Ben Heine Art and Music Blog: October 2008

Put the Volume Up !

The Pulse Beat of Life
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By Darrell
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The sound of music drifts into the street,
the beat beat beat,
crowds of faces come and go,
drifting along with the night’s flow,
some feel high,
some feel low,
some are here to put on a show,
others are just trying to let go,
some are looking for someone to know,
someone to hold,
to feel less cold,
but they all just tryin to walk life’s long road.

(The poem appeared on Visionofspirit.gaia.com)

PS : This is a photo I took
by night in the centre of Brussels.
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Portrait of
a Random
Person
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A portrait of a girl I made in
the city of Putte (a municipality
located in the Belgian province
of Antwerp, Flanders, Belgium),
during an art festival ("Mechel Air").
It was really fun and challenging.

Le Cinquantenaire,
Brussels by Night
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© 2008 - Ben Heine
(click on image to enlarge)
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Closed Path
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By Rabindranath Tagore

I thought that my voyage had come to its end
at the last limit of my power,
that the path before me was closed,
that provisions were exhausted
and the time come to take shelter in a silent obscurity.

But I find that thy will knows no end in me.
And when old words die out on the tongue,
new melodies break forth from the heart;
and where the old tracks are lost,
new country is revealed with its wonders.
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(The poem appeared on Tagorepoetry.com)
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PS : This is a photo I took by night in the centre of Brussels. On the background, you can see the Arch of the "Cinquantenaire Art Museum", which is one of the most famous monuments in the city. The "Belliard Tunnel" goes under the whole structure (including the Park)!
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Maggy Jacqmin and I
with a portrait of each other

We made these during an art festival ("Mechel-Air") in the city of Putte (a municipality located in the Belgian province of Antwerp, Flanders, Belgium). Thanks Maggy for the portrait!

Maggy Jacqmin is a Belgian professional caricaturist I met some months ago at a workshop by Jan Op De Beeck.

A letter to

America

:
Why must the Show go on?

Other Interview

With Ben Heine .

Ben by Rohan Voigt

By Andrei Pavel (*)

You made it on finding your own style. Why this choice, why illustration?

Do I have a specific style? Thank you! Let’s say so. I think that “getting a style” shouldn’t be a purpose in itself. A good piece of art will be good even if it’s not officially “stylized”. Strong and recognizable styles are always useful for artists who do not sign their creations due to lack of time. People will always be sure it’s theirs! Ha ha.

Anyway, finding my own way in art was not an easy task at all, I remember my beginnings in painting, some 8 years ago, when I was about 17, many people actually disliked what I was doing. I think it had too many personal connotations and it was barely understandable for any other viewer. I’ve continued to paint, not worrying about people’s opinions.

One day, I suddenly realized it was completely useless to create art that was meaningless and that didn’t bring something to people. I tried to create images that are already somewhere in people’s minds, but that they never ever saw before. I worked on this very hard, and I came back to drawing. I really wanted my creations to have an impact on people. I tried new techniques, new materials, new tools, new textures, and new sources of inspiration.

When I was younger, I used to practice different artistic disciplines. Among other activities, I used to write poetry (in French), play guitar, drums and piano and I even used to dance. When I was about 18, a devoted teacher in art history transmitted her passion to me. Although I had been creating and drawing intensively since the age of 11, this was the moment I really knew graphic arts would be in the centre of my adult life. I could have attended her class hours and hours every day. The same person was also teacher of psychology, and I also loved attending this course. This is when I began to read in people’s minds. I got more interested in Jung’s theory on the collective subconscious and tried to search within myself for universal images and symbols.

Then I started painting. I produced about two hundred large paintings in a few months, just after my 1 year trip in Hastings, in England.

When I started my studies in Journalism at 19, I made much more realistic illustrations with political and social meanings. Illustration allows artists to use different materials and methods while creating infinite kinds of content, may they be abstract, surrealistic, political…

Political illustration was also perfectly fitting my new identity as a young journalist. Although I was prepared to write news articles, I never really considered myself as a real journalist… I find this function very important but boring somehow. I chose graphic art, because it’s what I’m the best at. I intend now to make political creations that have a universal meaning, that concern us all, as human beings (Issues like global warming...).

One of my dreams is to see the establishment of a “cartoon department” in all the faculties of journalism in Belgium, in Europe, in the World. We all should learn to express ourselves more with icons and images… It could even engender a new dimension to inter-human communication.

I’m now 25, I work in a creative Communication Agency in Belgium. I’m still sincerely willing to make political art for the weak and oppressed ones, to do my best to bring some hope and courage for those who need it the most and to make art that promotes authentic peace and democracy in a mad world.

What are the elements that make your drawings different from others?

Regarding form, I made most of my drawings (portraits and cartoons) with a black ballpoint pen on paper (with digital colours and enhancements added afterwards). This is a very easy and rewarding technique. I know it may sound paradoxical, but you can get some extraordinary textures and high contrasts with such a simple instrument. At the beginning, I always put too much ink. Now, I rather try to be more “minimalist”, with just enough information to be understandable. My lines and shapes are rather sharp and I search the highest contrast most of the time. I often mix cold and warm colours.

But as I said, I don’t try to have a specific style. I guess this is my technique and the way I express messages that make me recognizable among other artists’ work. Now, I think that my “ballpoint pen period” is over, ha ha. I’m gonna make more fully traditional illustrations and come back to painting (watercolour and acrylic).

As far as content, in my non-political creations, I often use personal metaphors with soft, sweet and tender meaning. My political production is more explosive.

You're very interested and "concerned" when coming to politics. What's the main theme and messages for people reading this to understand better what it's involving?

First of all, I’d like to say that I have no political sponsors; I don’t create for anybody’s sake. I make political illustrations for those who suffer and against the corrupted and the warmongers.

I have always been deeply shocked by any kind of injustice. In my political work, my aim is to denounce imperialism, racism, oppression, discrimination, violence, Human Rights infringements, crimes against humanity… and my final goal and ideal is to promote peace and mutual respect between people of different cultures and backgrounds. This is how I was brought to draw about the Israeli/Palestinian conflict.

I realize that I've made a few mistakes with some drawings on this particular issue, which is a terribly complex one. I sometimes find them "too offensive” or “too provocative”. I think my political creations shouldn’t hurt unnecessarily one community or another. They should make people think and act in a peaceful way.

I’m a huge partisan of wide freedom of expression, considering that responsibility must be taken for everything said, written, done or drawn.

When I publish stuff online, I often receive propositions and requests of publications from different organizations. The Internet is a fantastic tool for digital activists. Although it’s a huge machine totally out of control, it helps supporters of the oppressed people having a voice in the emptiness. Sometimes this has great effects and it always amazes me how well constructed actions from militants can generate real and positive social changes and concrete political improvements. This is what I hope will happen more and more.

I also noticed you have a big amount of Romanians in your drawings. I'm talking here about Caragiale, Eliade, Nichita Stanescu, Iorga, Titu Maiorescu and Tzara. Even Basescu twice! What got your attention on them? Because every image is completed by articles and research...

Yes, it’s true; I made several caricatures of famous Romanian people. It was for the Romanian Cartoon Association called “Caricatura”. Many international artists have participated to this permanent contest. I thought it was worth sending my portraits too.

As for the articles and research accompanying the caricatures, I did this to add useful information for the readers. I think any image is much richer and clearer when there is qualitative textual information next to it. I have read different things on these people and on the Romanian past and current political landscape. I found it very interesting!

Your work brought you prizes too. Can you tell me about them? And also about the publications?

Yes, I won a few awards, but this is not very important. I don’t make illustrations for that. Sometimes it happens, and it’s really a surprise! For examples, I recently received a Success Award for a cartoon I submitted to the "1st International Cartoon Contest - Naji Al Ali" organized by "Syriacartoon". I also received some weeks ago a Certificate of Appreciation from “BuzziNews”, an online journal reporting exclusively in cartoons…

As for the publications, my illustrations have appeared in several printed magazines and papers, such as ‘La Libre Belgique’ (Belgium), ‘European Voice’ (Belgium), ‘Rolling Stone’ (Germany), ‘Acque & Terre’ (Italia), ‘Le Monde Diplomatique’, Polish edition (Poland), ‘As-Safir’ (Lebanon), ‘Al Baath’ (Syria), ‘Europa In De Wereld’ (Holland), ‘Pulse’ (Great Britain)…

I created book covers and illustrations for renowned authors (such as James Petras, Mark Prime, Mike Palecek…). I also made CD covers, posters, and t-shirt designs.

I’m also member of numerous political associations and cartoon organizations, something I’m very proud of and which brings me a better exposure worldwide.

I’ve had the chance to exhibit my creations in Belgium, Great Britain, the United States, Canada and Palestine. I even had a virtual exhibition of my paintings in Second Life!

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>>> This interview will soon appear in English and Romanian on SensoTV

(*) Andrei Pavel is a 25 year old digital creator living in Bucharest, Romania. He makes fractal art. He recently interviewed several artists. All the interviews can be seen in English and Romanian on Sensotv.ro. More information on Pavel.

>>> See another interview I had with Claudio Parentela
.

Elliott Rush

I made this sketch of Elliott Rush playing and singing in a pub in the centre of Brussels, some weeks ago. He is an awesome British Pop/Jazz musician! You've got to visit his Myspace!

By Barry Deutsch

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Reading a post on “Positive Liberty” from back in August, I came across this comment from D. A. Ridgely:

And okay, so we’ll always have people writing bad poetry whether it is copyrighted or not. For the most part, copyright of bad poetry at least could be said to do no harm. The world does not suffer by my refusing to share my high school written poetry with it.

But the world does suffer if real works of good art go uncreated because self-interested artists decide there’s just no point in doing art, better to go get that MBA.

On another blog, Jim Glass wrote:

Say that without copyright you came up with a great, clever cartoon and put it on your web site. What would prevent the scouts from Disney or Fox from just taking it as their own, putting $1 million behind it, making $100 million, and saying screw you. Would you go on to make another cartoon then?

Defenders of our intellectual property system frequently bring this question up: Without intellectual property (in the form of copyrights and trademarks), what incentive will artists have to produce art?

I’m a cartoonist (you can see my cartoons here and here, if you’re curious), and the only art form I know a lot about is cartooning. Most cartoonists are big fans of intellectual property, and get hysterical if we believe copyright is threatened. But copyright and trademark, as they exist in the US, have been a mixed blessing for some of the best American cartoonists.

The problem is, once we have a system of law which says “only entity A can publish stories about such-and-such characters,” then it’s possible for the right of a creator to sell stories about her characters to be taken away. This has, in fact, been the rule for most of comics history. Superman’s creators, Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, didn’t own Superman – and, decades later, found themselves penniless and legally forbidden from selling comics featuring their most valuable creation.

Jack Kirby is the most commercially important creator in the history of American comic books. Kirby created or co-created Iron Man, The Hulk, The Fantastic Four, The Silver Surfer, Captain America, Thor, and The X-Men, among others. Collectively, Kirby’s creations are intellectual property worth billions, providing huge profits (and thousands of jobs) not only in comics but also on TV, in movies, and in toys.

But during Kirby’s commercial peak, in the early days of Marvel Comics, Kirby was often unhappy with his pay and with his rights as a creator. Furthermore, Marvel had a “gentleman’s agreement” with DC not to poach artists from each other, and no other comic book company had a stable of valuable superhero properties to hire Kirby to draw. As a result, Kirby’s pay wasn’t in line with the worth of his work.

Kirby didn’t stop working — how could he? He had a family to support. Plus, by all accounts, Kirby loved creating comics. But what Kirby did, according to Mark Evanier’s biography of Kirby, is stop creating new characters for Marvel. Instead, when Kirby thought of a new idea, he’d write it down on a scrap of paper and put the paper aside. Many of those papers got lost.

Eventually, Kirby was hired by DC comics, and he went on to create some powerful work. But DC rarely gave Kirby the support he needed (they even went so far as to have another artist redraw Kirby’s Superman faces, since Kirby’s faces didn’t look like DC’s then-existing house style). Even though his work remained artistically good, Kirby never again hit the same peak commercially, and his pay was still lousy. As soon as Kirby found work outside of comics — creating character sheets for Saturday morning animations — Kirby quit comics.

If the purpose of intellectual property law is to encourage the best artists to create as much of their best work as possible, then IP law failed Jack Kirby. Kirby’s interests weren’t protected. The value of his work made it essential to Marvel Comics to legally divorce Kirby from his creations (they even refused to return his original artwork for years). The fact that any character he made up, he would have been giving up the right to control, encouraged Kirby to withhold characters during his most fertile creative period — ideas that might have been worth millions.

Well, you may say, that’s Kirby’s fault for selling the copyright to his work, rather than holding on to ownership. But suppose Kirby had refused to work with Marvel Comics. Who would that have helped? The world would most likely not have had the X-Men, The Hulk, The Fantastic Four, and many other Kirby creations. Again, IP law would have failed to encourage Kirby to create as much as he could create.

Probably if Jack Kirby were here, he would disagree with me. But I think Kirby would have been better off if it hadn’t been legally possible for Marvel Comics to own the exclusive right to publish the characters Jack Kirby created.

Suppose that instead of our current system, we had a system of compulsory licensing for fictional characters. What this means is that anyone could write or draw any fictional character they like — but if they aren’t the original creator, then they are legally obliged to pay the creator a royalty for use of their work.

So to return to Jack Kirby’s case. Yes, certainly, Kirby would have been pissed off because people were using his characters in ways he didn’t like — but that was frequently the case anyway. (For example, Kirby hated what Stan Lee did with the Silver Surfer character). The difference is, Kirby would have had no motive to withhold characters during his most commercially valuable period, because he wouldn’t have been giving those characters away forever by drawing them.

It’s also likely that Kirby would have been more successful at enticing another publisher to hire him, if Kirby could have offered not just his own services, but his own services on his hit creation The Fantastic Four. That, in turn, might have forced Marvel comics to pay Kirby what Kirby was worth, in order to keep Kirby from moving to another company.

The down side of this is, Kirby might have found himself in the position of competing against another creator’s version of The Fantastic Four. But would this be such a terrible outcome?

1) Kirby might have been better off being able to create The Fantastic Four, and competing with another version of the same characters, than he was in reality — in which, for his entire post-Marvel career, it would have been illegal for Kirby to create a Fantastic Four comic.

2) Kirby would have welcomed being paid for all the times that lesser creators used his creations in their work. This would have provided Kirby with an incentive to keep on creating new characters, rather than our current system, which motivated Kirby to withhold new characters.

3) Comic book consumers would be better off if publishers had to compete to produce the best Fantastic Four comic. This, in turn, would have raised Kirby’s value to his employers.

When I bring this topic up in conversation, I am inevitably asked how I’d feel if someone other than me started making up their own comics about Mirka, the protagonist of my comic book “Hereville.” Woudln’t that make me furious?

I don’t think it would. I think that my version of Mirka — my particular vision — is what makes “Hereville” worth reading (if it is worth reading). If our laws were set up for it, I’d be happy to compete with other creators, to see who’d produce a Mirka that readers want to read. In the end, I think that the best work sometimes has a competitive advantage, and will tend to be remembered most by readers.

And if someone else ends up having a hit best-seller based on my characters — well, at least I’d get royalties. But I might get more than that, because sales of character-based fiction are not a zero-sum game.

For instance, when popular movies are made of comic book characters, sales of that comic book go up. Suppose Joan draws a best-selling ExampleLass comic. That could easily cause the sales of David’s competing ExampleLass comic to go up, because interest in the character is increasing. If David is the creator of ExampleLass, then he’d benefit twice — once in increased sales of his own comic, and then again when Joan pays David royalties.

I’m sure that compulsory licensing would have problems. But so does any imaginable system. The real question is, might compulsory licensing be better than our current system? For many of the best creators, such as Jack Kirby, I think the answer might be “yes.” (Source: theartofthepossible.net)
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Interview With
Ben Heine

Ben by Marcin
Bondarowicz

By Claudio Parentela (*)

Let’s start with the basics; what's your full name, where do you live, and how old are you?

Ben Heine. I live in Brussels, Belgium and I’m 25 year old.

Do you have any formal training?

I studied journalism in Brussels during 4 years. I studied arts in a school in Hastings (England) during 1 year (painting, drawing, sculpting, photography, multimedia, history of art…). And I studied 6 months Technologies of Information and Communication in Utrecht (Holland). I also studied Slavic languages, history and cultures (Polish and Russian) during 2 years.

In art, I believe I’m mainly a passionate, open-minded and perseverant autodidact, ha ha! I did learn a few techniques when I personally met great masters such as Sebastian Kruger, Jan Op De Beeck, Marcin Bondarowicz and others. I think making mistakes and work hard to not make them again is the best teaching ever. I consider that motivation comes from inside an individual at 80%, the rest comes from outside.

I’m an optimistic and curious person, I’m always amazed, even scared to see all the things I still have to and want to learn and discover and all the people I have to and want to meet.

Did the place you grew up in influence your image making?

I was born in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, a beautiful, warm and colourful country in the West of Africa. I lived there all my early childhood, until 7. It definitely had a huge impact on the way I see my environment and the way I interact with people now.

Of course, such an experience also influenced the way I draw and represent things on paper or on canvas. I think this past life helps me now to find different sources of inspiration, in unexplored universes.

Sometimes, I’ve the impression to have no particular identity, to not be fully connected to this world, to have no precise roots and, in a way, to be a privileged “observer” of what’s going on around me. Like so many other artists, I’m a person who likes to produce things, it’s almost vital.

Furthermore, the fact that a significant part of my creations has a political substance, I perceive this function as a heavy responsibility to bear. Even if I have lots of pleasure doing what I’m doing, I have the strong feeling that it’s a duty, that I must use this special sensibility, my freedom of expression and my will to share my opinions an sentiments in a graphic way.

We’re all here on hearth for a short time. I’m convinced every one of us should do their best to know the place they live better, to have more sincere and simple relationships with other people and cultures, and to use what god has given them to promote peace and fight against oppression, discrimination, racism or violence.

How do you come up with your concepts?

Many concepts come to me when there is a conflict between my personal judgment of a situation and reality, may it be political or not.

When I have no clear ideas on something, reading is one of my methods to fill my brain with new elements and information. It usually works well, but it’s a long process. When I make political creations, I usually consult several articles related to the subject I want to illustrate. Writers every so often use impressive and gorgeous metaphors. I try to illustrate them.

When I make portraits, I read several biographies of the concerned persons; I try to know them as much as possible so that the representation fits their personality. For non political works, I just listen to my soul, my feelings and do anything as long as it relieves me completely. When the idea is found (this is often the longest step!), I start to draw and develop it, this is more technique.

Some precious ideas and concepts often come suddenly in incongruous moments. It happens at night, when making a jogging, when talking to a friend, when hearing something strange at the radio, when seeing something never seen before.

It depends also on the mood I have and on what my intentions are. The fact to live and learn new things is definitely something that generates concepts in my mind.

Describe your creations in a clear, concise and understandable sentence. What do you call them?

“Politico, fantastico, poetico, erotico, satirico, conceptual creations.”
It’s difficult to answer in one sentence to this question, because I’ve made paintings, sculptures, political cartoons, illustrations, portraits, caricatures, collages, photos, calligraphy, poem, etc.

I think we could simply call my recent graphic productions “cartoons”. Most of them are political images and intend to convey clear messages on current issues. With my experience in painting, I tend now to make illustrations, often surrealistic ones.

What other mediums would you like to explore in your image making?

I’d like to make totally digital graphic works. I find it very clean. I just started to retouch photos recently under a fake name: “Hubert Lebizay”. Ha ha, this is just a hobby and a challenge anyway, but I’m spending more and more time on this. Seriously, I intend to come back to traditional painting in the coming months, watercolour and acrylic, more precisely. I like the uncontrolled “happy happenings” that aquarelle creates and the high precision that is possible with acrylic. Both medium are magical. I hope to be able to get more textures and accuracy with these techniques. I might even add collages.

I’m sure a large number of my future creations will still have a political connotation. You know, this is the “duty” I was talking about… But they will certainly be about issues that concern us all, such as Global Warming…

What is the best time in the day for you to work on a project? Is there one, or is it more about the environment -- maybe the right mood?

I guess the environment has a tangible effect on mood. I usually work when I can due to lack of time. It can be at any moment in the day. Ideally, the period which is the most favourable to make things that require heavy concentration is in the afternoon while my best moment to be imaginative, escape in other dimensions and find original ideas and concepts is definitely either late in the evening or at night, when everything around is quite and seems far away. In prosperous moments, when my mind is full of ideas, I write or draw them quickly on paper, before I forget them the next day. I come back to these sketches weeks, months or even years after.

What are your artistic influences? and …generally who or what influences you the most?

I’m influenced by everything. In the art galaxy, the movements that influenced me the most are the German Expressionism, Belgian Surrealism and American Pop Art. My close and personal environment is a source of artistic creativity too. More recently, my main source of inspiration has been the international news. But I hope to be able to make timeless creations again, in a traditional way as I explained on question 6.

Who are some of your favourite artists/designers/photographers?

Many ! Some that I have in mind : Sebastian Kruger, Mike Flugennock, Nizar Outhman, David Baldinger, Nayer, Miroslav Gerencer, Glenn Ferguson, Man Ray, Richard Hamilton, Elliott Erwitt, Robert Doisneau, Alexander Rodchenko, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Diane Arbus, Brassai, Gilad Benari, Denis Olivier, Jan van Eyck, Pieter Bruegel, Hieronymus Bosch, René Magritte, Paul Delvaux, Marcel Duchamp, Kurt Schwitters, Pablo Picasso, Fernand Léger, Giorgo de Chirico, Gustav Klimt, Edward Munch, James Ensor, Constant Permeke, Max Beckmann, Salvador Dali, Otto Dix, George Grosz, Vincent Van Gogh, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Toulouse Lautrec, Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein, Tom Wesselmann, Takashi Murakami, Jasper Johns, David Hockney, Aya Takano, Yoshitomo Nara and many others…

What is your next project? Exhibition? Collaboration?

My cartoon “Facebook Vs Myspace” will be published in the German version of “Rolling Stone” and I currently have an exhibition in a Belgian pub called “Le Courant d’Air”.

What are your plans for the future?

Have a family and keep being creative.

Are there some web sites that you would like to recommend? Artists, art communities, xxx,...!?

Many! Every week, I put on my blog a selection of interesting links I discovered. Here is an example of some recent choices:

- brazilcartoon.com
- toonpool.com
- magnumphotos.com
- driian.free.fr
- mi50.blogspot.com
- wwar.com
- dylancolestudio.com
- dusso.com
- hatchfx.com
- kelvinmcilwain.com

What sort of music do you listen to?

Although I chose graphic art to express myself, I’m convinced that music is the supreme art. It penetrates people in a much more powerful and universal way than any other form of artistic expression. I used to love songs only for their lyrics. Now, I tend to appreciate more musical melodies and rhythms, without any words. Any kind of melodies and rhythms, from classic to electro house. True talents can be found in any style.

Do you collect anything? If so what?

I’m not really a collector. What I collect the most are happy memories…

What do you do for fun?

I dance rock ‘n’ roll. :)

Any advice you can pass onto aspiring artists/designers?

I would tell them to be themselves, to keep being creative, dynamic and prolific whatever happens, to be original, unconventional and not afraid to stir up principles, to make artworks that have a strong meaning and force people to think or see the world in a different angle, to cherish noble values, to believe in genuine peace and democracy, to be a reflection of the society they live in.

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>>> The interview is also on Claudio Parentela's blog

(*) Claudio Parentela was born in 1962 in Catanzaro (Italy), where he still lives and works. Claudio is an illustrator, painter, photographer, mail artist, cartoonist, collagist and free lance journalist. He has interviewed a great number of other fellow artists (the interviews can be seen on his blog.

He has been active many years in the international underground scene. He has collaborated with several online and printed magazines specialized in contemporary art, literary and comics in Italy and worldwide. Visit his website for more information.

(Click on image to enlarge)
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I made these fast caricatures with coloured pencils 2 weeks ago at the "Fêtes Romanes", a 2 days street art festival gathering thousands of people to celebrate the French speaking Community of Belgium.

There were many more models and portraits but I didn't find the time to take a picture each time. It was really funny anyway. The kids were cute and crazy. I think I'll do this more in the near future.
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Interview with Ben Heine
by Kathlyn Stone in "Kiks"

This interview by Kathlyn Stone was recently published in the issue 21 of "KIKS", the magazine associated to "ZIKISON", a cartoon association based in Serbia. This association bears the name of a famous Serbian satirist, caricaturist, editor, publisher and printer : "Zivojin Pavlovic Zikison". He was imprisoned by the Communist Regime in 1949 and died in 1950. Remembering this great person, "KIKS" presents cartoons and artists from all over the world on a regular basis.

With my sincere thanks to Zoran Matic Mazos, Graphical designer, Cartoonist and Editor at Zikison and Kiks. Thanks for giving me a place to use my freedom of expression!

Malnourished Children

Tasteful Wine

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The Angel in the House
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By Coventry Patmore

Ah, wasteful woman, she who may
On her sweet self set her own price,
Knowing man cannot choose but pay,
How has she cheapened paradise;
How given for nought her priceless gift,
How spoiled the bread and spilled the wine,
Which, spent with due respective thrift,
Had made brutes men and men divine.

(The poem appeared
on wrathofgrapes.com)

PS : I took the picture
in Lisbon, Portugal
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