Newcomer reports in!

Edgar Coleman · 06-10-2005, 11:26 AM

Dear Mikael,

I want to extend a very warm welcome to such a multi-talented person.

I love the photos of your studio and greatly admire your painting of John O. Crosby of the Sante Fe Opera Festival. Also I really enjoy losing myself in the "Nocturne" painting that you are creating in Rome. It has a romantic, ethereal quality that is quite alluring and mysterious.

Thank you for sharing the work process of your travels in Rome.

Warm regards,

Edgar

Mikael Melbye · 06-11-2005, 05:28 AM

Thanks so much for the welcome. I'm overwhelmed by the responds from all you great guys. It's like coming home in a sense. The community of realist- or portrait painters in Denmark is so small that you can count them on a hand or two, and we all seem to fighting for the same jobs. And there are not many of them out there. But I have hopes for Denmark...They seem to be coming around concerning the realist genre. More and more are interested and actually buying!

I'm glad you like JOC's portrait. He was a very special man with a most incredible vision. He build his own opera house in the middle of the dessert! And made it one of the most fruitful artistic venues in American Culture. I've sung there fifteen summers and come to love this rugged and interesting country. The light is incredible there and I always painted when ever I had the time for it. John was very shy and at the same time a very powerful man, and I hope this is what comes through his portrait. The piano taking up so much space in the painting is of course the overpowering urge to make music that dominated his life. The score is a Strauss opera which was his favorite composer.

By the way: My web site is now also in English for my American Friends!!

All the best to you and greetings from beautiful Rome

Mikael

Michele Rushworth · 06-11-2005, 08:34 AM

It's great to have you on the Forum, Mikael. Such a diverse career, knighted for your work as an Opera singer, performing at New York's Metropolitan Opera! My goodness! We are honored.

I have a new friend who is encouraging me to go see the Seattle Opera and apparently they have a good reputation. May be this will open up a new appreciation in me for an art form I haven't experienced before.

I do hope you post some of your paintings from your trip to Rome when you get back, either in this thread or on your site. I look forward to seeing them.

Mikael Melbye · 06-12-2005, 12:13 PM

Do go and see the opera!! there are no guarantees, but chances are, since you're a wonderful painter (I have seen your work) you will love the opera.

Seattle is a good company, but don't start with Wagner or Strauss or any of the heavy guys. A Boheme or a Magic Flute is excellent first time experiences.

I did post something from Rome, but now I can't find it. Allan R. actually told me where to look, but I must be doing something wrong. Well eventually I'll get there.

All the best

Mikael

Michele Rushworth · 06-12-2005, 01:23 PM

I found your Rome work: it's here: http://forum.portraitartist.com/show...&page=14&pp=10

Thanks for your suggestions about the Opera. Now to find someone who'll go with me -- my husband's more of a baseball fan than a fan of the arts!

Chris Saper · 06-12-2005, 07:16 PM

Mikael, my apologies - when I moved your Rome landscapes, you should have received an autromatic notice. Please let me know if that didn't happen as perhaps there is a software glitch (technical term).

Mikael Melbye · 06-13-2005, 12:35 PM

No, I didn't receive anything, but I'm happy that Michelle found it for me. No damage done, now I know how it work.

I made a mess of my attached photos today. It must be the temperature here in Rome clouding my wits - sorry everyone!

But it does give the idea of how I work.

Now I'll wait until it's finished I think.

Best,

Mikael

Mikael Melbye · 06-13-2005, 12:27 PM

You can tell your husband that one doesn't exclude the other. In Santa Fe, we always played base ball in between the rehearsals (even though we were not supposed to). Maybe he should try a little opera between the games!

It's true that The Barber of Seville is a good starter. I sung it 168 times, so I should know I guess.

Happy opera!

Mikael

Claudemir Bonfim · 06-12-2005, 07:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mikael Melbye

Do go and see the opera!! there are no guarantees, but chances are, since you're a wonderful painter (I have seen your work) you will love the opera.

Seattle is a good company, but don't start with Wagner or Strauss or any of the heavy guys. A Boheme or a Magic Flute is excellent first time experiences.

Mikael

Dear Michele,

I completely agree with Mikael, when I first took my wife to the Opera we went to see Rossini's "Il Barbiere di Siviglia" that's another good suggestion. Another good idea is to read about the Opera before the show to know what it is about, knowing the story will help you appreciate it even more.