A Charming Old Car – 5″ x 5″ Watercolor & Ink

“If there is a sin against this life, it consists perhaps not so much in despairing of life as in hoping for another life and in eluding the implacable grandeur of this life.”
–Albert Camus

Copyright Beth Parker Art 2012

A Charming Old Car – 5″ x 5″ Watercolor & Ink

I painted this from another photo reference from Lin (Old Rock Chick) at WetCanvas.  The plaid was fun.  I just made that part up. 

Albert Camus (1913-1960) was a representative of non-metropolitan French literature. His origin in Algeria and his experiences there in the thirties were dominating influences in his thought and work. Of semi-proletarian parents, early attached to intellectual circles of strongly revolutionary tendencies, with a deep interest in philosophy (only chance prevented him from pursuing a university career in that field), he came to France at the age of twenty-five.

 The man and the times met: Camus joined the resistance movement during the occupation and after the liberation was a columnist for the newspaper Combat. But his journalistic activities had been chiefly a response to the demands of the time; in 1947 Camus retired from political journalism and, besides writing his fiction and essays, was very active in the theatre as producer and playwright (e.g., Caligula, 1944). He also adapted plays by Calderon, Lope de Vega, Dino Buzzati, and Faulkner’s Requiem for a Nun. His love for the theatre may be traced back to his membership in L’Equipe, an Algerian theatre group, whose “collective creation” Révolte dans les Asturies (1934) was banned for political reasons.  More…

The Mystery Project – 4″ x 6″ Watercolor and Sharpie

“Never be bullied into silence. Never allow yourself to be made a victim. Accept no one’s definition of your life; define yourself.”
– Harvey Fierstein

Copyright Beth Parker Art 2012

The Mystery Project – 4″ x 6″ Watercolor and Sharpie

I painted this little postcard for a project with Art House Coop, in Brooklyn, NY and Prismacolor.  The idea of the project is to make a stranger’s day.  I received a little kit in the mail from Art House Coop, with a new Prismacolor artist pen and a theme.  The theme for my card was “If tomorrow came yesterday”.  I painted this little card and left it in a public place for a stranger to find.  Isn’t that a cool project?  2000 artists are participating.   I love it.  Debi Engle says this is a rak,  A random act of kindness.  I like that!  So far, I have not heard from anyone, saying it has been found, so it may still be out there.    I can’t show you the picture of where I left it, because one of you clever people may figure it out… then it’s not so random. 

About Harvey Fierstein

Harvey Fierstein, the raspy-voiced American actor, playwright, and gay activist, is best known for his semiautobiographical play, Torch Song Trilogy, which garnered Tony Awards for writing and acting. He was born in Brooklyn in 1954. His onstage debut as a female impersonator at age 16 led to a role in a 1971 Andy Warhol play. He adapted the French show La Cage aux Folles into a Broadway musical and, later, the movie The Birdcage. He has appeared in such varied movies as Independence Day and Mrs. Doubtfire.

Same Car Next Year – 2.5″ x 3.5″ Watercolor ATC

“The mind is not a vessel to be filled but a fire to be kindled.”
– Plutarch

Yeah!!!

Copyright Beth Parker Art 2012

Same Car Next Year – 2.5″ x 3.5″ Watercolor ATC

I painted this from a reference photo by Susan (surob) at WetCanvas.  Here is what she said about the photo…

“I title this “Same Car Next Year”. It is difficult to dispose of things, especially large things in Japan so this is one way of sprucing up your junk car. We visited 2 years in a row. Same car, just different flowers.”

Of course, I had to add the flowerdy wall and the colorful graphics on what was a plain yellow, down and out car.  he he he 

About Plutarch

Plutarch, the Greek historian who penned more than 46 anecdote-laced biographies of famous Greek and Roman figures in his Parallel Lives series of books, was more interested in exploring the influence of character on a man’s personal destiny than in writing dry histories. He was born in Greece during Roman rule, most likely in the year 46. He traveled extensively through the Roman Empire, finally returning home to become a priest of Apollo at the Oracle of Delphi. He died in the year 120.
It’s interesting to me that in 2012, we are quoting something said before the year 120.