Welcome to the 7th "Simbari Diaries" Newsletter[ view this newsletter as a webpage ] |
Letter
7 March 2011 www.simbari.co.uk The Simbari Diaries |
March 2011 Newsletter !!
Something intriguing came up, recently, while ‘surfing the net’, using
the name “SIMBARI” - - - I found a short tribute to Nicola’s name and
work . . . !
The author of the ‘piece’ is a young artist . . .
“I would rather have a ‘SIMBARI’ than a case of Veuve Cliquot wine . . .”
she quotes, from a book she was reading - - - then she tells us of her “Simbari experience”. A compliment, indeed !
Today, a co-incidence ! - - - on The Alan Titchmarsh Show, “Wine for Investment” was one of the subjects . . . apparently, a case of a very special year of wine, is being sold at £50,000. !!!
 |
. . .might this painting be equal to a ‘vintage wine’?! . . . for me, this beautiful work IS UNIQUE . . . I love wine BUT . !!!!! . . . give me a SIMBARI - - |
||||
|
It is a great Compliment, when an artist and/or a photographer contacts this Page . . . Nicola’s “hobby” has always been Photography . . . he has never traveled without his large leather bag, filled with film and lenses and his ‘trusty’ cameras ! Everything - - - being “his subject” !! LIFE . . . his life - - -
I have always been Nicola’s “Fan” - - - so I cannot ‘judge’ how other people see his work . . . I just KNOW he is a Genius!
|
His small collection
of “Southwest” Paintings was “unexpected” . . . I fell in love with two, in particular . . “Blue Dawn” and “Navajo Girls” . . . and they adorned the walls of my ‘Atelier’ gallery, in New York, in 1987. - - magnificent !!! |
|
||||
|
Though it is hard to pin-point ONE work as “my favourite” . . . I know which paintings created an “excitement” that has led me to a continued ‘fascination’, to this day - - - ! This is a small group of canvasses Nicola painted in 1981/82, of Formula One Racing . . . !
 |
If he had not been an Artist, Nicola would have been racing car driver !!!! Or maybe, A Clown! “Last Lap” acrylic on canvas ©Nicola Simbari |
Nicola’s “Circus” exhibition in Paris and in New York. It was indeed a “Circus” !
 |
There were
Clowns and Jugglers . . .
Musicians
. . .
Tight-rope
walkers . . .
Acrobats
- - -
The
“Clown with Trombone”EXCITEMENT of the Spectacle!!!! acrylic on canvas ©Nicola Simbari |
When he was
a small boy, he wanted to run away to join a circus
(or Saltimbanchi – a traveling group of entertainers)
So nothing
changed then, everything in his life was
"a circus" . . .!!
Here are two of his sculptures, inspired by his LOVE of “theatre” . . .
 |
They are filled with humour - - - with love . . . not only amazing FEEL but ‘colour’ . . .! |
 |
||
| “Clown au Saxophone” | ©Nicola Simbari | “Acrobats a Cheval” | ||
| (photographed with “Cockfight” in the background) | ||||
-
- - and
yet - - - SIMBARI is
(and will be) remembered for his Mediterranean . .
. SUN --- LIFE - - - scenes of the Sea and boats, café and street
scenes . . . and - - -
 “Nazare”
acrylic on canvas ©Nicola Simbari |
. . a superb holiday in
Portugal . . the vast Atlantic stretched out before us - - - -
small fishing boats along the
wide open beaches- - - -
and the COLOURS !Nicola “fell in love” - - - with everything and everybody!!!! |
||
|
next . . . . ITALY!
A summer’s day . . . a drive
to the beach . .. . . is this Ostia ? is it Fregene ? is it Anzio ? - - - for me . . . ‘HE’ is “Nicolino” . . . (as a boy) - - - the “freedom” of his boyhood! Detail
from “Boy on a Beach
Towel”
oil on canvas ©Nicola Simbari |
 |
Our very first years together were a “discovery” for me - - - I had never traveled around Italy . . . I ‘knew’ Rome and Milan, and had visited Florence and Venice !
But Nicola’s love of ‘the South’ and the SEA introduced me to Calabria
and the Marche and Naples . . and Sicily . . . such a different ‘world’
. . .
COLOURS and
SUN . . .
How could anyone not ‘fall in love’ with Naples ! ! !
|
and Capri! . . . and Ischia ?? . . . sitting at a Café . . . having a ‘gelato’ and watching the ‘world go by’ whilst a singer strummed on his guitar - - - and sang his song of love pure “ROMANCE” !!!!
|
 |
||
 |
“Café in Ischia”
oil on canvas ©Nicola Simbari - - - or strolling down a narrow street in Capri, Sorrento or Amalfi . . . white walls . . . bright plants climbing up . . . all in colourful ‘abandon’ . . . ! “Edera”
acrylic on canvas ©Nicola Simbari |
-
- - - Nicola’s GREECE is Magical . . . !
When we traveled through the Greek islands, on a fishing boat, he was
enchanted by Santorini and Mykonos. . and was soon speaking with the
fishermen in Greek!!!!
|
Which reminds me . . . BUT . . . that's another entire chapter of the
"The Diaries" and the Adventures of living with Nicola Simbari !!!
Regards Elfrida . . .
Web: www.simbari.co.uk - The Simbari Diaries Website
Email: elfrida.simbari@gmail.com