Bernard V. Fallon

California Poppy flower field in full bloom after the recent rains in the Antelope Valley. Photo © 2010 Bernard V. Fallon

Went for a drive to the Poppy Preserve off Hwy 14. The flowers were in full bloom after the recent rains. I had never seen them before and they were great – just rolling away in different directions. Weather was overcast which didn’t spoil the experience, it made it look flatter from a painting and photography point of view.

California Poppy flowers in full bloom after the recent rains. Photo © 2010 Bernard V. Fallon

Irish Fiddler - © 2010 Bernard Fallon

This is the hand of Junior Crehan, an Irish farmer and a wonderful fiddler, known as the father of County Clare traditional music. I photographed him many moons ago while travelling through the West of Ireland.

I’ve been interim stage manager for 3 weeks at Redondo Union High School.

One of the performances was the “Nutcracker” ballet. Backstage is always interesting.

Nutcracker Ballet at Redondo Union High School Auditorium. Image © Bernard V. Fallon

Nutcracker Ballet at Redondo Union High School Auditorium. Image © Bernard V. Fallon

We had dozens of ballerinas waiting, performing, then racing offstage.

You can’t help but tune into the Degas imagery when they wear traditional white dresses.

- Bernard

Welcome.

This is my first posting and I’ll be concentrating on paintings and photographs.

I’ve made them both for most of my life. These two subjects are of great interest to all, of course.

At Liverpool Art School my final history paper was “The Influence of Photography on Painting in the 19th Century”. Plenty of fascinating material lies there in the wake of photography’s invention, and the later reversal of painting’s influence on photography.

The photograph was taken of a bargeman having a mug of tea, while the rare Liverpool sunlight danced through the grain dust behind him.

The painting is a plein air oil of fishing boats in San Pedro Harbour, south of Los Angeles.