Friday, June 05, 2009

Arty Farty Friday ~ Winston Churchill & US Presidents

Before leaving the subset of celebrity artists, I can't ignore Sir Winston Churchill and his paintings, especially as it's close to the anniversary of D-Day. Also, a look across the Atlantic to discover what US presidents have to offer the art world.




Can Churchill's love of art be found in his natal chart? He has Mars and Jupiter in Libra (ruled by Venus, planet of the arts). His natal Moon (inner life & emotion) is in harmonious trine to Neptune (creativity), and completes a Grand Trine with Venus : Grand Trine linking Moon/Neptune/Venus sounds very arty to me!
I think I need look no further!

I don't see it as the chart of a born war leader - he didn't ask for that role, but thank goodness he was in the right place at the right time to take it on, and was able to adapt and inspire. In his own words: "I was not the lion, but it fell to me to give the lion's roar". I dread to think what would have happened to Britain with a lesser man at the helm, 1939-1945. Revisionists may revile him for some of the decisions taken late in World War 2, but I shall never lose my utmost respect for the man.



He has written, with regard to his art:

Just to paint is great fun. The colours are lovely to look at and delicious to squeeze out. Matching them, however crudely, with what you see is fascinating and absolutely absorbing.

The painter wanders and loiters contentedly from place to place, always on the lookout for some brilliant butterfly of a picture which can be caught and carried safely home.

Light and colour, peace and hope, will keep painters company to the end of the day.

A few samples:









As a second part to this post, I've searched for a US president who paints/painted as a hobby, but so far I haven't identified any. What I did find though was a report about a San Francisco artist called Justine Lai who is in the midst of a project of painting herself having sex with every US president. She has named the project "Join or Die". I'll not post more than the thumbnail of her least revealing piece here, along with a link to her own website, which offers enlargeable thumbnails of her work on this project so far - up to Ulysses S. Grant, I think! justinelai.com

What an odd concept that is! I do wonder about Ms Lai's astrology - any advance on Scorpio stellium, Scorpio rising?

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I WON'T BE POSTING FURTHER UNTIL TUESDAY. Cabin-fever & stir-craziness has hit again, so we're wandering off for the weekend. We've been told that our power will be off on Monday for line improvements too....Have a good weekend y'all!

12 comments:

Ron Southern said...

I always just love W. Churchill, though it can hardly be said that I even know very many British politicians. In reading bios of Churchill, I guess a few names came up, but mostly the numbskulls who opposed Churchill and wanted to sell us all out to Hitler. For at least once in history, there were too many peace-mongers!

Shawn Carson said...

Very cool article, Twilight!
Churchill's love of art is well delineated thru that grand trine, as you wrote, and his down to earth, practical nature is shown with the Sun/Saturn sextile, an interesting blend, I guess he was something of a Renaissance Man. His connection to large scale world events can be linked to the axis in his chart which runs along the Aries Point degrees. First and last degree people are marked by a sort of "let's get on with it" attitude.
As for Scorpio rising and Scorpio stellium types, my wife has both of these features, and she often displays a certain bulldog mentality that will not turn loose of a bone until she is good and ready. Given that, I have no doubt that this woman will continue having sex with dead presidents for as long as she likes!

anthonynorth said...

Winston is my ultimate hero. It is well accepted by many that he saved Britain, but it goes further than this. If Britain had fallen, America would have never got over the Atlantic. So more than any other man, it can be said of Churchill: he saved the world.
And apart from his art and his writings, he was also proud of the brick wall he built.

Laura said...

Fascinating post. I am reading a biography on Churchill and he was a great man. Your post does him justice.

Twilight said...

Ron S. ~~~ Hi! It's a hard truth isn't it - too many peace-mongers? It's like saying "too much chocolate" - there ain't no such thing. ;-) But you're right.
In the face of evil such as Nazi Germany presented then, peace was not an option - whatever revisionists of the 21st century might like to think..

anyjazz said...

I enjoy your research on these well known people in our history. I always learn something new.

Twilight said...

Shawn ~~~ Thanks. He was a Renaissance Man for sure. Paintings, books, politics, war leader.....wonder if he could cook as well? ;-)

LOL! That artist has be be a tad obsessed I reckon. I think it was a good idea to do paintings of each president, but why not pick a different setting and activity (not sex-related) for each one - maybe playing a musical instrument with one, walking in the woods with another, at the theater, swimming, reading, etc. Seems as though Ms Lai has a seriously one-track mind. LOLz about Mrs. Shawn! :-D

Twilight said...

AN ~~~ Glad you feel the same about him. He was there just when we needed him. Later, sadly, the country needed a different type of leader, Winnie was cast aside - rightly, I think, too. The country needed a different man with a different mindset, everything had changed. He'll be remembered forever though.

Twilight said...

Laura ~~~ Thank you - it's kind of you to say so. I'd need hundreds of pages to try to truly do the man justice though. :-)

Twilight said...

Anyjazz ~~~ Really? Well thanks and I'm glad. :-)

Poet_Girl said...

Wow, that Justine Lai website is awesome. It's been awhile since I've seen something that provocative (the one of Lincoln is almost sacrilegious -- it's practically like having sex with Jesus).

Great link, as always!

Twilight said...

Poet Girl ~~~ The thought that some of Lai's paintings may appear almost sacrilegious in the eyes of Americans did cross my mind too.
:-) I have to admire her audacity !