes at Epsom Downs for Derby Days in 1968. I am sure that Madam Thorney left to meet her ancestors an exceptionally long time ago. But here she is, still smiling and reading fortunes within the pages of this book and her essence now captured upon my canvas.
The day that Bart McDowell met Madam Thorney she told him, “You are writing something, a book perhaps. And you are planning a journey. Yes, a very long journey. Where are you going?” Bart McDowell took his journey to trace the history of my people, the Romani people; he wrote our story.
For a one pound note Madam Thorney pulled out a small crystal ball and gave Mr. McDowell this final warning: “Be careful. Beware of things others may write down or tell you. Write only what you find for yourself.” I would like to believe that Madam Thorney would be pleased if she knew that her insights and warning had reached across time to touch me. For I too am taking a journey, a journey to capture in paint upon my canvas the essence of the Gypsies, my people. I will always write only what I find for myself but more that that I will only paint what I see with my heart and soul.
 
-The GYPSY: January 24, 2021 – Topeka, Kansas-
 
This painting is for sale at https://Artist-Alley.net

Mad Hatter and The GYPSY

Welcome To Artist Alley Studio

OUR MISSION AT ARTIST ALLEY STUDIO

We believe that no matter what type of Art You want Body, Portrait, Fine or Craft that you deserve to receive nothing less than the best we can offer. Our personal guarantee to you is that whether visiting our Artist Alley Studio & Gallery or our Online Gallery you will always be greeted and serviced in a clean, safe and friendly environment. This has been our mission since 1976 and will continue to be so into the future.

 


Please Visit Our Sister Sites: Artist Alley Studio & GalleryAblazable.comArtist Alley Studio Tattoos & PiercingsArtist-Alley.Pixels.com

Return To Home Page