JaZzArt en València

This song «People are Crazy» is actually a reply to the question «what is life?» The reply is simple (as are all good replies) «God is great, beer is good and people are crazy.«

This is a narrative country song about a young man who meets an older veteran in a bar. They talk about life, faith, and experiences, leading to the repeated line: “God is great, beer is good, and people are crazy.” Later, the young man learns the old stranger was a wealthy man who left him his fortune, reinforcing the song’s theme about life’s unpredictability.

The song was composed by: Bobby Braddock and Troy Jones. They wrote the song after coming up with that central phrase as a kind of simple “truth” about life, then built a story around it.

The song was recorded by Billy Currington and released in March 2009 as the second single from his album Little Bit of Everything. It reached No. 1 on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Songs chart, becoming one of Currington’s biggest hits and It also crossed over to the mainstream Billboard Hot 100, peaking at No. 37.

The song was a major success in country music that year and even won Song of the Year at the CMA Awards (2009), highlighting how strongly it resonated with audiences.

In short, it’s a feel-good country story song built on a memorable, philosophical one-liner about faith, everyday pleasures, and human unpredictability.

I hope you enjoy it and perhaps learn a thing or two about life… 😊🙏🍻

CHEERS

Estamos saturado de imágenes, relatos y formas. Pensar en la idea de la originalidad es una chalada. Los artistas siempre han dialogado constantemente con el pasado, apropiándose de estilos, temas y técnicas para darles un nuevo significado. Esto no es una limitación, es una verdad fundamental: el arte no avanza mediante rupturas totales, ni vanguardias, sino a través de reinterpretaciones. Ser un artista creativo no significa que sepas o puedas inventar desde cero, sino como puedes transformar lo ya existente.

La famosa frase atribuida a Picasso —“los buenos artistas copian, pero los grandes artistas roban”— apunta precisamente a esta idea. Copiar implica reproducir superficialmente una obra; “robar” es absorberla, entenderla y reconfigurarla hasta hacerla propia. El artista que “roba” no oculta sus influencias, las integra de tal forma que el resultado final adquiere una identidad nueva. Así, lo importante no es la novedad del material, sino la singularidad de la mirada. Al fin y al cabo, todo lo que tocó Picasso lo convirtió en algo genial y superior a lo anterior.

En nuestra era, marcada por el acceso ilimitado a referencias culturales, esta perspectiva es muy importante. La originalidad ya no es la invención de formas inéditas, está en la capacidad de establecer conexiones inesperadas entre elementos conocidos. Un creador actual trabaja, en cierto modo, como un editor: selecciona, combina y resignifica fragmentos del inmenso archivo cultural disponible.

Por eso no te frustres pensando o lamentando la “falta de ideas nuevas”, sino reconoce que el arte siempre ha sido un proceso de reciclaje creativo. La innovación no es que desaparezca, es que cambia de lugar: deja de estar en el origen de las ideas y pasa a manifestarse en su reinterpretación. El verdadero valor del arte radica en cómo cada artista logra convertir lo heredado en algo vivo, personal y relevante para su tiempo.

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We are saturated with images, narratives, and forms. The idea of originality is a delusion. Artists have always engaged in a constant dialogue with the past, appropriating styles, themes, and techniques to give them new meaning. This is not a limitation; it is a fundamental truth: art does not advance through total breaks or even art vanguards, but through reinterpretations. Being a creative artist does not mean that you can invent from scratch, but rather how you can transform what already exists.

The famous phrase attributed to Picasso —“good artists copy, but great artists steal”— precisely points to this idea. Copying means superficially reproducing a work; “stealing” is to absorb it, understand it, and reconfigure it until it becomes one’s own. The artist who “steals” does not hide their influences but integrates them in such a way that the final result acquires a new identity. Thus, what matters is not the novelty of the material but the uniqueness of the perspective. After all, everything Picasso touched became something brilliant and superior to what came before it.

In our era, marked by unlimited access to cultural references, this perspective is very important. Originality is no longer the invention of unprecedented forms; it lies in the ability to establish unexpected connections between known elements. A contemporary creator works, in a way, like an editor: selecting, combining, and resignifying fragments from the immense cultural archive available.

That’s why you shouldn’t get frustrated thinking or lamenting the «lack of new ideas,» but rather recognize that art has always been a process of creative recycling. Innovation doesn’t disappear; it changes location: it ceases to be at the origin of ideas and instead manifests itself in their reinterpretation. The true value of art lies in how each artist manages to transform what is inherited into something alive, personal, and relevant to their time.

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GRACIAS – CHEERS

Ya os habia dicho que el arte es cosa totalmente objetiva, que el subjetivismo esta en aquellos que observan, juzgan y desarrollan teorías sobre lo que están mirando. El artista crea sobre una base solida, fundada en sus conocimientos de la vida y en su manejo de la técnica de la pintura. El arte no tiene lógica, ni tiene que ser entendida. El arte tiene que lograr una respuesta espiritual y visceral en el observador, eso sí, para ser considerada buena. El arte no tiene que ser figurativo, puede ser totalmente abstracto o mitad y mitad. La abstracción tiene que obedecer una sola norma: no se puede parecer a nada que se pueda identificar como parte, o perteneciendo, al mundo natural. Y el arte figurativo es todo lo demás. Hay que tener bien en cuenta que lo que plasma un artista sobre la tela o sobre cualquier superficie, o lo que esculpe un escultor en cualquier material, es el resultado de su vida entera, su formación, su (buen) gusto y su deseo de comunicar. Y finalmente, no vayáis a pensar que el arte decorativo tiene menos valor que el arte filosófico, intelectual o perteneciente a cualquiera de las vanguardias artísticos, porque todo el arte es decorativo.

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I have written many times that art is a totally objective thing, that subjectivism lies in those who observe, judge, and develop theories about what they are watching. The artist creates on a solid foundation, based on his knowledge of life and his mastery of the technique of painting. Art has no logic, nor does it need to be understood. Art must achieve a spiritual and visceral response in the observer; that is essential for it to be considered good. Art doesn’t have to be figurative; it can be entirely abstract or a mix of both. Abstraction must obey one rule: it cannot resemble anything that can be identified as a part of, or belonging to, the natural world. Figurative art encompasses everything else. It is important to keep in mind that what an artist captures on canvas or any surface, or what a sculptor shapes in any material, is the result of his entire life, his training, his (good) taste, and his desire to communicate. And finally, do not think that decorative art holds less value than philosophical, intellectual, or avant-garde art, because all art is decorative.

CHEERS – GRACIAS

Well our King (Spain) does not wear a crown, mainly because our Constitution says that the King is proclaimed not Crowned, and his portraits are not as «kingly» as this one. He doesn’t hold the Sovereign’s Sceptre or the Sovereign’s Orb. But Phillip VI has the look of royalty all over, especially when he meets members of the government or foreign dignitaries with his elegantly gained 55 years and 1,97m of height in a slim, muscular frame of 90 kilos. And next to our Queen, they make the most handsomest Royal couple in the world.

But now back to King Charles III of England. He paints and here are some examples of his work…

There are many more and I would suggest, if you are interested, you look for them. I understand that at auction they have gained much value now that he is king. Reference the quality, not bad. They look like watercolour. Reference the theme, topic and composition, not as good. The usual bucolic painting of a castle, trees, mountains and nothing more.

But what do you think?

CHEERS – CHEERS – CHEERS

Robert Lenkiewicz was born in London in 1941, son of Jewish refugees that fled from Nazi Germany… At 16 years of age he was accepted at Saint Martin’s School of Art and later attended the Royal Academy of Art… He relocated to Plymouth after his neighbours in London complained that he allowed drug addicts, derelicts, and who knows who else to shelter in his studio… He gained recognition with his giant mural on Plymouth’s Barbican (1970’s)…

In the 1990’s he began to get more and more recognition… 42.000 of his countrymen attended a retrospective of his art in 1997 at Plymouth City Museum and Art Gallery… He died in 2002 of a heart attack with only £12 and a huge debt… Some media reports placed Lenkiewicz’s estate somewhere around £6.5 million. Maybe because of his library of antique books on witchcraft, the occult, metaphysics and medieval philosophy. Yet when Sotheby’s auctioned the entire estate in 2003 it raised less than £1 million.

SOME OF THE WORK OF ROBERT LENKIEWICZ

He never cared about courting the London art crowd or acceptance from anyone who would not accept him on his own terms. A true artist.

(Sorry but I could not find the dates of any of the work, except for the mural and even that was just in the 1970’s)

CHEERS…

Estamos saturado de imágenes, relatos y formas. Pensar en la idea de la originalidad es una chalada. Los artistas siempre han dialogado constantemente con el pasado, apropiándose de estilos, temas y técnicas para darles un nuevo significado. Esto no es una limitación, es una verdad fundamental: el arte no avanza mediante rupturas totales, ni vanguardias, sino a través de reinterpretaciones. Ser un artista creativo no significa que sepas o puedas inventar desde cero, sino como puedes transformar lo ya existente.

La famosa frase atribuida a Picasso —“los buenos artistas copian, pero los grandes artistas roban”— apunta precisamente a esta idea. Copiar implica reproducir superficialmente una obra; “robar” es absorberla, entenderla y reconfigurarla hasta hacerla propia. El artista que “roba” no oculta sus influencias, las integra de tal forma que el resultado final adquiere una identidad nueva. Así, lo importante no es la novedad del material, sino la singularidad de la mirada. Al fin y al cabo, todo lo que tocó Picasso lo convirtió en algo genial y superior a lo anterior.

En nuestra era, marcada por el acceso ilimitado a referencias culturales, esta perspectiva es muy importante. La originalidad ya no es la invención de formas inéditas, está en la capacidad de establecer conexiones inesperadas entre elementos conocidos. Un creador actual trabaja, en cierto modo, como un editor: selecciona, combina y resignifica fragmentos del inmenso archivo cultural disponible.

Por eso no te frustres pensando o lamentando la “falta de ideas nuevas”, sino reconoce que el arte siempre ha sido un proceso de reciclaje creativo. La innovación no es que desaparezca, es que cambia de lugar: deja de estar en el origen de las ideas y pasa a manifestarse en su reinterpretación. El verdadero valor del arte radica en cómo cada artista logra convertir lo heredado en algo vivo, personal y relevante para su tiempo.

+++

We are saturated with images, narratives, and forms. The idea of originality is a delusion. Artists have always engaged in a constant dialogue with the past, appropriating styles, themes, and techniques to give them new meaning. This is not a limitation; it is a fundamental truth: art does not advance through total breaks or even art vanguards, but through reinterpretations. Being a creative artist does not mean that you can invent from scratch, but rather how you can transform what already exists.

The famous phrase attributed to Picasso —“good artists copy, but great artists steal”— precisely points to this idea. Copying means superficially reproducing a work; “stealing” is to absorb it, understand it, and reconfigure it until it becomes one’s own. The artist who “steals” does not hide their influences but integrates them in such a way that the final result acquires a new identity. Thus, what matters is not the novelty of the material but the uniqueness of the perspective. After all, everything Picasso touched became something brilliant and superior to what came before it.

In our era, marked by unlimited access to cultural references, this perspective is very important. Originality is no longer the invention of unprecedented forms; it lies in the ability to establish unexpected connections between known elements. A contemporary creator works, in a way, like an editor: selecting, combining, and resignifying fragments from the immense cultural archive available.

That’s why you shouldn’t get frustrated thinking or lamenting the «lack of new ideas,» but rather recognize that art has always been a process of creative recycling. Innovation doesn’t disappear; it changes location: it ceases to be at the origin of ideas and instead manifests itself in their reinterpretation. The true value of art lies in how each artist manages to transform what is inherited into something alive, personal, and relevant to their time.

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GRACIAS – CHEERS

A los artistas les gusta mucho hablar del arte y usualmente lo hacen de forma muy abstracta, muy esoterica o hasta onírica pero la realidad es que el arte es faena, no es una cosa subjetiva, es totalmente objetivo, tiene parámetros, medidas, normas y maneras de juzgar si una obra de arte es una genialidad o una porquería. El trabajo del artista es eso mismo «trabajo» porque si el artista no trabaja no desarrolla talento y eso es lo más importante porque a través de su talento es como el artista puede comunicarle al resto su mensaje, o sea, lo que quiere transmitir con esa obra. Y el talento no es un rasgo genético es algo que se aprende y se desarrolla, como los músculos. Cuando el artista deja de currarse las obras, el talento empieza a desvanecerse. Asi que hay que trabajar. Acordaos, la originalidad no importa, el trabajo si, y el buen gusto, no vayamos a crear obras horteras.

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Artists really enjoy talking about art and usually do so in a very abstract, esoteric, or even dreamlike way, but the reality is that art is labour; it is not a subjective thing, it is totally objective, it has parameters, measurements, rules, and there are tried and true ways to judge whether a work of art is a genius creation or rubbish. And let us keep in mind that the artist’s job is just that: «work» because if the artist does not work, he doesn’t develop talent, and that is the most important thing, as it is through his talent that the artist can communicate his message to others, meaning what he wants to convey with that piece. And talent is not a genetic trait; it is something that is learned and developed, like muscles. When the artist stops putting in the effort into his works, talent begins to fade away. So work! Remember, originality doesn’t matter; work does, and good taste; we shouldn’t create works that reflect bad taste. And taste is also objective and measurable.

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INSTAGRGAM: @Francisco_Bravo_Cabrera

CHEERS – GRACIAS

Ya os habia dicho que el arte es cosa totalmente objetiva, que el subjetivismo esta en aquellos que observan, juzgan y desarrollan teorías sobre lo que están mirando. El artista crea sobre una base solida, fundada en sus conocimientos de la vida y en su manejo de la técnica de la pintura. El arte no tiene lógica, ni tiene que ser entendida. El arte tiene que lograr una respuesta espiritual y visceral en el observador, eso sí, para ser considerada buena. El arte no tiene que ser figurativo, puede ser totalmente abstracto o mitad y mitad. La abstracción tiene que obedecer una sola norma: no se puede parecer a nada que se pueda identificar como parte, o perteneciendo, al mundo natural. Y el arte figurativo es todo lo demás. Hay que tener bien en cuenta que lo que plasma un artista sobre la tela o sobre cualquier superficie, o lo que esculpe un escultor en cualquier material, es el resultado de su vida entera, su formación, su (buen) gusto y su deseo de comunicar. Y finalmente, no vayáis a pensar que el arte decorativo tiene menos valor que el arte filosófico, intelectual o perteneciente a cualquiera de las vanguardias artísticos, porque todo el arte es decorativo.

+++

I have written many times that art is a totally objective thing, that subjectivism lies in those who observe, judge, and develop theories about what they are watching. The artist creates on a solid foundation, based on his knowledge of life and his mastery of the technique of painting. Art has no logic, nor does it need to be understood. Art must achieve a spiritual and visceral response in the observer; that is essential for it to be considered good. Art doesn’t have to be figurative; it can be entirely abstract or a mix of both. Abstraction must obey one rule: it cannot resemble anything that can be identified as a part of, or belonging to, the natural world. Figurative art encompasses everything else. It is important to keep in mind that what an artist captures on canvas or any surface, or what a sculptor shapes in any material, is the result of his entire life, his training, his (good) taste, and his desire to communicate. And finally, do not think that decorative art holds less value than philosophical, intellectual, or avant-garde art, because all art is decorative.

CHEERS – GRACIAS