Intervals...

"For Jodi" by Hilary J. England, 12" x 16" oil on canvas

The above artwork is a commission I finished painting yesterday...a mother/daughter painting.  This was done by several reference photos, sketches, and one sitting.  It took about 3 and half hours to complete, as we were on a time crunch due to the nature of the commission (it was for a big occasion).

I watched the new remake of "Mildred Pierce" last night on HBO, at least the first parts of it.  I know it received rave reviews, and of course my intention while watching it was to compare it to the Joan Crawford version, and in my opinion, it did not have the same simplicity and charm, overall.  At least to this point...I mean, it is, after all, a miniseries (not to knock them).

First, I think the most troublesome situation/theme I saw arise in this version, and I don't recall this quite as obviously in the first movie is Mildred herself.  She is an extremely complex character, a walking contradiction.  She has all of these noble ideals, yet she desperately throws herself into the sack with literally any man, on the first opportunity she gets.  She actually vomits at the idea of taking a job as a "waitress in a hash house" because she feels it's beneath her, yet she has absolutely no revulsion at jumping into bed with some partner of her soon to be ex-husband's just for the slight off-chance he may "keep" her.  So, in Mildred's book, prostitution is good and noble, but waitressing is vile.  Not a good message here.  This irked me, as it makes her a somewhat unsympathetic character initially.

With that being said, I did feel there was some very good acting on Kate Winslet's part.  She is somewhat clunky and clumsy looking sometimes, but that makes her a "real person" and I appreciate that about her.  The scenes in which she is looking for a job as a single mother, and having no money to buy groceries, and all of the pain, shame, fear and loneliness that accompanies that predicament, were poignant and believable.  She also showed her vulnerability and disorientation as to raising two children alone.  The scene in which she asks her husband for a divorce was also a touching and honest scene...the pain of finality of the end of their relationship hits her...even though the separation is bitter, the loss of hope for their relationship, the reality that it's truly the end, confronts her.  It was well acted.  

Of course, the scene with the loss of her child was hard to watch, such an unimaginable horror to any parent, especially with the guilt of being "missing in action" due to an illicit, guilty pleasure, when the child was taken ill.  That being said, I will definitely tune into watch the other parts, not only because I already watched the first ones, but because I do anticipate seeing the rest of it.

Well, it's snowing again here...big, fat snowflakes.  It must be an April Fool's joke!!  Haha!  Now stop.  I have another two commissions I am working on, plus two paintings of "my own" so I am busy...my back is still a bit troublesome, but I press on through it.  I'm thinking of buying a new mattress...any suggestions?  A Tempurpedic maybe...

So, that's the scoop for today.