Generations

Nowadays it's not rare to live with four generations together. Conflicts between have always existed but they are more obvious actually.
A century ago no one could preview the inversion of the population pyramid, as to know thinner at the base and fatter at the top. The among old growing people is increasing all over the world . Population projections confirm that this evoluation due to better food, life hygiene and medical care will continue.
Fewer children are born each year. The general fertility of humans shows a significant drop down and birth control is higher. The children wish is lower with better social life. Slacking work opportunities tend people to stay studying longer and to postpone marriage and parenthood.
Strange enough in spite of higher life expectancy in better health people will retire earlier. The working class is narrowing seriously bringing financial incomes of some governments in bader low rates. Globaly the expectation is to keep so long as possible people to work.
More frequently as before aging persons are considerated as a trouble giving group; undeniably at older ages health deteriorates what means we can expect more people confronted with diseases, illness or invalidity. But before reaching this group, aged people can be very usefull in different economic activities with their high professional experiences as luggage.
The result is various generations having lived in very distanced periods coexist. The oldiest growned up aldolescence years during marking world war and evoluated in the golden sixties, while the youngest progressed in what we could call an acceleration of history. Last decades technologies and general knowledge never extended so quickly as before resulting in very divergent artistic, cultural, social and economic views between the class ages making communication more problematic.
Fortunately more and more intergeneration meetings are organized and probably young and old can try to understand each other while exchanging experiences: wisdom the ones, high technology experiences the others.

climatic changes

Pollution is certainly a major factor for climatic changes but the destruction of signifiant areas of forest is another who degrades profoundly environment and reduces biodiversity. The tropical
rainforest attracted most attention but tropical dry forest are being lost in an substantially higher rate. The industrialisation and the growing extensive agriculture of beginning 20th century where undeniably the start for pollution and deforestation.
I'm realy sad that the newspapers all around the world focus their attention more to pollution aparently principal cause of changing climate and never treats about deforestation. Last years only a few highing of world temperatures was responsable for dangerous rising wildfires deforesting great parts of dry areas in Europe and California. The rising intensity en frequence of the hurricans in Florida are another consequence, we all remember the New Orleans catastrophy in the Gulf of Mexico.
An another aspect is the flash flooding of the Danube (Europe). Scientific Studies proves that planting new trees can lower the water tables and drain rivers. Shrinking forest lessens the landscape his capacity to intercept, retain and transport precipitation.
Forests are the bareer against wind erosion and transportation of large amount of sand. North and Northwest China are a good example for suffering decreased evapotranspiration and extension of the Mongolian desert by extremely hard blowing sand storms.
The principal cause of deforestation are human related: agriculture, livestock grazing, urban sprawl, mining, petroleum extraction and last but not least forest industry (industry of rare exotic wood species).
Forests can extract carbon dioxide and polluants from the air and produces via fotosynthese oxygen. But is not the only reason why forest are so important they are also the biotope of many animals and plants in extinction danger.
Its really urgent all around the world to protect our woods and reforest large areas to increase the benefits of forests for nature, humans and preserve biodiversity.
Deforestation is compromising live on earth.

women condition

Living in a kindfull environment, better where women are relatively respected, I couldn't imagine that the condition of women still is a hot subject. I was convinced after almost fifty years battle things have changed and women are definetively abble to embraze all kinds of places in society as men. In apearence everything is done, but nothing is less true. My mother had the chance to be married with a comprehensive husband and as liberated woman she could develop her intellect and qualities to a career of business woman. I believe my father was absolutely proud of his advanced and beautifull wife. In such a middle I was myself undeniably pushed to make career myself. In order to make a link with the following generation my daughter became SuperJet pilot. In Europe as in other places in the world it is not rare to see women on the top of their country and became prime minister. But if a minority of women has enviable places in governement, business and other central positions this is only hiding the majority of bad women conditions. Looking around me I can't deny that reality is totaly diferent. In fact there is not a single country in the world today where women have the same opportunities as men and although progress has been made in some areas in recent years woman are still disadvantaged in economic and political life. In my country it's still common that women gains among 20% less than her male homologues for the same studies and qualifications. Worse is the conditions in figthing countries. Incidents of violence against women increase and rape is often used systematically as a weapon of war. Its impossible to traverse the African continent without an envelopping sense of horror and despair at the carnage amongst women; battling, excision, vilifying and marrying off women are still in use. The Asian continent is not better; human trafic, sex, pornografy and sexuality based attacks are notably common.
There is a lot struggle to deliver for equities and the importance of working together to improve women lives around the world.

Contrasts

As child playing with colours rapidly I noticed the harmony and beauty by juxtaposing contrasts. The most evidently are black/white, dark/light and warm and cold. But if you read the elements of colours by Johannes Itten, you'll see a lot more possibilities. In fact everything is a question of contrasts. This allows us to take one's bearings and live should be terribly monotonous without. Its by diferences our world becomes comprehensible. How should we apreciate silence if we don't know what's a noisy environment is?
Humans always must be abble to compare and have a scale of values. In films , painture and fotografy its with differences we can situate objects and persons in space by creating an illusion of relief or profundity.
What's true for Art is always true for Society. Why should we banished diferences of culture, way of live, mentalities, traditions, religions, social levels and so on? One of the most importants rights of humans should be: to be ourselfs!

mode and fashion

The portret I painted from Sonia Rykiel gives me mixed sentiments. I'm proud of the career of this characterfull woman and the charism her face reflexs. Fashion is not specialy a kindfull environment. In the years she started her business as a young women between a majority of men was certainly not easily done. Nowadays extranvagance is not rare and despite of beeing wearable sometimes I agree it can be very artisic.
Last 28 september the opening of the new shop Rykiel Woman defrayed the chronic in proposing next fashion the sale of erotic objects. Its a strange idea for a famous Fashion House and however has not the same carriage of a Sex-Shop! Its a place of sensuality and pleasure associating classical products with other more avant-gardiste and provocant. Only the subsoil of the shop offers chic Sex-Toys. This space is fortunately not free, you must obligatory be escorted by a shop assistant and is forbidden to underages.
Nathalie Rykiel the girl of Sonia who directs the new shop don't contradict the fact her mother always has been provocative. From the beginning her creation scandalises but never has been real common.The daughter skared for a new scandale defying the market another time and finally this aventurous step has been accepted with the actual very enlarged mentalities. Next I fears we find absolutely normal to be abble to buy sex toys together with a lot of other objects and presents relating to love without any shame. I'm still astounded the manner how mentalities changes faster than advancing technology.
For interested people: Rykiel Woman
4, rue de Grenelle
75006- Paris (France)

Lost Fight

Just like other years birds are singing in the trees covered with flowers and narcises are growing in the green grass of the back yard; but I can't help this year isn't like another and I don't feel like usually the spring flowing trough my blood. It took a time before I noticed why: its a year I lost my bosom friend and evidently I didn't reject the pain yet. In spite of the age difference (17) we could handdle with each other a real unconditional friendship. I don't remember if we quarreled about something. She is the kind of friend you never can replace.
About two years ago she suffered from back pain and her walking was everytime very painfull. Her toubib diagnosticated spinal spinose and he doesn't let her time for reflexion about a surgical intervention. So an orthopedist took the job to operate her and placed stalk and pins. From the beginning she recovered very badly and when she returns home she could'nt come above the pain. Her last Christmas was horrible. Nothing could stop her pain even the patches with morphine. Unhelpfull she returned to her surgeon who decided to reopear 3 months after the first intervention and drop away all the material he placed. But here started the final battle. She could'nt recover beeing too much weakened. It seems afterwards she got that famous clinical MRSA (multiple resistent Staphyllococcus Aureus) against whom they don't have any remedy. From that moment I saw the very activ and fightfull woman she was giving up the battle. In her very last moments I wasn't allowed to great her so sick she was. I can't drop away of mind she though we have all desert her.
Where is the time between two world wars the antibiotics and vaccinations started making miracels and save so many lives. Some diseases were iradicated totaly in our countries with their efficacity. But then came the time where doctors prescribed unconsequently those types of medicines in such manners that in one side they had to force the prescriptions (more and more resistent pathogenes) and on the other side they caused unbalance between the pathogenes itself (the most resistent could develop without concurence of other pathogenes).
And to day we are evidently loosing the whole battle; virus as Sida, Chikungunya, H5N1 (bird influenza) and so on we are desarmed momently and perhaps for a long time. Again we are in desert and hope their is on earth somewhere a good working brain who finds the solution.

landscapes

Respectively: Le Jardin de Maubuisson, Pointoise by Paul Cézanne (1877) and Potager, arbres en fleurs, Pointoise by Camille Pisarro (1877)

Weekly I'm painting a subject in Academy. Last week our subject was "Landscape". In a first time I was disapointed because this subject didn't interest me. How to treat a landscape in a modern way? neither worked out as a picture, neither too abstractive as most painters do nowadays???? First I wanted to find a landscape who could inspire me to paint in atelier. My ideas slipped away to all this fine artist of preceding century catching in a subtil manner the essentials of colours and forms. My eyes felt on a review with the nice landscapes of Vincent Van Gogh with his well known way of mixing colours and apearingfull paintbrushes who gives movment to all his paintings. Delightfull, but I don't want imitating him.
Actually runs a famous exposition in Paris with 60 paintings of Paul Cézanne and Camille Pissarro 1865-1885. Imaginated by the after grand-child of Camille conservator of the Modern Museum of Modern Art in New-York, in homage of the friendship between both painters and in the same time to memory the centenary of death of Cézanne. They meats in Paris in 1861 during their artists education. After ten years figthing and déceptions their friendship drives them to collaborate. Paul Cézanne joins Camille Pisarro in Pointoise and during almost twenty years they are painting side by side in nature or in atelier. Its the products of this collaboration you can visit till 28 mai 2006 in musée d'Orsay in Paris. The style of both is so different: large tumultuous paintbrushes for Cézanne and subtil light touches for Pisarro. I'll certainly visit the Museum, meanwhile I'm not longer rabarbativ against the subject.

water

While painting flowing water I couldn't omit to think on all the benefits we have from potable water. How can I neglect the happiness and chance I have not missing it each day. Maybe in the future it could be a worldproblem. Its lack causes already the death of 15 persons in the world each 60 seconds!!! I believe there's among 1,1billion people who miss potable water and 2,4 billion suffers from deficient hygiene and hydric diseases by waterneed. Diseases as choléra, typhoïde, hepatitis, paludisme, diarrhee and so on are directly concerned by waterscarity. That's why potable water is and stays for the coming years the prime humanitary urgency. Last 22 march was international day of water. But here in Europe I didn't saw many about the subject. It seems to be overwhelmed by the social disorders in France with the strikes around the promulgation of their PCE ( prime employ contract) and the collect for fight against the Sida. In Belgium the government looses his time in quarreling about french and dutch communes around Brussels, insert new dangerous airways to fly above the capital in order to divide fly trajects between the dutch and french population and how to equilibrate the budjet by submitting severe budjetair pression to the working class people. What a slush??? I'm thinking this time on all the victims of water with the Stzunami, the hurricans and the inundations. Its time to wake up and taking conscience of humanity. We are all embarked in the same ship and we have to fight all together in the same way!!!