Author: humoringthegoddess

I am a writer of fantasy fiction that often surrounds middle-aged women. I am a married mother of two and granny to three, a BoHo Chic kinda gal. I am recently retired and busier than when I worked 9-5. But writing and blogging is my main game.

Feeling Like a Teenager

~ humoringthegoddess ~ 12 Comments
Howie Green

Sometimes I feel that the older I get, the more childlike I get.

I don’t mean the innocent toddler version — more like the carefree high school teenager. The one who doesn’t quite do everything they’re supposed to do. The ones who’d rather play and talk to their friends than do anything coherent like Math or chores.

I have the same amount of responsibility I had when I was young — not so much as a teenager, but as a young adult. Rent, groceries, bills — responsibility out the gazoo.

I then got married and had children, settled down and played the part of mother and wife and employee. I think I did fairly well.

Now that I’m way past my 20s and 30s I feel like being irresponsible again.

Being irresponsible is different for everyone. For some it’s meat on Friday or splurging on Ferrero Rocher candies. Sometimes it’s watching B horror movies or blasting rock and roll on a Wednesday night.

Now that I’m 73 I’m trying to fit into the hole of “Who’s going to care anyway?”

As long as I don’t set the house on fire or accidentally dial 9-1-1, what does it matter if I have pancakes for dinner or eat fruit out of the can? Does it matter if I watch Hellraiser or Downton Abbey? Does it matter if I have an extra glass of wine or a peanut butter and jelly sandwich before I go to bed?

All my life I’ve followed the rules. Got to work on time, didn’t do drugs, took my kids to church. Raised my boys. That turned into spending time with Grandkids.

Now that I’m in my last third of life on this plane I feel I deserve to go with my mental flow. Even if the mental flow is zigzaggy a lot of the time.

I enjoy reading about lucid dreaming and watching shows on ancient Romans and taking ashwagandha. I like having a glass of Baileys at 3:00 and not have to worry about driving home or taking care of my children. I love watching film-noir black and whites and jamming to Motley Crue. I love making culinary concoctions only I enjoy, and coloring mandalas that make me dizzy.

I suppose I’ve always been this wild and restless fae all my life — it’s only now that I can live that life without a lot of second guessing.

Is this a prelude to Alzheimer’s? Of senility? And is there anything wrong with that?

I hope that if living a crooked life paves my way to a positive dream world on my way out, I’ve lived a good life.

And had a good imagination.

How about you? What semi-wild things are you embracing these days?

 

 

Sunday Evening Art Gallery — Cohn-Stone

~ humoringthegoddess ~ 11 Comments

Cohn-Stone‘s award-winning and widely collected works are inspired by natural forms of leaves, fruit, flowers, birds, the human figure, creatures of the sea and the patterns of nature.

Michael Cohn graduated from UC Berkeley where he studied glass art in the 1970’s with Marvin Lipofsky, Dale Chihuly and Richard Marquis during the early days of the glass studio movement.

 Molly Stone also graduated from UC Berkeley, and her hot glass experience began at Pilchuck Glass School in 1977 where Dale Chihuly was her first glass instructor.

Both artists create their individually designed and sculpted blown glass art pieces which are larger than life.Nature, inspiration, technical mastery and science come together at the hands of these accomplished artists who create transcendent works of glass that inspire collectors, museums and galleries around the world.

Cohn and Stone derive satisfaction in the creation of high quality decorative and/or sculptural glasswork as well as in the design and construction of the furnaces, ovens and other equipment which make the work possible.

More of Cohn and Stone’s wonderful blown glass can be found at http://cohnstone.com/.

 

 

 

Looking Back — Faces, Part Two

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The face is the perfect canvas for artists — and, I imagine, the hardest to get right. Every muscle can perform dozens of expressions with just one movement. A world of emotions in one place.

It has been a while since I shared Faces, Part One with you — let’s see what Faces galleries bring us this morning!

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Alexa Meade 

 

 

Kalman Aron

 

Vanessa Davis

 

 

Margaret Keane

 

 

Beatriz Hidalgo de la Garza

 

Dasil (David Silva)

 

Luke Nugent

 

William Utermohlen

 

 

Albrecht Dürer

 

Salman Khoshroo

 

 

Kip Omolade

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sunday Evening Art Gallery — Peter Max

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Peter Max (born Peter Max Finkelstein -1937) is a German-American artist known for using bright colors in his work.

After immigrating to the United States in 1953, Max continued his artistic pursuits by enrolling at the Art Students League in New York City.

Works by Max are associated with the visual arts and culture of the 1960s, particularly psychedelic art and pop art.

Max’s diverse cultural experiences, ranging from his Jewish heritage to his exposure to Chinese and Buddhist art, laid the foundation for his unique artistic vision. 

An instant media sensation when he made his debut in the 1960s as the go-to artist for the leading rock bands in the heyday of the Woodstock era, Max’s career became ever more public over the decades.

Max’s journey as an artist reflects a lifelong dedication to pushing artistic boundaries and capturing the essence of the ever-evolving cultural landscape.

Through his vibrant paintings and iconic artwork, he has created a visual language that transcends time and continues to captivate audiences worldwide.

More of Peter Max‘s extraordinary artwork can be found at https://petermax.com//

 

 

 

 

             

Faerie Paths — Faeries

~ humoringthegoddess ~ 5 Comments

Brian Froud

Faeries are seen through the heart, not through the eyes. Remember that faeries inhabit the interior of the earth and the interior of all things, so look, in the first place, in the interior of yourself.

~ Brian Froud

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In Substitution

~ humoringthegoddess ~ 11 Comments

Here in the Midwest we are preparing for -40 degree windchills tonight into tomorrow. I am planning on keeping the bird feeders full, throw out some carrots or celery to boot, and fluff dry my blankets for my vigil upon my livingroom sofa.

Pray you all do as well.

In the meantime, come dream with me for warmer times…..

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Sunday Evening Art Gallery — Anne French

~ humoringthegoddess ~ 9 Comments

Annie French (1872 –1965) was a Scottish painter, engraver, illustrator, and designer.French studied at Glasgow School of Art (GSA), from 1886-89, under the influential teacher Francis Newberry.Known as one of the Glasgow Girls (a group of women artists and designers active in Glasgow at the turn of the twentieth century), French was well known as a watercolorist, illustrator, designer and teacher.The artist excelled as an illustrator and developed an exquisite linear technique.Influenced by both Art Nouveau and the Pre-Raphaelites, French’s delicate, patterned style worked well for the illustration of fairy tales and poems.Her drawings are often quite small in scale, and are characterized by both an intricacy of composition and a delicacy of handling.She produced children’s book illustrations, designs for greeting cards (for which she was perhaps best known in her lifetime), and independent compositions in watercolor on vellum.More of Anne French’s exquisite artworks can be found at https://www.stephenongpin.com/artist/236593/annie-french.

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Do I Like Every Art Gallery I Post?

~ humoringthegoddess ~ 11 Comments

 

from the Museum of Bad Art

An interesting thought came to mind this morning as I replied to a comment over in my Gallery.

My acquaintance stated she didn’t like the art I posted. Which is fair. Which got me thinking —

Do I like the art in every gallery I post?

Almost every time I would answer yes. Art is such a big world that one can’t help but be impressed by its variations.

My Sunday Evening Art Gallery is a little different than many, though, for it’s supposed to be “unique” art. Things the viewing public has never seen before. I don’t mean such artists as Renoir or Charles L. Schulz — most everyone has heard and seen their work. 

My artists are often a bit more obscure. As you can see from my “Looking Back” galleries, some art defines categorization. It’s just lovely but different.

Sometimes it’s not even lovely.

So many artists are similar in their style that I sometimes think I’ve already highlighted their work. While variations of style are still unique onto themselves, I try and find work that is just … different. Every once in a while I’ll choose an artist whose work is, upon reflection or inspection, more of a past time dalliance than a true calling.

Undoubtedly that’s where my own art fall in.

But I appreciate it so much when someone responds that they don’t get it or don’t like it just as much as when they fall in love with it.

Art is supposed to hit you that way.

Don’t ever hold back. Allow yourself to feel something.

Even if now and then the feeling is “ehhhh…”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sunday Evening Art Gallery — Sidney Hutter

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Sidney Hutter designs and fabricates original, sculptural glass vessels from his Newton, Massachusetts studio.Hutter has developed a unique design style, influenced and cultivated from his passion for art and architecture and melded with an interest in the commercial glass and adhesive technology industries.Using commercial plate glass, adhesives that react to ultraviolet light, and vibrant pigments, the artist  creates mesmerizing sculptures that respond to light and movement.

With a combined use of rough or highly polished glass surfaces, along with specialized pigmented adhesives, Hutter creates three-dimensional sculptural objects in which the intersection of form, glass, color and light unite to create works of art with an amazing and ever-changing spectrum of color, reflection, and refraction.Each piece is created using sophisticated and refined processes for cutting, polishing and laminating commercially available plate glass.Hutter’s interest in glass, ultraviolet light and adhesive technology, and pigment applications have taken him around the country, attending conferences and researching the latest advancements in those fields.

“It is both exciting and humbling when a viewer steps up to a piece and says, ‘Wow, I have never seen anything like this before’.”  the artist shares. 

More of Sidney Hutter’s marvelous glassworks can be found at https://www.sidneyhutter.com/

 

 

 

 

Faerie Paths — Time

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Every day is lost in which we do not learn something useful. Man has no nobler or more valuable possession than time.

~Thomas Jefferson

 

 

 

Looking Back — Landscapes, Part Two

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It has been too long since we took a trip back through the Galleries and peeked at the beautiful Landscapes found there.

Why not come and take a stroll with me and see for yourself?

 

Robert Finale

 

 

Ellie Davies

 

Eiffel Tower

 

 

Caspar David Friedrich

 

 

The Woods

 

 

Alexander Young (AY) Jackson

 

 

Valerio D’Ospina

 

 

Martin Marcisovsky

 

 

Santiago Rusiñol i Prats

 

 

 

Sunday Evening Art Gallery — Charles Sequevya Loloma

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Charles Sequevya Loloma (January 7, 1921 — June 9, 1991) was a Hopi Native American artist known for his jewelry.A highly influential Native American jeweler during the 20th century, Loloma popularized use of gold and gemstones not previously used in Hopi jewelry.Loloma was a leader in modern Native jewelry design whose innovations made him the most famous and widely collected Indian jeweler of all time.  He was born near Hotevilla on Hopi’s Third Mesa and attended Hopi High School where Fred Kabotie led the art program.
In 1949 he received a fellowship from the Whitney Foundation to study Hopi ceramics, and in 1954 he moved to Arizona and opened a ceramics studio in Lloyd Kiva New’s Kiva Crafts Center in Scottsdale.

Loloma started making jewelry around 1955 and gradually abandoned his Lolomaware line of pottery. By the 1960s he had earned an international reputation for innovative jewelry using sandcasting, fabricated silver or gold, and a variety of stones and other materials including ironwood and fossilized bone and ivory.Loloma used unconventional materials like sugilite, lapis, ivory, gold, pearls, diamonds, and even exotic woods.With the founding of the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe in 1962 came the realization of a long-time dream of building a school directed toward helping Indian students find an individual expression of their cultures through the arts.More of  Charles Sequevya Loloma’s jewelry can be found at https://wheelwright.org/publication/loloma-beauty-is-his-name/.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 





Faerie Paths — Music

~ humoringthegoddess ~ 6 Comments

 

 

 

Music is the wine which inspires one to new generative processes, and I am Bacchus who presses out this glorious wine for mankind and makes them spiritually drunken.

~ Ludwig van Beethoven

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Same-O Same-O

~ humoringthegoddess ~ 24 Comments

Here I am in January, talking the same &hit I’ve been talking for the past 30 years.

Gotta lose some weight. Gotta get some more energy. Gotta Gotta Gotta.

This has been the same sing song for most of my life. As age has crept up on me, so have the pounds, the ticks and twicks of being female and being human.

I get so tired of listening to myself.

But something feels different this time around. I’m not as flippant about losing weight. Not as smarmy I-can-do-it as I used to be.

This year feels more serious than those of the past.

I realize that deep down inside I want to go to my grandkids’ graduations and weddings. I want to visit Ireland and go back and have a birthday dinner on the top of the Eiffel Tower and walk in the Pacific Ocean. I want to be able to fit in cute summer dresses and not look like a Telletubbie in my swimsuit come Disneyworld in April.

And that I can’t do that comfortably if I don’t make an effort to get rid of the mental and physical burden of all these extra pounds.

I’m not talking miracle weight loss here. Ten pounds could make a difference in how I feel about the world — and myself.

I know many many friends who have gone the GLP1 route, finally having come across something that works for them. And I’m happy for them. I don’t have the money for weight loss shots, and I’m not sure I’d want to go that way if I could.

I want to do this the old fashioned way. Stop eating chips and platefuls of pasta and drinking sugared drinks like I’ve been wandering through the desert for days. I want to stop making excuses for bad choices.

I really need to do this for me.

Viruses and cancer and broken limbs and heart attacks always dance around people of my age. Life is finite. Yet somewhere in this finite future there has to be a way to prolong the inevitable. A way to work on that which can be worked on and leave the rest to chance.

And this time I think it’s going to work.

I know at least half of you reading this this morning has set similar goals this cold January morning (or warm if you’re on the other side). I know many of you have started, fallen, and failed.

But there’s something to be said about trying one more time. For YOU. No matter if it’s quitting smoking or losing 10 pounds or finding a way to deal with your OCD or ADHD, you always have the chance to start again today. One step at a time.

Wishing you all a successful New Year’s resolution, or, if you’re like me, a successful day.

One day at a time.

Sunday Evening Art Gallery — Anne Fisher

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Anne Fisher is an Australian visual artist/community artist.Fisher studied sculpture at Canberra School of Art and the Victorian
College of the Arts, and has taught people of all ages in different institutions and community workshops.The artist started her “Eat with an Artist” WordPress blog in 2019, creating over 2,500 posts of still life photographs she calls “playful interpretations” of classical works.Fisher combines images that relate to a creative person (i.e. a sculptor, a songwriter, an architect, a writer) with a picture of them or their artwork or a scene they may have created in their writing, adding in a reference to a food or drink.She reads references to foods in biographies, poetry, interviews and some cookbooks specifically based on the favorite recipes of the visual artists.There is powerful social commentary in writing, art, music, and design, and Fisher sees her photographs/montages as an opportunity to acknowledge and celebrate the artwork of artists of every genre.

Fisher looks at working life, domesticity, aging, survival during wartime, poverty, diversity of life style, food addictions, and absurdities, and is pleased when she can introduce readers to a new sculptor, poet, musician or dish from another culture.At the same time she has broadened her own reading, eating, knowledge and appreciation of other cultures and periods of history.

Anne Fisher’s wonderfully creative images can be found at https://eatwithanartist.wordpress.com/ and https://www.instagram.com/eatwithanartist123/.

You Texted What?!? (repost)

~ humoringthegoddess ~ 8 Comments

I was wandering through my past blogs yesterday and this one popped up and made me smile.

I so believe in seizing the moment you get an inspirational idea for something new and creative. I so believe that inspiration has no rhyme nor reason — something just catches your eye and brain and you know you have to flow with it right away, no matter where you are.

Find a way.

You get weird and excellent and silly ideas all the time. You never know when those ideas will turn into something grand. Save those ideas!

You Texted What?!?
September 5, 2019 ~ humoringthegoddess

 

Well, now that I’m far enough away from white wind turbines not to be haunted by them, I have been hit by the writing bug again.

Creative artists are a curious bunch. You say you’re not, but of course you are.

Anyway…

I already have too much on my plate, and not a big enough plate to hold it all.

Last week when I was camping with my family I couldn’t sleep. I’m in a tent with my hubby. The wind is howling and so is his snores. Mine will accompany his if I ever get to sleep. So wandering as my mind often does, I get this idea for a story.

I’ve been wanting to write something about my dreams and connecting them to real life for some time now, but never could get a feasible idea going.

Until 1 a.m. in the tent.

No paper, no pencil, no computer to record my thoughts. Great. You know me — I’m afraid I’ll forget tomorrow’s grocery list if I don’t write it down.

So I get this great idea.

Type my idea into a draft into my email from my phone. Sounds simple, right?

Nothing is ever simple for me.

So here I am, under the covers in my dark tent, trying not to wake up hubby who is delightfully snoring away, trying to write down my idea with my two thumbs.

Here are part of my notes. No lie.

She is terrifird. Hm. Dreans start to get weied. Still knonve but dreans like dinner in lasr samari or talk through glllass wall. They funalky meet. In dream workd reality of work does nt exist. Reakirmty knows intensiry of dream wirld but not vuce versan what to do.

Uh huh. I understand that.

Good thing I’m not in a typing bee, though.

The point is that you can get inspired any time, any where. On walks. At work. In a sleeping bag. Walking to the bus. You can see a color for a design that is so cool in nature you want to reproduce it. You hear a chit of conversation and think it would make a great screenplay. You see a sunset and wonder if you could needlepoint it.

But you have no way of recording these outstanding, blast open ideas.

Or do you?

Do what you have to. Write on toilet paper, take a leaf with you. Write code words in ketchup. Take a picture. Write on your arm with an ink pen. Draft an email.

Just get your thoughts DOWN.

Inspiration will come and go, but you will never have that exact idea or moment again. And who knows — that could be THE ONE.

Hexxv goes on teip, dreans geeet better.

Good thing I speak thumb text…..

Faerie Paths — Time

~ humoringthegoddess ~ 8 Comments

The years go by one after the other; time slips past us with out our being aware of it; we grow old like ordinary men and we shall end like them.

~ Louis XIV

 

 

 

Sunday Evening Art Gallery — Philip Johnson

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Philip Johnson (1906 — 2005) was an American architect and critic known both for his promotion of the International Style and, later, for his role in defining postmodernist architecture.

550 Madison Avenue (formerly AT&T Building)

He studied at Harvard and co-founded the Department of Architecture and Design at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York, where he helped introduce modernist architecture to American audiences.

The Glass House

Known for his bold vision and innovative designs, Johnson reshaped the architectural landscape, blending modernism with his unique flair.

The Lipstick Building

His early work blended modernist principles with his distinctive approach, influencing the architectural world from the onset.

The Crystal Cathedral

Johnson’s career faced significant controversies, largely centered on his ideological affiliations and perceived opportunism.

Chapel of St. Basil

Though his legacy is complicated by early associations with fascist ideology in the 1930s, views he later renounced, Johnson remains a central and provocative figure in American architectural history.

David H. Koch Theater (formerly New York State Theater)

More of Philip Johnson’s impressive architecture can be found at https://illustrarch.com/articles/38897-philip-johnson-architectural-biography.html

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Looking Back — Things Part One

~ humoringthegoddess ~ 8 Comments

There is a lot of Art that doesn’t fit in particular categories — art that makes it’s own category.

So for those individuals who are as unique as their creator, today I am sharing Sunday Evening Art Gallery artwork that, for practical purposes, are Things.

Enjoy!!

 

Snowflakes

snezhinka-0024

snowflake-11

 

 

Bubbles

 

 

Doors

15

 

 

Stemmed Drinking Glasses

 

 

Trees

 

 

Crowns

 

 

Aquariums

ultra-modern-decorative-fish-tank

 

 

Paperweights

 

 

Fabergé Eggs

faberge23

 

 

Kirigami

 

 

 

 

 

Is It Art?

~ humoringthegoddess ~ 15 Comments
Image from The Square

I was watching a very artsy movie the other evening called “The Square” about an Avant-garde Swedish museum that is opening a controversial art display called The Square, a 4×4 square in the cement in front of the museum, outlined by a rope light.

The movie went on to relationships and other bizarre interactions so I stopped watching, but the controversy at the beginning really made me think.

“It’s meant to represent a communal ‘safe space,’ ” the artist explained. “The Square is a sanctuary of trust and caring. Within it, we all share equal rights and obligations.”

I never knew a 4×4 square could be so deep.

Am I missing something here?

An artist can make anything they create mean anything they want. A few sentences of explanation and you may understand it’s a political statement or a state of mind or world of chaos. It’s all up to the artist.

The discussion group in the movie states that they “need to harness social media attention with something other than the uncontroversial and bland artist’s statement.”

The square is nothing more than a 4 x 4 cement square. Another exhibit in the museum was a room with 15(?) piles of something arranged in 5 pile lines.

Why is this considered art?

Most people glance at displays like this and don’t give it a second thought. We don’t understand and don’t feel like understanding.

One of the quotes from the movie is, “If you place an object in a museum does that make this object a piece of art?”

This is still my question about modern art.

If a handful of people get the meaning you assign to your piece, is it still museum-worthy? Will it be remembered and cherished as a reflection of the world at the time?

Does every piece of art have to make sense?

I wonder about it all.

 

 

 

Fairy Paths — Today

~ humoringthegoddess ~ 6 Comments

 

 

Write it on your heart
that every day is the best day in the year.
He is rich who owns the day, and no one owns the day
who allows it to be invaded with fret and anxiety.

Finish every day and be done with it.
You have done what you could.
Some blunders and absurdities, no doubt crept in.
Forget them as soon as you can, tomorrow is a new day;
begin it well and serenely, with too high a spirit
to be cumbered with your old nonsense.

This new day is too dear,
with its hopes and invitations,
to waste a moment on the yesterdays.

― Ralph Waldo Emerson, Collected Poems and Translations

 

 

 

 

Sunday Evening Art Gallery — Johnny Pham

~ humoringthegoddess ~ 6 Comments

Johnny Pham specializes in crafting unique and eye-catching moss creations.From handmade wood and cement moss bowls to custom framed moss art and large-scale moss panels, each piece is a one-of-a-kind work of art, designed with a distinct creative twist.Each moss art frame is meticulously hand-assembled, starting with a layer of preserved moss as the canvas, upon which he add 100% natural elements like mushrooms, fern leaves, and driftwood to create depth and texture.
Preserved moss is real moss that’s been treated with a natural glycerin-based solution to maintain its soft texture, color, and shape — no water or sunlight needed.His handcrafted pieces bring unique texture, depth, and organic elegance to any interior.Pham’s art is the perfect way to create an earthy and sophisticated atmosphere in the world of creative art.His love of nature combines with his artistic talent to produce realistic plant designs that will last a lifetime.More of Johnny Pham‘s amazing moss work can be found at the Moss Shop, https://themossshop.com/.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 





First is not always Favorite

~ humoringthegoddess ~ 17 Comments

These sleepy cloudy cold Saturday mornings are often an impediment to my creative thinking process. Too cold to really enjoy going outside, the closest I often get it filling the bird feeders or letting the dog out to do her morning or afternoon business.

As I just released another Sunday Evening Art Gallery blog over at http://www.sundayeveningartgallery.com, a question came to mind:

When you think of classical art, what is the first piece you think of? 

Not necessarily which artist or piece of art is your favorite — which piece of art first comes to mind?  Your answer might surprise you.  I know mine did.

Sitting here listening to Haydn’s London Symphonies, the first piece of art I think of is the Mona Lisa by da Vinci.

Why is that? Is it because I see her in advertisements and memes and an occasional story from the Louvre? Is it because it’s a magnificent painting or more like it’s the most famous painting by one of the most famous artists in history?

Now take a moment and think — what is your favorite piece of art?

Although it’s hard/impossible to pick only one piece of art that is my favorite, when I sit and think about it, is The Coronation of Napoleon  by Jacques-Louis David rates right up there for me.

I mean — who would pick that one? But quickly running through my visits to museums and art galleries, that one first popped into my head. It’s huge and the colors are beautiful and it’s full of famous people of the time. It is almost overwhelming, as most art is.

I also stood in line to see the Mona Lisa when in the Louvre. Tons of people standing in line to get close to the roped-off portrait, it was indeed lovely, but nothing that knocked my socks off.

What is the piece of art that first pops into your head when you think of classical art? And what is your favorite actual piece of art?

It will be interesting to see if both are the same.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Happy New Year in Art

~ humoringthegoddess ~ 7 Comments

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Happy New Year, Pq Haus

Happy New Year, Frances Brundage

Happy New Year, Margareth Perfoncio

Happy New Year, Nataliia Martseniuk

New Year’s Sun, Ito Jakuchu

The Party, Marisol Escobar

Party’s Over, Norman Rockwell

Baby New Year and Crystal Ball, Joseph Christian Leyendecker

Apartment Dwellers New Years Eve, John Falter

New Year’s Kite, Katsushika Hokusai

Three Boys Merry Making, Judith Leyster

Slipping Back 10 Years

~ humoringthegoddess ~ 8 Comments

Ten years ago. Ten. I was healthier, more optimistic, less focused on age and all that goes with it. Reading this blog has shaved a layer of non-commitment off my hard hide. I couldn’t read tarot cards back then and I certainly can’t translate them now. But I’m looking forward to reading this blog ten years from now and being healthier doing it.

I hope you’re here reading along with me. 

Unicorns and 2015

December 29, 2015 ~ humoringthegoddess

Well, here it is, December 29th, 2015. Two more days/evenings until New Years Eve, three more days until we roll on over to a new year.

Soon our favorite bloggers will be writing beautiful prose and poetry about letting go of the old, embracing the new, Father Time, memories, love, sentimentality washing over us until we feel bad about feeling so good about feeling so sentimental.

What I want to do now (seeing as New Year’s Eve I’ll probably be playing Gauntlet (video game) with my kids, I’ll play my Tarot cards now.

Two of Pentacles. My two grandsons came to live with me/us this Fall, the pentacles of love and childhood. Soon they will be off in their own house, but, I tell you, as much as I adore them, I understand why childbirth and childrearing is left to women under the age of 50.

Queen of Swords. I admit I’ve gotten sucked into Game of Thrones, including the hype and spoilers (after I’ve watched the episode). I raise my sword in salute of poisoning, White Walkers, the God of Many Faces, Sand Snakes, incest, dragons, wights, High Sparrows, and the Wall. A bit of mania wherever you look.

The Hermit. Can’t tell you how many times I just wanted to burrow into my bed and not come out until a week later. I take the role of Drama Queen seriously, you know.

Nine of Wands. This reflects the number of edits on my novel. Nine wands now, twenty wands tomorrow. The wand is the pen/typewriter, and the nine is the number of times I gave up and went to my Art Gallery instead. Next year is the year.

Wheel of Fortune. Riding the highs and lows of work, I look forward to the days of getting snowed in. Oh darn. Car is stuck in the driveway. Let’s go back inside and write a blog.

Ace of Cups. Got my lack-of-sleep thing under control this year, cut back on some meds, and generally back on the middle-aged road to energy. The Ace of Cups toasts my clean mammogram. Did you get yours??

Two of Dreams. Not a real Tarot card, this card represents the continuation of my two favorite blogs. I love writing, I love unique art, I love magic and I love the shadows between the stars. I love my family, my music, my books, and my followers. And the blogs I follow. And sunrises. And warm summer breezes. And IrishFest in Milwaukee. And cats. and spaghetti. And chocolate.

Wait — that’s more than two dreams.

Hope you are thankful for more than two dreams, too!

 

 

 

 

AI – AI – Oh

~ humoringthegoddess ~ 10 Comments

 

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times …”

A Charles Dickens world if ever there were one. 

I am both fascinated and irritated by the marvels that keep unraveling around me. Like many of you, I have a stockpile of experience doing without things we could not do without today.

That is the privilege of being a granny. The good old days.

But I am also a fairly aware and engaged senior citizen too, watching new inventions unwrap around me like wrappings on Christmas presents.. Technology taken places I never thought I’d see.

There is a lot of AI in the world these days. Artificial Intelligence. According to Wikipedia, AI is “Artificial intelligence (AI) is the capability of computational systems to perform tasks typically associated with human intelligence, such as learning, reasoning, problem-solving, perception, and decision-making.

Computer programs designed to make things easier to do, to see, to imagine.

As you may already have guessed, I’m on the fence about this one. I am fascinated by what AI can accomplish. Lately I’ve been seeing clips of movie stars and their younger selves, movie stars and their older selves, landscapes only dreamed about; and computer generated galaxies and star clusters. I love that dinosaurs come to life on the big screen and that you can watch water in a swirl in slow motion up into the air. I love the preciseness drawing and creating with AI gives us average humans, enabling us to tweak nature like never before. 

What bothers this older BoHo lady, though, is how AI is taking over jobs and tasks meant to be  developed in the human brain.

These days AI can write letters, resumes, stories and research papers. AI automatically corrects your text and suggests different words in cases of awkwardness.  It can create paintings that look so real you need to touch the canvas to see if there’s really paint there.

How will today’s kids learn to spell and put sentences together and do research if they don’t do it on their own?

The Internet has unlimited directions on information, real and made up. You can ask whatever you want and their is an answer out there somewhere. No going through books or figuring out logic with pencil and paper. Ask and you will receive.

I struggled — and succeeded — to be a prolific writer. I was a proofreader and blogger for my last company, and corrected the most confusing grammar from those making ten times more than I did. Yet these days writers of copy and information and proposals let an intelligent computer do the work for them. 

I guess this  walks the same line as schools not teaching cursive anymore. I can’t imagine not being able to write my name or a sentence or note to a friend without it. These days as long as you can sign your name you don’t need the rest.

I know I know — it’s the inability of the old to give in to the new.  I am not an old fogie — I’m more of an older BoHo Gal. I am absolutely for advancement of the species. I have seen and learned things past generations could only dream of.

But I still want to hold on to the old way of doing things for a little while longer.

What do you younger stallions think?

 

Repeat of Gates

~ humoringthegoddess ~ 4 Comments
 

An oldie but goodie while I finish recovering from Christmas….

Now Watergate does not bother me..
Does your conscience bother you?
Tell the truth…

…..Sweet Home Alabama, Lynyrd Skynyrd, 1974

I must admit that about the time Watergate came along I was working my first job as a linofilm typist, and politics did not really concern me overmuch. Today’s generation looks back fondly at Watergate just as they do the Battle of Gettysburg or the Boston Tea Party. Just another history lesson.

The suffix -gate derives from the Watergate scandal in the early 1970s, which resulted in the resignation of U.S. President Richard Nixon. The scandal was named after the Watergate complex in Washington D.C. What I find really funny, though, is that the “gate” part started a whole slew of scandalous escapades. “Gates” abound everywhere.

There are Arts and Entertainment gates:

* Closetgate (2006); controversy after the TV show South Park aired a parody of Scientology

* Nipplegate (also known as Boobgate) (2004); Janet Jackson’s famous “wardrobe malfunction” during half time of Super Bowl XXXVII

There are Politic gates:

* Billygate (1980); Billy Carter, younger brother of then-President Jimmy Carter, creates a media firestorm when he aligns himself with the government of radical Libya.

* Bridgegate (2014); Lane closures to the George Washington Bridge create major traffic jams in Fort Lee, New Jersey. The bottleneck is seen as a political incident ordered by New Jersey Governor Chris Christie against Fort Lee Mayor Mark Sokolich, who did not support Christie’s reelection.

*  Hairgate (1993); Controversy surrounding a haircut given to U.S. President Bill Clinton

There are Journalism and Academic gates:

* Hackgate (also known as Rupertgate) (2011); Allegations that the now defunct News of the World had hacked into the phones of celebrities, politicians, and members of the British Royal Family

There are Sports gates:

* Deflategate (2015); Did they or did they not under-inflate the footballs?

*  Bumpergate (1982); During the Daytona 500 race, drive Bobby Allison allegedly modified his car so that his rear bumper would fall off, giving him an aerodynamic edge

Funny thing is that these scandals aren’t limited to U.S. soil. Just listen to the names and places:

* Portraitgate (2009, Ireland): Two oil paintings depicting Brian Cowen, Taoiseach (prime minister) of Ireland, in the nude, were briefly displayed in Dublin art galleries in March 2009 as an act of guerilla art

* Toiletgate (2006,  Elista, Kalmykia, Russia); The allegations by Veselin Topalov and his manager Silvio Danailov during the World Chess Championship that Topalov’s opponent Vladimir Kramnik was visiting the toilet suspiciously frequently during games

* Pastagate (2013, Canada); Controversy in which an Italian restaurant was investigated by the Quebec government for using words that do not comply with their language laws, such as “bottiglia”, “calamari” and “pasta”

* Porngate (2012, India) Three members of the Karnataka Legislative Assembly in India resign from their offices after accusations that they watched porn during government proceedings.

* Bottlegate (2001, Ohio); Rowdy fans of the Cleveland Browns threw plastic bottles and other debris on the field after a controversially overturned call in the final minute of the game led to the Browns losing the game to the Jacksonville Jaguars

You get my drift.  So I figured, if there’s so many scandals out there with gates on them, why not create a few of my own?

* Grannygate: Busted for keeping grandson up way past his bedtime and offering him sugared drinks

* Catgate: When coaxing live cats to lay on the toy train track didn’t work, I offered my collection of stuffed unicorns as test subjects

* Employeegate: There are enough infractions in this scandal that this blog cannot list them all. I am on double secret probation until I am 85

* Flippergate: numerous violations of the “put the TV flipper back on the end table where you found it” rule. The scandal is that I never remember the rule — until I lose the flipper

* Irishfestgate (2012); I boasted to my 6 foot, 225-lb. son that I could keep up with him beer-for-beer at Irishfest. Guess who won, and guess who was sick for two days

There are a whole slew of gates for those who are curious — check out http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_scandals_with_%22-gate%22_suffix.  I’m sure if you scoured your past you’d find a lot of gates, too.

But thankfully, since most of us are just regular guys/gals, the media won’t be knocking on your door — er, gate — any time soon.

Just be smart, and keep your gate locked.

Just in case.

Sunday Evening Art Gallery — Domenic Bahmann

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Domenic Bahmann (Munich, 1981) is a multidisciplinary illustrator, artist and designer living and working in Canberra, Australia.Originally, Bahmann used to work for agencies and studios as a designer before he started his ongoing creative initiative Stop, Think, Make in 2013.Shortly afterward, he began to create everyday related visual metaphors and illustrations, contributing to magazines, campaigns, and social media projects.Bahmann’s clever visual metaphors and thought-provoking illustrations inspired by everyday life. ““I find it interesting to turn seemingly boring things into something new that has a surprising element,” Bahmann shares.

“My work is the result of daydreaming and trying to turn mundane situations into something interesting.”

More of Domenic Bahmann’s whimsical art can be found at https://domenicbahmann.com/.

 

 

 

Cookie Traditions

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Cookie Mania has hit the snowy Midwest!

Saturday was make-cookies-with-the-grandkids day. My mere two cookie contributions — kolackies and oatmeal raisin — were but a drop in the baking bucket for future Christmas parties.

Actually only a couple of grandkids contributed time and energy, but there was enough assistance to give granny a break between cookie sheets.

Sometimes it’s hard to really get into the Christmas spirit. Like I said in a previous blog, Christmas Again?, it’s not always easy to get into the Christmas spirit. Energy and social security and other excuses often put a damper on my Deck the Halls nature.

But baking cookies with someone else makes all the scroogeness disappear … not to mention how I love eating the results.

We always bake the weekend before Christmas. It’s sort of a tradition. As is wrapping presents on Christmas Eve late at night for the next day. We add boiled shrimp and a glass of wine to our routine, and even though the wrapping date has changed through the years, we still try and keep the tradition we started when our kids were babies and we worked all day Christmas Eve.

I think you can make a tradition out of anything you do more than once. As long as there’s heart and togetherness mixed in with whatever you’re doing, you’re creating a safe place for laughs and love year after year.

And as you get older that becomes more and more important. 

Do you have any traditions you try and keep with family and/or friends? 

If so, Share! Share!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sunday Evening Art Gallery — John Atkinson Grimshaw

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John Atkinson Grimshaw (1836 – 1893) was a Victorian-era painter, notable for his landscapes, usually known as Atkinson Grimshaw.Self-taught, Grimshaw started exhibiting in Leeds in the 1860’s with minutely observed still life paintings.Grimshaw experimented with a looser technique and with classical subjects — historical subjects and contemporary ladies — that were particularly successful.He was interested in photography and sometimes used a camera obscura to project outlines on to oil canvas, enabling him to repeat compositions several times.He also mixed sand and other ingredients with his paint to get the effects he wanted.

Around 1880 Grimshaw suffered some unknown financial crisis and retrenched, returning to Leeds and boosting his output to around fifty paintings a year.

Certain elements of social realism come into his paintings around that time, night being a good time to record less respectable forms of life.

More of John Atkinson Grimshaw’s inspirational landscapes can be found at https://johnatkinsongrimshaw.org/.

 

 

Who’s Coming Now?

~ humoringthegoddess ~ 7 Comments

 

 

Are you watching out?
Are you crying?
Are you pouting?
Knock it off and I’ll tell you why
You-know-who is coming to town.
I heard he’s making a list
and double checking it
to see who’s in trouble
and who is off the hook.
You-know-who is coming to town.
He knows if you’ve taken a sleeping pill
He knows if you’re up watching tv late
He knows if you’ve gained or lost five pounds
So behave, for Pete’s sake.
Are you watching out?
Are you crying?
Are you pouting?
Knock it off and I’ll tell you why
You-know-who is coming to town.

Sunday Evening Art Gallery — Quilts of the 1800s

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Historians cannot be sure when exactly quilting was invented, but they do know that the history of quilting goes back at least to medieval times. It is possible that quilting was used in ancient times: an ancient Egyptian ivory carving shows a king wearing what appears to be a quilted cloak. 

Out of curiosity I searched for quilts made in the 1800s. The variety was amazing. Remember: these were created before electricity. Some were created before the sewing machine was invented in 1842. Some were created around the American Civil War.

Zoom in and take a closer look at the quality  of mid-1800s.

 

Contained Quilt, 1880

 

Bunch of Grapes, 1870

 

 

Field Of Diamonds Quilt, 1860

 

 

House Medallion. 1880

 

Pinwheel Quilt. 1845

 

 

George Washington Quilt. 1876

 

 

Star of Bethlehem With Pomegranate Trees, 1850

 

 

Name Unknown, 1870

 

 

Foundation Rose And Tulips, 1865

 

 

Mariner’s Compass Quilt, 1840

 

 

 

 





Faerie Paths — Paths

~ humoringthegoddess ~ 4 Comments

 

 

 

 

The greatest adventure is what lies ahead.
Today and tomorrow are yet to be said.
The chances, the changes are all yours to make.
The mold of your life is in your hands to break.

J. R. R. Tolkien

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sunday Evening Art Gallery — Charles Dana Gibson

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Charles Dana Gibson (1867-1955) as an American artist and illustrator who was best known for Gibson Girl – an iconic image that best represented the stunningly independent Euro-American woman at the start of the 20th century.

Gibson attended New York’s Art Students League from 1884 to 1885, then traveled to Italy, Spain, and France to study painting from 1905 to 1907. 

Gibson’s illustrations included the refined upper-middle-class idealized woman known as the Gibson Girl, as well as gentle satirical depictions of American mores and public life.

She became known as an ideal image of youthful American femininity, the modern woman: athletic, smart, stylish, and desirable, and she sold magazines.Charles’ skill allowed him to create pictures using mere black ink and basic paper.Gibson’s use of bold lines, as well as his techniques in utilizing contrast, are still being admired and studied by contemporary illustrators who are serious about perfecting their craft.Add in his unique application of tone, character, and humor, and his style started to be emulated by the artists of his time.

More of Charles Dana Gibson’s unique artwork can be found at https://americanillustration.org/project/charles-dana-gibson/ and https://www.artlex.com/artists/charles-dana-gibson/.

Inked (repost)

~ humoringthegoddess ~ 10 Comments

As some of you may know, I lost my youngest son four years ago. Last Saturday I finally got a tattoo honoring him and my love for him.

My friend Tiffany at Tiffany Arp-Daleo Artworks had lost her mother, someone who meant as much to her as my loved ones do to me. Today she posted a lovely post about the tattoo she got to honor her mother.

Tattoos are not for everyone. But for those who get them, each one is special and magical. It takes a special person to share their grief and connection both in body ink and in a blog. 

Here is hers.

 

Inked

 
Tiffany Arp DaleoSan Diego ArtistWomen ArtistCalifornia ArtistSan Diego

I wanted to do something special to remember my mom, who passed away on December 9th. We often joked about getting matching mom/daughter tattoos, but it never happened.

When she was first diagnosed with dementia, she went through her things and got rid of a lot. Besides being a great artist, she was also a writer and wrote poems and stories, but sadly, most of that she threw away. While I was going through her remaining belongings, I found this poem on a small piece of paper and decided to keep it. She probably wrote it after my dad passed away.

It took some effort to find someone who was willing to do the tattoo on the specific date, and someone who could do the lettering exactly in her handwriting. I found my guy at Seventh Serpent Tattoo, and I couldn’t be happier with the final tattoo, he nailed it. 😊

 

The original handwritten poem

”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Faerie Paths — Vision

~ humoringthegoddess ~ 3 Comments

 

 

Everything begins in the mind. If you want to see clearly, you need clear vision.

~ Swami Satchidananda

 

 

 

 

 

Sunday Evening Art Gallery — Maarten Vrolijk

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Maarten Vrolijk is an Amsterdam-based artist and designer who considers it important to elaborate on the simple, unequivocal nature of a product or art work and has been creating his works for over 25 years.His aesthetic and ‘art language’ is particularly unusual because it consciously plays with shapes, colours and materials in an uncontrived way.

He also believes his pieces should also make people’s everyday lives that bit more beautiful through the many little details that evoke the unexpected.Vrolijk is perhaps best known for glass vessels with their outgrowth of colored glass fragments.The volatility in accomplishing the exceptional thickness of his vases creates a risky balance between strength and delicacy.The thermal stress caused when trying to equalize the interior and exterior temperature of the cooling vessels, is fraught with the threat of breakage.

To create each piece, a meticulously patterned bed of broken glass pieces is strategically laid down and heated to a specific temperature in order to be properly fused to a nascent blown glass form.

The temperature and timing must be precisely in tandem. It is a high-stakes process that results in a kind of frozen sense of chaos.

More of Maarten Vrolijk’s unique glasswork can be found at https://www.maartenvrolijk.com/

 

 

 

 

Additions to the Family

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Say hello to the two newest additions to our family. Darth and Vader.

I need two cats like I need a hole in the head. 

Having just turned 73, I find myself with less patience for disruptions in my daily life. Art and Crafts and laundry are done at my speed, not the world’s. As my productivity has slowed, so has my organizational skills.

And you can’t organize two little black kittens.

Don’t get me wrong — we lost my cat Mysty last Fall, and as you can see (Caturdays) I do love cats. We just put our 14-year-old dog down two weeks ago, and my heart was heavy. 

This is the way of life. I get it.

We have a year-old lab, who is still full of energy and curiosity. Match that with two 10-week-old kittens, and you can imagine the chaos it brings.

We were told that, if possible, take two kitties, for they will keep each other occupied, keeping the stress away from you. But with all the clip clip clip from one side of the house to the other, they do indeed keep each other busy.

And even though I complain like an old granny half the time, it warms my heart to see life start all over again. Life and laughter and discovery of new friends, even though the friends are of the feline variety.

Don’t let life slow down for you too much. Two kitties might not be the answer, but make sure there’s life around you — life that’s full of life. Life that brings hope to your open heart.

Even if they meow louder than a thunderstorm …..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sunday Evening Art Gallery — Bookcases

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The contents of someone’s bookcase are part of his history, like an ancestral portrait. 

Anatole Broyard  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Faerie Paths — Tattoos

~ humoringthegoddess ~ 14 Comments

 

 

 

Tattoos are like stories – they’re symbolic of the important moments in your life. Sitting down, talking about where you got each tattoo and what it symbolizes, is really beautiful.

~ Pamela Anderson

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Celebrate Around the World!

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Those of us who celebrate Christ’sMas are but a few of the traditions scattered around the globe. Join me as we whirl around from country to country, peeking into other cultures and celebrations!

 

Diwali (India & Worldwide): The Festival of Lights Observed by Hindus, Jains, Sikhs, and some Buddhists, Diwali is a five-day festival celebrating the triumph of light over darkness and good over evil.

 

Kwanzaa, which is observed from Dec. 26 to Jan. 1, is a holiday that celebrates African culture and community, culminating in gift-giving and a feast of faith, called Karamu Ya Imani. 

 

The Jewish festival of Hanukkah is a celebration that commemorates the rededication of the Second Temple in Jerusalem during the Maccabean Revolt. Hanukkah is observed for eight nights and days. The festival is observed by lighting the candles of a candelabrum with nine branches, commonly called a menorah or hanukkiah. 

 

Lunar New Year, often called the Spring Festival or Chinese New Year, is the most important holiday in China and Chinese communities around the world. It is not only celebrated in China. Vietnam, Korea, Malaysia, and Singapore also celebrate the Lunar New Year holiday. The two-week celebration includes family and friends, feasting and fireworks, parties and parades.

 

Las Posadas, a religious festival celebrated in Mexico and some parts of the United States between December 16 and 24, commemorating the journey that Joseph and Mary made from Nazareth to Bethlehem in search of a safe refuge where Mary could give birth to the baby Jesus.

 

St. Nicholas Day celebrates St. Nicholas, a historical figure who inspired the legend of Santa Claus and is known for secretly giving gifts to the needy, a practice that gave rise to the tradition of hanging up stockings or leaving gifts in shoes.

 

Wiccans and Neo-Pagans celebrate the winter solstice (the darkest day of the year, on Dec. 21) through the festival of Yule. The winter solstice marks the shortest day and longest night of the year; Yule celebrates the re-emergence of the sun and the days beginning to grow longer again.

 

The Giant Lantern Festival, locally called Ligligan Parul, is a vibrant celebration of Filipino artistry, heritage, and togetherness. Held annually in San Fernando City, Pampanga, this event showcases massive lanterns, some towering up to 30 feet, designed with intricate patterns that form stunning displays of light and color.

 

 

Christmas Day is a celebration in Norway of brighter days, or Jol. homes are decorated with superstitious characters called nisser who are believed to provide protection. On the evening of December 24, Danish families place their Christmas tree in the middle of the room and dance around it while singing carols.

Looking Back — Installation Art, Part Two

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It’s another installment of the ever-popular “Looking Back” at Sunday Evening Art Gallery galleries. I hope you are clicking back and following the leader to see more of that artist’s great art!

I’m catching up in one category this evening — how about we look at more Installation Art?

 

Tom Every — Dr. Evermoor

 

Joana Vasconcelos

 

NeSpoon

 

Jeff Koons

 

Olek (Agata Oleksiak)

 

Michal Trpák

 

 

 

 

 

 

Where Are We Going?

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I found this image somewhere on my wanderings, and am contemplating putting it on my front stairs going up to the deck. I’d just change some of the destinations.

Here’s my list (I tried to stick with the pic as much as possible).

Where would you go?

 

Hogwarts – 9-3/4 miles

London – 3,902 miles

New York – 890 miles

Shangri la – 7,510 miles

Tatooine – 235 light years

Area 51 – 1,317 miles

Machu Pichu – 4,001 miles

Bangkok – 8,471 miles

Deadwood – 878 miles

Atlantis – 5,532 miles

Paris – 4,089 miles

Sunday Evening Art Gallery — Matt Underwood

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Matt Underwood (1971 -) is both painter and printmaker working in woodblock. He studied art and art history at Salisbury College of Art completed his HND in illustration with a distinction at Carmarthenshire College of Art.Wood block is a relief matrix, which means the areas to show ‘white’ are cut away, leaving the image to show in ‘black’ at the original surface level.The block is cut along the grain of the wood, then inked and brought into firm and even contact with paper to achieve an acceptable print.For his color prints, multiple blocks are used, each for one color, overprinting with may producing further colors on the print.In recent years he has returned to his interest in natural history, producing eye-catching works in collage, mixed media and oil.

More of Matt Underwood’s woodblock paintings can be found at mattunderwood.info.com.

 

 

 

 

Christmas Again?

~ humoringthegoddess ~ 18 Comments

This year I’m going to really try and get into the Christmas spirit.

My last few Christmases left a lot to be desired when it came to my holiday spirit moods. I guess I don’t get the same vibes as I used to when they start advertising Christmas sales in October.

I find setting up Christmas decorations to be a waste of time. No one comes to our house during the holidays — the Christmas Celebration Cup has long been passed to my son and daughter-in-law and grandkids. Christmas carols make my eyes roll, especially after I hear “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” for the 33rd time. 

I don’t bake for the holidays because it would be me eating all the cookies, and I already feel like a Teletubby. I don’t have the money to buy presents for everyone I’d like to, having resorted to giving money to teens who have no idea what they want, or flamingos as a joke to a close friend who used to collect them.

What has happened to me?

Why has Ebeneezer Scrooge come out so early this year?

I could blame it on losing my son not long after the holidays, or my dog who we are going to put to sleep today, or yet another friend diagnosed with cancer. Trying not to be paranoid about “I’m next” is almost a full time struggle. 

Understand — I do love the meaning of Christmas. Of giving, of sharing, of special moments with those you love. But I do that 365 days a year, so in that respect Christmas is no different than, say, October 24th.

I’m thinking a lot of it has to do with age. I purposely avoid movies that happily rip your heart out at the end, sad songs, and commercials for the ASPCA. I don’t want to bawl my eyes out over sentimentality I can’t control. For in these situations, bawling is not cathartic. It’s painful. It’s like that adage of keeping the door locked so the flood waters don’t come in and wash you away.

Good feelings can be overwhelming just like bad ones. Sometimes the happier I get the sadder I get. 

That has to do with getting older. Fewer Christmases ahead than behind, and all that.

So this year I’m going to try and step back into the Christmas spirit one shoe at a time. Try not to overdo it in any one direction. I still have grandkids to make me smile, along with good friends, good food (though not too much as in past years), and Christmas traditions that still hang true. I can always make cookies for friends and send out Christmas cards to all. I will avoid Christmas movies that have a well loved pet or human die or songs of lost love.

Common sense in this day and age where tragedy hovers all around.

Do any of you go through this ying yang of holiday cheer?

If so, I feel for you.

Faerie Paths — Passions

~ humoringthegoddess ~ 5 Comments

 

When you start to do the things that you truly love, it wouldn’t matter whether it’s Monday or Friday; you would be so excited to wake up each morning to work on your passions.

~ Edmond Mbiaka

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sunday Evening Art Gallery — Martin Wittfooth

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Martin Wittfooth was born in Toronto, Canada in 1981 and currently splits his time between two studios in Savannah, Georgia, and Brockville, Ontario, Canada.Wittfooth earned his MFA from the School of Visual Arts in New York City.He composes surreal images of animals, plants, flowers, and landscapes in a way which references the tradition of painters past but is at the same time relevant, unique, and personal.Wittfooth’s paintings, drawings, installations and sculptural works use allegory and symbolism to explore themes of the intersection and clash of industry and nature, and the human influence on the environment.Many of his works explore the theme of shamanism – rituals and practices as old as our species – through which we have attempted to dialogue with nature: the nature outside of ourselves and the nature within.His creative language uses the combination of allegory and symbolism to convey visual narratives.“I hope with my art to bridge the gap somewhat between the subconscious and the conscious – the “visionary” with the “baseline” states of mind,” Wittfooth shares.“The mainstream is what is most in need of a change of perspective right now, so I’d like for my art to be able to dialogue with it.”More of Martin Wittfooth’s surreal paintings can be found at https://www.martinwittfooth.com/.

Looking Back — Jewelry, Part Three

~ humoringthegoddess ~ 2 Comments
It’s time to look back at more amazing galleries over at www.sundayeveningartgallery.com. So many categories — who knows which door to open?

There is still enough jewelry artists showcased throughout my blog that I take pleasure in sharing a few more past jewelry artists.

Please click on the blue name and see for yourself why their work is so marvelous!

 

Paulina Bartnik

 

 

Anand Shah

 

 

Bubun

 

 

Unusual Jewelry

 

 

George Inaki Root

 

 

 

Bond Hardware

David Webb

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Sunday Evening Art Gallery — Tirzah Garwood

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Tirzah Garwood (1908–1951) was a multi-talented artist and designer whose life was tragically cut short when she died of breast cancer aged only 42.

Eileen Lucy “Tirzah” Garwood was a British wood-engraver, painter, paper marbler, author, and a member of the Great Bardfield Artists.

According to Brighton & Hove Museums, Garwood “is one of the most original and distinctive figures of twentieth century British art

Her brilliance as a wood engraver and maker of marbled papers was acknowledged in her lifetime, but her early death meant that few were able to enjoy her captivating, collaged house ‘portraits’ and enigmatic oil paintings.

She prompts us to see the amusing, absurd and uncanny in the detail of everyday life.Garwood’s engravings were imaginatively conceived and precisely executed. They abounded in wry observations and witty juxtapositions.More of Tirzah Garwood’s marvelous wood cuts can be found at https://artuk.org/discover/stories/tirzah-garwood-unveiling-a-forgotten-visionary/

 

 

 

 

 

Faerie Paths — Colored Glass

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A Gothic building engenders true religion … The light, falling through colored glass, the singular forms of the architecture, unite to give a silent image of that infinite mystery which the soul for ever feels, and never comprehends.

Madame de Stael
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Funny Thing About Creativity

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I have been playing around always with 3D art lately, and am not sure I like and/or love the results.

This is all new for me.

Up until a couple of years ago I thought my creative artwork had dried up and moved to the desert. I was “creative” in my younger years, but never took an art course. Nor a writing course, for that matter.

That didn’t stop me from trying — and improving — whatever latent talents I had.

After I retired four years ago, I took up crafting, enjoying it enough to perfect the talent into an actual craft fair material. That led to down time in the winter, and, needing a filler, started sketching and drawing circles and designs and pop art sort of things. A field — and style — I never really took seriously.

Now that the winter chill has snuck into Wisconsin I find myself experimenting once again. Where this 3D stuff came from I haven’t a clue. I started with copying some of the geometric pictures I sketched last year and added things like 1/2″ G clefs and clock hands on circles.

Is it art?  Oh yes. Is it good? That’s best left to psychics and mystics. And art teachers.

I’m neither putting down nor building up my budding new career. But I am surprised that I both like and dislike my work.

Is that natural for an artist? To feel disappointed that I can’t turn the ideas in my head into actual art pieces? To want to have my art be fantastic every time I start out?

This is where practice makes perfect. Or, rather, makes you better.

 You know all those cliches. You can’t get lemonade out of lemons unless you work squishing juice out the fruit and adding ingredients to it. You can’t finish the race if you don’t start it. Blah blah blah.

I believe self growth is full of satisfying moments and disappointing moments, especially where art is concerned. Like advanced degrees or top paying jobs, you don’t make it there on day one.

So it is with art. No matter if it’s your first time or the 100th time or the 10,000th time, every time you do something you do it differently. You find more control. More understanding. Your fingers move easier, your coordination improves.

Will you or I ever be on the art gallery circuit? I would love to think so. But in reality, I’m just as happy learning to do something better and better every time I try. I find it therapeutic as well as keeping those synapses in my brain firing.

I am accumulating a sketchbook full of ideas and a pile of art boards. What does Kenny Rogers say in the song “The Gambler”:

Cause every hand’s a winnerAnd every hand’s a loser

You  know the rest of the song. And we’re not there yet.

So let’s keep on practicing……

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Sunday Evening Art Gallery — Sir Grayson Perry

~ humoringthegoddess ~ 6 Comments

Sir Grayson Perry (- 1960) is an English artist known for his ceramic vases, tapestries, and cross-dressing, as well as his observations of the contemporary arts scene, dissecting British prejudices, fashions and foibles.

Perry graduated from Portsmouth Polytechnic with a BA in fine arts in 1982.

Perry is renowned for his eccentric and politically charged artworks.

There is a strong autobiographical element in his work, in which images of Perry as Claire, his female alter ego, and Alan Measles, his childhood teddy bear, often appear.In his work Perry reflects upon his upbringing as a boy, his stepfather’s anger and the absence of proper guidance about male conduct.Perry’s urns are rendered with an incomprehensible master-craft: their surfaces richly textured from designs marked into the clay, followed by intricately complicated glazing and photo-transfer techniques.A master of the incongruous juxtaposition, Perry scrawls savage satirical messages alongside sentiments of nostalgia for lost innocence.More of Grayson Perry’s unique vases can be found at https://www.artsy.net/artist/grayson-perryson-perry

 

 

 

Quiet Saturday Mornings

~ humoringthegoddess ~ 7 Comments

Just like smooth jazz, a mellow, drifting kind of magic from my friend Gigi over at Rethinking Life….

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Beauty….

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November 18, 2025

A close-up of a white bird preening its feathers.

I’m amazed at how beautiful this photo is
the delicate feathers
the gentleness of the sleep
the coloring
everything is perfect

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Faerie Paths — Rainbows

~ humoringthegoddess ~ 6 Comments
Try reading this as a poem, not singing it as a song (if you can!)  Want to come along for the ride?

Stephanie Peters

 

Somewhere over the rainbow, way up high
There’s a land that I heard of once in a lullaby
Somewhere over the rainbow, skies are blue
And the dreams that you dare to dream
Really do come true

Someday I’ll wish upon a star
And wake up where the clouds are far behind me
Where troubles melt like lemon drops
Away above the chimney tops
That’s where you’ll find me

Somewhere over the rainbow
Bluebirds fly
Birds fly over the rainbow
Why then, oh why can’t I?

If happy little bluebirds fly
Beyond the rainbow
Why, oh why can’t I?

Sunday Evening Art Gallery — Suzanne Belperron

~ humoringthegoddess ~ 4 Comments
Suzanne Belperron (1900–1983) was an influential 20th-century jewelry designer based in Paris.

She worked for the Boivin and Herz jewelry houses before the outbreak of World War II. Subsequently, she took over the Herz company, renaming it Herz-Belperron.
Belperron created distinctive, unusual jewelry using large stones and undulating forms.She pioneered the technique of setting precious stones in semiprecious materials.
In addition to adapting these motifs in a unique way, Belperron also opted for 22 karat gold, a softer karat level than commonly used, purely for its color.

She often collaborated with the client to achieve the exact right tone of the jewel.

Her designs responded to the desires of a younger generation who wanted bolder, more distinctive designs. 

Combining large, sculptural, carved semi-precious stones with diamonds and other precious gems, she created a bold, dramatic effect.
More of Suzanne Belperron‘s amazing jewelry can be found at https://belperron.com/.

Buildings, Gates, Archways, Tombs, and More — Part Three — Ceilings

~ humoringthegoddess ~ 7 Comments

European culture loves ceilings.

I have never seen as many ornate ceilings in my life as I did on my vacation to Paris, Rome and Florence. A trip of a lifetime, a dream come true.

But enough nostalgia. Take a look at some of the ceilings I took pictures of while I was over there. And please realize I’m not a real live photographer…

 

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Always a Little Sadness Around the Corner

~ humoringthegoddess ~ 12 Comments

 

No matter how happy we are one day, there is always something around the corner waiting to cut us down a notch. 

That’s life. I know. All the philosophy in the world doesn’t change the world of pain happening or about to happen.

My chocolate lab is almost 14 — a record in some ways.  She had a fall a couple of years ago and her back legs don’t work quite right. The other day she slipped climbing out of her cage (she goes in all by herself… I leave the door open) , and pulled a muscle. She’s not eating a lot, and defecating around the house almost every day. 

She is on her way out.

I know this has happened to very  many of you — possibly over and over again. This isn’t the first dog for us that we will eventually have to put to sleep.

How do you make that decision?

Many say it’s only a dog. This part I get. But the dog is my friend, too. Listened to me crying in my beer and walking the paths exploring the woods or fetching till she almost falls over.

Like you, I will know when it’s time. I will hate it with every bone in my body, but I will know. I won’t let her suffer, I won’t force her into a life of pain and confusion just to hug her one more time.

I really didn’t mean to share this today, but it just goes to show you that you are not alone in your confusion and pain. It’s something pet owners agree to do the moment they take those puppy eyes home.

Give your cat and dog an extra hug today. Make new memories.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What’s Up in the Future?

~ humoringthegoddess ~ 4 Comments
Mondays are always a chance to start anew. Scratch that — EVERY day is a chance to start anew. But you already knew that. 

So for my anew for Monday, I thought I’d share some upcoming artists for my Sunday Evening Art Gallery portion of my blog …
 
Have a Super Monday!
 
 
 

Charles Lololma, Native American Artist

 

Hengki Koentjoro, Photographer

 

 

Domenic Bahmann, Illustrator and Visual Artist

 

Vaarten Vrolijk. Glassblower

 

Christian Schmidt-Rassmussan, Painter

 

 

 

 

Sunday Evening Art Gallery — Maggie Vandewalle

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Maggie Vandewalle was born and raised just outside of Iowa City, Iowa, in a rural setting.She received an art scholarship to the University of Iowa, where she worked towards a BFA in printmaking.After several years she took a break from college to explore life,  determined that art most definitely would in the form of drawing.Vandewalle’s drawings are whimsical and precise, showing a wonderful talent for detail.She is a master of watercolor whimsy whose paintings transport us to a world where the ordinary becomes extraordinary, and the impossible seems just within reach.Vandewalle’s clever composition transforms our interpretation from aesthetic appreciation to ecological observation, reminding us with a wink that beauty in nature often serves a practical purpose.

More of Maggie Vandewalle’s amazing art can be found at https://maggievandewalle.com/.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Instant Connection

~ humoringthegoddess ~ 11 Comments

Last night I went through the blogs I follow and came across my friend’s gallery Tiffany Arp-Daleo Artwork. I have showcased her work in both Humoring the Goddess and Sunday Evening Art Gallery. 

 

Tiffany has a unique way of creating abstract paintings — I love them..

This was Tiffany’s post yesterday:

Shadows Within

6/9” Mixed media on paper

Now I don’t spend a lot of time looking closely at contemporary art. I usually love a painting because of the colors or the shapes or a compilation that somehow attracts me.

The first thing I thought when I looked at this pic is: Is that my body? Are those the black spots of hell showing up throughout my torso?

I then wondered if this was a message from Tiffany. Why did she called it Shadows Within? Was this an attempt to tell her readers something?  A Cosmic Message? Or if it was just painting of orange and pink and black?

Even though I love all sorts of Art, I rarely have an emotional connection with them. There are billions of paintings or quilts or ceramics that are worth a second look, but rarely does one shoot out a bolt of connection between human and object.

I’m tickled to pieces.

This is why I keep encouraging you to open up to the Creative Magic that’s everywhere around you. Not every creation is for you — that’s why there’s such diversity in Arts and Crafts. But sooner or later something is going to resonate with you and it will be extraordinary.

Thanks for the unexpected zap, Tiffany!

 

 

 

Sunday Evening Art Gallery — Crystal Wagner

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Crystal Wagner (-1982)  is a printmaker, a drawer and an installation artist from Baltimore, Maryland.Wagner attended Keystone College, a private liberal arts school in La Plume Pennsylvania where she earned her Associate Degree in Fine Art, receiving awards for both her prose/fiction writing and also her work as an artist. In May 2008, Crystal completed her MFA at The University of Tennessee.The artist is known for hand-cut wall-mounted paper forms and immersive, site-specific sculptures.Swirling maelstroms of color and texture are formed from quotidian objects: Plastic dollar store items like cheap tablecloths and straws.Wagner weaves them onto a wire armature where they take on a life of their ownThey evolve from their own mundane beginnings to mimic the natural world as they creep, stretch and grow in, around and through their environments.

She utilizes such humble materials as plastic tablecloths stretched over chicken wire to uncanny effect.Her intricately constructed biomorphic works conjure a feeling of wonder from everyday materials and suggest new possibilities for mass-produced, disposable materials.

More of Crystal Wagner‘s wonderful sculptures can be found at https://www.artsy.net/artist/crystal-wagner and https://www.instagram.com/artistcrystalwagner/?hl=en.

 

 

 

 

Creativity Is Alive and Well!

~ humoringthegoddess ~ 5 Comments

Over the weekend my daughter-in-law and I stopped by Hobby Lobby to pick up a few crafty things.

For those who are not familiar with H-L, it’s a craft store that carries everything from stamps to beads to paint to t-shirts you can dye and more. It’s the kind of store where you’d better have something in particular in mind when you pass through the doors, or you will suffer from crafting overload.

The point is that Hobby Lobby was packed. The aisles were full of grannies, moms and dads with kids, and couples. All buying crafting materials. Usually when I stop by there’s a mere scattering of customers.

A lot of carts were filling up with Christmas decor (the lady behind me was buying Christmas placemats), but just as many held plastic flowers, diamond paintings, and acrylic paints.

I was tickled to see so many crafters at one time. It didn’t matter what they were going to make. They were holding beads up to the light, reading backs of boxes, and comparing hues of yarn. 

I would love to think that people are getting back to making gifts by hand. Trying a new craft. Making scarves and t-shirts with grandkids’ handprints and crystal bracelets both for themselves and their family.

I know crafting is not for everybody. It certainly wasn’t much of a past time for me my first 50 years hanging around on Earth. So when I say “crafting” it can be anything that touches your soul and makes you feel good. 

It’s crazy out there. What better way to find your calm center than putting on music and spreading out your materials and CREATING?

Sunday Evening Art Gallery — Tani Bunchō

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Tani Bunchō (1763–1840) was a prominent Japanese painter and poet, recognized for his significant contributions to the Edo period’s artistic landscape.

He was a central figure in the Bunjinga, or literati painting movement, which emphasized scholarly and poetic themes, drawing inspiration from Chinese literati traditions.Bunchō perfected Edo Nanga (a school of painting originating in China), and he is regarded as one of the three major painters of the Tokugawa period because of his achievement.He studied under the Kanō school but later developed a distinctive style that blended traditional Japanese techniques with Chinese and Western elements.

Throughout his career, Bunchō produced an extensive body of work, including landscapes, portraits, and bird-and-flower paintings, which were highly regarded for their elegance and technical proficiency.His legacy is marked by his role in bridging cultural exchanges between Japan and China, as well as his influence on subsequent generations of Japanese artists.

More of Tani Bunchō’s historical art work can be found at https://www.artnet.com/artists/tani-buncho/https://www.artnet.com/artists/tani-buncho/ and Modern Tokyo Times.

Still Cleaning Cobwebs

~ humoringthegoddess ~ 33 Comments

 

A  cloudy, cool Caturday outside today. The boys are at the end of their fishing trip, leaving me to cook and clean up dog poop. (old dog) all by myself.  I’ve spread my current art project across the kitchen take like flood waters over the dam, but am a a stopping point, so  all is good with the world.

Sluggish-a-reno. Not even Haydn’s lively Paris Symphony #82 can get my mind nor body to function.

I don’t remember being sluggish like that at an earlier age. Life wouldn’t let me. With working two jobs, raising two kids, attending school functions, you had no choice half the time when you woke up and when you went to bed. 

But this isn’t a blog today about the good ol’ days. Most times they’re never as “good” as you remember anyway. A day was just a day, a certain code restricting your freedom depending upon your age and schedule.

Sooooo ….. Are your Saturday’s fairly free? What kind of things do you plan when you don’t have to cook for company or run your kids to soccer games?

I’d love to know how you all spend your Saturday. Perhaps it would spiff me up and get me off the sofa to hear what your weekends are like. Plus, you’re from all over the world, and I’m sure location, age, weather, social influences and would put a wonderful spin on your exciting lives!

Any takers?

 

Dream Food Part Two

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Waaaay back in June of 2017 I did a fun blog about Dream Food.  It was a stimulating, mouth-watering, magical blog about (what I thought) were the most delightful photos of the most delectable food on the planet.

I came across another amazing photo of food and thought I should share it along with more delightful vittles.

Enjoy!

 

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