Painting seen in lobby of hotel, Hong Kong. The surface is painted with a silver painting, like the one covering a chocolate wrapper..

I just completed this study for an oil painting, which also marks the beginning of a series I call “La suite Espagnole”, or the Spanish Suite. It is dark in mood and inspired, very remotely, by Zurbarán and Georges de La Tour (or rather by very distant memories of looking at their paintings -they were favorites of my father).

It is also a more direct homage to "Las Meninas" by Diego Velázquez. My own memories of dark churches and religious paintings have I am sure guided the inspiration.

This particular installment deals with the themes of childhood and its end, both figurative and literal when a child leaves its home and family to take flight, or escape.

There is a bit more that could be said about this painting and its origin, but I will leave it untold.

Geishas are popping up in my neighborhood. They are surprise encounters and I have no ideas who’s spreading them around.

The dual tone treatment turns them into figures escaped from a banknote or a war poster and immediately brings associations that a more complex color scheme could not achieve.

The background was obviously carefully selected before they were pasted to the wall. Clouds on the left to go with the umbrella, and a peace sign on the right... as if she was armed with a violin.