Rather Big News

Posted on June 14, 2015 by portfoliolongo.com

I learned today that one of the iPad drawings that I submitted to the mDAC Summit’s Mobile Digital Art & Photography Exhibition was accepted and will be exhibited at the Palo Alto Art Center during the month of August, 2015. In the category of digital painting there were over 700 submissions, and mine was among the top 100. To celebrate this great news everyone at portfoliolongo.com will have the day off tomorrow. In a few weeks, when the news is ready to be shared, I’ll post the announcement link and the image in question. The opening and reception will take place on August 7, 2015.

Taxi in front of Hemingway’s Finca Vigía in Cuba

Posted on June 13, 2015 by portfoliolongo.com

Like I said, they’re everywhere; well, in Cuba at least. I snapped a shot of this enormous Cadillac taxi, in front of Finca Vigía, a museum now, where Ernest Heminingway lived from 1939 to 1960. The Finca is located in San Francisco de Paula, a small town about 10 miles from Havana.
Here’s a rendering of that taxi done in Procreate with a Sty-HD stylus using the photo referenced above…side by side, freehand.

Rest in Peace, Cuthbert

Posted on June 9, 2015 by portfoliolongo.com

On June 2, 2015 a friend and former confrère of mine, Fr. Cuthbert A. Jack, O.S.B., was laid to rest. You can read his obituary here. After his funeral the monks of St. Vincent Archabbey most certainly entoned the Benedictine Ultima, a rendition of which, accompanied by none other than Yo-Yo Ma, can be seen and heard by clicking on this YouTube link. See the Benedictine Ultima lyrics and sheet music below.

(Revised 6/12/15) Thirty five years ago Cuthbert and I – along with something like 13 others – were in the same, unusually large novice class. From that novice class only two remain, one at the abbey and the other at a parish not too far from the abbey. My condolences to them. Astonishingly, Cuthbert was the fifth to die from that group of novices. The others are off doing one thing or another. Read Cuthbert’s obituary; multiply it by 100. Why? He was a character for Christ’s sake!

See the three YouTube videos – inserted below – of Cuthbert making bread.

Procreate, Sty-HD stylus, freehand with photo reference (See obituary or watch progress video.)

They’re Everywhere…

Posted on June 8, 2015 by portfoliolongo.com

…and there’s even a Facebook page: Carros Clásicos de Cuba! So, on our two flights back home, I put stylus to screen in Procreate for a side by side freehand guided by a photo that Annyth took with her iPhone.

Hotel Palacio O’Farrill: Lobby, Bar, and Restaurant

Posted on June 7, 2015 by portfoliolongo.com

In the Hotel Palacio O’Farrill’s dramatic lobby/courtyard Wendy, Kevin, Annyth, and I – along with the eight other visitors on our educational tour – enjoyed breakfasts before and preprandials after each day’s program, complete with guide, Jesus and driver, Ramon. Why O’Farrill?

Beer, wine, mojitos, Cuba Libres, and, of course, música cubana!

Rum and CUC

Posted on June 6, 2015 by portfoliolongo.com

We just got back from a week, a wonderful week in Cuba. I’m way behind. Where do I begin? How about the Cuban Convertible Peso (CUC), pronounced /kook/. So, let me get this out of my system: Rum and CUC. See also Santiago de Cuba rum.

House of the Rising Sun Bed and Breakfast

Posted on May 28, 2015 by portfoliolongo.com

In two days we’ll be flying to Cuba, but that’s another story.

Today was our last full day going down Memory Lane in Algiers Point, New Orleans, where we had lived from 2005 to 2010. As Annyth says, we were “in with Katrina and out with the Super Bowl.” It goes without saying that those were some life-changing years! From the very beginning – and to this day – we’ve had a special attachment to House of the Rising Sun Bed and Breakfast and its proprietors, Kevin and Wendy. In fact, they’ll be our travelmates on the upcoming tour.

We first met Wendy and Kevin in February of 2005, when we stayed at their B & B while we were closing on a house just around the corner from them (See The Misbelieve Tree.) As new residents of Algiers Point, we became friends with them, and through them, many others. Here we are “strolling” as the Monopoly Board in the French Quarter on Mardi Gras in 2009. The friendship and the story…to be continued.

Side by side, photo referenced, freehand iPad drawing in the Procreate app using Sty-HD stylus.

Yesterday while Flying – 3 Impressions

Posted on May 28, 2015 by portfoliolongo.com

Here I lie in bed at House of the Rising Sun Bed & Breakfast in Algiers Point, New Orleans, LA getting caught up after a night of getting caught up.

It wouldn’t take that much to modify access; then it occurred to me. Individual planes for those who deserve them.

We got situated relatively early in Row 15, but we weren’t alone.

One guy had the right idea under the circumstances.

Cuba Introduction Tour

Posted on May 26, 2015 by portfoliolongo.com

After we spend a couple of days with friends in our old neighborhood, Algiers Point in New Orleans, LA, we’ll be flying to Havana, Cuba on a chartered flight to begin a week-long educational tour of the capital city plus an excursion to Las Terrazas. With most of the packing and preparations nearly done, and the house move put on hold, I’m assembling some of my romantic notions about Cuba expecting that they will be somehow put into perspective. I’ve flown over Cuba several times on short and long trips to Paraguay, Colombia, and Argentina back when it was practically impossible to enter the country. Times have changed, relations have begun to normalize, but the embargo has not yet been lifted. So we’ll enter on an educational tour sponsored by a Canadian company.

Technical: I referred to this photo to do a freehand drawing in Procreate. Also, I made use of the image in a previous post, entitled Sin Embargo, after a reversal and some tweaking.

bark bark bark

Posted on May 24, 2015 by portfoliolongo.com

bark…bark…bark…bark…bark…bark…bark…bark…bark…bark…bark…bark…bark…bark…bark…bark…bark…bark…bark…bark…bark…bark…bark…bark…bark…bark…bark…bark…bark…bark…bark…bark…bark…bark…bark…bark…bark…bark…bark…bark…bark…bark…bark…bark…bark…bark…bark…bark…bark…bark…bark…bark…bark…bark…bark…bark…bark…bark…bark…bark…bark…bark…bark…bark…bark…bark…bark…bark…bark…bark…bark…bark…bark…bark…bark…bark…bark…bark…bark…bark…bark…but still worth having the window open. Good night.

NOTE: We haven’t yet moved into our new house. This is an old, innocent dog from the old Ragsdale neighborhood.