tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25116284203994308692024-08-28T03:32:48.119-07:00Landscape PaintingA landscape painters is a sort of magician who can create a whole world on a piece of flat canvas. Made of paint and hows of the various aspects of landscape painting: angles and consequent values, aerial and linear perspective, painting of trees, and emotional.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger338125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2511628420399430869.post-26585961821508544322012-12-30T15:45:00.000-08:002012-12-30T15:45:00.507-08:00DesignNational Public Radio can always be guaranteed to provide interesting listening on the most diverse of subjects. This afternoon, in "All Things Considered", there was a piece about the "Behind-the-Scenes Partnership at Apple" between CEO Steve Jobs and head designer, Englishman Jonathan Ive. Apparently, ever since Steve Jobs discovered Ive working in a basement amidst a welter of creative Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2511628420399430869.post-59741847316740121382012-12-29T18:26:00.000-08:002012-12-29T18:26:00.694-08:00Art and PlayIt is the time of year when we all hear murmurs of New Year resolutions that we should be thinking about.... in the knowledge that most of the good resolutions don't last very long after January 1st has passed.Nonetheless, one resolution that I think would be good for me to try and adhere to is keeping a playful and enquiring optic about making art. Perhaps almost the attitude of "let's just Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2511628420399430869.post-75335375271496979012012-12-28T19:52:00.000-08:002012-12-28T19:52:00.743-08:00PlayAs the old year wanes and there are these few final days during which to think about the incoming New Year, I suddenly remembered a little statment that I had caught during the fascinating PBS film, A Murder of Crows. It seems something important to remember - for me, at least - as 2012 dawns."Play allows the mind to develop and thus the crows become more creative." I think that pertains to us Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2511628420399430869.post-28247747140788056722012-12-27T16:14:00.000-08:002012-12-27T16:14:00.131-08:00Creative viewing Before the glory of Christmas cactus flowers fades on my different Schlumbergera, I have been drawing them in silverpoint, especially the delicate white-flowered ones, (like this one photographed by Cate and posted on her entertaining blog at Hither and Yarn.) As I gazed at the elegant cactus flowers, I could not help remembering a quote I found some time ago by Monet. He said, "To see, we must Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2511628420399430869.post-48827080888489760672012-12-25T08:15:00.000-08:002012-12-25T08:15:00.137-08:00The Sistine ChapelBy way of sending good wishes for a wonderful day today to all my friends, I thought I would add a link sent to me that is amazing in its beauty and technological wonder as well. It is views of the Sistine Chapel that none of us would really have, in today's crowded world, if we were physically craning our necks to see Michelangelo's masterpieces above.Go to the Sistine Chapel. To view every partUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2511628420399430869.post-51000665978761121382012-12-24T17:14:00.000-08:002012-12-24T17:14:00.561-08:00Christmastime BeautyAs a small child growing up in East Africa, on the Equator, Christmas caused me considerable perplexity because all the traditional Yule time images were of snow clad lands, twinkling lights, tall fir trees clad in decorations. None of that was believable really because the tropical world was brilliant, un-winterlike and generally very different. Churches were distant, friends as well, and the Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2511628420399430869.post-62693626260594148492012-12-24T16:38:00.000-08:002012-12-24T16:38:00.971-08:00Art as Magic GlueChristmas Eve is one of those moments in the calendar when each of us stops and thinks of family and friends, an important milepost as each year turns to a new one. As I write holiday messages and receive lovely cards of greeting, I am struck ever more forcibly by the realisation that art has been the magic which has created so many of these friendships.If one ever doubted the universality of theUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2511628420399430869.post-41019900649309646582012-12-23T19:07:00.000-08:002012-12-23T19:07:00.489-08:00HP Computer woes for an ArtistWhen an computer crashes, I am reminded saliently and uncomfortably of how much I depend on my office computer and laptop to conduct my art business. Alas, the beauteous world of salt marshes and surging tidal creeks is not the best place to find competent people to help one out - in fact, quite the contrary, and it seems that many local computer repair people are the heirs to the Devonshire Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2511628420399430869.post-40695405553450949912012-12-23T16:28:00.000-08:002012-12-23T16:28:00.595-08:00Black in ArtI remember being firmly told, when I was being taught how to paint in watercolours at school, that black was not something to use straight out of a tube. You achieved a huge spectrum of blacks by mixing other colours, such as reds and greens. Along the way, when learning of oil painters, there seemed to be some who historically used black in generous amounts, while others avoided its use in theirUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2511628420399430869.post-88681797992209198622012-12-20T16:48:00.000-08:002012-12-20T16:48:00.781-08:00Frames - more on their historyI was poking about on the Web to learn more about the history of frames, and for anyone who is interested, there is a wonderful website done by Paul Mitchell, an antique and reproduction frame-maker and conservator of paintings in the UK. Entitled "A short history of the Frame", it makes for concise and fascinating reading for anyone who is interested in how a frame can enhance (as well as Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2511628420399430869.post-81479828480435932152012-12-20T15:43:00.000-08:002012-12-20T15:43:00.558-08:00More on frames for artBack on 20th September, I was blogging about framing my art. I mentioned the marvellous riches of historical frames in various museums, especially in the Budapest Fine Arts Museum.Now I read of a special exhibition of art frames going on display at the Alte Pinakothek in Munich from the Art Daily brief from 19th December. Many years ago, when I spent hours of marvelling at art in the august Alta Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2511628420399430869.post-6410855050977648942012-12-19T19:45:00.000-08:002012-12-19T19:45:00.868-08:00Apres CopenhagenSadly, the results of Copenhagen do not surprise - the interests of too many powerful industries seem to take precedence over the future health of many parts of our world. I wonder what Goethe would say about such situations. He remarked once, "Science and art belong to the whole world and before them vanish the barriers of nationality."I am not sure that Copenhagen bore out the first part of hisUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2511628420399430869.post-19182846530182231092012-12-19T15:55:00.000-08:002012-12-19T15:55:00.348-08:00CuriosityOne of the aspects of the Telfair Museums' exhibition, Modern Masters. American Abstraction at Midcentury, that I found very stimulating was the quotes from each artist on the labels beside their paintings or sculpture. They were not only well-chosen, but in of themselves, they are thought-provoking and insightful.An example of these quotes is one that accompanies the painting, Sea Image, (Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2511628420399430869.post-40232216482740148532012-12-19T13:21:00.000-08:002012-12-19T13:21:00.532-08:00Simplicity in Art It is thought-provoking for every artist to see Albrecht Durer's statement that "Simplicity is the greatest adornment of art". In some ways, it is a bit ironic for Durer was perfectly capable of making complex, crowded works of art, especially his woodcuts.Nonetheless, the image that of course comes first to mind when I read his remark is his super-famous Hands of an Apostle, a grey and white Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2511628420399430869.post-50312406678630783832012-12-18T19:23:00.000-08:002012-12-18T19:23:00.509-08:00When the weather gods decree otherwise!There are definitely times when plein air yields to the weather gods - my eagerly anticipated sojourn on Sapelo Island is off, victim of the steady downpours we have all been - or will be - experiencing along the Atlantic coast. Ah well! Maybe in January...Meanwhile, in between battling with computers to prepare art exhibition proposals (when the main computer gives up the ghost, courtesy of Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2511628420399430869.post-3945415517605190552012-12-16T19:10:00.000-08:002012-12-16T19:10:00.803-08:00"Discovering the World"Working through the ever-extending list of daily chores that take one away from creating art makes me think often of Sisyphus rolling his boulder up the hill, an exercice in frustration. However, I am due to spend a weekend as Artist in Residence, with my wonderful artist friend, Marjett Schille, on Sapelo Island, courtesy of the Sapelo Island National Estuarine Research Reserve staff. Despite Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2511628420399430869.post-88162522308705894372012-12-15T17:02:00.000-08:002012-12-15T17:02:00.503-08:00"No duality, everthing is nature"There is a wide-ranging and fascinating exhibition currently on show at Savannah's Telfair Museums, at the Jepson Center, entitled Modern Masters. American Abstraction at Midcentury". With works from the Smithsonian American Art Museum, the explosive diversity of art made during the mid-20th century in America is celebrated with forty-three key paintings and sculptures. The exhibition is Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2511628420399430869.post-36971476334794740982012-12-15T16:58:00.000-08:002012-12-15T16:58:00.077-08:00Shipping art for a showFor every artist who is having a show, there comes the moment of having to deal with packing and shipping the artwork. If luck is with one, the museum will pick up the work and arrange all the logistics - a delight. But more often than not, things are not so easy.Bubble paper - with thinner and thinner bubbles that pop more easily, it seems, these days - is a first priority for me, and then come Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2511628420399430869.post-81287476718117999122012-12-15T16:33:00.000-08:002012-12-15T16:33:00.240-08:00Artists' AntennaeWhile listening to the BBC World Service on the radio today, I heard an interesting interview on The Strand programme with South African composer Kevin Volans. He was discussing the multiple influences on him and sources of inspiration for his compositions.He made the remark that a musician needs to have his ears open at all times to all the sounds around him, because he is thus "fed" and Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2511628420399430869.post-62704768279947884972012-12-14T19:36:00.000-08:002012-12-14T19:36:00.641-08:00Jigsaw puzzles and artI was reading a thought-provoking article in a copy of The Spectator (21st November, 2009) by Matthew Parris today about jigsaw puzzles and religion, a train of thought induced by hearing a talk by Dame Margaret Drabble on her book about her aunt and jigsaw puzzles. This led me in rather a different direction, I suppose because of being an artist.Dame Margaret advised starting to do a jigsaw Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2511628420399430869.post-60070496560778728522012-12-12T17:51:00.000-08:002012-12-12T17:51:00.382-08:00Leonora CarringtonA really wonderful book on Leonora Carrington has just helped me fill in all sorts of blanks in my knowledge about this high-voltage Surrealist painter, who died earlier this year at the age of 94. The book, in Spanish, is simply entitled "Leonora", in the form of a novel, but clearly hewing very close to reality, because the authoress, Elena Poniatowska, knew Leonora well in Mexico City.A rebel Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2511628420399430869.post-27754644279502164002012-12-12T17:33:00.000-08:002012-12-12T17:33:00.256-08:00Artists and CopenhagenAs I listen to the complex issues and concerns that the thousands of climate change delegates are grappling with at the on-going Copenhagen Conference, I keep thinking of all the art that has been done over the past centuries that is, in essence, a record of the world as we have known it.From John James Audubon, with his masterful opus recording America's bird life, to the myriad wonderful Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2511628420399430869.post-85428984232603948812012-12-10T18:38:00.000-08:002012-12-10T18:38:00.666-08:00Back to BasicsReading an article in this month's Art + Auction about "Artists - Back to the future" about a recently-noted trend of artists and their collectors returning to simpler, more personally-executed and handcrafted creations, I was struck by the statement: " Just because there is a simplicity in means does not mean the process or results will be simple. ... It's this question of how do we get back to Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2511628420399430869.post-1827119676962689802012-12-08T18:28:00.000-08:002012-12-08T18:28:00.433-08:00Art and Oxygen...Yesterday, I was listening to a doctor talk about the value of oxygen for someone who is suffering from heart problems and resultant breathing difficulties, even if it is just creating a "bubble" of enriched oxygen around the mouth and nose of the patient. Better breathing, a heart that feels more functional and thus an increased feeling of well-being... a simple, but important path to an Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2511628420399430869.post-14038719364160311652012-12-07T18:40:00.000-08:002012-12-07T18:40:00.213-08:00The Highs and Lows of ArtistsI have a suspicion that every artist, writer and other creative person knows that there is an inevitable pattern to life. By pattern, I mean that there is an excitement, almost euphoria, when there is an event to prepare, such as an art exhibition. Then, after everything is over, there is a let-down, a flatness and almost, sometimes, a short depression, before life reverts to a more even Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0