I'm very pleased to announce with 99% certainty that travel writer, food writer, cook, and photographer Jeff Koehler will be visiting Portland (and Clark College, Vancouver) this summer, probably in early August. Jeff is a longtime friend whom I first met back in Spokane in the early nineties. He was an undergrad at Gonzaga University then, a literature enthusiast and a budding author. After graduating, he traveled extensively in Africa and Asia, going places that were thrilling, beautiful, and dangerous. When he returned, he treated us to extensive slide shows that were mind-boggling. Eventually he wound up at King's College, London, in a writing program, and there met his future wife, Eva, a chemistry student from Barcelona. Now Jeff and Eva, and their two girls Alba and Maia, all live in Barcelona. Eva is a researcher at a university and Jeff writes articles and takes photographs for magazines mainly on food, wine, and travel destinations. Two years ago he published a cookbook, La Paella, and he's currently finishing up a book on cous-cous, pasta, and rice as Mediterranean staples. When he comes here this summer I hope he will read us some bits and pieces about the places he's visited and the food he's eaten. He's a gifted storyteller (he used to send us monlogues on cassette tapes from the places he was visiting), a lively conversationalist, and a fearless pursuer of sensory experience. I can't wait for him to get here! Click on the link to him in my "You Should Know About" at the top-right of this blog. You'll find yourself at his phenomenal website.
Allow me to also initiate a new feature on the blog: Galleria Giacomo. Several times a week (ideally) I'll share a bit of art work that I've produced--drawings and paintings. My purpose is merely to let you--my old and new friends--see some of the work I do. Look for the link to the Galeria among my blog lists over to the right. Most of what will appear will be nude studies that I've done--copies (or interpretations, if you will) of other works--drawings, paintings, sculptures, and photographs. Some will be painted gesture studies (made on paper) from my painting class, always painted from models; some will be more or less "finished" paintings on canvas and other surfaces (cardboard or wood, usually); others will be assorted thises and thats--still lifes, animals, landscapes, objects, etc. I hope you enjoy the Galeria. The first batch I'm sharing is a collection of charcoal and graphite studies I made (a few years ago now!), all drawn from photographs I picked up somewhere (or perhaps copies of other drawings, I can't always remember). One of them was used, famously, by Delacroix.
And here's a picture of Ian and Scout. The boy's obsessed with shoes:
Adieu.
JBF
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