Katherine Keenum

Apr 02, 2018 6:00 AM EDT

Romani's painting of Judith is absolutely astounding. It comes out of such darkness very similar to Rembrandt.

I was glad to read she received the respect of fellow artists, even though she was female. Her extraordinary talent surely make it happen. The men couldn't help themselves and had to admire her work no matter how they may have felt about women in general.

- Patricia Franzino

Jan 22, 2018 6:38 AM EST

The only hopeful movement that is a result of the Trump administration is the power of positive, loving people to cleanse this country of inequality and injustice. More women are running for office. The party is over for men who take advantage of women in factories, offices and entertainment.

When I saw on election night that Trump won, the first thing that came into my mind was, this is cleansing time. He will bring out the worst people to be seen and heard and ultimately lose all their power as people finally come to realize the mistake they made.

The weak and insecure put him in office thinking he is some kind of savior. Trump says he's a fifties guy. He talks about jobs that are becoming obsolete. One coal mining company actually went to alternate energy and closed the mine. The people who voted for him are living in the past like Trump and are too afraid to see what the new training is all about as innovation continues.

I watched a panel of people talking about Trump after one year in office. They are die-hard Trump supporters and think he is doing even better than they expected. They don't see the reality of Trump or anything he's doing.

- Patricia Franzino

Jan 22, 2018 11:39 AM EST

Pat, I agree with much of what you say, but I also believe that anger is good only as a first response. It must lead to something healthier or else it becomes destructive to both the individual and society. We cannot be free or joyous when we let the object of our horror dominate our thoughts. That's why I urge all my readers to turn their attention to whatever is most creative in their lives. Thanks for sharing your passion. May it lead you to find new ways of enhancing your life with people who share your vision for a better world

- Katherine Keenum

Dec 11, 2017 6:21 AM EST

These artists gravitated toward similar ideas from the middle ages and Elizabethan times. I wonder if they enjoyed the lushness of the dress and hair to portray on canvas as well as the plaintive looks of women from this era.

They were obviously high-born, bought and sold to the highest bidder for greater prestige through title, land, money. If they survived childbirth and the husband they had to deal with and diseases and managed to thrive despite all of this, they were extremely fortunate.

It's typical the artists were not acclaimed in their lifetimes, and without birth control became sidetracked by family. It's still hard to manage both career and child rearing. Men have an easier time in the past and present.

It's good to see men being called on their behavior. I'd like to see female abusers of men in the work place brought to public attention too. No one has the right to infringe on someone else's personal or career life in any way.

- Patricia Franzino

Oct 28, 2017 8:14 AM EDT

I finished reading the fairy tales. I had to figure out how to turn the pages. If you want want to read any of it, click on the page itself, not on the edges of the page like a book.

I was glad to find a way to read this online. In trying to take the book out of the library, they didn't allow it. I would have had to go to the 42nd Street main library in NYC to read it without being able to take it with me.

They were entertaining, but dated for today's children's books. The female protagonists are always the ones at fault and must repent, or they must sacrifice their looks and then get them back. This book from 1920 is too close to the 19th-century. The author was definitely not a feminist.

- Patricia Franzino

Oct 28, 2017 10:21 AM EDT

So glad you figured out how to read the book on-line! That Archives source has many books that would otherwise be unavailable to most of us.

As to your well-taken point about the role of women and girls in most fairy tales, is it any wonder that revisionist versions have been a fruitful field for feminist writers to cultivate in recent decades?

- Katherine Keenum

Oct 19, 2017 10:11 AM EDT

Very beautiful and subtle work.

It's terrible she believed a doctor who sounds like he was against women artists. If she had found a deeper self-worth, she might not have taken her own life.

Whenever I hear of people doing this, for any reason, I feel they would have benefited from meditation to discover themselves as an expression of spirit where the real strength lies to continue living.

- Patricia Franzino

Oct 19, 2017 11:33 AM EDT

Even with greater understanding and better medications, life remains complicated and depression is real. We can only hope that more and more people find the help they need, and that we all find within ourselves the compassion that makes us human. Thanks for commenting, Pat.

- Katherine Keenum

Sep 21, 2017 7:02 AM EDT

Thank you for such an inspiring blog.

I remembered a quote from Churchill who was asked to cut arts funding to support the war effort. He said, "Then what would we be fighting for?"

A flamenco teacher was at a seminar I attended. He spoke about having dance, any dance form, social or otherwise, taught from the beginning of a child's education. He saw dance as a humanity course to help people learn we are all connected to each other.

- Patricia Franzino

Sep 21, 2017 9:14 AM EDT

Thanks, Pat. I had never seen the Churchill quotation before, but I'll certainly tuck it away now. And your flamenco teacher's observation is spot on. I've been reading recently about the evolution of music in the human species. Music is not only sound, but also rhythm. Movements like dancing and marching in formation are profoundly important to our mental and social development.

- Katherine Keenum

Sep 18, 2017 6:58 AM EDT

This is a gorgeous picture. The reflection of the light across the picture within the picture is glorious in the amazing talent it takes to produce something like this.

I like pictures I can walk into and feel a part of it all.

- Patricia Franzino

Sep 18, 2017 1:17 PM EDT

Yes, I loved it because it was a very particular space that I felt I could walk into—and then invent a similar space with differences.

- Katherine Keenum