Faerie Paths — Creativity
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.
Friends I’ve Never Met, Part Four
Although my sharing social media friends may switch frequencies and even days in the future, sharing friendly writers is always a pleasure.
So is my friend Georgiann Carlson.
Georgiann is a writer, poet, artist, lecturer, blogger, vegetarian and native Chicagoan.
She blogs under the title Rethinking Life, and it’s about Art and the philosophy of life and everything in-between. Georgiann has been blogging since 2013, starting with great photographs and evolving into more great photographs and blogs that make you think and feel.
She also creates blogs featuring my FAVORITES: the Chicklets!
I never know what Rethinking Life will offer, but it’s like a wild ride going in all directions.
Stop by some day!
Sunday Evening Art Gallery — Zemer Peled
Ceramic artist Zemer Peled was born and raised in Israel. She earned her MA at the Royal College of Art (UK).
Her sculptures and installations consist of thousands of hand-crafted porcelain shards: a technique that yields a texture both delicate and severe.
The arrangements are a spellbinding combination of colors, texture, and forms that have an otherworldly appeal. 
Peled’s forms are complexly ordered from the inside out, often bulging or spilling over with textures both delicate and severe.
Her ceramic fragments are geometric barbs that mysteriously take on an alluring form, offering a sense of softness despite a sharp actuality.
The forms are never static; the visual dance of sharp ceramic parts conveys a sense of constant movement.
The process behind the installation is perilous: the artist adds the hooked porcelain fragments one by one, pushing the material to its limit to create a precarious yet sustained environment, manifesting the idea of musical notes sustained in time and space.
As the installation grows more complex, the work is continuously in danger of collapsing from the weight of its own individual pieces.
More of Zemer Peled’s amazing sculptures can be found at https://www.zemerpeled.com/.
Sunday Evening Art Gallery — Adam Lee
Adam Lee (1979-) is an Australian artist from Melbourne.
Lee holds a Bachelor and Masters of Fine Art, and a PhD from RMIT University.
Lee’s painting and drawing practice ties together narratives of memory, imagination and transcendence.
With a personal outlook informed by a wide range of interests including folklore and legend to natural history, music, and literature, his works on canvas and paper build elaborate worlds where allegory and atmosphere converge.
Lee’s work references a wide range of sources including historical and family photographs, spiritual narratives, and contemporary music, film and literature, to investigate aspects of the human condition in relation to ideas of temporal and supernatural worlds.
His artwork and vision is reflected by a community of hermits, shawl-shod women and regalia-laden gentlefolk traversing deserts and reposing in tabernacles or dreamed abodes.
These explorations find their physical manifestation in Lee’s well-honed individual style, characterized by moody landscapes and a contemporary take on Tenebrism (a style of painting developed by Caravaggio and other 17th-century Spanish and Italian artists, characterized by predominantly dark tones and shadows with dramatically contrasting effects of light.)
More of Adam Lee’s mesmerizing artwork can be found at https://adamlee.com.au and https://stationgallery.com/artist/adam-lee/.
Upcoming Galleries
I am scooting in for just a moment — between meeting a friend for lunch and taking our puppy to the vet — because I just finished putting together a BUNCH of new Sunday Evening Art Gallery ideas, and am soooo excited to share all this art with you!
I hope you are loving this unique art as much as I am. I wish there was a way to get this art out to a wider audience, but just sharing these artists here and over at the Gallery makes me ecstatic.
Here are a few upcoming artists:
Tell your friends! Tell your boss! Tell your dogs and cats!
See You Soon!
Faerie Paths — Tuesday
In my first 100 days, I will make Taco Tuesday the law.
– George Lopez
Friends I’ve Never Met, Part Three
I find I am enjoying sharing my friends with my reading public on Monday mornings.
Internet blogging, Internet friendship, is something mankind has never experienced until say, 20 years ago. Yes, mankind wrote letters on paper to each other, shared calling cards, and sent messages through second parties to build on whatever friendship they could gather.
Now days people pop up everywhere — Facebook, Word Press, WhatsApp — all to make new friends or to con someone into giving away family codes and secrets.
I am blessed to have made good friends through my blog based merely on writing and sharing snippets of their lives and creativity avenues.
Laura Kate at Daily Fiber is one of those.
Laura is into so many different crafts I can hardly keep up with her. She crochets, knits, quilts, paints — each piece she shares is a mark of craftmanship and of enjoyment. I never know how creative people do what they do, but I’m so glad I found her and have chatted about basics I’ll never really get.
I hope you all continue to make creative friends in the blogging world. Your own world will be richer for it!
Sunday Evening Art Gallery — Philip Anthony Treacy
Philip Anthony Treacy OBE (1967-) is an Irish haute couture milliner, or hat designer, mostly based in London for his career, who was described by Vogue magazine as “perhaps the greatest living milliner”.
His hats are works of art that live timelessly in fashion history, untethered to an obvious decade or trend.
Treacy studied fashion at the National College of Art and Design, where he graduated in 1987. The next year he won an MA scholarship for the Fashion Design course at the Royal College of Art in London, graduating with first class honors.
Widely credited for changing the perception of the hat, he designs hats to flatter and enhance the wearer.
Treacy’s process begins with a drawing, followed by a 3D mock-up in the material.
He then sends the hat shape to a block maker located in Paris who carves it in wood, which serves as the base for the construction of the hat itself.
Everything is handmade as couture manufacturing.
This keeps the hat-making process human as opposed to machine-manufactured and stamped out.
His hats run the gamut between sophisticated and alien, always one of a kind designs from one of a kind dreams.
More of Philip Treacy’s amazing hats can be found at https://www.philiptreacy.co.uk.
Faerie Paths — Literature
Literature is the most agreeable way of ignoring Life.
~ Fernando Pessoa
I Need a Vacation From my Retirement
Don’t get me wrong.
I love being retired. I worked 50 long years to earn this measly social security check. I paid my dues, putting up with chitty bosses and second jobs and downtown Chicago just so I could sleep past 5:30 a.m. most mornings.
But these days I’m busier than I ever was — even when we had babies.
My dreams of retirement included quiet mornings, coffee on the deck, playing gently with my dog, crafting and reading and filling the dishwasher after every meal.
I’ve been retired for four years, and every year seems to get busier and crazier.
I need a vacation from my retirement.
We recently got a second Labrador who endlessly wrestles with the older one, knocking into tables and human legs with ferocity. We have soccer games and shooting tournaments and camping and baby showers and mowing the field we call a lawn and I’m way behind in making purse charms for the craft fair in August and paying bills and I just can’t keep up with it all.
Dare I say it’s starting to take a mental and physical toll on my airy fairy psyche?
Don’t misunderstand — I enjoy being busy. Too many times I’ve heard retirees complain about being bored or ignored or losing interest in doing things that bring them pleasure. I don’t want to fall into that shadow.
Yet I can’t keep up with the constant running around my current lifestyle dictates.
My husband is on his second year of retirement, which had led to him finally being able to do things he’s always wanted to do but had no time to do — volunteering as a baseball or shooting coach, fishing, disappearing into the garage/barn to work on who-knows-what.
I should be able to do the same thing.
Yet I want to go with him to all the grandkids games and grade school performances, work to help my brother-in-law with whatever rehab I can, clean the house, feed the birds, cook new recipes from scratch, fetch the dogs, plant a garden, grocery shop, yadda yadda yadda.
I know you didn’t come here today just to listen to me whine. I didn’t know ~I~ was going to do this much whining.
So I ask you — do you have any tips for slowing down?
Do I just say “no”? Do I put my daily life on a schedule? Do I learn how to prioritize?
Maybe it’s just that I have fewer years ahead of me than behind, and I want to take advantage of every spare minute I can. I’d rather spend time with friends and family than do laundry, or sit and listen to smooth jazz while I craft rather than vacuum and dust.
Be prepared for retirement. You’ll have to put on your running shoes to keep up!
Sunday Evening Art Gallery — Felicity Aylieff
Felicity Aylieff has an established reputation as a maker of large-scale, sculptural ceramics.
Her large-scale works, all hand-thrown and hand painted, are a towering testament to the centuries-old traditions which established Jingdezhen as the “Porcelain Capital” of the world.
Born in Edlesborough, Bedfordshire, in 1954, Aylieff studied at Bath Academy of Art, gaining a first-class Honors degree in ceramics and textiles, followed by a teaching postgraduate year at Goldsmiths College in 1978.
An ‘incredibly liberating’ artist residency in Jingdezhen, China, the historic home of Chinese porcelain production, saw the beginning of a series of monumental pots, the largest of which stands five meters (16 feet) high.
Aylieff works at the ‘big ware’ factory — a family business which specializes in making large-scale pots up to three meters in height.
It takes three throwers working in tandem to throw a big pot, and then, under her instruction, a team of ‘master throwers’ finishes her designs for monumental forms.
Aylieff decorates in detail with fencai colored enamels, painting abstract marks in cobalt pigment with huge Chinese calligraphy brushes. Fencai is an over-glaze enamel technique that dates back to the 18th century used to decorate with color and pattern, porcelain pots made at the Imperial Kilns of Jingdezhen but painted at the Palace workshops in Beijing .
Her work shows her passion for material and process through its use of color, pattern, and historically informed decorative techniques.
More of Felicity Aylieff’s amazing ceramics can be found at https://www.felicityaylieff.com/ and https://www.rca.ac.uk/more/staff/felicity-aylieff/.
Faerie Paths — Normal
If you are always trying to be normal, you will never know how amazing you can be.
―
Friends I’ve Never Met, Part Two
Last Monday I wrote a blog on Friends I’ve Never Met and the influence they’ve had on my life in one way or another.
To repeat, in the blogging world, a good friend is not always what the world perceives. We don’t get together for coffee or dinner; we don’t visit each other’s houses or get into big deep conversations. We know very little about each other and probably never will; our connection is with words and images and responses and smiles we can feel over the Internet Airwaves.
Another good friend of mine is Darlene Foster at Darlene Foster’s Blog.
Darlene lives in Spain and is a prolific writer, especially in children’s adventure books. She is a delight because she has visited so many places and experienced so many creative things and shares them all on her blog.
One of her favorite places to visit on Costa Blanca in Spain is Altea, a charming fishing village north of Alicante with a blue-domed church overlooking the harbor. Her pictures made me want to go there and see this town for myself.
She is the kind of personality you love to love, even if you’ve never met her. Her travels, her books, inspire me to open my mind and explore the world and writing and see what I can contribute to it.
I hope you have good friends that you can share with us on YOUR blogs!
Sunday Evening Art Gallery — Greenhouses
The World Under Glass Still Shines
Sunday Evening Art Gallery — Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756 –1791) was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period.
Born in Salzburg, Austria, Mozart was a child prodigy capable of playing multiple instruments. At age five he began to compose and gave his first public performance at age six.
Through the years Mozart aligned himself with a variety of European venues and patrons, composing hundreds of works that included sonatas, symphonies, masses, chamber music, concertos and operas, all marked by vivid emotion and sophisticated textures.
The central traits of the Classical style are all present in Mozart’s music: clarity, balance, and transparency, yet simplistic notions of its delicacy mask the exceptional power of his finest masterpieces, including Symphony No. 41 “Jupiter” in C Major, K. 551, Symphony No. 40 in G Minor, K. 550, Symphony No. 36 “Linz” in C Major, K. 425, and Serenade No. 13 in G Major, K 525.
Over the course of his working life, Mozart switched his focus from instrumental music to operas, and back again.
Mozart excelled in the field of opera, including Le nozze di Figaro (The Marriage of Figaro) in 1786, Don Giovanni, 1787, and Die Zauberflöte or The Magic Flute in 1791.
Mozart developed the use of subtle changes in instrumentation, orchestration, and tone color to express or highlight psychological or emotional states and dramatic shifts.
His increasingly sophisticated use of the orchestra in the symphonies and concerti served as a resource in his operatic orchestration, and his developing subtlety in using the orchestra to psychological effect in his operas was reflected in his later non-operatic compositions.
His death at age 35 may have resulted from a number of illnesses. Yet Mozart died penniless and was buried in an unmarked grave.
Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition and proficiency from an early age resulted in more than 800 works representing virtually every Western classical genre of his time.
More of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s amazing life and music can be found all through the Internet, including https://www.wolfgang-amadeus.at/en/ and https://www.worldhistory.org/Wolfgang_Amadeus_Mozart/.
Faerie Paths — Cosmic Castles
On many occasions the curious atmospheric effects enchanted me vastly; these including a strikingly vivid mirage — the first I had ever seen — in which distant bergs became the battlements of unimaginable cosmic castles.
~ H. P. Lovecraft
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Friends I’ve Never Met
During my last, what — 11 years — as a blogger, I’ve made many casual friends and fewer good friends.
In the blogging world, a good friend is not always what the world perceives. We don’t get together for coffee or dinner; we don’t visit each other’s houses or get into big deep conversations. We know very little about each other and probably never will; our connection is with words and images and responses and smiles we can feel over the Internet Airwaves.
One of these good friends is my good friend Ivor at Ivor.Plumber/Poet.
Ivor lives in Australia, and to me is a master poet and friendly presence. I am guessing he is in my age bracket and has had a past rich in love and memories.
Ivor wrote this poem for me the other day as a response to my Camping, Sofa and a Sword post. Go visit his world and enjoy the friendship.
Dreams of the Heart
I cannot walk the continents
Like the intrepid Marco Polo
But my feet have felt the sands of time
Pass between my toes
I have not sailed the high seas
Like the courageous Christopher Columbus
But my body has bathed
In an ocean full of kind hearts
I am yet to fly in space
Like the brave Neil Armstrong
But I have reached for the stars
And touched my soul’s dreams
Sunday Evening Art Gallery — Paul Troger
Paul Troger (1698-1762) was an Austrian painter, draughtsman and printmaker of the late Baroque period.
Troger’s style, particularly in his frescoes, dominated Austrian painting until the end of the 18th century and profoundly influenced significant artists of the next generation.
His illusionistic ceiling paintings in fresco are notable for their dramatic vitality of movement and their palette of light colors.
Originally from the Puster Valley in Tyrol, Troger studied in Italy for ten years and moved from Salzburg to Vienna in 1729.
Troger became the favourite fresco painter in Lower Austrian monasteries in collaboration with the architect Josef Munggenast.
In 1753, he joined the Imperial Academy of Fine Arts and became its director in 1754.
His most important contribution to Austrian painting was to reject the strong dark palette, typical of the beginning of the 18th century, in favor of an increasingly lighter palette, typical of the new Rococo taste.
More of Paul Troger’s magnificent art can be found at https://www.paultroger.it and https://artvee.com/artist/paul-troger/.
Camping, Sofa, and a Sword
I have to say I’m a bit old fashioned, but after visiting another place for a couple of days, there’s no place like home.
We just spent five days camping with two of our best friends and 3 dogs, and, except for the huge thunderstorm that came through last night, it was a great time.
But I am now home, bags and coolers unpacked, and I’m loving digging down into my comfy sofa. Last week I was bored sitting on this same sofa.
Aren’t we all just the funniest things?
We love where we are, we long to be someplace else. We make our surroundings as comfortable and magical as we can, yet we dream of experiencing the magic of other places, other experiences.
It’s like we’re happy we ordered lasagna but wish we would have ordered someone else’s steak too.
I think it’s so important to explore other worlds, other foods, other experiences. It doesn’t matter if you can’t actually go to the places you dream about — you can still take that next step and explore it your way. Cook a cuisine you’ve always wondered about; take a virtual tour of your dream vacation; read a book written by someone who sat right in the middle of your travel destination.
At the moment I’m watching Forged in Fire, a reality TV series on the History Channel where bladesmiths make and test bladed weapons. There have been some fine and amazing swords, knives, and other bladed weapons made on that show… a creative world I know nothing about. But it’s so fun to watch artists who DO know about it!
I encourage you to try new recipes, new forms of poetry, and new creative skills. Let me know what you’ve explored, what you’ve enjoyed, what you’ll never try again.
As I always say, life’s too short.
Don’t waste it digging too far into your sofa.
Which Books Would You Bring? (repost)
Which Books Would You Bring?
It’s the beginning of a Glorious Day here in the Midwest.
Being alone with my dogs and cat and fish and computer and crafts room and my messy closet floor, there will be a lot of things I’ll want to accomplish that I can’t always accomplish with company around.
But you know me. That’s not what this particular blog is about.
I had an idea in the shower this morning, and I’d LOVE to hear back from all of you. The more the merrier.
I really enjoyed the end scene in the movie “The Time Machine” with Rod Taylor, where George comes back from the future to grab three books to take back with him. It goes something like this:
Filby: He must have taken something with him.
Mrs. Watchett: Nothing, except three books.
Filby: Which three books?
Mrs. Watchett: I don’t know. Is it important?
Filby: No, I suppose not. Only – what three books would you have taken?
I thought about throwing you/us onto a deserted island or in an isolated cabin in the woods, but then you/we would have more to worry about than what books to read. Food, tools, medicine, is all too much to think about on this beautiful morning.
So here is the question:
If you time traveled into the future (or into the past), which three books would you take?
This time around I’m going to put restrictions on the question. Like being specific on the time period, (forward OR past), what you have in YOUR library (vs. stopping at the bookstore first), and only three books.
After all, those are the choices George had.
And, as a side, if you feel like it, are the three books the first three that came to mind, or did you think about it for a bit first?
I’ll go first. And it’s really hard.
I ran downstairs, tripping over my Tears crafts bins, and looked at my shelves. Ack! An eclectic mix, for sure. Seeing as they have to be books from MY library, for reading I’d take Lord of the Rings Trilogy by J.R.R. Tolkien; for art, the History of Art (1st Edition) by H.W. Janson (1982); and for poetry, The Illustrated Household Book of Poetry Charles A Dana 11th Edition, 1868.
None of these books are “modern” in the sense of the word; I’m ashamed I don’t have any current poetry or updated art books. I tossed around bringing a book of Shakespeare or Edgar Allen Poe stories and poems, but their rhetoric might not be as entertaining after the 375th read.
If I had time to think about it, or had time to run to the bookstore or library, my choices may have been different. But, for what I have, for what I would have to share with others for eternity, would be a little bit of entertainment through the ages.
After all, how could you not enjoy a happy ending?
“At last they rode over the downs and took the East Road, and then Merry and Pippin rode on to Buckland and already they were singing again as they went. But Sam turned to Bywater, and so came back up the Hill, as day was ending once more. And he went on, and there was yellow light, and fire within; and the evening meal was ready, and he was expected. And Rose drew him in, and set him in his chair, and put little Elanor upon his lap. He drew a deep breath. ‘Well, I’m back,’ he said.”
Faerie Paths — Women
Each time a woman stands up for herself, without knowing it possibly, without claiming it, she stands up for all women.
~ Maya Angelou
Degenerate Art — Kind of a Repost
I just happened to come across a documentary about Art Thefts and how famous works were recovered. Called “Raiders of the Lost Art” (how cute) on Amazon Prime, the first episode was about all the Hildebrand Gurlitt, a German art historian and art gallery director who dealt in Nazi-looted art as one of Hitler’s and Goering’s four authorized dealers for “degenerate art”.
Hildebrand Gurlitt’s personal collection of over 1,500 artworks by Impressionist, Cubist, and Expressionist artists and Old Masters remained virtually unknown until it was brought to public attention in 2013 following its confiscation from the possession of his son, Cornelius Gurlitt
I was extra excited about this episode because of what I learned and blogged about back in
Hatred and destruction of things you don’t like or understand has been around for centuries. Think of how many books were burned, buildings were bombed, and lives were destroyed by closed minded fools.
The world in general and the art world in particular is fortunate that so many works by now-famous modern artists had been stolen and hidden from sight instead of burned during that horrid movement.
I’m going to repost the Degenerate Art blog and add a few more degenerate art and artists at the end.
Don’t ever let the world tell you what to paint and what to create.
Sunday Evening Art Gallery — Degenerate Art
Degenerate Art was a term adopted in the 1920s by the Nazi Party in Germany to describe modern art.
Descent from the Cross, Max Beckmann
During the dictatorship of Adolf Hitler, German modernist art, including many works of internationally renowned artists, was removed from state-owned museums and banned in Nazi Germany on the grounds that such art was an “insult to German feeling”, un-German, Freemasonic, Jewish, or Communist in nature.
Magdeburger Ehrenmal, Ernst Barlac
Hitler’s rise to power in 1933 was quickly followed by actions intended to cleanse the culture of degeneracy: book burnings were organized, artists and musicians were dismissed from teaching positions, and curators who had shown a partiality for modern art were replaced by Party members.
Portrait of a Man, Erich Heckel
Those identified as degenerate artists were subjected to sanctions that included being dismissed from teaching positions, being forbidden to exhibit or to sell their art, and in some cases being forbidden to produce art.
Street Berlin, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner
The head of Reichskammer der Bildenden Künste (Reich Chamber of Visual Art), and his commission were authorized to confiscate from museums and art collections throughout the Reich any remaining art deemed modern, degenerate, or subversive.
Kneeling Woman, Wilhelm Lehmbruck
All the works that were a part of Bauhaus, Cubist, Dada, Expressionist, Fauvist, Impressionist, New Objectivity and Surrealist style were labeled as sick.
At the Shore, Edgar Ende
These works were then to be presented to the public in an exhibit intended to incite further revulsion against the “perverse Jewish spirit” penetrating German culture.
Pharisees, Karl Schmidt-Rottluff
In July 1937, the German Nazi regime sponsored the Entartete Kunst (Degenerate Art) exhibition in Munich.
The exhibition’s central theme was to “educate” the public on the “art of decay.”
The Blue Window, Henri Matisse
The exhibition featured over 650 paintings, sculptures, prints and books from the collections of 32 German museums.
The artworks were placed next to insulting texts which were supposed to prove how depraved the artists were and ridiculed by being juxtaposed with other works by the inmates of German lunatic asylums.
Despite this, public attendance exceeded all expectations. It is estimated that more than 2 million people passed through the cramped space in 1937.
During this period, over 5,000 artworks were seized, including 1,052 pieces by Emil Nolde (who was ironically a racially pure Aryan and a member of the Nazi Party), 759 by M.C. Escher, 639 by Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, 508 by Max Beckmann, and smaller numbers of artworks by such artists as Alexander Archipenko, Marc Chagall, Wassily Kandinsky, Henri Matisse, Pablo Picasso, Vincent Van Gogh and hundreds of others.
Bildnis des Malers, Franz Radziwill
In March 1939, the Berlin Fire Brigade burned about 4000 paintings, drawings and prints that had apparently little value on the international market.
Die großen blauen Pferde, Franz Marc
A similar act was conducted in the summer of 1942, in the gardens of the Galerie Nationale du Jeu de Paume in Paris, in a bonfire which burned important pieces by Pablo Picasso, Salvador Dalí, Paul Klee, Fernand Léger and Joan Miró.
Les Demoiselles d’Avignon, Pablo Picasso
In this way, Germany began the confiscation of artworks deemed degenerate from a variety of museums throughout the Reich and combined the taken works into one single, coherent exhibition for their further ridicule and mockery.
En Canot, Jean Metzinger
The V&A holds the only known copy of a complete inventory of Entartete Kunst confiscated by the Nazi regime from public institutions in Germany, mostly during 1937 and 1938. The list of more than 16,000 artworks was produced by the Reichsministerium für Volksaufklärung und Propaganda (Reich Ministry for Public Enlightenment and Propaganda) in 1942
The UMMA Exchange has a list with pictures of all artists in the Degenerate Art Show.
A few more:
Bathers With A Turtle, Henri Matisse
Christ and the Sinner, Max Beckmann
‘Three Bathers, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner
Self-Portrait Dedicated To Paul Gaugin, Vincent van Gogh
T
The Absinthe Drinker, Pablo Picasso
Sunday Evening Art Gallery — Ernst Barlach
Ernst Barlach (1870 -1938) was a prominent German sculptor, printmaker, and writer, best known for his expressive works that poignantly captured the human condition.
Barlach studied art in Hamburg, Germany, and later in Dresden and Paris.
His sculptures, often characterized by their simplified forms and emotional depth, reflect the hardships and spiritual struggles of the early 20th century, particularly in the context of war and social upheaval.
Barlach’s work, influenced by both medieval German art and the modernist movement, frequently explored themes of suffering, compassion, and the search for meaning, making him a significant figure in the expressionist art movement.
Stylistically, his literary and artistic work would fall between the categories of twentieth-century Realism and Expressionism.
In the years before World War I, Barlach was a patriotic and enthusiastic supporter of the war, awaiting a new artistic age from the war.
His awaited new artistic age came for him when he volunteered to join the war between 1915 and 1916 as an infantry soldier. After three months of service he was discharged due to a heart ailment, returning as a pacifist and a staunch opponent of war, the horror of the war influencing all of his subsequent works.
Although his work was removed from German museums under the Nazi regime and categorized as “degenerate art,” after World War II his talent was once again recognized.
Despite facing persecution during the Nazi regime, which deemed his art “degenerate,” Barlach’s legacy endures through his deeply moving and introspective works that continue to resonate with audiences today.
More of Ernest Barlach’s body of inspirational works can be found at https://artincontext.org/ernst-barlach/… and https://www.barlach-haus.de/.
Faerie Paths — Saturday Morning
On a lazy Saturday morning when you’re lying in bed, drifting in and out of sleep, there is a space where fantasy and reality become one.
~ Lynn Johnston
Faerie Paths — Evening
When the sun goes down, and the clouds all frown
Night has begun for the sunset
See it with your eyes, Earth’s re-energized
By the sun’s rays everyday
Take a look out there, planets everywhere
When the sun goes down, and the clouds all frown
Night has begun for the sunset
Shadows on the ground, never make a sound
Fading away in the sunset
Night has now become day for everyone
I can see it all, from this great height
I can feel the sun, slipping out of sight
And the world still goes on through the night……..
Mike Pinder, Moody Blues
Have a beautiful evening — tonight and every night.
Sunday Evening Art Gallery — BOND Hardware
BOND Hardware is a sustainable jewelry and accessories label, designed and handmade in New York.
Founded in 2012, designer and stylist Dana Hurwitz started the brand as an experimental project, locally sourcing scrap metal and found industrial objects to adorn looks for New York club kids.
Later joined by creative partner and photographer Mariah Pershadsingh, the duo continues to develop the brand with a focus on innovation and craftsmanship.
BOND Hardware is a forward-thinking jewelry brand known for its sharp silhouettes, fetishistic look and feel, inclusive ethos, and use of stark, industrial materials.
In their jewelry and accessories lines, nuts and bolts become rings, buzzsaws become bangles, and screws become pendant charms.
Unlike most costume jewelry, BOND does not use traditionally plated metals. They instead use PVD Stainless Steel.
Refined from industrial shapes, BOND Hardware forms are made to adorn spaces or the body using materials that are sustainably acquired for the longest and least destructive lifespan possible.
More of BOND Hardware‘s jewelry can be found at https://bond-hardware.com/ and https://www.surfacemag.com/articles/bond-hardware-designer-day/#.
Faerie Paths — Beginnings
Every new beginning comes from some other beginning’s end.
~ Marcus Annaeus Seneca (54 BC – 39 AD)
Want a Puppy?
Everyone loves puppies.
They are sweet, adorable, inquisitive, cuddly, and innocent. They are loyal companions, full of fun and energy and devotion.
They are also a pain in the _______.
Our new puppy makes me feel like a crabby old lady. Maybe I ~am~ a crabby old lady.
But I’m just not up to the 24/7 madness a toddler dog brings.
Our other Labrador is getting on in age, and hubby thought it a good idea to introduce a new pup to the family circle. Past experience has shown that a young dog really does bring some life and spark into your old dog’s life. Adds a few years, as they say.
I’m not sure my older dog is up on all that. She probably wishes she’d run away and not come back.
As for this senior citizen, a new puppy means inside accidents, chewed shoes, 3 a.m. outside pee breaks, underfoot traffic, and more.
She’s in my way. She’s underfoot. She needs letting out every hour and a half. She chews everything. She eats everything.
Oh, you’re retired, some say. You’ve got plenty of time to keep up with a youngster. She’ll add youth to your life.
Well, crabby patty Granny says she’s earned her retirement, and running around keeping up with a puppy is not her idea of fun. It would be like inheriting your grandkids. You love them to death but the younger ones would run you ragged in a matter of days.
Don’t get me wrong. My new puppy is just that — a puppy. She’ll learn. She’ll behave. She will bring all of us years of happiness, friendship, and love. She’s as cute as a button and smart as a whip.
It’s just that these days I don’t have the energy or mental sharpness of a whip.
I’m more like a well-used broom who’s losing some of its bristles.
Yet we all find a way to survive….
Sunday Evening Art Gallery — Joris Hoefnagel
Joris Hoefnagel or Georg Hoefnagel (1542 – 1601) was a Flemish painter, printmaker, miniaturist, draftsman and merchant.
He is noted for his illustrations of natural history subjects, topographical views, illuminations and mythological works.
Hoefnagel was one of the last manuscript illuminators and made a major contribution to the development of topographical drawing.
His manuscript illuminations and ornamental designs played an important role in the emergence of floral still-life painting as an independent genre in northern Europe at the end of the 16th century.
Working before the invention of the microscope and long before etymology was an established field of study, Hoefnagel produced images that are much more than the sum of his empirical observations.
He created his manuscripts not for a wide scientific public but instead for himself and his small circle of friends.
The almost scientific naturalism of his botanical and animal drawings served as a model for a later generation of Netherlandish artists.
Through these nature studies Hoefnagel also contributed to the development of natural history and he was thus a founder of proto-scientific inquiry.
More of Joris Hoefnagel’s work can be found at https://www.nga.gov/collection/artist-info.2569.html.
Unique Flowers (repost)
I was posting images on my Instagram account and came across this blog — you’ve GOT to check it out!
LOOK AT THESE FLOWERS!
(okay… I’ll cut back on the caffeine now…)
Unique Flowers
More in the Gallery! See you over there!
The Lusty Month of May!
Tra la! It’s May!
The lusty month of May!
That lovely month when ev’ryone goes
Blissfully astray.
Tra la! It’s here!
That shocking time of year
When tons of wicked little thoughts
Merrily appear!
It’s May! It’s May!
That gorgeous holiday
When ev’ry maiden prays that her lad
Will be a cad!
It’s mad! It’s gay!
A libelous display!
Those dreary vows that ev’ryone takes,
Ev’ryone breaks.
Ev’ryone makes divine mistakes
The lusty month of May!
Alan Jay Lerner & Frederick Loewe
It’s All About Me!
I never knew I was so powerful.
Especially as I’ve gotten older.
If my computer crashes, it’s my fault. If we get lost driving somewhere it’s my fault. If something is left behind on the table it’s my fault.
I never knew I was so powerful.
Yesterday my computer crashed. Of course that was my fault.
Never mind that I’m very careful where I wander on the Internet. Nevermind I have McAffrey on and delete folders when the pics are online or I keep up with changing passwords and clean my cache often.
Whatever happens I must have had something to do with it.
My partner is a very linear person. He uses his computer to pay bills and search on Amazon and little else. He clears caches all the time and doesn’t wander the Internet looking and/or downloading pictures or articles or recipes. The computer is for work, serious research, and little else. (That’s what his cellphone is for.)
So when I get this weird message about having a non-HP battery in my computer (I don’t) or my Internet connection has disappeared, it must have been something ~I~ did.
And being flighty half the time, there’s a good chance he’s right.
But he’s not.
I am sure all of you are careful where you wander on the Internet. There are bad sites and trick sites and black holes any one of us can fall in. There are security systems you can buy that keep an eye on your wandering, along with Google or Windows warnings of fishy sites.
So when my computer just up and didn’t work yesterday and this morning, I must have pushed a button somewhere or approved some computer change that I didn’t remember. Why else would you lose your Internet connection?
Doesn’t matter that we have chitty Internet service. Doesn’t matter that on occasion it takes forever to get to a common website.
Somehow it was something I did.
I wish I would have known about this ultimate power sooner.
I could have shut down obnoxious websites. Gone to the top of the blogging popularity lists. Gotten books published. Chatted with the Princess of Wales.
With the push of a button I could have taken money from wealthy bank accounts. Gotten into a chat room with Trump and Putin and told them what’s what. Started a world peace movement.
But it’s too late. I’m too old.
All I can do these days is crash my own computer.
Which, as you can see, is now working.
Darn!
Sunday Evening Art Gallery — eL Seed
eL Seed is a Tunisian artist, born in France and now living in Canada.
His distinguished fusion of Arabic Calligraphy and Graffiti has made him an important influence for graffiti artists throughout the Arab world.
eL Seed works in the public sphere. His work is not signed and he doesn’t claim ownership upon them. 
His work is characterized by intricate layers of color, symbols and letters that convey universal messages about coexistence, peace and freedom.
Through his art, eL Seed amplifies the voices of the communities he encounters, using language as a tool to create connections and inspire ideas of unity.
He celebrates the beauty and uniqueness of cultural heritage and draws inspiration from local writers, poets and philosophers he meets on his travels.
Sometimes, eL Seed has a particular theme in mind that he wants to raise so he will search for the appropriate place and quote.
In other circumstances, a community will reach out to him first, so he will look for the most appropriate issue to address with his art.
You can find more of eL Seed’s amazing murals at https://elseed-art.com/ and https://elseedrelated.com/.
The Gallery Is Open!
It is with much enthusiasm and woopies that I announce that my other blog, Sunday Evening Art Gallery, is back in business!
Back in business, you ask? What are you talking about?
Well, like all seniors on social security, there are priorities. Priorities and more priorities. Having blown my yearly wad on vacationing down in Florida, I had to wait until my budget came back around to be able to afford a renewal — one that includes more storage space and no ads.
There is no doubt that every one of us has to budget our life away. There are always priorities that take precedent over other priorities. Food is more important than going to the movies. Paying your electric bill is more important than buying plants for your garden.
Unless you hang out with the likes of Zuckerberg or Gates, there is always a struggle to figure out which priority needs to come first.
Determining priorities isn’t always a life-and-death decision, of course. It can also be as simple as if you want a shrimp dinner next week you’ll have to eat spaghetti this week. You know. Substitutions.
ANYWAY…..
I’m glad I could rearrange my finances so that I can bring you larger galleries of the artists I introduced in here.
I do hope you are going over there now and then to check out the diverse worlds I’ve collected through my journeys through the World of Creativity.
See you on the other side!
Sunday Evening Art Gallery — Janna van Hasselt
Janna van Hasselt is a ceramic sculptor, born in Ōtepoti Dunedin in 1980 and now resides in Ōtautahi Christchurch, New Zealand.
She earned a BFA (printmaking) from Ilam School of Fine Arts, Ōtautahi Christchurch (2004) and, as a recipient of a Fullbright Award an MFA (visual art) from the School of Art Institute of Chicago (2014).
van Hasselt’s work is characterized by a pleasure in materials and a strong sense of spontaneity, playfulness and humor.
The artist works with media ranging from printed and dyed fabric to puff pigment, ceramics, hot glue and inflatables.
Her works often have a feeling of controlled chaos; knots, tubes, folds and stacks are van Hasselt’s forms of choice as she experiments with the tension, stress and gravity of each object made or represented.
She also explores the idea of architectural failure, questioning how far her structures can be pushed before they collapse.
“I find inspiration in the everyday; the minutiae of life as a parent,” Van Hasselt shares.
“My works are created manipulating clay and slip using varied actions present in basic life tasks – kneading, rolling, stretching, extruding, slicing, stacking, piercing, plaiting and highlighting.”
More of Janna van Hasselt’s unique and fun art can be found at https://www.janna.co.nz/ and https://www.seedgallery.co.nz/collections/janna-van-hasselt-sculpture.
Looking Back — Mini Things, Part One
Bringing another Saturday of fun, joy and amazement to you wandering eyes! Today I want to wander back through the art galleries and showcase more unbelievable art.
I ~do~ hope you are clicking on the blue titles and checking out their additional works. That’s half the fun!
:Lets try a different topic. How about ….. Mini Things?
Williard Wigan
Kiva Ford
Snowflakes
Dr. Gary Greenburg
(sand)
Angelo Musco
Tatsuya Tanaka
Izumi Akinobu
Miki Asai
Sunday Evening Art Gallery — Sheryl Tempchin
Sheryl Tempchin’s abstract and semi-abstract paintings are expressions of her deep feelings for the natural world, its beauty and fragility.
Born in Minnesota, Tempchin spent much of her childhood surrounded by nature—the woodlands and lakes near her home on the outskirts of Minneapolis, as well as her grandparents’ farm near the town of Alexandria.
As an adult, she eventually settled in the coastal town of Encinitas, where she continues to live and paint.
Tempchin studied art at Palomar College, in San Marcos CA, UCLA, and the Otis Art Institute in Los Angeles.
Tempchin’s technique involves applying oil paint to canvas or panel with various tools—palette knives, squeegees and bondo spreaders—then blending and refining with brushes.
“My paintings are about the natural world, the sea, the sky, and the life that surrounds me,” she says.
“What I’m interested in is not so much how things look as how they make me feel, and the mystery behind it all.”
“Through my paintings, I hope people can connect to that sense of mystery.”
More of Sheryl Tempchin’s inspirational art can be found at https://www.sheryltempchin.com/.
A Long Time Ago ….
Always Always Always … On my way to doing something else ….
This morning I was all ready to write a new post about a new and wonderfully unique artist when I got the urge to go back through the forest and look at my very first post.
Even the Universe Chuckles. Published April 18, 2011, at 11:51 am.
What a big day that was.
And look at where I am today. Friends with so many of you, hoping still bring some sunshine and smiles into your everyday world.
But I digress …
It was a fun and light-hearted look at middle age, something many of us were going through. I had a lot of ideas back then of where I wanted to take this blog — some panned out, others drifted back into the mist.
I will repost it here today to give both you and me a chuckle, as not much has changed in 14 years.
But more importantly, I wanted to post a reaction from one of my dearest writing friends that passed away not long after I started wandering down this path.
He was a writer, a good person, and the reason I kept attending Wisconsin Writer Conferences year after year. We encouraged each other, talked about how our lives influenced our writing, and other writer/friend stuff. We just enjoyed each other’s creativity. And I’m thankful for that.
He responded to my first blog with this:
Fantastic start, Claudia, my one and only unicorn. 🙂
Middle age? It’s that long period between when young people think you’re “old,” even when you don’t, and when your body starts telling you you really are. There’s no reliable set of numbers on middle age (or young or old). I like to say that age is a state of mind, until your body tells you otherwise. So middle age is probably from somewhere in the 30s to somewhere in the 60s, though we’ll get arguments on both ends of the spectrum, depending on who’s arguing.
I know “kids” who think 30 is “old,” people in their 40s who argue they aren’t “middle-aged yet,” and those in their 70s who refuse to believe (or act like) they’re old. I also know people in their 50s and 60s who think and behave “old,” sadly allowing their zest for living to wane.
Another definition of middle-aged, therefore, might be as long as the zest survives.
Boyd
I miss you, Boyd. A lot.
Even the Universe Chuckles
What exactly is middle age?
You always hear people talking about their “mid-life crisis”: how one particular panic attack or moment of decision changed the second half of their life. But what if your perception of reality has become tilted over time? Would you even notice it?
I know I share the sentiment of many who feel their cosmic clock ticking away, day after day, year after year, without as much as an apology from said clock for moving near the speed of light. Some of us reached this level of maturity easily; others bumbled and stumbled our way here. But all of us have filled our hearts and minds with experiences that made the journey worthwhile.
Humoring the Goddess: Managing the Madness Magic of Middle Age mingles a bit of magic with the madness that surrounds us as we ease away from the dreams of our 20’s to the realities of life past 40. Magic, you say? The older I’ve gotten, the more I realize that magic is nothing more than our point of view.
Magic touches and guides us from within, a mixture of common sense, experience, and nonsense, taking us from dreams to reality and back again. And since it doesn’t cost a thing, it can be tapped into over and over again.
Alrighty. We’ve chatted about middle age and magic. What about this blog? What can you expect from this corner of the universe?
Each week, Momentary Musings will bring you stories that twinkle with honesty, irony, and positive energy. There also will be Quimsical Quotations, witty words from some of the most fascinating minds in history; and Frivolous Facts and Falderal, useless bits of entertainment that have nothing to do with the world in general but keep you chuckling with the universe in particular. And believe me. The universe chuckles.
Sometimes life twists and turns as if we’re traveling down some corkscrew highway. We think we know where we’ve been, where we’re going. Suddenly children and elves and family members come along and fracture whatever notions of normalcy we have. What was simple suddenly becomes complex. We feel slower, chubbier, and denser than we ever have been before. Other times we fly with the grace of a downhill skier. We develop insight like Einstein and patience like Gandhi, making the circle of life complete once again.
Let me assure you, you are not alone in your misgivings about middle age, whether you are heading in that direction or already there. There is a thread of truth that rings through all my stories, a thread that connects us all with smiles and tears, sighs and adrenalin rushes. And hopefully you will come to understand that it’s okay to experience them all.
Enjoy your journey through Humoring the Goddess: Managing the Madness Magic of Middle Age. Before you know it you’ll be humoring the Goddess yourself, no matter what your age.
Faerie Paths — Nobility
When you do something noble and beautiful and nobody noticed, do not be sad. For the sun every morning is a beautiful spectacle and yet most of the audience still sleeps.
~ John Lennon
Sunday Evening Art Gallery — David Webb
David Webb (1925 –1975) was known as a distinguished American jeweler.
Webb’s self-taught style brimmed with ideas gleaned from years spent poring over ancient jewels from Greece, Mesopotamia, and Central and South America, as well as traditional jewelry styles from China and India.
His ability to craft imposing, grandiose, yet impeccably elegant accessories — filled with bold contrasts and rich gemstone shapes — cemented his reputation as one of America’s most iconic jewelry designers, delighting high society with his unparalleled craftsmanship.
The trajectory of American and European jewelry over his formative years can be broadly described as a swing away from the abstract geometry of Art Deco towards more exuberant, figurative themes from the natural world.
After honing his skills at the Penland School of Craft in the Blue Ridge Mountains, Webb set his sights on New York City.
With the backing of the wealthy patron Antoinette Quilleret, Webb was eventually able to open his own shop in 1945.
His fledgling business quickly met with enough success that he was able to buy out Quilleret shortly afterwards, establishing David Webb Inc. in 1948.
By the 1950s and 1960s, movie stars and fashion icons could be seen wearing his trademark bracelets, brooches, rings and necklaces fashioned in hammered gold, black enamel and oversized gemstones, many in the shape of exotic animals.
More of David Webb’s amazing jewelry can be found at https://www.davidwebb.com/ and Sothbys.
Background Distraction or Enhancement?
Sitting on my sofa early in the morning, looking out the window at the cloudy and windy atmosphere, a bit of You Tube’s April Jazz playing in the background, I started contemplating the day, and wondered…
Do you listen to music or watch TV while you craft?
I am a big background music person. I can handle total silence for only so long. Perhaps that’s because there is so much chatter in my head I hesitate to leave any more empty space for buzzing.
Fortunately, the Creativity I enjoy is more of a sedate kind. Creative thoughts but sedate positions. Angel Tears, sketching, garden designing, writing, all require little movement.
As I get into the “zone” I find that music helps get me pumped up, organized, calmed, and focused. After a while I push the music to the back of my brain so that I can concentrate on what I’m doing, but there’s something about the vibrations of notes and melodies that make concentration easier.
Sometimes, if I’ve been sitting too long, lost in whatever I’m doing, I find music turns into too much of a good thing, so I change genres or turn on a no-brainer movie in the background just to add a fourth dimension to my already crowded third dimension.
My son introduced me to an app called Video Lite that cuts out all the advertising on You Tube, so I am free to listen to uninterrupted music, which is perfect for crafting. Sometimes its Smooth Jazz, sometimes it’s Gypsy Jazz, sometimes its Upbeat Classical or Steely Dan. I have made playlists in a number of genres, all reflecting a positive mood. I’ve done the same on Amazon music, so I can find “mood” anywhere.
I find the music makes my head (and hands) calmer and more accurate. Which, for an older granny, is great.
So tell me — how do you create atmosphere when being creative?
Sunday Evening Art Gallery — Easter Eggs (repost)
Sometimes a repeat is just what the imagination needs!
Sunday Evening Art Gallery — Easter Eggs
The world is full of hopeful analogies and handsome, dubious eggs, called possibilities. ~ George Eliot
Looking Back — Art in Motion, Part One
Another Saturday, another chance to play in my Sunday Evening Art Gallery Galleries, another Saturday I’d like to share with you, my fun friends!
How about …. Art in Motion?
Martin Koegl
Karina L. Llegro
Peter Jansen
Jess Bell
Benjamin Shine
Splashes
Twyla Tharp
Kites
Xavi Bou
Sunday Evening Art Gallery — Hanae Mori
Hanae Mori (1926–2022) was a was a Japanese fashion designer. 
Born in a rural corner of western Japan, Mori graduated from Tokyo Woman’s Christian University In 1947 with a major in Japanese literature, then and entered sewing school all within a few short years.
Mori was one of only two Japanese women to have presented her collections on the runways of Paris and New York, and the first Asian woman to be admitted as an official haute couture design house by the Fédération française de la couture in France.
Using obi and kimono fabric and other high quality Japanese components, Mori created a wide range of styles, including dramatic evening dresses pattered with flowers and birds, cocktail dresses adorned with lace and embroidery, and chic suits of refined three dimensional form.
Mori used the traditional Japanese style as an inspiration but in a totally different way.
She took the traditional Japanese textiles, the classical prints of the silk kimonos, and bridged the Japanese and Western fashion worlds with grace and ambition.
Her modern take on design balanced Euro-American trends with Japanese-inspired aesthetics.
More of Hanae Mori’s designs can be found at https://www.ibtimes.com/hanae-mori-grande-dame-japanese-fashion-3603198 and https://www.famousfashiondesigners.org/hanae-mori…
Sunday Evening Art Gallery — Henrietta Harris
New Zealand-based artist and illustrator artist Henrietta Harris is known for her incredibly beautiful and often distorted portraits.
She works with working with paper, pen, oil, watercolor, gouache, acrylic, and sometimes gold leaf to produce incredible works of arts that are a fascinating mix of naturalistic, surrealistic and post-impressionist technic and substance.
Her watercolor paintings often involve portraiture with a departure into the surreal, with faces skillfully obscured and misplaced by the clean sweep of a brushstroke.
She often depicts individuals at the crossroads of early adulthood, in states of uncertainty or isolation — self-scrutinizing and scrutinized by others.
The artist’s earliest works were executed on paper and tended to disrupt the usual access point to emotion — the face. She made pen drawings of people with visages barren of features but surrounded by lyrical waves of hair.
Using watercolor, she played with faces in other ways, multiplying them or stretching them like taffy, such that they were differently enigmatic, or differently expressive.
Moving into oils, Harris began to experiment with more traditional modes of portraiture, creating immaculately rendered paintings in which brush-marks were all but eliminated.
More of Henrietta Harris’ surrealist paintings can be found at https://henriettaharris.com/.
Faerie Paths — Friendship
Many people will walk in and out of your life, but only true friends will leave footprints in your heart.
~ Eleanor Roosevelt
One Day You’re Up, the Next Day You’re Down
Being a human being is hard work.
The road forward has so many bumps and twists and turns it’s hard to set a path to the next stop. And the past has memories of bumps and twists and turns that don’t want to let go.
I know you feel like I do.
One Day you’re Up, the Next Day You’re Down.
Often the down part of it comes from being knocked off your path by unseen circumstances. Or circumstances you anticipated but still hit you hard.
The happy part is what gets you through every day. Love, creativity, inspiration, friendship, all help us float above the rocks and debris to a resting spot ahead.
I have been doing a good job lately of keeping a steady emotional state. Working on my health, my sleep, and my creativity, I have been able to find a comforting balance between chaos and nirvana.
Last week my brother-in-law wound up in the hospital. He’s been a medical mess for years, and this time it might not be as easy to get a “Get Out of Jail Free” card.
And once again I find myself riding that all-too-familiar roller coaster of emotions that travel between ups and downs and guilt and freedom.
That’s the human being part of all of us.
I sometimes feel awkward loving and playing with family and friends when not long ago I lost my son to someone else’s madness. Sometimes I wonder how could I be alive and happy when he cannot.
Before you start to worry, I have worked through all of that. Emotions have their place; they never really disappear. But it’s so much easier to weave it all together into one tapestry and let everything exist together. I have family and friends that I love just as much that keep me going.
One Day you’re Up, the Next Day You’re Down.
Maybe the point of today’s blog is to remind you that it’s okay to be happy when some part of your life is sad. That life is relentless, and it’s up to you to make the most of every day, every situation. That there is something to be happy about every single day of your life, and it’s up to us to find it.
I went shopping today and bought a lot of bling for my Angel Tears bookmarks and purse charms. I am almost finished with a website so I can share these crafts with you, and that makes me happy.
In reality, One Day you’re Up, the Next Day You’re Up, Too.
Embrace it All!
Sunday Evening Art Gallery — Wat Rong Khun — the White Temple
Wat Rong Khun (Thai: วัดร่องขุ่น), better known as the White Temple, is a Buddhist temple in Pa O Don Chai, Mueang District, Chiang Rai province, Thailand. Situated outside the city of Chiang Rai.
The White Temple was created by master Chalermchai Kositpipat, the national artist who designed, constructed, and opened it to visitors in 1997.
Kositpipat attended Silpakorn University, which was Thailand’s primary visual arts school. He graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Thai Art in 1977.
Still under construction, when completed, the white temple compound will have nine buildings, including the existing ubosot, a hall of relics, a meditation hall, an art gallery, and living quarters for monks.
Unlike most Thai temples, the Wat Rong Khun building is all white, with glass and mirrors embedded into the outside to make it shine and sparkle in the sunlight.
The primary structure of the temple is made of a basic concrete frame and a wooden roof. Viewed from a distance, it appears to be crafted from sparkling porcelain, but on closer inspection it becomes evident that the dazzling effect is achieved through a blend of whitewash and transparent mirrored chips.
While the exterior embraces classical Thai temple design, the interior murals are a blend of the past and present, merging timeless Buddhist teachings with modern-day imagery.
Depictions of superheroes, spaceships, and real-world events stand alongside sacred figures, creating an unexpected fusion of worlds.
More of master Chalermchai Kositpipat’s magnificent Wat Rong Khun Temple can be found at https://sabiduri.com/wat-rong-khun-the-white-temple-of-chiang-rai-thailand/ and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wat_Rong_Khun.
Happy Caturday With Friends!
Another Caturday is here!
What better way to start a Caturday morning than with some fun, useless, interesting facts about our friends’ friends?
- A common garden snail has 14,000 teeth. Their microscopic teeth are called radula, and some species actually have over 20,000 teeth.
- A cat’s back is extremely flexible because it has up to 53 loosely fitting vertebrae. Humans only have 34.
- The Giant Pacific Octopus has 3 hearts, 9 brains and blue blood.
- The male seahorse goes through pregnancy and gives birth to babies. They are the only animal on earth where the male carries the baby rather than the female.
- Owls don’t have eyeballs—they’re more like eye tubes. They’re elongated and held in place by a bony structure in the skull called a sclerotic ring.
- Koala fingerprints are so close to humans’ that they could taint crime scenes.
- Cats don’t have sweat glands over their bodies like humans do. Instead, they sweat only through their paws.
- Polar bears have jet black skin under their white fur coats.
It helps them absorb heat to keep warm, while the white fur helps provides camouflage in the snowy and icy environment they live.
- Male Gentoo penguins search through piles of pebbles to find the smoothest, most perfect ones. When he has selected his pebble, he presents it to his intended companion. The gift acknowledges the relationship between the two penguins and helps grow the nest for their budding family.
- Dogs have over 100 facial expressions. So take that, cats!
Sunday Evening Art Gallery — Emerald City
“Even with eyes protected by the green spectacles, Dorothy and her friends were at first dazzled by the brilliancy of the wonderful City.”
– Frank Baum, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
An Evening Alone (repost)
On my way to something else ……
A fun — and still true — blog from October 2020. It’s for all of you — you know who you are — and I’m still there ……
An Evening Alone
Do you ever wish you had an evening or two to yourself? All by yourself?
That seems to often be a fleeting thought to new moms, seasoned moms, wives, husbands, and roommates.
I am not talking about losing someone for good or forever — I mean, getting rid of the nonstop chattering, crying, whining, chatter of your household. Peace and quiet for just one night. An evening to do whatever you wanted. Watch whatever you want. Eat whatever you want. Write or paint or do some research without disturbance.
Then suddenly you have that opportunity. The kids are going by grandma! Hubby or wife is going out to dinner with friends! Husband is hunting or wife is at a seminar. You have the whole afternoon/evening free!
Oh, the things you will do! The projects you will start/finish! Now you can finally watch that R rated movie you couldn’t with kids around. You can make that shrimp/pineapple pizza you wanted to try or make yourself an ice cream sundae and not have to share!
Then the time comes.
You are like a zombie.
Don’t know what to do first.
So you start with having a glass of wine or soda. You look at the pizza ingredients — you’re not sure you want to waste time making something from scratch. And all that clean up! A ham sandwich would do just fine.
Then it comes to projects. There are so many! I’ll write. No — I’ll finish cutting out that pattern. But then you spot the movie you’ve been waiting to watch. So you decide to watch the movie, then write.
But there is a pile of laundry in the washer and your kids will need their soccer clothes in the morning and while you’re changing around laundry there are a few dishes you should really put in the dishwasher.
You didn’t mean to get so sidetracked so early in your freedom. But do just a few little things and your guilt won’t be so heavy. After all, even though you did promise to make a cake for the party tomorrow, you can always pick one up at the store …
And so it goes. The movie isn’t as good as you thought it would be. You couldn’t think of a thing to write. Grammar was boring. You’ve already watched Downton Abbey or Game of Thrones a hundred times, so no power watching there.
You get an upset stomach from the wine, and really wish you would have made that pizza. That bubble bath you promised yourself suddenly feels like a lot of work. Maybe just pj’s and to bed early with a good book. That’s it — you’ll read all night!
Five minutes after you climb in bed you have to go to the bathroom. Fifteen minutes later the dogs need to go outside. You start to read and the phone rings. Campaign robot reminding you to vote. You find your place in the book again and you find you need to go to the bathroom. Again.
Finally, you give up, turn out the lights, and go to sleep at nine.
This is usually how my “night alone” goes. The best laid plans often get waylaid, messed up, dashed, or postponed.
Don’t let it get you down. The cosmos has plans for you, and sometimes it decides to mooch in on your private time. If nothing else, your sidetracked ideas will last until the next time you get to be “alone.”
Next time tell the cosmos to mind its own business.
Sunday Evening Art Gallery — Giambologna
Giambologna (1529 — 1608) — (known also as Jean de Boulogne) — was a Flemish sculptor based in Italy, celebrated for his marble and bronze statuary in a late Renaissance or Mannerist style.
A master of the Italian Mannerist style, he occupies a pivotal position in the timeline of Italian sculpture, providing the link between the periods of the High Renaissance and the Baroque.
After youthful studies in Antwerp, Giambologna moved to Italy in 1550 and studied in Rome, making a detailed study of the sculpture of classical antiquity.
He was employed as court sculptor by three successive Grand Dukes of the legendary Medici dynasty.
Giambologna remains most revered for his dynamic marble portraits, and for the production of exquisite bronze statuettes that were avidly sought by collectors throughout Europe.
The artist was invested in the idea of beauty for beauty’s sake and produced works that featured figures composed of sinuous lines, graceful curves, exaggerated poses, and an elegance that delighted the public.
He distinguished himself from his esteemed predecessors by accentuating more fully the asymmetrical contrapposto stance of his characters.
The graceful, elongated Mannerist contours of his figures had the effect of revitalizing a somewhat stagnant Florentine sculptural scene.
More of Giambologna‘s amazing sculptures can be found at https://www.wikiart.org/en/giambologna and https://www.theartstory.org/artist/giambologna/.
My Own Creativity Shed/She-Shed
If you remember, eons ago I did a Sunday Evening Art Gallery Post on Creativity Sheds (my term), otherwise popularly known as She Sheds.
According to Hartville Outdoor Products, a She Shed is a personal retreat designed specifically for women, offering a quiet, comfortable space separate from the main house. Much like the male counterpart, the man cave, a she shed provides a place for relaxation, hobbies, or work.
She Sheds are much like storage sheds, set in a backyard or at the edge of a patio somewhere, that provide a workspace for painting, crafting, or writing, along with a cozy retreat for reading, meditating, or socializing with friends.
Well, I have rechristened my downstairs library into my very own Creativity Shed.
We have an extra bedroom upstairs for overnight visits by grandkids and traveling friends, and a downstairs that has turned into a man cave with football memorabilia mixed into a video game center. We moved the “library” downstairs into a room with a window, and it hasn’t been the same since.
I mostly do crafts down there, but I, too, have memorabilia from days gone by, stacked and shifted in-between books and posters and our first breakfront that is way too big for my dining area. I found a wall that was just calling for my winter 2024 sketches, and I got brackets for the closet to hang my works-in-progress.
A number of people have said they wished they had a Creativity Shed. I was one of them.
Then I realized that I didn’t have to go to a separate building to build my own world. That it doesn’t matter if a room is geared to crafts or reading or sketching or meditation. It’s what YOU make it that counts.
Even a table in the corner or a spare closet can be your escape pod. Creative people need a place to write, to think, to dream and daydream.
Don’t worry about what others think of your creative gambit. If they know you — really know you — they won’t think a thing about it. Just do it.
Sunday Evening Art Gallery — Roger Hopkins
Roger Hopkins is a stone sculptor and landscape artist in Desert Hot Springs, California.
In the late 1990s Hopkins moved to the California desert to pursue his stone artistry.
His cut, chiseled and polished works, in various phases of rough-hewn and silky-smooth finishes, often have the odd combination of being abstract and practical.
The artist uses local granite and stone from surrounding states.
Hopkins believes that boulders have a spiritual relationship with us and the beauty of the stone should remain paramount in his sculptures.
“You get a deep connection to having been around and investigated how these ancient stoneworkers actually worked, and you get a feeling of brotherhood with them,” Hopkins shares.
“You get a respect for what they were trying to do, and you want to do your best; you’re fighting to bring some of this ancient megalithic works into present day.”
More of Roger Hopkins amazing stone sculptures can be found at https://www.hopkinsrockart.com/ and https://www.facebook.com/carvesrock/.
Looking Back Friday #4 — Buildings
Happy Friday to you All! Another Friday, another chance to go back in time (and galleries) to experience unique and wonderful art in all its forms.
This round let’s look at Buildings of all sizes and shapes:
Glass Houses
Unusual Museums
Unusual Hotels
Frank Lloyd Wright
Round Houses
Daniel Libeskind
Creativity Sheds
Unusual Library Buildings
Friedensreich Hundertwasser
Castles
Odd Shaped Houses
Sunday Evening Art Gallery — Heaven
Posts about Heaven are a tricky thing — do you find art that is named heaven, about heaven, refers to heaven, infers heaven, or reflects heaven? Let yourself be tricked, then.
~Claudia Anderson
My Non-Bucket List
I have returned from a week of springtime ocean waves and beach in Destin, Florida. I am sunburn (tourist), jet-lagged (19 hours of driving one way), and sweetened out (Buc-ee’s Beaver Nuggets). I also had a marvelous time with my hubby, son, grandkids, and assorted other family members.
One of the things I’ve always wanted to do was walk the beach somewhere. Florida supplied that magical moment, although, being a little stiff these days, I was also content to sit on my balcony and watch the crashing waves with a cup of coffee and a blanket.
Which got me thinking … was this a Bucket List moment?
I don’t have a Bucket List per se. There’s so many things I’d love to do the rest of my life that my bucket list would be more than 20 pages long.
Bucket lists are made of those things one wants to do before they die. I’ve known people who have put parasailing alongside kissing the Blarney Stone as Bucket List must-haves. Other lists include seeing the Southern Cross, eating macaroons in France and spotting a whale in the ocean.
All admirable goals.
There is something so final about completing one’s Bucket List, though, that makes me not want to make one.
I’ve never had one single overwhelming desire to do much of anything during my 70-odd years of living here on Earth. I have experiences in my past that I remember to this day that, looking back, could be counted on a Bucket List. I sat at the same table at Le Recrutement Café in Paris that I once saw in a photograph; I saw the King Tut mask when it visited the Art Institute in Chicago in 1977; I was at the Beatles in concert at Comiskey Park in Chicago in August of 1965.
These memories weren’t on any list — they were just opportunities that came my way through the years.
Yet standing on the beach watching sunset over the ocean was no doubt something I wanted to experience before I left this world. That moment of beauty, of cosmic connection, was something to experience. It was a different connection than watching moonrise over the fields or sitting on a tree stump in the middle of the woods, both of which I’ve done too.
My take on the whole Bucket List thing is that one needs to think about what experiences are actually possible and which will never happen. Honesty can be a downer, but I also believe in the lemons-to-lemonade theory.
You can cross things off of your Bucket List every day.
Can’t make it to the upcoming Van Gogh: The Roulin Family Portraits at the Museum of Fine Arts Boston? Attend a local art gallery’s exhibitions. Can’t fly to the Metropolitan Opera House to hear Rossini’s Il Barbiere di Siviglia? Listen to the Met’s Saturday Matinee Broadcasts on public radio. Can’t experience sunset on the Hawaiian shore? Find a quiet spot and watch the sun set over your own town or city.
I’m not downplaying Bucket Lists. I may start one just to narrow down what I’d like to see and do before I check out the big Taj Mahal in the sky.
Until then, I’m setting achievable Bucket List goals.
Don’t make a bucket list of things you’ll never do. Don’t wait to experience awe, inspiration, peace or nirvana. Make your own version of a Bucket List , and start to experience life NOW.
Do you have a Bucket List? What’s on your list?
The Glory of the Ocean (my pictures)
I sit watching until dusk, hypnotized. I think of the sea as continually sloshing back and forth, repetitive, but my psyche goes with the river- always loping downhill, purposeful, listening only to gravity.
~ Ann Zwinger
Sunday Evening Art Gallery — David Gentleman
David Gentleman is an English artist, illustrator, designer and author.
He was born in 1930 of artist parents, studied at the Royal College of Art and has lived in London ever since. 
Gentleman’s artistic style is characterized by its simplicity, elegance, and attention to detail.
He often works in pen and ink, using delicate lines and cross-hatching techniques to create intricate and highly detailed illustrations.
Gentleman’s use of color is restrained yet impactful, with carefully chosen hues that enhance the overall composition.
The artist has a deep appreciation for nature and often incorporates elements of the natural world into his work.
His illustrations of landscapes, flora, and fauna are highly regarded for their accuracy and ability to evoke a sense of place.
More of David Gentleman’s intriguing art can be found at https://davidgentleman.com/.
Faerie Paths — Color
Color provokes a psychic vibration. Color hides a power still unknown but real, which acts on every part of the human body.
~ Wassily Kandinsky
Sunday Evening Art Gallery — John Pusateri
Artist John Pusateri creates near photo-realistic drawings of beautifully colored owls using pencils, charcoal, and pastels.
After moving to New Zealand to pursue a Master’s degree in Fine Arts, Pusateri grew to appreciate the country’s culture and ecology and he decided to stay.
His owls are highly detailed and display individual feathers as well as crevices on their beaks and between their feet.
Sometimes, it’s hard to tell whether the birds are photos or paintings because they appear so realistic.
Pusateri achieves this effect by layering the different media which creates a richly-colored and complex picture.
His work reflects a deep love and respect for the world and animals around him.
More of John Pusateri ‘s magnificent owls can be found at https://www.johnpusateri.com/portfolio.html and https://www.behance.net/pusateri
A Summer’s Night (Poetry)
A summer’s night
Songs cloud the crisp air of night
Ringing voices singe the tips of the trees
And fall gently to the earth
Only to be absorbed and heard from no more.
I scream violently through the crevices of my mind
What is wrong — why do I torture myself as I do?
Love has vanished
Evaporated into the depths of time.
Give up your useless crusade,
Abandon your ballet shoes, your tiara
Your nylon stocking.
Come back to where thoughts linger
In their own poverty-stricken holes.
Cast your eyes upon the dawn
Watch as shivering beams of sunlight
Illuminate the corners of the night.
Do not cry in remorse or self pity
At the ragged state of things.
Dry your tears, put on your blue jeans
And pick up your shattered dreams.
April 1977
Sunday Evening Art Gallery — Rob Woodcox
Rob Woodcox is a fine art and fashion photographer currently living between Mexico City, Los Angeles and New York City.
Woodcox uses the human body as building blocks for his elaborate compositions.
His pictures of dancers take advantage of their strength, balance, and flexibility, as he places them in a wide variety of dynamic positions.
The results are striking photographs that are both complex and minimalist.
Woodcox, who categorizes his style as “realistic surrealism,” captures an inspiring array of portraits of people in precarious situations that leaves the viewer wondering what the context is of each scene.
Each concept is a declaration of his experience and seeks to tell a meaningful story to each individual that views it.
More of Rob Woodcox’ surrealistic photography can be found at https://robwoodcox.com/ and https://www.flickr.com/people/rawjrphotography/.
Faerie Paths — Art
Art is about the messy and marvelous business of coming to your senses — and also, to the senses of the world.
~ Michael Leunig
Forecasting the Future
All of us have blogs, photos, texts and memories of the past. Where we’ve been, what we did, how we felt. Looking back we experience a myriad of feelings, real and imagined, of the way things were … real or imagined.
I’m going to try something different today.
This week is full of cloudy yet promised-to-be-warmer days with a lot of house cleaning around the corner.
Next week I will be on the beach in Florida with my son’s family and in-laws and their expanded sister circle.
I wonder … what will I be doing? Feeling?
The first thing I predict is that I will be looking and feeling like a pudgy Polish grandmother. That’s okay. I’m working on that, but it is what it is.
But what else?
Will I sit on the beach, watching the sunset, sipping wine or cherry cola, inhaling the salt and surf and beauty of nature?
or
Will I sit in the sand making sandcastles of unique and lumpy quality with my grandkids?
or
Will I finally make time to start reading a book I’ve been wanting to read for over a year?
or
Will I playing Uno and Rummy around a kitchen table until wee hours of the night?
or
Will I sleep late or burst upon the world early, enjoying a sunrise and cup of coffee on my balcony?
or
Will I get carsick on spending eight hours in the car with three other adults and three loud, funny, crabby kids?
or
Will I get sick of cooking my own food and opt out for a seafood dinner at a shrimp shack somewhere down the road?
or
Will I get more sunburn than windburn or heartburn?
I hope to say all of the above.
I’ve never had a super-long vacation with six family members in tow and ten others waiting for us to land.
Should be interesting, to say the least …..
Sunday Evening Art Gallery — John Whitehead
John Whitehead was born in Demerara, Guyana. He came to the United States at age five and grew up in various inner-city neighborhoods on the west side of Oakland, California.
Whitehead pursued a major in economics with a minor in art and in 1979, received his B.A. in economics with high honors. In 1986, he was awarded a master’s degree in economics with magna cum laude distinction from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.
His sculptural works are the result of geometric abstraction and are primarily abstract expressions of beauty, nature, freedom, human progress, modern architecture, and cultural empowerment.
Whitehead’s body of work mainly consists of totemic sculptures built from fine-grained wood and mirror-polished stainless steel sculpture with varying geometric shapes, repeated forms, and negative spaces.
These sculptures reflect a high level of geometric abstraction and often contain objects that are perched precariously atop each other, appearing to defy gravity and/or displaying a balance/imbalance dynamic.
“I view my work as an evolving process that seeks to achieve three objectives,” Whitehead explains.
“One, to provide sculpture that is imaginative and original; two, to provide sculpture that reflects meticulous craftsmanship and structural strength; and three, to provide sculpture with durable materials, which can reflect, absorb, or blend with their surrounding environments.”
More of John Whitehead’s sculptures can be found at https://www.johnwhiteheadsculptures.com/.
Is There Soccer in Heaven? (repeat)
Over the weekend I was searching through my blogging past for a particular word and came across this blog from 2017. Seven years ago. Man. It brought a slight tear to my eye in a happy way. So this Monday morning I’m sharing it with you.
Is There Soccer In Heaven?
Happy Saturday!
I just got home from sweating my caboose off at my grandson’s soccer game. I remember going to every soccer game for both of my sons. That turned out to be 13 years for one son and 11 for the other. I have sat in sweat, rain, wind, and frost. I have shouted “good job” or “move in! Move in!” more times than Bayer has aspirin. It has been a great run. And I love that I now have my oldest grandson (7) and someday his little brother (2) and maybe even their little sister or brother (coming 2/18) to go and watch and yell “Move In!”
I wonder if they have soccer games in heaven.
And if they do, I wonder if it’s a perfect 65 degrees with a slight breeze from the south when I sit facing north, or a westerly wind when I’m watching the game from the east. I wonder if they’ll have cushioned seats instead of the sack chairs I’ve carried for the past 20 years.
Since time would be irrelevant in heaven, I’d be able to watch my sons and grandsons and great grandsons kick the ball back and forth over and over and over again. I could move from one soccer game to the next, no one ever getting tired, no one getting sunburn, no one getting soaked from the torrential downpour that started at kick off.
The fields would be enormous — large enough so that my ever-expanding family could picnic and play volleyball and drink Piña Coladas without getting drunk. Each family member’s game would be at their own special separate time — no running from field to field to catch parts of each kid’s game.
In heaven I wouldn’t be chubby, giving in to sweating in all the wrong places as I cheer my grandkids and kids and great grandkids on. I’d be tall and thin and my flowing shift would match the kid’s uniforms. There would be more than enough treats and drinks for each team, everyone getting their favorite juice box and granola bar or Capri bag and bag of Cheetos. No arguing. No pouting.
If there are soccer games in heaven, there will be a balance of winners and losers. Except in heaven, there really is no losing, is there? There would be no obnoxious parents telling the ref he’s blind, no cheap shots at the goalie, no broken ankles or concussions from being t-boned on the field. No one will feel like a loser, because in heaven everybody is equal and happy and good natured.
Now there may be a question about which of your kids’ age groups you want to watch. I mean, I watched my youngest from kindergarten through high school. He was amazing all 13 years. I watched my oldest almost as long. Do I want to watch my grandson at age 7 (now) or when he’s 10 or 15? I figure God will have figured that out by the time I get there. I mean, She’s/He’s omnipotent and all. And in heaven everything is possible.
My only dilemma is….what if (coming) 2/18 wants to play football?
Happy Saint Patrick(Cat/Dog)’s Day!
You know me — equality for domestic animals!
HAPPY SAINT PATRICK’S DAY!!
Sunday Evening Art Gallery — Train Graffiti
Originating from the Italian word “graffiato” (scratched), graffiti is writing or drawings made on a wall or other surface, usually without permission and within public view.
Train graffiti can be traced back to the 1970s when young people in New York City began using spray paint to tag subway trains with their names or other graffiti art.
In the 1980s and 1990s, train graffiti spread to other cities around the world. In some countries, train graffiti was embraced as a legitimate form of street art, while in others it was met with resistance and seen as a form of vandalism.
Over the years, disparate styles such as rural hobo markings, gang symbology, and bold, colorful urban spray-painted vistas have fused into a contemporary style that seems to draw equally from each tradition.
The sides of train cars today run the gamut from sloppy gang-style tags and idle signatures to line drawings, stenciled imagery, and enormously complex color fields.
While train graffiti is often viewed as a form of vandalism, it has also had a significant impact on the world of art and culture.
The world of train graffiti exists in a gray world: amazing, creative art on one hand, vandalism and destruction of private property on the other.
It is up to you to find a comfortable ground between the two.
More train graffiti can be found at websites such as https://www.graffiti.org/trains/ and https://www.graffiti-unlimited.com/.
Happy Saturdogday!
Last Saturday I posted that there are cat people and dog people and no-pet people. All have a place in this world.
After admitting I belong to all three states of mind, I showcased the meowy world of cats.
Now it’s the dogs turn.
For your Saturday Morning reading pleasure, here are 10 strange and fun facts about dogs:
- In general, dogs can learn up to 250 words or more; some super smart pooches even understand up to 1000-word commands.
- a dog’s only sweat glands are between their paw pads.
- When dogs howl at each other, they adjust the pitch of the howl to sound more unique.
- Dogs can tell which way a human scent trail is headed, even if they come across it at right angles — and even if the person walks backward. And studies show their sense of smell is so sensitive that they can tell the difference in scent intensity within just five footsteps of the track layer.
- Greyhounds are the fastest dogs on earth, with speeds of up to 45 miles per hour.
- The record for the most puppies in a single litter is an astounding 24.
- A dog is able to locate the source of a sound in 6/100th of a second.
- Depending on the breed, a dog’s sense of smell is 1,000 to 10 million times better than a human’s.
- Rin Tin Tin, the Hollywood-famed German Shepherd, signed contracts for 22 movies with his paw prints.
- People once believed that Great Danes helped repel evil spirits and ghosts. In fact, it’s why Scooby-Doo was a Great Dane!
Humoring the Goddess 