Glasgow - nalan's paintings
Friday, 4 April 2025
Glasgow - nalan's paintings
Glasgow - nalan's paintings
Tuesday, 1 April 2025
The New Declaration of Independence: From Trump
The 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence is fast approaching. The present dire state of the USA indicates that a new declaration is needed, against Trump and Trumpism. In the original declaration, the Founding Fathers laid most of the blame for the split from the Mother Country on George III. Careful analysis shows that much if not most of the blame in fact lay with Parliament, but focusing on the king made the argument for independence simpler. So, today let's KISS again. (Keep it Simple Stupid).
The blame for the current mess in the US and much of the world lies at one man's door, and he lives at the White House and Mar a Lago The original Declaration of Independence, in the part few read today, listed a long series "repeated injuries and usurpations" designed to establish "an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world."
The New Declaration of Independence from Trump and Trumpism, should contain a similar list of the injuries and usurpations he and his toadies have inflicted on these states, now 50 (not 51). I propose something like the following. Other ideas are welcome.
He has made enemies of all traditional allies and friends.
He has repeatedly violated the Constitution, the laws, and the legal system.
He has violated international norms of diplomacy and human
rights.
He has comforted the comfortable and afflicted the
afflicted.
He is destroying one of the strongest economies on earth.
He has violated the norms of human morality.
He has brought the USA into global contempt.
He has praised and assisted the enemies of human freedom, decency, and democracy.
He is a felon, guilty of bribery and rape, probably tax evasion, extortion, and other crimes.
He is destroying the fabric of American institutions, especially the legal system and those designed to advance education, health, and the general welfare.
He has attacked and is attacking freedom of speech, opinion, and assembly.
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Friday, 28 March 2025
Griddle - nalan's paintings
Griddle - nalan's paintings Artpal
Friday, 21 March 2025
"Garden of Delights" - nalan's paintings
"Garden of Delights" - nalan's paintings
Saturday, 15 March 2025
Friday, 14 March 2025
Trump's Cabinet; Or, Carnival Freaks - nalan's paintings
Trump's Cabinet; Or, Carnival Freaks - nalan's paintings
Thursday, 13 March 2025
Hieroglyphics - nalan's paintings
Hieroglyphics - nalan's paintings
Wednesday, 12 March 2025
Arrangement - nalan's paintings
Arrangement - nalan's paintings This is an original abstract oil painting titled "Arrangement" created by artist Nalan Laluk in the United Kingdom in 2025. The medium-sized painting measures 40 cm in height and 40 cm in width, set on unframed canvas. Featuring a contemporary art style with elements of expressionism and abstract, the multi-coloured piece is a one-of-a-kind creation signed by the artist. It showcases a nature-inspired theme through vibrant colours and intricate brushwork, making it a unique addition to any art collection. This artwork comes with a Certificate of Authenticity issued by the artist, ensuring its originality and provenance.
Tuesday, 11 March 2025
Divisions - nalan's paintings
Divisions - nalan's paintings
Monday, 17 February 2025
Saturday, 15 February 2025
Charlatan No. 47 - nalan's paintings
Charlatan - nalan's paintings oil painting on stretched canvas. Guess who?
Friday, 14 February 2025
Flight - nalan's paintings
Flight - nalan's paintings
Sunset on the Lake - nalan's paintings
Sunset on the Lake - nalan's paintings This original oil landscape painting titled "Lake, Sunset" is a contemporary piece created by artist Nalan Laluk in the United Kingdom in 2024. The medium-sized artwork measures 40 cm in length, 50 cm in height, and 2 cm in width, featuring a blend of brown, blue, red, white, green, black, and yellow colours in an abstract and impressionistic style. The painting depicts a nature-themed scene of a landscape with sunsets, showcasing Laluk's unique artistic vision and technique. It comes with a Certificate of Authenticity issued by the artist, ensuring its originality and value as a handmade piece. $175
Thursday, 13 February 2025
Monday, 27 January 2025
Mountain Lake - nalan's paintings
"Falling Vase of Flowers" - nalan's paintings
"Falling Vase of Flowers" - nalan's paintings
Saturday, 25 January 2025
Robert Burns and Women's Rights
The 25th of January is the birthday of Scottish poet Robert Burns (1759-1796). On the evening of that day, millions of his fans around the world gather for a "Burns' Supper" in his honor. After a meal of haggis, neeps, and tatties* they drink a toast of whisky to "The Bard" and listen to some of his poems. At midnight on January 1, much of the world sings "Auld Lang Syne," the song based on Burns' poem of that name. They pledge to "take a cup o' kindness yet, for auld lang syne!"
Kindness appears in short supply around the world these days, and the supply is dwindling as rapidly as the number of eggs in Trump's USA. I wonder how many MAGAts sang those words about kindness this New Years with sincerity.
But kindness, however crucial, is not my main theme here. It is human rights. Burns was a staunch defender of the rights of women as well as men. He wasn't always sensitive to that need. He was something of a womanizer, to put it bluntly.
Before he became famous for his poetry, he had decided to take a job as an overseer and bookkeeper on a Jamaican sugar plantation, which was worked by enslaved Africans. He changed plans after his book of poetry was published to great acclaim in 1786. It is not clear if he ever denounced African slavery, at least directly. But he denounced injustice and inequality, notably in "A Man's a Man for a' That."
For a few years after the publication of his book, Burns was the toast of Edinburgh, mingling with and lionized by Scotland's elite. That changed after the French Revolution began in 1789. Like many young men in Europe, he supported that revolution, and the earlier American one. The Scottish elite did not, and most of them distanced themselves from the radical Burns. He left Edinburgh and returned to farm near Dumfries, close to his birthplace. He married and became an exciseman (collector of customs duties), a government job that may have restrained his political radicalism.
In 1792, Burns wrote "The Rights Of Women." The first stanza sets the tone:
While Europe's eye is fixed on mighty things,
The fate of empires and the fall of Kings;
While quacks of State must each produce his plan,
And even children lisp the Rights of Man;
Amid this mighty fuss just let me mention,
The Rights of Woman merit some attention.
The poem was highly topical. Thomas Paine had just published The Rights of Man and Mary Wollstonecraft A Vindication of the Rights of Woman. These works alarmed and horrified the elites of Britain and much of Europe. By echoing their rhetoric in poetry, Burns marked himself as suspect in their eyes.
The last stanza of the poem quoted approvingly a rallying cry of the French revolutionaries, "ca ira!" ("it will be fine") and seemed to place the "Majesty of Woman" above that of kings.
By today's standards, Burns' list of women's rights may seem rather conservative. The rights he demanded were not political or even legal. They included protection, decorum (good manners), admiration and respect for women's opinions and influence. Good romantic that he was, Burns argued that the power of women lay in their ability to soften the harsher aspects of man's nature.
All that may sound old-fashioned and anti-feminist, and certainly the sentiments were seized on by Victorian conservatives as an argument against women's suffrage and legal rights. But juxtapose Burns' praise of women to MAGAt statements and behavior toward women, and the difference is stark. Burns may have been something of a womanizer, but he never claimed things like "Your body, my choice."
On this January 25, let's "take a cup of kindness" and have a wee dram in honor of "Rabbie" Burns, recently voted "The Greatest Scot." He narrowly beat out William Wallace, "Braveheart."
*Neeps are turnips, tatties are potatoes.
PS. The first Burns Supper took place in Greenock, the town where I was born, on January 29th, 1801, which the organizers mistakenly though to be his birthday. It was later changed to the correct date of January 25th and has been held every year since on that day.
If you enjoyed this post and would like to become a follower of my blog, just click on the blue "FOLLOW" button on the right side of the first page. Below there you can also find my previous posts. Thanks!
Thursday, 16 January 2025
Beyond the Gate - nalan's paintings
Beyond the Gate - nalan's paintings Beyond the Gate - nalan's paintings -- original abstract oil painting www.artpal.com/mccandlessp?...