Design Spillover

Another caricature drawing of a favorite film director: Luis Bunuel.

“Mystery is the essential element in every work of art.”

ROGER CORMAN IS MAD

Here’s a quick MAD style caricature illustration of the King of B-Movies, Roger Corman, for a fun book cover project.

OSCAR BENGTS: S/S MIKKELI

This painting by Oscar Bengts has been in my family for decades and I’ve always liked it. Given that it actually provides some information of its probably accidental subject, I did a bit of research on it:

Cargo steamer S/S Mikkeli was built in 1904 by Lehtoniemi shipyard of Finland, owned by Baron (Freiherr) Carolus Wrede. It was ordered by wholesaler David Pulkkinen of Mikkeli. Using the same design cargo ships S/S Kauko (1903), S/S Tiera (1904) and S/S Osmo (1904) were also built.

Some 22 feet wide and 102 long, the 60-horsepower workhorse had a cargo capacity of 120 tons. In all likelihood S/S Mikkeli sailed to St. Petersburg, Tallinn and Helsinki during the next twenty years or so, probably carrying grain, flour, butter, and other food items. The ship was updated several times, and at its best (from 1921 to 1928) pushed forward with 150 horsepower.

Pulkkinen died in 1925, and the ship was sold to Robert Gabriel Korpikallio. Korpikallio died in 1933, and the ownership transferred to his heirs in Anttola. The ship was owned by the heirs until 1952, when it disappears from the ship registry.

Thus sometime between 1933 and 1952, Oscar Bengts painted the ship in port. Bengts, the more famous Carl Bengts’ youngest brother, had been at sea in his youth, and painted many maritime and port scenes. He lived mostly in Närpiö and Helsinki. My grandfather Jarl Lindroos worked most of his life as a portier in Helsinki and, as the story goes, funded Bengts’ and other artists’ drinking binges by purchasing their paintings. His painting of S/S Mikkeli seems to be from the port of Helsinki — the tall church on the right side may even back me up on this — although I’m not sure.

Jarl Lindroos, Portier, on a smoke break outside Restaurant Korhonen in Helsinki.

Oct 09

ANDALUSIAN GOD

Sep 19

Surprise!

Jul 29

HOUSEKEEPING

This is an informational test, given that posterous remains at best a fidgety platform. The last few posts Kathleen has made to her page appear to send no email notifications out, so I’m trying to use my mostly neglected ‘blog’ to see if it does the same.

So you can go and check Kathleen’s latest posts at:

http://kat330.posterous.com You can go and listen to (and download) the songs at:

http://soundcloud.com/kat330 Or use tumblr for the same content as posterous at:

http://kat330.tumblr.com ========================

I remain fairly neglectful in regards to new posts, but I’ve been uploading a lot of old family photographs here at pinterest: http://pinterest.com/jtlindroos/finn-family-fotos/

Jun 27

A Crab Must Try

Apr 29

Rock’n’Roll Career

Here’s yours truly in the early 1980s, as the lead singer of a garage (or cellar) band featuring the neighboring Penttila clan — Ville (on guitar), Kalle (drums) and Kaisa (background vocals). This photoshoot was the beginning and the end of my rock’n’roll career.