Don't ask ... knowing's taboo ... what's in the cards, darling, for you, for me, what end heaven intends.  Better by far take in your stride what comes.  Long life?...possible.  Or...?  Maybe the gods mean it your last, this grim winter shaking the shore, booming the surf, wearying wave and rock.  Well then!  Learn to be wise; out with the wine.  Knowing this time so short ... no grand hopes, do you hear?  Now, as we talk, huffishly time goes by.  So take hold of the day ... hugging it close.  Nothing beyond is yours. -Quintus Horatius Flaccus (Horace)

Horace was born six years after the death of Spartacus in the center of the region where the slave rebellion took place.  It is certain this master poet grew up and was influenced in his world view by the tremors of that revolution which transpired within the very heart of Roman society. That his words above yet breathe with a vital urgency in our own lives, more than two thousand years after they were written, conveys a great deal about the relevant reflections of ancient Rome within our own age. I have generated a great many study portraits while working on the detailed series for the Spartacus story.  The walls where I create are covered with these faces that I may soak in their inspiration and take guidance as I translate what I see and hear into imagery. You seem to enjoy these studies as much as I, so I shall share a few more of the ones which posess strength enough to stand up on their own. Lucretia is a central and powerful figure in the current cable series about Spartacus.  The wife of Batiatus, master of the gladiator training academy at which Sparatcus is enslaved, Lucretia never hesitates to wield her significant power. In developing studies for Lucretia a younger face than I anticipated kept coming through.  It's her alright!... but at an earlier age than when Spartacus crosses the path of her life.  They are presently in production on a prequel season for Spartacus which explores the earlier history of the training academy and the relationship between Lucretia and Batiatus.  Perhaps it is from that creative stream that the influence for this portrait came through to me? Lucretia is cunningly determined to craft the life of her desires from wherever the gods set her in the world.  Such a will would have existed all the back to her childhood, and it is certainly emenating from this portrayal. I hope your weekend was inspired and productive. With warm regards, Terry