Stitched Portraits: Gene Wilder

It's been a few days since the last update, but it's been fairly busy at the Katowicz house what with visitors from out of town, freelance projects, and general happiness getting in the way of posting the portraits that have happened in the last few days, but I couldn't not share my Willy Wonka... It was the first film to really inspire me and much of that had to do with Wilder's performance. His sarcasm has helped me always. He turned 79 yesterday.

Gene Wilder (as Willy Wonka):

Stitched Portraits: Prince

My brain was telling me to draw Beau Brummell, but my heart wanted to dance to Prince.
So, I'm listening to his self-titled album for the second morning in a row, shaking in my seat, and sharing the shirtless portrait based on that 1979 cover.

Prince (and those lips):

Stitched Portraits: Tony Levin

Born in Boston, Levin played in King Crimson and Peter Gabriel's backing band.  I will always remember him as the guy playing bass with mallets on his fingers, which I think about whenever I play guitar.

Tony Levin (and mallets):

Stitched Portraits: Federico Garcia Lorca

When my wife and I had just started dating, Lorca's In Search of Duendé, was a bible. The themes expressed it it are Andalusian in nature - what we would call Gypsy. Our shared interest in the folk traditions and music of this culture were given context by Lorca in this lovely little book. Through its beauty and mystery I felt more connected to Talia and I fell in love with her intensity and compassion.

The man himself was not afraid to love either. But he was also not afraid to die.
Speaking for the values that he believed in, he was murdered by anti-communist forces. He was only 38 years old.

So thank you, Federico. Your brave life and work will always remain a source of inspiration.

Federico Garcia Lorca (smoldering):

Stitched Portraits: Dr. Ruth Westheimer

Trained as a scout and a sniper in the Israeli army as a young girl, Dr. Ruth went on to become one of the most prominent voices in sexual education.

Somehow these things fit together.

She is also said to give a low-alcohol glass of wine to her married couples before they discuss any issues in their counseling sessions. Dr. Ruth is and always will be a progressive lady. I am thankful for her.

Dr. Ruth (toasting you):

Stitched Portraits: Allen Ginsberg

Fellow Providence native Jane Kramer called Ginsberg's being "an American brand of mysticism," comparing him to Walt Whitman and adding that it is "rooted in humanism and in a romantic and visionary ideal of harmony among men."

I couldn't have said it better, but will continue to strive for this ideal myself.

Ginsberg (in overalls):

Stitched Portraits: Marilyn Monroe

Nearly 50 years since her passing, yesterday Marilyn would have celebrated her 86th birthday. I celebrated by drawing her, classic, and surrounded in white.

Marilyn Monroe (no words necessary):

Stitched Portraits: Wesley Willis

This short documentary is a better portrait than I ever could have made but I had to at least try. Yesterday was the anniversary of this extraordinary man's birthday and he would have been 49.

Wesley was a chronic schizophrenic, but his ridiculously fun music, his gorgeous drawings of cityscapes, and the love from his fans kept him relatively happy. I had the fortune to see him perform and peek over his shoulder as he worked on one of his drawings. My memory believes it was the Providence skyline, but who knows...

An ebullient Willis (#100 in the series):