Art Blog Danuty Antas

Mystery Of Winter Landscape vs. Culture's Curiosity

2011-03-09T12:03:00.004+01:00

These are the last Winter shots I did this year before the Spring. The day was unique for taking photos as there was some frost that made evrything turned white emphasizing shapes and textures. It looked as if the whole world was covered with white dust. Mysterious atmosphere was hanging in the air; No sounds, no people only my two dogs and me. I love such days as I may feel perfect inner balance and unity with the eternal. It is then when I feel I really live, not just exist.

I am fed up with everyday rush, with TV ads that make our world look so crazy, everyday news presented with a speed of light. Why and what for people made their lifes so crazy? Do I really need to keep up with the Joneses? Will I be better holding a certain job position? Are we really lords of our lifes or servants of imaginary, culture defined values? Are any values that not change as culture changes? I wonder what you really think of it?

The Colours Of Autumn - My Imaginary World

2010-12-02T14:21:00.002+01:00

The two images are just a sample of my photographic fascination with light and colour. In my new photo gallery, there are much more works in which I explore various aspects of these two means of artistic expression. Especially the whole series of shots taken in Botanic Gardens in my hometown, called El Paradiso Mio, is devoted to spiritual light I have found in my everyday encounters.

I have been working currently to publish my landscape works. When album is ready, I will let you know:)

No Ordinary World - fine art photography

2010-12-02T13:58:00.000+01:00

Nature Photograpy

2010-06-13T16:49:00.002+02:00

Click on the link below to see more nature related artworks.

nature photos

The most heart moving film

2010-05-08T22:03:00.000+02:00

Elegant Flower Photography - Tips On Compostion

2010-04-21T23:31:00.002+02:00

I have invited some Spring to my home and taken some shots of white blossom, playing with various backgrounds and with blurred parts of composition. The photo below is one of many I took yesterday. I usually use central focus with light and sharp part of an image in contrast to vague and blurred rest of chosen scene. I do it on purpose, as it is similar to our perception of reality. We can't see sharp the whole range of our vision all at once. It's impossible to see clearly everything around us by means of a single eye focus, thus my copositions are made this way. They reflect the way we see. If the whole surface of image would be sharp, equally lit, there would be highly possible that our eyes would wander and our attention would be distracted. The central focus I use makes a person looking at it invited to stop and enter the scene. This kind of composition, in my opinion, removes the mental line, the border or just the barrier between those who look at the image and the image itself.

More flower images at my print gallery

THE GOLDEN COMPASS -full movie (1/11)

2010-04-17T10:49:00.000+02:00

The Compass Movie - Official Trailer

2010-04-17T10:46:00.000+02:00

Oprah Winfrey - The Secret Movie

2010-04-15T23:16:00.001+02:00

Oprah Uses The Law of Attraction aka "The Secret"

2010-04-15T23:10:00.001+02:00

Wawel, nie Wawel ... Pod Rozwagę Kochani Rodacy

2010-04-15T22:50:00.005+02:00

Otrzymałam dzisiaj od koleżanki maila z petycją przeciwko ... wiadomo czemu. Przy okazji, koleżanka przez rok się nie odzywała do mnie, a tu nagle taki mail. Hmm, ciekawe. Tak sie składa, że ten czas żałoby narodowej zbiega się dokładnie z rocznicą mojej osobistej tragedii z przed 6 lat. Wspomnienia, pomimo upływu czasu, ciągle są żywe. I takie pozostana na zawsze. Postanowiłam podzielić się moją reakcją na przesłaną petycję w sprawie pochówku Prezydenta. Poniżej cytat mojej odpowiedzi do wspomnianej koleżanki i treśc przesłanej petycji. Przeczytaj najpierw petycję.

"Uważam, że pomysł chowania Prezydenta na Wawelu jest kompletnę pomyłką, ale pomysł walki z tym jest równie pozbawiony zdrowego rozsądku.

W sytuacji osobistej tragedii, jaką przeżywają najbliżsi po tragicznie zmarłych, ostanią rzeczą jaką normalnie czujący człowiek potrzebuje w tym czasie, jest robienie wokół tego szumu i jazgotu, ubolewania i płaczu obcych, którzy tak naprawdę użalają się nad sobą.

Kto tego nie przeżył, nie zrozumie nigdy.

Ale jest coś takiego jak empatia, choć niewiele osób zna to pojęcie.

A Polacy? ... , jak zawsze, więcej mówią niż myślą. Czy dla Zmarłych, to, gdzie ktoś jest pochowany ma tak istotne znaczenie?

Czy w ogóle należy zabiegać o pochówek w miejscach bardziej "honorowych"? Z mojego punktu widzenia, wszelkie tzw. miejsca zasłużonych, służą żyjącym, a nie zmarłym. No a w ogóle ludzie, którzy z natury są dobrzy, działają dla innych, bo po prostu jest to ich osobista cecha, że dają z siebie coś innym. Oni tego nie robią dla honorów. Czy Kościuszko, Poniatowski, Słowacki i inni niżej wymienieni (w petycji), robili to, co robili, dla honorów, czy w ogóle za życia ktoś ich traktował jak bohaterów narodowych? Ta refleksja przychodzi zawsze z czasem. ...?!

No a tak podsumowując, ci co teraz tak gorąco walczą o pielęgnowanie wartości narodowych, to są ci sami, którzy rozłożyli polską oświatę, gdzie od wielu lat nikt już nie uczy i nie pielęgnuje tradycji narodowych i patriotyzmu, gdzie wiele z tych wartości, które uosabiają Słowacki, Mickiewicz i inni wymienieni, zostały po prostu usunięte z programów nauczania, z tematów maturalnych.

Wystarczy zadać uczniom naszych szkół najprostsze pytania z najważniejszych dziejów naszej historii, i to wcale nie tej najdawniejszej, oni tego po prostu nie znają!!!

To właśnie ci obrońcy wartości narodowych doprowadzili do ich całkowitego zniszczenia i zrobili to znacznie skuteczniej niż nasi zaborcy.

To tyle, tytułem, refleksji."

Treść petycji poniżej

"Szanowni Panstwo,

Jest jeszcze czas! Kosciol, a wlasciwie arcybiskup krakowski, ktory jest gospodarzem katedry wawelskiej, ma prawo decydowac kto zostanie pochowany na terenie koscielnym, czy jest nim cmentarz czy budynek koscielny. W tym jednak przypadku arcybiskup krakowski jest ROWNIEZ Kustoszem Narodowego Panteonu, bo groby krolewskie na Wawelu sa wlasnie naszym panteonem, i w tym charakterze arcybiskup krakowski MUSI brać pod uwage nie tylko wole rodziny (ja tez chcialbym aby moi bliscy pochowali mnie na Wawelu), ale rowniez POWSZECHNIE uznane zaslugi zmarlego, JEGO WYJATKOWE ZASLUGI dla PANSTWA, i POWSZECHNA wole calego SPOLECZENSTWA aby tam wlasnie pochowac taka osobe. Mysle, ze w przypadku tragicznie zmarlego Pana Prezydenta Lecha Kaczynskiego, takiej POWSZECHNEJ WOLI SPOLECZENSTWA polskiego po prostu NIE MA!

Miejsce na Wawelu w naszej narodowej swiadomosci jest zarezerwowane TYLKO dla najwiekszych, tych ktorych zycie, ktorych praca dla Polski byly wybitne i ktorzy zasluzyli sobie na powszechny szacunek i uznanie. Takimi osobami w ostanich stuleciach byli Tadeusz Kosciuszko, Ksiaze Jozef Poniatowski, Adam Mickiewicz, Juliusz Slowacki, Pierwszy Marszalek Polski Jozef Pilsudski i general Wladyslaw Sikorski.

Z calym szacunkiem dla zmarlego Pana Prezydenta Lecha Kaczynskiego, trudno jest mowic o tej samej randze zaslug dla Polski. Tragiczna smierc w sluzbie nie jest jeszcze przepustka na Wawel. Mamy tego przyklady. Zamordowany przez endeckiego fanatyka Pierwszy Prezydent Rzeczypospolitej Gabriel Narutowicz pochowany zostal w katedrze warszawskiej, a nie na Wawelu. Rowniez zmarly w katastrofie pod Smolenskiem Przeydent Ryszard Kaczorowski nie ma byc pochowany na Wawelu, a w swiatyni Opatrzności Bożej w Warszawie.

Wydaje się, ze pomysl pochowania pary prezydenckiej na Wawelu ma czysto polityczny cel. Ma stworzyć legende na bazie której jedna formacja polityczna chce budować swa przyszlosc, ktora ma jej pozwolić siegnac ponownie po prezydencki palac, a w dalszej perspektywie rowniez po kolejne miejsce na Wawelu.

Jest jeszcze czas by zaapelowac do calego spoleczenstwa o sprzeciw. O zwrocenie sie do arcybiskupa krakowskiego, do rodziny zmarlego, o nie wykorzystywanie tej ogolnopolskiej tragedii do walki politycznej. Miejsce pochowku prezydenckiej pary jest w stolicy. W Warszawie, na cmentarzu wojskowym na Powazkach, albo jesli tak zechce arcybiskup warszawski, w katedrze warszawskiej, obok pochowanego tam, tragicznie zmarlego, Prezydenta Narutowicza."

PS. Nazwiska autora nie przytaczam, ponieważ przyjął pod rozwagę moje refleksje, za co mam do niego duży szacunek.

Art Photography With A Spiritual Growth Touch

2010-04-09T22:24:00.001+02:00

Taking this photo of tulips made me recall some things I used to teach my, so called, difficult students when I worked as a teacher. The young people with family, school and social problems often asked me to explain them, why adults are so difficult to live with them, why they make life so hard. And, at that time (it was some 5 years ago) I used to tell my students that changing the whole world or even at least their troublesome relatives is impossible and the only thing they can change in this world are they themselves. Later on, I participated in spiritual growth workshops devoted to meditation and Vedic Art and then I did two Reiki courses, which made such a profound impact on me and my life that now I am totally different person, more conscious, happier, living without fear and what's more important, with great passion and creativity:)

But what all this have in common with the photo below? Well ... a lot. The shot invisibles my philosophy of changing attitude toward problems in life. Teaching my art students the laws of perspective and showing 3D in 2-dimensional art, I have always explained them that changing the point from which we are looking at nature, either from a very high point (like birds) or very low (like, lets say, frogs) radically changes the way we perceive the world. In a broader, more spiritual sense, this rule can be applied to life. If your current life, from the point you are here, is a crap, a disaster or anything like this, you can just shift the point of observation. Then, from new perspective, everything looks different, like my tulips below:)

The Beauty Is Where Nobody Sees It

2010-03-29T14:37:00.001+02:00

Seemingly, everone knows that true beauty is the question of inner quality rather than outward features. But in reality, we all, like children, get excited while looking at obvious beauty of flowers or sunsets. Nothing strange, as they are really awesome, stunning, gorgeus. Yet, it's a pity that so few of us is able to notice hidden beauty in ordinary things. For me, the whole natural world has a lot of treasures to offer us. It depends on our sensivity and awareness, whether we are open to take the gift. The photos below I have chosen to show what I am writing about. Orchids invisible undoubtedly the outward beauty, while the pansies on the right? Well, they are nice (I presonally like them very much) but believe me, the place I have seen them and taken the photo was so common, ordinary, not to say dirty. The humble flowers tried to fight for their best life. They both have their own dignity.

The Best Univeristy in the World

2010-03-14T15:30:00.001+01:00

Delicate - Danuta Antas Photography

Doing housework always makes me philosopihical. It is the right time to lead a wise conversation with my own thoughts about most vital issues. Today, while washing up I realized that life is the best univeristy (not a break-through discovery) in the world, where only the strongest and most passionate pass exams with highest grades. As far as I remember, I have been learning all my life. Each experience, either a significant or a minor one, brought a one step-up-to-wisdom touch to me. And following Wayne Dyer's quotations that "Heaven on Earth is a choice you must make, not a place you must find," I try everyday to create my own heaven. Since I left behind my full-time teaching job and focus on my art work development, I truly experience heaven on earth. It doesn't mean that everything goes smoothly and that I lead a carefree life. But occuring problems belong to physical world domain, while spiritual and emotional part of me is perfectly balanced, peacuful, happy. I wish all people could experience such unity with the eternal I feel. Yet, this wonderful state of bliss is not a gift from fate. It is what I have worked on for more than 20 years. I try to share my experience with others via my art, photography, poetry (so far, in Polish only) and life coaching (I help my friends, colleagues, mates and acquintances).
The flower photo is my gift of spiritual peace for all to visit this blog.

Why texture in visual art matters so much?

2010-03-10T13:17:00.009+01:00

Basic Art Concepts - Texture

The importance of texture in visual arts is closely connected with so called "learning styles". But what learning styles have in common with art? It is a term used in education, isn't it? Yes, but it may have a much broader meaning, referring to the styles in which people "learn" or perceive the world, things, events and so on. Basically, we use 5 senses (SIGHT, HEARING, TOUCH, SMELL and TASTE) to get information from outside world. Seemingly, the most important seems "sight". Majority of people claims to be visuals. There is a lot of true in it. But, in fact most visuals use also another sense with equal importance to process and store information. And those, who use touch to remember new information are also those who are emotional and they tend to "translate" life experience by means of feelings. That is why texture is so important. It evokes feelings and feelings we, humans, remember longest than any other information. After many years, we may not remember the face of a person we met once, but we surely will remember who we felt with him/her.

"Touch" Art Photo by Danuta Antas

Basic Art Concepts - Colour Relativity

2010-02-09T14:47:00.001+01:00

Colour relativity

The concept of colour in art is one of the most important, yet undefinied issues; and it is as vast as the ocean is. This post is devoted only to one aspect of colour. I mean colour relativity. Not many people are aware of the fact that colours are very unstable. They change their value in relation to surrounding colours, so if you are going to make a colour picture, drawing, photo, painting or just to decorate your house, you must take the issue into account.

The image below shows how yellow colour changes visually, when placed on various, especially opposite colour backgrounds. It seems that yellow squares used here are of different quality, but they are exactly the same squares, just in a different surrounding. The best way to see the difference, is to look at the image from greater distance and to close slightly your eyes so that the shapes blurred a little. Colour changes conditioned by its environment can be predicted, as there are some, clearly defined rules. The shade of colour changes towards the opposite colour to the background. So, the opposite to green is red, and the yellow placed on green background seems to be warmer shade than the other one.

Yellow colour relativity conditioned by different backgrounds.

International Art Project

2010-01-19T22:29:00.004+01:00

deArte Gallery is an on-line gallery I established in January, 2010. It's my "newly born child". The primary aim of this gallery is to create an elite or select group of artists from around the world, the artists whose common, yet outstanding feature is art made with creativity, passion, love and spirit. The art that spreads positive attitude to widely understood nature, to life, to aesthetic as well as to moral values. deARte Gallery is going to select these invalubale art from the ocean of works that are created on other principles.

The idea behind deArte Gallery project is to promote such artists, both, professionals and amateurs, and their art works by creating a special space on the Internet for them. Additionally, artists and visitors who believe in the same, positive values, can make their voice heard in the world and share their opinions via deArte Gallery Blog.

www.deartegallery.com

Winter images

2010-01-18T19:37:00.001+01:00

This year January in Poland is full of snow, like it used to be some 20 years earlier, before global warming and climate changes. I take opportunity of that weather and, while walking with my dogs, take photos of beautiful winter scenery. The above images is my latest work. More photos of winter landscape you can find on my on-line gallery.

How to write a catchy profile on a social network website .

2010-01-18T19:29:00.003+01:00

Some reflections on writing a social network profile.

One of the most difficult tasks I had to tacle in my life was writing my own profile on one of a social networks. I was then in a darker or rather darkest period of my life, lonely, lost, my faith in humanity and moral values collapsed after dramatic events in my family. I looked desperately for frends, for love ... and for purpose to live. Suddenly, a 20-year younger friend of mine, persuaded me to join a social network, a very popular one in my country at that time. In fact it was a sort of making friends/dating network. It is strange, as we think we know ourselves perfectly well. But, when it comes to writing your public profile or biography or any staff like this, it turns out that we come across a real problems. At least I had, a lot of them. It came out that I didn't know how to write in a few sentences, what is important to me, and what kind of person I am, what I really like and what matters to me. Each sentence seemed so silly and awkward. Nothing I wrote apeared to be right. No words seemed to mirror a fracture of my personality. After several hours of this arduous task I had my profile info ready but I still felt it was not what I expected to be. No wonder that I didn't make friends with anybody then. A week later I went on a holiday. I had to spend nine days on a self-conscious development workshops devoted to Art based on Hindu philosophy, meditation and creativity. Wow! It was a great time of awakening to me or, better, it was a time of finding a real me. I came back to my city, totaly transformed, which was clearly visible to everybody who knew me before. But people thought my change was a result of falling in love and nobody believed me when I told I fell in love, but ... with life.

It was a time of miracles. My intuition sharpened after a time of meditation and one evening, it "told" me to write completely new profile on the social network. This time I wrote a short notice about me within a few minutes, then removed my photo, sent a short message to one person I noticed on this website previously, turned on my computer and went to sleep (it was late night). Next morning I found an e-mail from that person in my e-mail box. And we met, soon after becoming best friends and life partners. It was the beginning of much better part of my life.

I realized that writing a best public profile of yours requires, above all, honesty towards youself.

Wishing you all the best:)
D.

Poland - my country

2010-01-10T02:14:00.002+01:00

The colours of Poland

Intriguing light effects - part 2

2010-01-08T21:40:00.002+01:00

Playing with light while working on an artwork has always been of major importance to me. Why? Because so much depends on light, how we perceive reality, how we remember the past, how we feel. Even without professional knowledge of light managing, everyone uses various light effects intuitively and what's more important, often correctly. Inviting a girl on a first date, you surely don't look for bright-lit places, and spending nice evening in a restaurant, you feel more comfortable in a dim light rather than in a sharp-lit room. Different occassions need different light to create special moods. Being aware of that, artists's priority is to structure image well by means of light.

The two images below show almost the same scene. They both were taken at the same time of the day and the only thing changed is light, but the outcome is totaly different. The building in picture on the left is hidden as if in a sky, whereas on the right photo it is emphasised by white, well-lit wall contrasting with darker sky. Thus, minor change produces impressive results.

Chełmo - a Polish Town

Chełmo is a Polish old, historic town full of medieval monumets, declared to be a town of " fallen in love". Valentine's Day is celebrated here in a spectacular way.

Intriguing light effects - part 1

2010-01-07T23:37:00.010+01:00

Like artist on stage
I am passionate about light, both in art and in nature. Whenever I am on a walk with my dogs in wood, I am looking for a small pieces of landscape where light plays with shades. Such places always catch my attention, making an ordinary things really intriguing. A photo below, this time a plant standing by the window in a room. It shows my fascination with light. The role of light in visual images I can compare with the role it plays in focusing the audience attention on a solo singer standing on stage. The plant on my photo is like this singer.

Juxtaposition of light and shade in a visual art is the clue for intriguing artwork. It is typical of human eye to focus on contrasts, no matter what kind of differences we mean.

Light as a tool for composition

2010-01-06T01:43:00.005+01:00

One of the best ways to check whether your image is well-biult, is turning it to monochromatic scale. It shows perfectly if there are some inconsistency in your arrangement.

Language of Art - key concepts

2010-01-04T12:59:00.003+01:00

Wisdom makes peace, stupidity makes war.

Whether you are new to Arts or you are professional artist, it is important to understand and create your own art language. Well, I sometimes call it "handwriting of visual art". Creating a visual image is like writing; it serves to pass on messages; it serves for communication. Being a child, you had to learn each single letter and then to learn to put them together to make words, and sentences and so on... But letters were starting point. And similar case is with visual Arts. They too, have their own "letters". Luckily or not, there are much fewer of them neccesary for visual communication. What are they?

Basically it is 7 MAIN ART ISSUES to learn and to understand their specific features to be able to start visual communication. They are LIGHT, COLOUR, TEXTURE, LINE, 3-D SOLID, PERSPECTIVE, MOVEMENT. If you explore and understand the specific nature of each, then you have to learn to arrange these "visual letters" to create your own interpretation of reality. Then you are prepared to be, either an artist or a conscious art reader.

Finally, there is a view/opinion that people see as much as they know. In other words, the more you know about the world, the more you perceive and understand. The more you understand, the more tolerant you are. Wisdom makes peace, stupidity makes war. Choose one for you...

Morning light

2010-01-03T22:30:00.007+01:00

DEA Fine Art Photo Gallery

Whenever I have opportunity to explore light in nature, I usually look for situations when the sun is in front of me but it is hidden behind leaves. I love depicting such moments. I feel some mystery in the air then.