Springtime surprises

We're midway through the astrological sign of Taurus (April 21-May21), and I'm moving right along with a series called "The Zodiac Cafe."  As I described last time, the idea came to me when I remembered my long-ago botanical series, "Astrological Plants of the Squamish Valley" -- an example above, the  Taurus plant from those many-travelled roadsides.

My planned portraits are based on the physical characteristics of each sign as described in a small book, "Astrological Keywords," by Manly P. Hall.  Here's how he describes the Taurus native:

"Head and neck short; face broad and somewhat flat; chin strong; eyes large and dark; hair usually dark, sometimes blond; lips full; body short, sturdy and plump."

No ready examples came to mind as I considered possible models, but I woke up one morning with Julius Caesar on my mind.  Quick!  To Google-Search-Images.  Take a look yourself and have fun playing this game:

1)  How many of the Caesars resemble Andrew Cuomo?

2)  How many of the statues look like they're holding cell phones?

3)  How many of the Caesar statues look like Andrew Cuomo holding a cell phone?

As for "face broad and somewhat flat" and "body short, sturdy and plump," these images had little to offer.  But I held the vision of those haircuts as I tried a few sketches.

Hmm.  Not so sure about that -- or about any of the others.

What the heck.  I decided to plunge right in and see if, in that magical way, the painting would take on a life of its own.

And thanks to Caesar's hairstyle, it did!  Here's the final version of "Zodiac Cafe - Taurus" (copyright 2020).

Isn't he an amiable young bull?  Maybe of the Ferdinand variety?  (No ring in his nose, but I couldn't resist the earring)

 Could he be the great-great-great grandson that Raphael Soyer never had? 

Probably not, but it's nice to see them isolating together here at home.  And what will happen when Taurus ventures into the Zodiac Cafe?

  

Will the Aries female eat him alive or will he just sweetly and stolidly hold his ground?  Hard to predict how things will play out when the coffee shops can reopen.

The auspices look favourable, though, for the Zodiac Cafe.  It's strange but true that yesterday, just as I was finishing this post, I looked out the window into my back garden.  There in the corner is the descendent of the very plant from which I made my long-ago sketches -- Rosa nutkana, our beautiful wild rose of the Pacific Northwest -- blooming for the first time this year on May 14, 2020.