26AUG26

King of Hollywood
Douglas Fairbanks
23rd May 1883 - 12th December 1939

The first actor to play Zorro.

He was married to Mary Pickford for 16 years. Like her, he was a founder of United Artists. He was also a founding member of the Motion Picture Academy. The very first Academy Awards, in 1929, were hosted by him.

While he was married to Mary Pickford, they were called "Hollywood Royalty".

He started his career as a stage actor on Broadway and became so popular, that he rose to be one of Hollywood's favourite and highest paid actors within a few years.

He started off as a comedic actor, but moved into the adventure genre, which is mostly what he is well known for today. His biggest roles being the leading man in films like:

The Mark of Zorro - 1920
Robin Hood - 1922
The Thief of Bagdad - 1924

Unfortunately, he didn't make the jump from silent movies to the "talkies", and he retired in 1934. He remained active in the film industry and with United Artists, until his death in 1939, at only 56 years of age.

He was the first posthumous recipient of an Academy Honorary Award a few months after his death, at the 12th Academy Awards, in acknowledgement for his career and and the Academy's first president.

26AUG26

Queen of the Movies
Mary Pickford
8th April 1892 - 29th May 1979

There aren't many people who know who she was, even though she was the biggest star of her time and her legacy would shape Hollywood for ever.

She was a co-founder of United Artists, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, was the second recipient of the Academy Award for Best Actress, a receiver of an Academy Honorary Award, and the American Film Institute named her the 24th greatest female star of Classical Hollywood Cinema.

Her personal life was tumultuous and unfortunately overshadowed by alcoholism. She lived as a recluse in her late years.

According to Sid Grauman, the founder of the Chinese Theatre and the Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood, it was Mary Pickford putting her foot onto new concrete, that inspired the tradition of displaying hand- and footprints at the Chinese Theatre.

Pickford defined the ingénue type in cinema. This being a stock character in literature, film, and theatre, who is an innocent and naive young girl or woman.

This persona also earned her the nickname of America's Sweetheart, an unofficial title used by American media to describe a public, mostly female figure, who is widely admired and beloved by the public.

She was the first one to receive this title.

23AUG26

I was asked a question today:

“What are some of your creative inspirations?”

This is how I tried to answer it:

Often, for me, it's the air. There is something magical when the windows are open and you can hear birds and a bit of traffic go by, or the neighbours. Then you feel the breeze come in. It's the best thing in late summer or autumn, during a sunny and warm day. It's bright, but the air has that fresh autumn cold to it. I love the way the rays of the sun will fall into a room and you can see the dancing sparkles of dust. It's so magical to just sit there, with a cup of coffee, or tea, and just listen.

Or if I read or watch something that inspires me. A certain scene in a book, for example. Especially if it is a book you love dearly. Feels like an old friend. In Lord of the Rings, when the Hobbits reach Rivendell, always makes me want to draw delicate leaves and paint in autumn colours.

But I have often felt inspired by the amazing artistry of animation. Something about the colours, the contours,... I don't know. I find the fight in Bleach between Ichigo and Ulquiorra, or some of the momens in the Shinjuku battle of Jujutsu Kaisen, very inspiring. I have no idea how the animators did what they did. It blows me away. The movements, that overlaying impressionist sense for colour and lights. Best shit I have ever seen.

But I think, it's mostly stories, where I find most of my inspiration.

That is the answer that I gave to that person, but I would like to fill in some of the gaps, the little details that I left out.

The reason why late summer air inspires me, is because of the nostalgia it brings. Memories tied to summers spent in Spain, both as a child, and as an adult. Unfortunately, I can’t visit as often as I’d like, and I get very homesick during this time of the year.

In Villa Dolores, the house of my grandparents, in a small village about half an hour from Madrid, we had a huge, gorgeous plant of grape vines. Its gnarled and twisty branches grew over the terrace, giving us shade and refuge from hot summer days. By the end of August, into early September, the grapes grew in thick clusters. My abuelo would get them down for us. This could be my memory playing tricks on me, because I was much smaller, but those grapes were enormous. Big and green and so sweet. I couldn’t fit the big ones in my mouth and had to eat them with a couple of bites. My abuelo would also often buy huge watermelons. I remember that one time he got one that was so big, that my yaya was afraid it might break the table. He would cut us these long slices that would leave red sticky marks on our faces. My little brother, who was his favourite, would always be the first to get one. “Para el enano”, he would say.

Decades later, after Villa Dolores was long gone, and my grandparents became a lingering presence in my memory, that stays with me, every day, my mother moved to northern Spain. So that is where I go now, when I can.

It is still the same air, the same warm days with the early autumn breeze, but now it brings with it the smell of forests and the salty taste of the ocean. I didn’t think it was possible for the human heart to hold this much love for a place. Everytime I go there, it feels like coming home. A big chunk of my ancestors were from northern Spain, and this may sound silly, but the earth there feels like it calls to me, like my roots are deep in that soil, and like that is where I truly belong. It’s hard to put into words. It is a place where myths are still very much alive. Where mountain fogs are as humid as the breath of the Cuélebre, where rivers ring with the laughter of Xanas, and the gurgling sound of the ocean’s waves sound like the giggles of the Espumeru.

You have to experience it, to believe just how deep mythologies are tied to the places and the people who tell them.

That is the heart of everything that inspires me.

23rd August 2026 - Valentino Day

I just found out, that today is Valentino Day. I didn't know that was a thing. What a crazy coincidence that the last Silent Movies portrait that I shared, was the Rudolph Valentino one.

It is a day to commemorate his life. A good day to watch some of his films, like:

- The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (1921)
- The Sheik (1921)
- The Eagle (1925)

But it's also a good day to celebrate the era of silent movies, and to show them some love. So, why not see if you can (find - forgot this word in my handwritten note) a nice old classic and sit back to enjoy all the drama, the humour, and the text cards, of a time most people never think about? There's some real MAGIC there.

19AUG26

Rudolph Valentino
6th May 1895 - 23rd August 1926

His full name was:
Rodolfo Pietro Filiberto Raffaele Guglielmi di Valentina d'Antonguolla
(I'm Spanish and I have a long-ass name, but that's on a whole new level.)

The First Latin Lover

Oh, how the audiences swooned! He was the very first screen sex symbol. He had a pretty short career, but was hugely successful, leaving a lasting influence and impact on popular culture.

He is probably most famous for the portrayal of the main male lead in the film The Sheik, from 1921.

Due to his very dandyish clothing, journalists would question his "masculinity". He would complain and critize this, even on the day of his death. [After reading his Wiki-entry, and after I had already handwritten this blog, I realized, that he did not die on the day he collapsed and complained about this, but days later.]

He collapsed and was taken to the hospital, where he underwent an operation, where he needed a sutur for a perforated ulcer and had to have his appendix removed. Perforated ulcers that mimic appendicitis, are now called "Valentino's Syndrome".

He would die about a week later of peritonitis, an inflammation of the inner wall of the abdomen, and septic endocarditis, an infection of the heart tissues, at only 31 years of age.

His sudden death shook both the public and his fellow actors and actresses.

19th AUG 26

Silent Cinema

Next portrait is...
Paulette Goddard
3rd June 1910 - 23rd April 1990

Oh, I love this one so much! Modern Times is my absolute favourite silent movie. She acted in that one and in the Great Dictator with Charlie Chaplin. I think that I must have fallen a little in love with her when I first watched Modern Times as a child. She had this bright smile that pierced right through your heart.

Her very first appesrance in a film was in a Laurel and Hardy short from 1929. She had a flourishing career into the "Talkies" too, working alongside the greatest actors of their time, like Gary Cooper, James Stewart, and Olivia de Havilland.

Later in her life, in part thanks to her wealth, she became a well known socialite in New York City. She was a friend of Andy Warhol and was a collector of contemporary art.

She was a breast cancer survivor, and died at the age of 79 from heart failure.

Amongst her biggest legacies is a 20 million dollar donation to the New York University. The university named a residence hall in her honour, the Goddard Hall.

In one of my favourite movies, Chaplin, from 1992, where Robert Downey Jr. has one of his best performances ever, Paulette was portrayed by the gorgeous Diane Lane.

16AUG26

My October art-challenge from 2020: Stars from the Silent Movies

BUSTER KEATON
4th October 1895 - 1st February 1966

He is the first male actor I chose for my set of portraits, because "The General" is one of my favourite silent movies.

I first watched it as a child, back in the 1980s, when German TV still showed the classics. My mum taped it on VCR and it became one of those films that you watch over and over again. I devoted this drawing to my mother, because Keaton is one of her favourite actors. He was a true master of physical comedy, his dead-pan face only making the unintentionally hilarious situations that his characters found themselves in, only funnier. He started acting when he was only three years old, learning how to fall safely, so that he wouldn't injure himself. His life went from Vaudeville acts, to only going to school one time, to becoming a well paid theatre performer, to serving in the infantry during World War I, to becoming one of the most famous faces of early cinema.

His is also a cautionary tale, as he was a heavy smoker, which was what ultimately led to his death, at the age of 70, from lung cancer.

Salvador Dalí was deeply impressed with Keaton's films, calling them "anti-artistic" and "pure poetry". He created a collage called: "El Casamiento de Buster Keaton" in his honour.

15 AUG 26

Here's a photograph of my Yaya in Villa Dolores.

I have a very vivid memory of spending some days in winter there. We would usually go there in summer, but for some reason, the adults got it into their heads to take us there is the cold winter season. It was a huge house, ancient thing, with no heating. The only source of warmth was that fire-place. I remember roasting apples over that fire, with a thick and heavy blanket over my shoulders. You'd be warm in the front, facing the fire, and your back would be freezing. Going to bed was awful. The sheets felt so cold. They were ironed and stiff, very sternly tucked into the mattress. Most of us went to bed fully clothed. I don't think we ever did that again. But I have a very fond memory of my mother and aunt laughing about how silly it all was. I have the suspicion, that it was my abuelo's idea. He could be a little mischievious.

I miss that house, and I miss my grandparents deeply. Gracias por los recuerdos. (litte heart drawing)

15 AUG 26

My Inktober Challenge from 2020.

I didn't like the lists I saw that year, and I decided to make my own. Since I love movies so much and I have some very precious memories of watching old films with my grandparents, I decided to make it all about the silent stars of the early Hollywood era. In doing so, I learned a lot about the people I was portraying, and I would like to share some of the cool and interesting details that I read about them.

The first star is:
Dolores Costello
17th September 1903 - 1st March 1979
"The Goddess of the Silent Screen"

She is the grandmother of actress Drew Barrymore. Her parents, Maurice and Mae Costello, were both actors. Dolores started acting alongside her sister, Helene, from 1909 to 1915. She was a chorus line dancer on Broadway before starting a career in film. Due to a lisp, she was nervous to go from silent to the "talkies" movies.

She was my first pick for my Inktober series, because I had an ancestor called Dolores. In fact, the house my grandfather's (father - I forgot this word in the original handwritten text) built, was (called - another missing word) Villa Dolores.

This being my first portrait, it was kept kind of simple, as I hadn't fixed on a certain style yet.

She had sad eyes. (little heart drawing)

14 AUG 26

Who is LodeinArt?

Hola! My name is Lorena and I'm almost 50 years old. Which feels unreal.
I've worked in aviation for over two decades, and have recently left that line of work to explore a new path. Not quite sure yet what that will look like. For a few years I also taught languages and intercultural competence.

I'm Spanish, but due to a complicated work and life situation of my parents, I grew up trilingual. I'm fluent in Spanish, German, and English. I'm an artist, which explains the title of my blog. My little gallery is on Deviantart (link included: https://www.deviantart.com/lodeinart).

What else?

I love stories, literature, languages and cultures, movies, shows, and anime. Everything that is beautifully strange, draws my attention. Oh, and I like video games too!

I don't really know what this blog is going to be about, but I love the concept and I had to join. It's probably going to be a mix of things.

Just like in my life, I'll figure things out as I go.

Glad to be here!

Lorena