Kosinski toons

Since the virus hit, I've been doing less painting and more cartooning. I figure with the heaviness of the situation, I wanted to bring more joy to the world. If you like what you see, please go to: 
https://www.instagram.com/kosinski_toons/

Getty Artwork Re-creation Challenge

Above Left: The Astronomer, 1668, by Johannes Vermeer.  

Above right: Recreation by Ann Zumhagen-Krause and her husband on Twitter and via Facebook DM. 

Below: My Mona Lisa re-creation commentary, 3x5, Ink, pencil and collage on paper, posted on Twitter.

Being stuck at home for days at a time can be maddening for some folks. So the Getty Museum has come to our rescue! They have issued a playful challenge on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram to re-create your favorite art using objects (and people) lying around the house. The challenge was inspired by the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam and an Instagram account called Between Art and Quarantine. Thousands of re-creations have been done in both serious and humous ways. My contribution falls into the latter category. With the gravity of the current world situation, I have turned to cartooning to try and elevate spirits and lighten the mood. Although not strictly adhering to the challenge protocols, my cartoon depicts a probably homebound couple, attempting a re-creation of the Mona Lisa. As you can see by the Vermeer Astronomer above, folks can be fairly exacting. And the snag comes when someone, probably the husband (not seen), for authenticity's sake, suggests the model shave off her eyebrows! Ruh-Roh Reorge. (High resolution scans have revealed that DaVinci originally did give La Gioconda eyebrows and eyelashes, but they have faded over time.) 

For more info on the Getty challenge click: https://blogs.getty.edu/iris/getty-artworks-recreated-with-household-items-by-creative-geniuses-the-world-over/

Random Acts of Chalk

Along with the howling around town at 8pm, an anonymous Denverite has been quietly leaving us messages of hope and encouragement. I have seen three along the Highline Canal Trail west of Dayton Street. The first was: You Can Do This! Another was: You Are Valid, which was near Windsor Gardens senior community. The snow and rain wash them away and others appear to take their place. Thank you for your words of resolve and kindness!

To see more visit: https://www.instagram.com/randomactsofchalk/

Sang Rouge

Sang Rouge – 12x12 – Acrylic and colored pencil on canvas sheet

Sang Rouge translates from the French: Red Blood or more ominously Blood Red. I was thinking about all the lives affected these days, in both existential and all too real terms. Hovering above the red are thin silver cords. A lifeline to our higher self. I use the singular because it is the one life that we all share. A seemingly tenuous connection, which by our attention and intention can be made strong and more conductive, to hope, courage and right action. We are all one in this flesh and blood life. Let us care for one another and move thru this together. You are not alone.

"What could be more interesting, or in the end, more ecstatic, than in those rare moments when you see another person look at something you’ve made, and realize that they got it exactly, that your heart jumped to their heart with nothing in between?” 

-- Robert Motherwell

Black Grey Red Line

Black Grey Red Line – 12x12 – Acrylic and colored pencil on canvas sheet

I prefer to work in themes. I like to investigate the various possibilities within a given framework. These thinly striped works are a distant cousin to the Veil Stripe series. Still a color field painting, but more monochromatic.

Winter into Spring

Winter into Spring – 12x12 – Acrylic and colored pencil on canvas sheet

Winter has returned here today and has brought us that wet kind of east coast cold I remember from Boston. The spring green lines in the painting hovering above the frozen tundra are equal to about the same percentage of color that is showing in our landscape right now!