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Posts Tagged ‘beauty’

in the langosy studio

Posted in Guest Contributor, Inspiration, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on July 7, 2016| 4 Comments »

donald langosy in the studio

donald langosy in a studio from the early days

For the past six Thursdays it has been been my pleasure to share the words and images of painter Donald Langosy. In collaboration with his daughter, he produced a unique 14-page memoir visually chronicling his evolution as an artist. I was allowed to share that memoir on this blog interspersed with additional words and images by Langosy.

Last Thursday’s post – story of my art – shakespeare and the joy of being, revealed that Mr. Langosy was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 2003. Has it affected how he expresses himself as an artist? Of course. But decrease in mobility and even fine motor skills has in no way decreased his creativity or even his productivity. As he has stated he does not allow MS into his studio, but he has welcomed visitors on occasion.

donald langosy in the studio present day

donald langosy still in the studio present day

I have been lucky enough to sit in his space and at his side and see his works-in-progress upon the easel, the canvases stacked against the wall, his sculptures tucked in high nooks, and what I especially love (and I tell him each time) the books, the books, the books, on so many different subjects, collected over the years! And no matter how crammed the space becomes with paintings and books and new technologies to enable him in his work, there is always space for the grandchildren.

grandchildren in the studio

grandchildren in the studio

Below are a few more images. Please enjoy this virtual peek inside the studio, present and past, of Donald Langosy.

Photos provided by Zoe Langosy.

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View The Story of My Art: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6.

View four decades of Langosy’s work at http://www.donald.langosy.net/

See what’s current on Langosy’s Facebook page.

His contact: Zoe Langosy at zlangosy@me.com.

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portraits in progress …

Posted in Inspiration, tagged , , , , , , , on July 2, 2016| 1 Comment »

No picture this week but I can share this …

I’ve picked up a few things about him. He’s Haitian and speaks Creole. He joined the neighborhood maybe two years ago. He’s slender, and his skin is like black walnut. Smooth and dark. He’s rather ageless — he could be 40 or he could be 70. Is he good or bad? That I do not know. He does seem to move with grace through the world from my vantage point. I live along a main thoroughfare and along this thoroughfare he walks with an easy gait. And when he walks he sings. Operatically.

Even when I am not peering out of a window, I know that he is near by the song in the air as he moves. I know so little about opera (and that little is thanks mostly to PBS and to Bugs Bunny) and yet when he sings I can recognize what little I have heard. La Traviata. La Boheme. Wagner. And then during a recent rainstorm, when I left the windows a little cracked to let in the wonderful fresh air, I heard his voice.

I looked out a window and there he was, walking along nonchalantly, with his bags from the local grocery store, dark skin and hair, white shirt plastered against his whippet form,  and those khaki pants. His shoes I could not see in the shadows of the looming night. His voice filled the air. This time it was Ave Maria.

His head was tilted back, and when he stepped beneath the glow of the street light, I could see the white of his teeth and eyes. I’d just heard Ave Maria sung at a funeral a week or so before. So solemn that day. This man, my unnamed fellow, sang it with such joy.

We have yet to actually meet. I figure I should not rush out of my home, make him stop his song, to accost him with my questions of “who are you” and “what is your story” or “may I snap your portrait.”

At least, not yet. 🙂

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story of my art – shakespeare and the joy of being

Posted in Inspiration, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on June 30, 2016| 3 Comments »

detail from isle of prospero by langosy

detail from isle of prospero by langosy

Editorial note: Throughout this unique sharing of his life as an artist, Mr. Langosy has focused on the influence of poets like Ezra Pound, painters like Titian, and underscoring everything, the influence of his muse, Elizabeth. In the following pages, he describes and depicts the influence of Shakespeare. But in the 1990s something else also affected his artistic journey.

“… my mobility inexplicably became impaired. As I gradually lost the ability to walk and became increasingly fatigued, I was no longer able to pursue connections in the art world or mount exhibits as I had in the past. I was told that my disability had psychiatric origins and that I would walk again when I was ready to do so. Over time, my paintings became as small as my housebound universe, sometimes shrinking to the size of a postage stamp. In October 2003, I collapsed and was taken to a hospital, where I was finally diagnosed with secondary progressive multiple sclerosis. Once I knew that I wasn’t crazy after all and began targeted treatments … I am convinced that a huge factor in my remission was my decision to not allow MS to enter my studio.”

And now …

View preceding episodes in The Story of My Art: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

View four decades of his work at http://www.donald.langosy.net/

See what’s current, as well as wonderful old photos of the artist at work, via Langosy’s Facebook page.

His contact: Zoe Langosy at zlangosy@me.com.

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there were flowers too

Posted in Inspiration, Nature Notes, On the Road, tagged , , , , , , , on June 27, 2016| 7 Comments »

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waters in a woburn office park

Posted in Branches, Inspiration, Nature Notes, On the Road, tagged , , , , , , , , on June 27, 2016| Leave a Comment »

 

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enduring beauty, a brief slideshow

Posted in Inspiration, tagged , , , , , , , , , on June 19, 2016| 2 Comments »

Morning light falling on the north wall of the nave in Trinity Church in the City of Boston. It has been my pleasure to photograph the stained glass windows over the years but this particular morning I focused my camera on the decorative features of one wall.  Zooming in you can see the elegance of the design orchestrated by John La Farge. The ravages of time are present and so is the enduring beauty of an architectural masterpiece.

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Learn more about Trinity’s Art and History tours at trinitychurchboston.org/art-history/tours

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grace under water

Posted in Inspiration, Nature Notes, tagged , , , , , , , , , on June 16, 2016| 1 Comment »

Koi in a pond near North Point Park in Cambridge, MA.

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“painting with the moments”

Posted in Inspiration, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , on June 9, 2016| 4 Comments »

Previously in The Story of My Art: “becoming an artist confident”

And now (click on image for larger view) …

The next chapter in this artistic journey is Thursday June 16th. 

Meanwhile, view Mr. Langosy’s art at http://www.donald.langosy.net/ and https://www.facebook.com/The-Art-of-Donald-Langosy-270498092961524/photos/?tab=album&album_id=442071359137529

Interested in his work? Please contact his daughter Zoe at zlangosy@me.com.

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“becoming an artist confident”

Posted in Inspiration, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , on June 2, 2016| 4 Comments »

Previously in The Story of My Art: “and then I met Elizabeth”

And now …

The next chapater in this artistic journey is Thursday June 9th.  Meanwhile, learn more about Langosy’s art by contacting Zoe at zlangosy@me.com.

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“and then I met Elizabeth”

Posted in Inspiration, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on May 26, 2016| 6 Comments »

Sometimes when I am in a room with a group of people, someone will say, “Be careful what you say. We have a writer in our midst and she always sees a story.” I don’t know that I always see a story, but in this case I do.  It is the story of a man and a woman, two artists in their own right, who formed a union. A painter-poet and his writer muse.  Donald and Elizabeth Langosy.

I have permission to call him Donald but, since I am friends with his daughter Zoe, my southern upbringing drives me to refer to him as Mr. Langosy . Now, Elizabeth has made clear, that since we are writing colleagues, I am to call her Elizabeth.  And when she tells you to do something, what else is there to do but what she said in that gentle but oh so firm way of hers. She has that way about her, like a force of nature. Perhaps that is what drew Donald to her. That is his story to tell and, in part, that is what he has begun to do in the pages that his daughter helped him put together, The Story of My Art by Donald Langosy.

In these 14-pages a veil is pulled aside and we the viewer become privy to the bright life of a talented man and his love for a talented woman. We see how that love has enabled and empowered him to produce a body of work that is dynamic, vibrant, sometimes humorous, sometimes sad, and always provocative.

Below are two pages from The Story of My Art. Click on each image for a larger view. Over the course of the next six Thursdays the rest of the story will be shared. Join me on a journey …

For more information about Langosy’s art, contact Zoe at zlangosy@me.com.

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