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Sunday Evening Art Gallery — Robert Walker

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Color Color Color is the first thing you notice in Robert Walker’s paintings.

Wizard Power

 

Bright, bursting, symmetrical color.

Osebac

 

Robert Walker is a Los Angeles based artist and art historian.

Ten Speeder

 

 

Walker taught art history at the college level for 25 years and has lectured at universities in both the US, Japan and Thailand and numerous museums in Southern California.

E-maze II

 

During his 45 year practice he has fabricated paintings and sculpture that reveal his deep interest in Eastern religions and practices.

Rachguine

 

A common theme is the bold use of color and patterns, inspired by the Buddhist mandala tradition; the effect is colorful, expressive and almost hypnotic.

Awiroh

 

Walker’s paintings often have a sculptural element, using the materiality of paint to create bas-relief areas across the canvas.

Captcha III

 

You can feel the Eastern influence in all of his work if you only look.

Maieutic

 

More of Robert Walker‘s colorful art can be found at http://www.robertwalkerstudio.com/.

 

 

How’s Your Summer/Winter Going?

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Sitting here on a Monday morning, waiting for the thunderstorms to pass through so I can go grocery shopping, I wondered:  How’s your summer/winter going?

I have a hard time believing we’ve gone through seven months already in this glorious year of 2021. It’s already back to school for a lot of our kids and grandkids; what happened to summer vacation?  I’ve seen Halloween displays already.  It’s only August and football is on TV.  It’s 124 days until Christmas (let’s not go there!). Teachers have their classroom plans done for this/next year. I’ve been planning camping trips with one hand while planning our annual family ski weekend with the other. 

No wonder I feel like I’m dancing the whirling dervish. Has life always gone this fast?

Or has Einstein’s time dilation thing just become more real the older I get?

I think there was more order in my life when I worked a full time job. Up at 6, out the door at 7, in the office from 7:30 to 4, come home, make dinner, and squeeze in all my household duties on Saturdays.

Now I’m up anywhere from 6 to 9, household duties every day, creative ventures a good portion of the day (especially now that there’s two deadlines approaching), taking advantage of grandkids still off school, getting the car fixed, doctor appointments, camping, mowing the lawn, birthday parties, musical fests — you know what I mean.

The humidity has zapped my energy (what little I had), the heat has melted part of my brain, and the anxiety of two upcoming craft fairs is kicking my patience out the door.

These are the days that make me think of cold, snowy winter days, nowhere to go, just crafts and hot chocolate and soft, relaxing music and reading a good book and petting my cat. You know — those Richard Savoie paintings that make you think of gentle winters past.

But whose world is that? Certainly not mine. Ever. I think most of us feel more like a Salvador Dali painting.

My father-in-law used to say he’d sleep when he’s dead. I know what he meant. Life’s too short — and time too fast — to get it all in in one day. You’ll never catch up, so why worry about it? Go at your own pace. Prioritize. Then sit and watch the thunderstorms pass through.

How’s your summer/winter going?

 

 

Sunday Evening Art Gallery — Adam Goldberg

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When Adam Goldberg, Creative Director and Co-Founder of Santa Monica-based studio Trüf,  isn’t crafting work for a client, the designer likes to engage his creativity with an ongoing series of minimal illustrations titled FAÜNA.The pieces combine black and red shapes and linework to form stylized versions of animals and insects.FAÜNA is an ongoing illustration project where he takes a very basic interpretation of the animal kingdom. His many years in branding has influenced the style and execution of illustrations and not necessarily the other way around —although it is a merger of both aesthetics.Goldberg describes the project as “a minimalistic and strange interpretation of the animal kingdom that only exists in our heads.”Although Goldberg is directly inspired by artists such as Joan Miro and Alexander Calder, he is also influenced by the client work he has completed over the years.“The simplicity, geometry, and composure that we try to achieve with our branding work rubs off on the artwork,” he explained.“I think more in terms of composition and balance more now than I ever have — and that’s because of the branding work.”More of Adam Goldberg‘s wonderful art can be found at www.trufcreative.com and https://www.messymod.com/.

 

 

Sunday Evening Art Gallery — Erin Hanson

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Combining the emotional resonance of 19th-century Impressionists with the lavish color palette of Expressionism, Erin Hanson’s unique style has come to be known as “Open Impressionism.”Erin Hanson began painting as a young girl, voraciously learning oils, acrylics, watercolor, pen and ink, pastels, and life drawing from accomplished art instructors. She began commissioning paintings at age ten, and by age twelve, she was employed after school by a mural studio, learning the techniques of acrylics on the grand scale of forty-foot canvases. Graduating high school at age sixteen and once again demonstrating that she was a child prodigy, Hanson next attended UC Berkeley, excelling further in her studies and creative development and attaining a degree in Bioengineering.Two years later, a high school scholarship took her to Otis College of Art, where she immersed herself in figure drawing.After graduating from college, Hanson entered the art trade as a professional, inspired by landscapes and vantage points only beheld by the most adventurous.For the past decade Hanson has been developing a unique, minimalist technique of placing impasto paint strokes without layering, which has become known as “Open-Impressionism.”Her passion for natural beauty is seen in her work as she transforms vistas familiar and rare into stunning interpretations of bold color, playful rhythms and raw emotional impact. “I am not trying to re-create a photograph, I am trying to get my viewers to open their eyes and see their world a little differently,” Hanson said.More of Erin Hanson’s imaginative paintings can be found at https://www.erinhanson.com/.

 

 

Faerie Paths — Ella

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Just don’t give up trying to do what you really want to do. Where there is love and inspiration, I don’t think you can go wrong.

~ Ella Fitzgerald
 
 

 

 

Art Can Be Found Anywhere

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Vilas County, Wisconsin, is a small community of citizens in the almost-northern part of the state. Established in 1893, the county boasts a population of a little over 22,000 people. It’s a rural community, a farm community, and a tourist destination for fishing, hiking, and snowmobiling.

It also is the home of the Vilas County Fair.

The fair itself is small, held together by the carnival that moves in for three days and tradition of having your cows, jams, and art work judged by professionals.

The hearts and minds of artists dwell within this small community fair, too.

A competition that barely fills one pole barn, the artists of tomorrow are showing off their creativity, their inspirations, and their talent. Walking through an art show on this small of a scale can fill you with awe and pride and enchantment just as much as walking through the Milwaukee Art Museum.

No matter how big, no matter how small, you can feel the heartbeat of creativity in everything you see.

Take time to visit small art fairs, county fairs, and school art shows. You’ll love what you find.

 

Vilas County Schools Art

(for safety I did not take or record names)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Women and the Taliban

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indiatimes

Yesterday I posted a picture with no explanation.

It was on the news the previous few days — I wonder if anyone noticed it.

It was an image of a painter painting over images of women in the window of a Kabul beauty salon in Kabul, Afghanistan. The photo was shared by Lotfullah Najafizada, the head of the Afghan news outlet Tolonews TV, on Sunday.

Image

 
It was a reflection of the state of mind of the Taliban. 
 

According to a Yahoo News article, under the hardline version of sharia law that the Taliban imposed the last time they controlled the capital, women and girls were mostly denied education or employment. Full face coverings became mandatory in public and they could not leave home without a male companion. Public floggings and executions, including stoning for adultery, were carried out in city squares and stadiums.

Is this what the world has gone back to?

Is this where the world is going to?

I won’t pretend. I can’t even begin to imagine an oppression like that. 

Yet there it is. The thought. The apprehension. The fear of this way of life returning to the women of Afghanistan. 

One woman’s thought echoes the feelings of millions of women standing on the edge:

“The fear just sits inside your chest like a black bird,” added Muska Dastageer, a lecturer at the American University of Afghanistan, which opened its doors five years after the Taliban were ousted. “It opens its wings and you can’t breathe.”

Let us hope that this time things will be different.

Let us pray that this time things will be different.

 

 

Sunday Evening Art Gallery — Wawiriya Burton

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Wawiriya Burton is an Australian Aboriginal artist known for her acrylic paintings.

Burton belongs to the Pitjantjatjara, an Aboringinal people of the Central Australian desert near Uluru.She was born in outback central Australia sometime during the 1920s, and grew up living a traditional, nomadic way of life.

She originally specialized in baskets and punu (wood carvings) from spinifex (a  perennial coastal plant) at the Tjala Arts Centre in Southern Australia in 2008, but later learned to paint from other women.

Her paintings are representations of sacred stories from the Dreamtime.Like other Aboriginal artists, the representations are blurred (or encrypted) for cultural reasons.The full meaning of her artworks can only be understood or deciphered by people who have been initiated.Burton is a ngangkaṟi (traditional healer), so she has more knowledge about sacred traditions than most in her community.

More of Wawiriya Burton‘s soul filled paintings can be found at Wikipedia and Aboriginal Signature.

 

 

Craft and Rock and Roll

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I am “up north” this weekend, working on Angel Tears and reading books while the boys are out fishing all day.

Nice, quiet woodsy world up here. Lots of birds singing, deer walking up and down the road, boats on the water at the nearby chain of lakes. So quiet. So peaceful. So ideal.

Until I couldn’t stand it anymore.

Peaceful spaces and renaissance thoughts and quiet classical music in the morning suddenly gave way to my “cleaning” play list on my computer. Then …

B A N G ! !

Kick Start My  Heart by Motley Crue!

Bodhisattva by Steely Dan!

Conga by Gloria Estavan!

Sweet Home Chicago by the Blues Brothers!

Runnin’ Down a Dream by Tom Petty!

 

My whole world became a rock and roll blow out. At least for a little while.

I can take subtle, quiet, meditative states for only so long.

I believe contemplation, focusing on your creative passions, reading good books, all help expand our consciousness.

But so does loud rockin’ music.

Any upbeat music will do. Classical (anything by Tchaikovsky), Country (I only know country rock like Charlie Daniels), Spanish Guitar (flamenco is the best), rock n’ roll (I do love the Beatles loud too), all turned up full volume is good for the soul.

How can it not be?

It vibrates at a wavelength that pierces the coldest heart, the hottest head, and calmest shoreline, taking you on a journey through time and space. An almost out-of-body experience at times.

Singing along is a bonus point, of course. The louder the better.

It’s the jamming, shaking, soul-filled action of sharing the movement of the musical spheres at any particular moment that, as the song says, kick starts your heart.

I hope you all have music in your life.

Either you play it, listen to it, compose it, or sing it. Music adds so much to your life. And soul.

Which song do YOU jam to at full volume when no one’s around?

 

Repost — Hidden Paradise — The Ink Owl

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A magical poem by a magical writer … 

 

Herein we find ourselves, Upon a broken ridge of baked clay. What wastes lie behind our worn soles, Each rock and dried root has been memorized. But now between two sloping mountainsides, Is a slice of what could only be paradise. Running water drips to fill a mind with madness, And from this rushing water […]

Hidden Paradise — The Ink Owl

 

 

 

Sunday Evening Art Gallery — Georgie Seccull

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Australian sculptor and installation artist Georgie Seccull creates large-scale stainless steel sculptures of animals and other creatures seemingly locked in motion.

Her work explores our individual and collective perceptions of polarities in existence, and how these observations inform our reality.Comprised of numerous pieces cut from metal sheets, the materials lend themselves to organic forms like feathers, scales, wings, or the armaments of crustaceans.Working meticulously by hand, Seccull transcends hard heavy steel into fluid expressions of life force, each piece an exploration into the delicate aspects of the natural world through paradox in subject matter and use of materials.Seccull’s work scales up dramatically in her installation practice where she’s filled entire rooms and atriums with suspended pieces.

““My process is much the same. I begin with a thousand pieces scattered on the ground, then working almost like a jigsaw puzzle, I pick them up one by one and allow each piece to come together organically and dictate the outcome,” the artist shares in a statement.

More of Georgie Seccull‘s amazing sculptures can be found at https://georgieseccull.com/. and https://www.instagram.com/georgieseccull/.

 

 

Faerie Paths — Music

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bestanimations.com

 

Music is the one incorporeal entrance into the higher world of knowledge which comprehends mankind but which mankind cannot comprehend.

Ludwig van Beethoven

 

 

 

Listening to the Rain

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It’s early Monday morning. I’m sitting here, listening to the thunderstorm move through, the rain pouring down on the plants and round table and plastic chairs on my front deck.

The house is silent except for the steady cadence of the rain — a welcome gift here on a hot August day.

You would think there is a story here somewhere.

Or at least a poem.

It’s funny how the most atmospheric places and times often fail to yield to the force of Creativity. How the perfect setting, emotional state, or piece of music fails to inspire us to our creative heights.

I have often had the perfect surroundings to write on my novel or sketch something in my art book. A beautiful sunset, a country setting. Maybe everyone is gone and I have the house to myself. Maybe a bit of romantic music from the past comes on the radio. Rain and thunderstorms and the quiet of the gray around it.

Perfect settings for writing, painting … for self reflection and relaxing daydreams.

Yet I sit here, doing nothing. Feeling nothing. Except maybe like I want to take a nap or pour another cup of coffee or wonder what I’m going to make for dinner.

It seems my Muse sabotages me at every turn.

I believe that creativity and imagination are like soft electrical currents that are always running in the background. They make us feel good; they give us a sense of self worth, of achievement, and enjoyment. Look at how high you feel when you’re in the groove. On a roll. In the thick of things.

I also believe you can’t just call on the Muse and have her instantly appear.

You can’t make inspiration. You can’t make imagination.

You can encourage it, develop it, explore it. But you can’t make it. It comes at its own time. At its own speed.

I can’t seem to find my muse and her creative spark at the moment. There surely is a reason for that.

Maybe she wants me to just sit and listen to the rain.

 

 

 

 

Sunday Evening Art Gallery — May Parlar

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May Parlar is an image based conceptual artist based in Berlin, New York City, and Istanbul.Parlar is an instructor of Art and Design, leading architectural design courses and lectures on sustainability at various universities.Through her photography she can document her reality and, at the same time, recreate it.Placing people and everyday objects in unordinary constructed realities, Parlar explores the human condition and the idea of being.

She often uses outdoor open spaces for her impressive fine art photographs; open landscapes with colorful elements like masses of balloons and accessories separated from human wearers.Most of her works are self-portraits, reflections of her in different shapes and forms.“For me, they are both spontaneous performances turned into an image and playful memories frozen in time,” she says.Her images constantly tell us about the games we play between loneliness and company, between belonging and alienation.

More of May Parlar‘s remarkable photography can be found at https://www.mayparlar.com/gallery.

 

 

Faerie Paths — Pink

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Almost all words do have color and nothing is more pleasant than to utter a pink word and see someone’s eyes light up and know it is a pink word for him or her, too.

Gladys Taber

 

 

Not For Us to Understand … But to Help

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Yesterday I had a musical video montage on in the background while I did some busy work both on and off the computer. I found a playlist that contained Michael Jackson videos. I love his music — I love his movements. And it was perfect pick-me-up music.

As I worked I kept peeking at the videos, and found myself watching one called Smooth Criminal from his album Bad (1987).  As I watched his phenomenal performance, his singing and dancing and marvelous moves, I wondered …

What happened?

I have no idea what led up to that fateful day where Michael Jackson died of cardiac arrest due to too many drugs in his system.

None of us do.

But I always wonder when someone of great talent ends their own life …

Why?

Michael Jackson was a superstar. He was a teacher, influencer, father. He could be anything he wanted to be. Do anything he wanted to do. Help the poor, influence younger artists, play with his kids.

And yet he chose not to do so.

There are other celebrity deaths that dance in that same haunted circle.

Ernest Hemingway

Robin Williams

Prince

Whitney Houston

Philip Seymour Hoffman

Anthony Bourdain

The list goes on. Artists from all fields of art. Creative, real people who loved what they were doing. People who had, one way or another, contributed to the Artistic Culture of the World.

We don’t know what led them to take one too many pills. What led them to walk into the woods and shoot themselves. What led them to hang themselves.

I don’t mean to be a downer about all of this — but suicide is a downer.

Translate that to someone you know. Someone you’ve heard of. Young kids. Old people. Successful business people. Housewives. College kids. People commit suicide every day. Their pain, their trials, their confusion, become too much to handle. To understand. There seems to be no way out.

I don’t even pretend to understand what’s in the head of those who choose to leave this world. With most of us fighting to stay here one more day, to give up even one more hour than necessary is something I will never understand.

Perhaps it’s something that’s not meant to be understood by everyone.

But it’s meant to be addressed.

If you, or anyone you know, is inordinately depressed, lost, or in trouble, cross the personal boundaries and call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255.  Or text HOME to 741741 for free.

If you yourself are feeling overwhelmed, help is just a phone call or text away.

Don’t waste your wonderful artistic talent. Don’t let go. 

Don’t leave the rest of us not understanding.

 

 

 

Faerie Paths — Quest

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Today we still yearn to know why we are here and where we came from. Humanity’s deepest desire for knowledge is justification enough for our continuing quest. And our goal is nothing less than a complete description of the universe we live in.
― Stephen Hawking

Sunday Evening Art Gallery — Daniel Libeskind

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The son of Polish Jews and Holocaust survivors, Daniel Libeskind has dedicated much of his illustrious career to commemorating his heritage through visually dynamic buildings, often with a striking angularity that seems to defy gravity.

Frederic C. Hamilton Building, Denver Art Museum

 

Libeskind began his career as an architectural theorist and professor, holding positions at various institutions around the world.

Bord Gáis Energy Theatre, Dublin, Ireland

 

His practical architectural career began in Milan in the late 1980s, where he submitted to architectural competitions and also founded and directed Architecture Intermediate, Institute for Architecture & Urban-ism.

Metropolitan University Graduate Centre, London, England

 

He founded his firm, Studio Libeskind, in 1989 with his wife, Nina, as the principal architect, and achieved international fame with his addition to the Jewish Museum Berlin, which opened to the public in 2001.

Jewish Museum, Berlin

 

His work is often described as Deconstructivist, a style of postmodern architecture characterized by fragmentation and distortion.

The Sapphire, Berlin, Germany

 

Yet Libeskind aims to create architecture that is resonant, unique and sustainable.

The Museum of Zhang ZhiDong, Wuhan, China

 

“To create a space that never existed is what interests me; to create something that has never been, a space that we have never entered except in our minds and our spirits,” Libeskind has said.

Bundeswehr Military History Museum, Dresden, Germany

 

“I think that’s really what architecture is based on. Architecture is not based on concrete and steel and the elements of the soil. It’s based on wonder.

Mons Congress Center, Belgium

 

“And that wonder is really what has created the greatest cities, the greatest spaces that we have had. And I think that is indeed what architecture is. It is a story.”

Lee-Chin Crystal, Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto, Canada

 

More of Daniel Libeskind‘s work can be found at https://libeskind.com.

Repost — The Endeavourers’ Reveal Day, August 2021 — Opposite Day — Deep in the Heart of Textiles

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Another amazingly creative Artist! I love her work! Go check out how she did this!

 

Once a quarter I make an art quilt for an online group, The Endeavourers.  This time the theme was “Opposites Attract.” I had a very hard time coming up with anything, but finally I remembered the fun of having “Opposite Day” when my kids were little — eating dinner for breakfast (starting with dessert), wearing […]

The Endeavourers’ Reveal Day, August 2021 — Opposite Day — Deep in the Heart of Textiles

 

I Am Smiling … Aren’t I?

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I’ve just paid for the insurance for my craft booth on Labor Day.

I’m catching up on the inventory I need for my first craft fair ever.

I have no idea how much inventory I need for my first craft fair ever.

I have no idea why I have to purchase insurance for six hours of sitting in the hot sun under a canopy smiling, chatting, sharing, and shaking from nerves.

Needless to say, I’m a nervous wreck. And I’ve still got four weeks to go.

How do you deal with a persistent case of nerves?

I imagine everyone goes through the same anxiety highs and lows before any event: giving a speech or presentation at the office; reading your latest writing out loud to fellow writers; teaching a class; preparing for an intense discussion with someone.  There’s all sorts of things  in our lives that make our stress needle go off the charts.

I’m so afraid I’ll forget something. Not do something. Say the wrong thing. I’m afraid that an Angel Tear will fall apart in someone’s hand.

I’m interested to hear your scare stories. How they developed, how you dealt with them. How you (hopefully) lived happily ever after despite the breakdown you created for yourself.

I believe that none of us would truly take on a project if we didn’t think we could handle it. Speaking in front of others, teaching someone something, writing something for work  or school — there are a million things we do every day that leave room for judgment and performance.

We all make it through our experiences. With a bit of luck, and talent and a positive attitude, we have fun along the way, too.

There’s only one way to go — forward. Might as go that way smiling … 


 

Sunday Evening Art Gallery — Pablo Picasso

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Pablo Ruiz Picasso (1881 – 1973) was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist, and theatre designer who spent most of his adult life in France.

The Old Guitarist

 

Regarded as one of the most influential artists of the 20th century, he is known for co-founding the Cubist movement, the invention of constructed sculpture, the co-invention of collage, and for the wide variety of styles that he helped develop and explore.

Guernica

 

Picasso demonstrated extraordinary artistic talent in his early years, painting in a naturalistic manner through his childhood and adolescence.

Family of Saltimbanques

 

During the first decade of the 20th century, his style changed as he experimented with different theories, techniques, and ideas.

Girl before a Mirror

 

After 1906, the Fauvist work of the slightly older artist Henri Matisse motivated Picasso to explore more radical styles, beginning a fruitful rivalry between the two artists, who subsequently were often paired by critics as the leaders of modern art.

Three Musicians

 

Much of Picasso’s work of the late 1910s and early 1920s is in a neoclassical style, and his work in the mid-1920s often has characteristics of Surrealism.

Gertrude Stein

 

His later work often combines elements of his earlier styles.

The Weeping Woman

 

Exceptionally prolific throughout the course of his long life, Picasso achieved universal renown and immense fortune for his revolutionary artistic accomplishments, and became one of the best-known figures in 20th-century art.

Picasso Statue, Chicago

 

More of Pablo Picasso’s wonderful art can be found at https://www.pablopicasso.org/ and http://www.picasso.com/.

Faerie Paths — Ode to a Wine Glass

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In ancient crystal glass I see
Reflections of how it used to be
The finest wines in heaven poured
In vessels fit for any Lord
Finely crafted of wood and glass
A stem created from materials past
To hold God’s work in one’s small hand
Is to drink His brew throughout the land
So fill your glass with revelry bought
Whether water or wine it matters naught
Drink to love both present and past
And friendships made that ever last

 

©2015 Claudia Anderson

Sunday Evening Art Gallery — Volcanoes

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Gray fog, rains of ash
Culmination of pressure
Earth shows dominion

~ Travis J. McRoy

 

Mount St. Helens, Washington

 

 

Ontake, Central Japan

 

 

Eyjafjallajokull, Iceland

 

 

Krakatoa, Indonesia

 

 

Mount Fuji Shizuoka, Japan

 

 

Mount Vesuvius, Campania, Italy

 

 

Cotopaxi, Equador

 

 

Volcan de Colima, Central Mexico

 

 

Mount Redoubt, Alaska

Faerie Paths — Essence

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Nature is so powerful, so strong. Capturing its essence is not easy — your work becomes a dance with light and the weather. It takes you to a place within yourself.

Annie Leibovitz

 

 

If I were a …

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In one of my endless wandering stages (this time looking for a picture for my feature Faerie Paths) I  came across this post from a 2010 blog Being Alive called “Only If …”

Quite interesting. Quite revealing. Quite fun. Not as easy as I thought it would be. I wonder what your answers would be?

I wonder if you would change your mind once you thought about it?

IF I WERE….

 

If I were a day, I would be … Saturday. Every day.

 

If I were a planet I would be … Earth. Fertile, green, bursting with life.

 

 

 

 

 

If I were a month, I would be … May or October? Spring or Fall? I’ll take May. Eternal birth. The Merry Month of May.

 

 

 

If I were a time of the day, I would be … If I could wake up naturally, 5:30 a.m. The world comes alive about that time. I also love 1 a.m. The world is still then. Pick one. 5:30 a.m.

 

If I were a season I would be … Fall. Which is totally opposite of which month I would be. Go figure.

 

If I were an animal I would be … a lot harder. Eagle, so I could soar high above the world.

 

 

If I were a bird I would be a … Wait! I just answered that! 

 

If I were a piece of furniture I would be … a TV tray. Mobile, invited to every party, always holding food, can even watch TV now and then.

 

If I were a liquid I would be … I should say water, as it is the basis for life. But I’d rather be a Cookie Crumble Frappé. Sweet and strong and dancing with a bit of whipped cream on top.

 

 

 

 

If I were a tool I would be … a tool like a hammer? Or a creative tool, like a paint brush? Clarify, please … 

 

If I were a tree I would be … the obvious choice is Oak. Strong, long living, solid base and big arms. But you know me — I opt for a Weeping Japanese Maple Tree — delicately cut leaves, colorful, dramatically weeping — the whole shebang.

 

 

 

If I were a flower I would be … a Double Delight rose. The most beautiful bicolored rose in the world, its large creamy blossoms are edged with striking red. It is also renowned for its intense spicy fragrance. That’s me.

 

 

 

If I were an element I would be … I had to go to the periodic table for this one. An element can be a distinct part of a composite device; any of the fundamental substances that consist of atoms of only one kind and that singly or in combination constitute all matter. Any of the four substances air, water, fire, and earth.  I’ll say water (an answer I passed on above), as it is the basis for life.

 

 

If I were a gemstone I would be … no thought. Diamond. Ultra sparkle, ultra hard. Can be part of saws and drills, rings and necklaces, and record needles. Just think — I could be pressed hard against the Beatles album Meet the Beatles!

 

 

If I were a musical instrument I would be … a piano. I love the music that comes from such a beautiful instrument. Plus I’d be big and strong and it would take a lot to push me around. 

 

 

 

If I were a color I would be … Royal Blue. My favorite. A close second is purple, but we’re only talking one choice here.   

            

 

 

If I were a sound I would be  … a baby’s giggle. What could be closer to heaven?

 

If I were a Scent I would be … I thought about bleach, as it is a purifier and sanitizer, keeping the world around me clean and fresh. But I think I’ll go with lavender. My favorite.

 

 

If I were a Song I would be … another almost impossible one. Something sappy like “A Wonderful World”? My favorite rock n roll song, “Kick Start My Heart”? A wonderful classical delight like the “1812 Overture”? Ack! Music is too personal subject. Pass to the next question.

 

If I were a Body Part I would be … forget this one. I AM my body, every chubby piece.

 

If I were a place … Is this a specific country? A view? The place I met my husband? The place I took my kids and grandkids? Another Ack — I’d like to be the shoreline of a hidden lake in the woods. With a flower garden not far from sight. And a fountain. And some windchimes. And a good book. And a pillow. And and and …

 

If i were an emotion I would be … Easy Peasy. Which emotion would you want to be? 

 

See? I can’t even play the “If I Were …” game right! Oh well — how about you? Pick one or several — tell me what YOU would be if you were … I’d LOVE to hear your answers!

 

 

 

Sunday Evening Art Gallery — Olaf Wieghorst

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Olaf Carl Wieghorst (1899-1988) was born in Viborg, Denmark, and is known for his Western genre, Indian, cowboy, and horse paintings.

El Dorado

 

During his career, Wieghorst learned to master oil painting and watercolor painting, as well as numerous other art mediums.

Break Away

 

After three years of service with the Fifth Cavalry along the Mexican border, Wieghorst was mustered out of the military in 1922, and pursued the life of a cowboy, during which he wandered extensively throughout the Southwest, sketching whenever he could.

His Spotted Pony

 

In 1924, Wieghorst joined the New York City Police Department where he became a Mounted Police Officer with the Department.

Turning the Remuda

 

Due to his knowledge of horses, he was quickly sent to the Remount Section of the Mounted Unit where he broke and trained horses for the Unit.

Salt River Canyon

 

Olaf’s drawing and etchings have been displayed at the Madison Square Garden Rodeo and in the Rodeo’s Official Magazine.

Roping the Dunn

 

From 1938 to 1953, Olaf’s art was also featured on the covers of a Rodeo magazine published in Tucson Arizona titled “Hoofs and Horns.”

Wagon and Remuda

 

After retiring and moving to El Cajon Olaf settled down to paint, steadily gaining recognition for his classic cowboy and Indian subjects and became a master painter of the western scene.

Drifting

 

Wherever he went, he sketched and painted the Western culture he loved.

Comanche

 

Olaf was honored at the National Cowboy Hall of Fame in Oklahoma City on November 15, 1974 for his contribution to Western Art.

Changing Outfits

 

More of Olaf Wieghorst‘s remarkable Western Art can be found at https://www.wieghorst.com.

 

 

Faerie Paths — Flute

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Then clear on a flute of purest gold A sweet little fairy played. And wonderful fairy tales she told and marvelous music made. 

~Ida Rentoul Outhwaite

 

 

 

Sunday Evening Art Gallery — Leslie Cobb

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Leslie Cobb has shared her life with cats since she was a child and cannot imagine living without them.

Cobb tries to capture their unique qualities in her art.She uses acrylic paint because it washes easily out of cat fur when some of her models choose to take a more active role in the artistic process.Cobb is mostly self-taught; her formal training  limited to high school art classes and a couple of drawing courses at a community college.She began painting in 1998 after the death of her one-eyed cat, Esmeralda.The two had been together for 19 years; Cobb’s early paintings were an effort to honor her memory and cope with her grief.Cobb’s work has been displayed at art galleries, craft fairs and cat shows.She is also the illustrator of “Good St. Dominic’s Cat,” a children’s book by Ed Noonan, and her art appears on the covers of the Crazy Cat Lady mystery series of books by Mollie Hunt.

More of Leslie Cobb’s wonderful cat paintings can be found at http://www.lesliecobb.com/.

 

 

Dreams

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This blog is dedicated to my close friend Robin who lost both of her parents a little over a year ago.

Last night I had a dream.

I had spent the day with my mom at her house. I don’t know exactly what we were doing — cleaning, my guess. And talking. 

I was in the living room watching TV, and I yelled into the kitchen, “Where’s dad? I haven’t seen him all day.”

“He was sleeping in there — you must have missed him,” she replied. Then a deeper voice answered. “I’m right here.”

So I went into the softly lit kitchen and there they were, my mom and dad, sitting at a small kitchen table. There were wood scraps on the table; my dad was a carpenter all his life, and was always working on something.

I remember coming and kneeling next to him. Something didn’t feel quite right. Like neither one of them was supposed to be there.

I had a thought in the back of my mind. 

“What’s it like over there?” I asked. 

My dad smiled and nodded but said nothing. So I continued.

“Is it beautiful? Eternal? Spiritual?”

“Yes it is,” he said, smiling.

 

I lost my mother 49 years ago, my dad 15. Yet I still dream of both of them.

I don’t care what psychologists and scientists and textbooks say about the origin of dreams. It’s the one world man really doesn’t fully understand.

And I believe dreams are a portal. A connection.

Our only connection.

Dreams hold our fears and experiences, along with our passions and imaginations. Those points in our life never leave us. And even if you say you don’t dream, you do. You just don’t remember them. They are a way to remind us who we are. How we got here. 

Dreams are our connection to those who have gone before us, proof that all is well.

In this world and the next.

 

 

Sunday Evening Art Gallery — Freakebana

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Freakebana is a new “ugly-cool” way of arranging flowers, coined by Stella Bugbee, Editor In Chief for The Cut.Inspired by magazine covers, Instagram posts and arrangements encountered while out and about, Bugbee wanted to identify the new style she was experiencing, so she coined it Freakebana.Much like the traditions of Ikebana, Freakebana focuses similarly on the lines, shapes and colors of the elements used in the arrangement, but there’s a different take on the style, as incorporated amongst the flowers are an array of unusual add-ins.

The flowers are enchanting, but the look is definitely  … different.There are all sorts of items artfully placed in the arrangement, such as stems and roots, along with vegetables, plastic forks, cans of Spam, and tin cans.Designers use these everyday objects like they would any other media, creating impressive structures that command viewers to see the beauty in their strangeness.This style elevates things often overlooked, emphasizing their potential to become, or contribute to, works of art.

The crazy, different art craze called Freakebana can be found on Internet sites such as The Cut and The Curbed Gallery.

 

 

Healing Together by The Alchemist

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This post is a great example of how Creativity helps heal the mind, the body, and the spirit.

LIFE DOES NOT STOP DURING THESE STRANGE TIMES

Though the perspective is surely changing. With the world shifting each day, I am able to see more clearly those things which are truly important to living the life I want.

I am taking this time to reflect on the kind of life best lived for me (don’t worry, pottery is of course in there) and personally, helping with healing is part of that best-lived-life.

IN 2019

I was contemplating how I might integrate my own healing into my artistic process and how I might involve and possibly help others with their healing. After contemplating this for sometime, I came up with the concept for ‘The Healing Vase’.

I WOULD LIKE TO EXTEND AN INVITATION TO YOU

Join the Healing Vase project for 2021.

More ….   https://rakupottery.ca/2021/07/19/healing-together-2/

 

 

I Want to Be a Dark Fae Again

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Amy Brown

I found some “ambient” music on YouTube a few weeks ago — background music, really.  (You should really check it out … instrumental music for all tastes). Great for crafting or reading. I came across this one long track, Relaxing Fairy Music – Dark Fae/Soothing, Sleep, Peaceful. It’s kind of slow and mysterious, nebulous and a touch enchanting.

It makes me want to role play a dark faerie again.

As I talked about in a blog from 2012, What Is Role Playing and Can I Do It By Myself, 

Through the initial excitement of wandering through Internet worlds, I stumbled upon chat rooms where people typed to each other as if they were face-to-face.  Interesting.  I didn’t have to fess up that I was a 40-ish year old housewife/innkeeper … all I needed to do was make up a name and race and I belonged.  Can you imagine the doors that opened for a writing goddess like me?  Role-playing was like a video game with instant feedback.  I could write my own dialogue, fight with swordsmen, disappear or have flames shoot from my fingertips, all with a sentence or two. 

For those of us on every level of creativity (and I know that’s almost all of you!) there is something exciting of creating something with its own  charms and purpose. 

That’s the biggest reward of writing. But I digress.

I was a dark faerie named Dream Regret — half human, half fae. I was beautiful and clever and sexy. I could flirt as well as discuss strategy, chat with unicorns and trolls, or learn to hold a sword or javelin. I could get into philosophical discussions about the cosmos or the maturation of the Fae race or how to metamorphose into a dragon for a few hours.

It was all nonsense and it was all escapism. 

The really good players fed you dialogue as well as you could dish it out. Enemies fought with swords and laser beams. They lied, cheated, and proclaimed their love.

I miss being that clever. That alluring. That magical.

There’s something about reality that sometimes takes the shine off of your crystal dome. Nothing could be as intricate as what is in your head. Nothing as full of unlimited possibilities.

Nothing can be as complicated — or as simple.

The older I get, the more I crave simplicity. Simplicity in real life, complexity in creativity. I love the challenge of a hard-to-design pattern, a harmonious color scheme, or a biting slice of dialogue while in the Creative mode. But I also like to be able to drop the pattern and the color scheme and dialogue when I’m done for the day. 

I don’t like to deal with the complexities reality often brings along with it. Those challenges don’t fade with the sunset.

The days of creative chat rooms are over. I’ve put away  my wings and my long dark blue hair and headed down a different street, searching for creative people and minds and hobbies.

But I’ll always have a bit of Dream Regret in me. 

I’ll never let her fire go out.

 

Sunday Evening Art Gallery — Albrecht Dürer

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Albrecht Dürer (1471 –1528) was a German painter, printmaker, and theorist of the German Renaissance.

Praying Hands

 

He was a brilliant painter, draftsman, and writer, though his first and probably greatest artistic impact was in the medium of printmaking.

Saint Jerome in his Study

 

Born in Nuremberg, Dürer established his reputation and influence across Europe in his twenties due to his high-quality woodcut prints.

Adam and Eve

 

He was in contact with the major Italian artists of his time, including Raphael and Leonardo da Vinci, and from 1512 was patronized by Emperor Maximilian I.

Portrait of Emperor Maximilian I

 

He believed that geometry was essential for producing harmonic artworks, and thus that it should be taught to all young artists, alongside other mathematical rigors.

Feast of the Rosary

 

Despite his decidedly Renaissance interest in Humanism and mathematics, Dürer continued to produce extremely detailed studies of the natural world, particularly animals, be they newly discovered in Europe (such as the mythical rhinoceros and lion) or common native creatures (such as the hare, owl, or cat).

Young Hare

 

Dürer was well aware of his own artistic genius, which equally tortured and enlivened him.

The Knight Death and the Devil

 

He painted a number of empowering self-portraits, and would often appear as a character in his painted commissions.

Self Portrait

 

More of Albrecht Dürer‘s art can be found at http://www.albrechtdurer.org.

 

 

 

Sunday Evening Art Gallery — Amber Cowan

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Amber Cowan is an artist and educator living in Philadelphia.She is a faculty member of the glass department of Tyler School of Art, where she received her MFA in 2011 in Glass/Ceramics.Cowan’s sculptural glasswork is based around the use of recycled, upcycled, and second-life American pressed glass.She uses the process of flameworking, hot-sculpting and glassblowing to create large-scale sculptures that overwhelm the viewer with ornate abstraction and viral accrual.

With an instinctive nature towards horror vacui (filling of the entire surface of a space or an artwork with detail),  her pieces reference memory, domesticity and the loss of an industry through the re-use of common items from the aesthetic dustbin of American design.The primary material used for her work is glass cullet sourced from scrap yards supplied by now defunct pressed glass factories as well as flea-markets, antique-stores and donations of broken antiques from households across the country.Cowan uses these found pieces to create remarkable one-of-a-kind objects that reference the rise and fall of US glassware manufacturing, while simultaneously offering a new narrative.More of Amber Cohen‘s amazing glasswork can be found at https://ambercowan.com/.

 

Little things 💐🌧️☘️🍰🏖️💗 — Heartfelt

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A little light and a lot of love from my fellow blogger!

 

To know you’re alive by feeling the blood flow through the vein, To dance in the rain, To help irrespective of loss or gain, To smile through the pain Life is indeed about the little things. Magical rains🌧️🥰 To have little, yet be happy to share, To sing without a care, To have sand at […]

Little things 💐🌧️☘️🍰🏖️💗 — Heartfelt

Sunday Evening Art Gallery — Sapphire

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Logan Sapphire

 

 

 

 

Bismarck Sapphire Necklace

 

 

Sapphire-throated Hummingbird

 

 

The Star Of Asia

 

 

 Sapphire Sentinel Blue Dragon, Andrew Bill 

 

 

Queen Emma of the Netherlands’ Sapphire Parure Tiara

 

 

 

Antique Blue Sapphire 19th – 20th Century Carved Phra Hin Buddha Statue

 

 

Blue Sapphire Damselfish

 

 

Blue Giant of the Orient

 

 

Sapphire Dragon Tree

6 Ways To Bring Readers To Your Blog/Site/Life Part II

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Back on Oct 10, 2019 I posted a blog about 6 Ways To Bring Readers To Your Blog/Site/Life.  

It included:

Animals  

 

Bright Colors   

 

 

Laughing Babies/Little Kids   

 

 

Scenery 

 

Memories 

 

and Food 

 

 

How did those work for you? Smashing, I hope.
Well, I have found six other topics that may amuse you and bring you more fame and (possible) fortune.

 

Lists of Anything.

These are the sucker’s ways of seeing where their favorites fit into your favorites. Topics include Top Places to Vacation, Best Restaurants in Your Neighborhood, or Must-Haves to Start Your Paint Supply Cabinet. Be sure to throw a few numbers in front of your titles — just not too many as to discourage new learners.

 

Free Stuff

Who doesn’t love free? Especially when it doesn’t cost anything? Unless you have a big marketing budget, you won’t be able to handle the costs of mailing freebees to your followers. But hey! This is the Internet! Surely you can send them links to remarkable places and works of art and virtual tours of neat places and YouTube videos that emphasize the point you’re trying to make.

 

Humor

Who doesn’t like an opening line that makes you smile? Not everyone is always in a good mood in life, and what better way to get readers addicted than to show a funny face, tell a funny joke, or show a picture that goes along with your humorous antidotes. After all, isn’t there always something funny going on?

 

Nostalgia

 

Who now days doesn’t look fondly back on rotary phones, penny candy, pet rocks, and bell bottom jeans? A majority of your readers are past 30. Past 40. Shall I go on? Bring/write/show items and ideas from the past into the modern arena. We all love to feel that little tickle/tingle of nostalgia from our childhood. Especially penny candy and the Beatles.

 

How-Tos

Everybody could learn to do something better — cooking, writing, sky diving. But most of us want the easy way to the other side. You can provide that. Talk about what you’re good at. Or what someone else is good at.  Surely there is plenty of knowledge inside of you (or someone you know) that you can share with the world. Do you know how to can tomatoes or make a fairy garden or write a poem? Share that knowledge. Show us know how to do it!

 

Feel Good Stories

Needless to say, most of the time we have fairly simple things to share. That a-ha moment. The finished task. The cosmic question. Stories and questions that, in the end, make you feel good. Even if there is no answer, you want your reader to feel  that all will be okay in the end. A successful blog starts with writing from the heart. Be enthusiastic, be honest, believe in what you’re writing. You are you, and that’s what your readers want. Not a pretend version.

 

Well, friends, I hope you find inspiration from my so-called ideas on how to bring readers to your blog. Even if you don’t get one extra reader from all this falderal, know I enjoyed writing it almost as much as you snickered reading it.

Onward, Upward, Forward, and in my case, Loopidy Loopward!

 

Wow!

~ humoringthegoddess ~ 1 Comment

Okay okay!

I need to take a breath!

I’ve been catching up on my Reader reading these past few days, and have I found some interesting, spectacular, enjoyable art of all kinds from my artistic friends! I mean, WOW!

I can’t decide if I want to highlight all of them in one blog, do one blog a day for five days, one blog a week, give them full spread value, mix them up between my wit and wanton words …

I cannot believe I am so fascinated with the world of ART. I mean — it’s only a way to pass the time, isn’t it? It’s only using a pair of scissors to cut out a design.  A bit of glue and fabric on a piece of paper. A few brush strokes on a piece of canvas. 

Of course, if you believe that, our relationship is tainted.

Seriously, though. 

When one practices what they love over and over again, miracles happen. Little miracles, big miracles. Half miracles. Because it’s the soul, the ether, the cosmic power of life and beyond coming through.

Whew! Big words! Big emotions! Big exclamation points!

I think I’ll showcase them — and others — a couple of times a week.  There are sooooooo many people whose work I enjoy, and I’m always making new friends out there, too, whose work is ever inspiring. Just last week I highlighted Carsten Wieland and his creative painting videos — just sitting and watching him create is amazing.

I should make up a week about celebrating artists. But I’d be celebrating 52 weeks a year. And I already do that!

Keep on being inspired! Keep on Creating!

 

 

Sunday Evening Art Gallery — Dino Rosin

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Dino Rosin was born in Venice, Italy on May 30, 1948.

At the age of twelve, he left school and began work as an apprentice at the Barovier and Toso glassworks where he remained until he joined his brothers, Loredano and Mirko, at their factory, Artvet, in 1963.

Rosin continued at Artvet until 1975 when he moved to Loredano’s newly established studio as his assistant. There he collaborated with his brother for almost 20 years.

He was Loredano’s right hand in the “piazza” and a master in his own right in cold work.

In 1988, Dino Rosin was invited to Pilchuck Glass School in the state of Washington to teach solid freehand glass sculpture with Loredano and the American glass artist, William Morris.

In 1992,. Dino assumed the role of “maestro” and began single-handedly to produce his brother’s old designs and ultimately his own.,

His skillful use of Calcedonia glass (glass made with silver and other elements  developed in Murano during the mid fifteenth century) is unique and makes his pieces recognizable and highly collectible.

Dino rediscovered the formula for this unique, striated glass and has continued to improve the coloration.

Today he is able to achieve brilliant cobalt blues, deep rose and even a fiery red, varying on the metals used, temperature and duration the glass is in the furnace.

Each piece is different; the exact flow of lines and color of calcedonia cannot be duplicated.

More of Dino Rosin‘s beautiful glasswork can be found at https://www.paragonfineart.com/artists/dino-rosin.html and https://www.rosinartestudio.com/en/.

 

 

Faerie Paths — You

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Kindred spirits are not so scarce as I used to think. It’s splendid to find out there are so many of them in the world. 

~ L.M. Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables

 

 

 

Life Doesn’t Care

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Life is always taking a swing at us.

No matter what we’re doing, what we’re feeling, it always stands behind the curtain, waiting to catch us off guard.

It’s not always sadness waiting around the corner; it can also be excitement, satisfaction, or a myriad of other positive vibes.

But no matter what “vibe” life throws at us, dealing with it is another matter.

Yesterday my chocolate lab herniated a disc in her back. Who would have thought she could do that? She’s in perfect shape, loves running and swimming, and is of the run-run-run variety. Well, somewhere in all that running, she messed up one of her discs. A quick run to the vet got her medications and crate rest for four weeks.

One minute running and fetching and happy just to run around in the yard with us. The next, semi-paralyzed back legs, curled tail, whining, and pain. Lots of pain.

This can happen to people as well as our furry friends. And, as we get older, pulls and falls are much more in the scope of reality than ever before. 

Life doesn’t care.

Life doesn’t care about your pain, your bad luck, your body falling apart. It doesn’t differentiate between cancer and car accidents, between colds and Covid. 

There seems to be a payback for beautiful sunsets and primeval woods and flowing rivers and fields of bright flowers. It feels like there’s always a price to pay for love and companionship, for satisfaction and achievement.

Maybe “payback” is a bad choice of words. Life is not punishing you for being happy — it’s just letting you know to beware — there is always another side to the coin. A yin to the the yang and all that.

Life moves forward, whether you want it to or not. That moment of nirvana cannot last forever. Nor can the pain of inconsolable grief. 

We have to let both flow through us, around us. Like the river constantly flowing around the boulder, we have to BE that river, ebbing and rushing and sometimes still as night, flowing around obstacles that are immovable.

I am hoping puppy will be better in due time. I am hoping you will be better in due time. Just take the good and bad, the ups and downs, feel them and then let them flow away.

Remember — there’s still a lot of life out there waiting to take a swing at you.

Faerie Paths — Ships Passing

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Aliisa Hyslop

 

Ships that pass in the night, and speak each other in passing, only a signal shown, and a distant voice in the darkness; So on the ocean of life, we pass and speak one another, only a look and a voice, then darkness again and a silence.   ~Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

 

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#worldwatercolormonth – Daily watercolor no.02 Carsten Wieland – Dancing Brushes

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If you find yourself with a free 9-11 minutes, I highly recommend watching Carsten’s videos, starting with this one. This is how a true artist works. He is amazing! And there are more at his website, https://brushparkwatercolors.wordpress.com/.

It is always a delight to watch someone in their element, isn’t it?

 

brushparkwatercolors's avatarbrushpark-watercolors

Celebrating the #worldwatercolormonth I am going to present a timelapse watercolor painting any day of July from my daily practice. All shown paintings are free improvisations in pure watercolor, done without any preparing sketches – just from the mind to the paper. Painting, music & video by Carsten Wieland, 2021 Using paints from Lukas Aquarell 1862 / @Lukasfarben #CarstenWieland #brushparkwatercolors #wielandfineart

Zur Feier des#worldwatercolormonthwerde ich jeden Tag im Juli ein Zeitraffer-Aquarell aus meiner täglichen Praxis präsentieren. Alle gezeigten Malereien sind freie Improvisationen in purem Aquarell – entstanden ohne vorbereitende Skizzen – einfach vom Kopf aufs Papier. Malerei, Musik und Video: Carsten Wieland, 2021 Ich verwende Farben von Lukas Aquarell 1862 / @Lukasfarben

Free watercolor tutorials:

https://freewatercolortutorials.wordpress.com/

Happy Watercolor How-To eBooks Tutorials step-by-step:

https://www.etsy.com/de/shop/WielandF…

Website:

https://www.wieland-fineart.com/

Watercolor Improvisation – 042_2021 Watercolor/ FABRIANO® “Disegno 5” fine, ca. 70 x 50 cm / 19.7 x 13.8 in / Lukas…

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It’s Not That Hard

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We all look for acknowledgement in our lives.

Whether we admit it or not, we are brought up to seek “approval” from our parents, our friends, our aunts and uncles and fellow churchgoers and those in our social circle.

As we get older, it’s not so much the strict sense of the word “approval” as it is more “kudos.” Words of praise. A slight nod of the head to show that what we are doing is appreciated.

Yet, bad relationships, bad choices, slipped steps and miscalculations lead us to think that kudos and praise and acknowledgement are for other people, not for us.

I am happy to say I am a survivor and purveyor of good news.

Appreciation is always appreciated. 

It’s funny. The blogs and artists I hesitate to post are the ones everyone loves the most. The Angel Tears I make and wonder about others really like. 

Every time I believe in myself and my work, something comes along to sow that seed of doubt. Then the world wobbles and I wonder what in the world I was thinking of. But then a kind word comes my way and I’m back up dancing on the clouds.

And it’s all because someone said something nice to me.

I mean, how hard is it to say someone, something, looks great? Smells great? That someone’s ideas kick butt? That someone looks good in purple? Or that their bright red tennies rock?

I am always trying to find something nice to say to both those I know and those I pass by. I’ve tried to do this most of my life, but more so now days.  With Covid and unemployment and other downers everywhere you look, the world needs a little bit of appreciation.

Your compliment never goes unnoticed, although the degree of reaction varies from person to person.

So does your “Thank You,” your “Great Job”, and your “Awesome.”

So to all my readers, those who comment and those who peek in then pass by, thank you.

You rock.

And so do your tennies.

 

 

Sunday Evening Art Gallery — Matthew Grabelsky

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Using the New York City subway system as the setting for his work, Matthew Grabelsky paints surreal portraits of people who are seemingly normal from the neck down, but who have had their heads replaced by animals, both wild and domesticated.Grabelsky graduated Cum Laude from Rice University in 2002 with a BA in Art and Art History,  along with a BS in Astrophysics.Grabelsky’s paintings are inspired by the years he spent riding the subways in New York as a kid and by his early fascination with Greek mythology.Small details including zoo posters, stickers, T-shirts, and toys add humor to the art, while light reflecting off subway tiles and molded sets show the artist’s technical ability to paint hyperrealistic scenes.Grabelsky’s paintings are an exploration of human nature and of the way that animals represent various parts of the human subconscious.“The characters are symbolic of the kinds of thoughts that lie under the surface of people’s minds, and they reveal that the most extraordinary can exist in the most ordinary of everyday settings,” the artist has said.“This theme is communicated through the juxtaposition of these ostensibly irrational images with otherwise completely mundane scenes.

My idea is that my creatures are not original but are ultimately part of a much larger cultural continuum.”

More of Matthew Grabelsky‘s delightful art can be found at https://www.grabelsky.com/.

 

 

 

The Gallery is Growing!

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I have been busy filling up my Sunday Evening Art Galleries with amazing art and artists. Filled with many more of the artists’ creations than here, the Galleries are great places to visit whenever you find yourself bored with regular Internet surfing.

Here are a few more artists to tempt you:

 

Sharon Johnstone

 

Utagawa Kunisada

 

Rebecca Louise Law

 

Norman Rockwell

 

Puddle Art

 

Oleg Dou

 

Jack Storms

 

 

Michelangelo

 

 

 

Faerie Paths — Illusion

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Dream delivers us to dream, and there is no end to illusion. Life is like a train of moods like a string of beads, and, as we pass through them, they prove to be many-colored lenses which paint the world their own hue. 

― Ralph Waldo Emerson

 

 

Sunday Evening Art Gallery — Amethyst

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Roman Emperor Caracalla; Amethyst intaglio, ca. 212 CE

 

 

 

 

Neo-Assyrian Amethyst Vase, c. 8th century BC

 

 

 

 

 

Baldi’s Amethyst Bathtub

 

 

Morris Amethyst Brooch

 

 

Amethyst Hills Wisteria

 

 

Head of Queen Arsinoe II (Greece).

 

 

 

 

 

Kitty Pain in the Derrière

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Mysty

 

This is me trying to work on my computer.

This is me this morning trying to write a blog.

Needless to say, kitty is helping me. 

She has pestered me for 10 minutes, after being pushed to the other side of the sofa three times, five times being pushed back and told “no”, and finally allowed to put a paw on my right arm. Which stealthily led to a full stretch across my body.

The tennacity of cats is amazing. They don’t stop. They don’t change tactics. They never give up.

And they always get their way.

Now, I know every cat is different, just like every child is different. Some are scardy cats, some are fat cats, some are bold and sassy cats. Many people don’t care for cats, preferring a loyal and somewhat more subdued dog (except for my two dogs, of course).

But my cat gets an idea in her head and doesn’t stop pushing it until she decides to end it. Then she ends abruptly, turns, and does something completely different.

She is demanding, especially when it comes dinner time. Sometimes she  stands in the middle of the room and meows and meows for no (apparent) reason. She insists on sleeping by my head, both on the sofa and in the bed. 

I do love the fact that cats are more independent than dogs. They nosh all day, rather than gulp their food down in one inhalation (like my dog). They genuinely show their affection, but only when they are in the mood. You come and try to cuddle when they’re busy doing something or taking a nap — forget it. It’s not your time, it’s their time.

She sometimes look into space, alert and curious, as if someone invisible is moving or talking to her. Then she blows off the experience as eh, just another “thing.” I think she sees things I can’t see, hears things I can’t hear. Maybe she is an interpreter. Or a medium. Maybe she is watching a gnat crawl on the wall or dog hair flying in the air.

Most probably she is just a cat.

I do love my kitty. She  is loyal, quirky, and loveable. She will always be my friend for life.

I just wish she’s move her derrière so I could type.

 

 

The Faeries in My Back Yard

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Last night I stood on my back deck in the dark of night and watched the fireflies dance in the woods.

Of course, you and I know they weren’t fireflies.

They were, of course, faeries.

This is the time of year they cross the bridge of time and float into our world to gather pollen from the night flowers and water from dawn’s dew drops. They fly around between the summer and autumnal equinox with their little buckets, gathering samples of the soil from deep in the woods and remnants of crops from the fields to take back home.

They stay just out of sight so humans can’t see them.  Yes, they could take a chance on those who believe, but faeries don’t really take chances. Why bother with beings who just might swat them before thinking?

I love watching their random movements, their signals to each other as they play through twilight into the darkest of night. I can’t quite decipher their language, but sometimes it’s as if I hear their whispers and laughter in the distance; as if I can sense their pure joy of life. 

Oh, I’ve heard all sorts of things about faeries/fairies/fae. They love sparkly things, wildflowers and plants, and music. They love honey cake, milk, nectar, and sweet butter. Fairies have an aversion to iron, and are quick to do you a favor, yet even quicker to demand payment for it.

I’ve never heard of anyone EVER seeing a faerie. Ever. They are myth, they are made up, they are born from our imagination and desire to create something fresh, free, and eternal.

But those naysayers have never looked off my deck into the warmth of a summer evening that slowly, ever so slowly, turns into a velvet black backdrop. They have never felt the electricity in the air of a knowledge and way of life that has been since the beginning of time and will continue long after we are dust.

They will never see, for they will never believe.

 

 

Sunday Evening Art Gallery — Aubrey Beardsley

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Aubrey Vincent Beardsley (1872–1898) was an English illustrator and author.

His drawings in black ink, influenced by the style of Japanese woodcuts, emphasized the grotesque, the decadent, and the erotic.

Most of his images are done in ink and feature large dark areas contrasted with large blank ones, and areas of fine detail contrasted with areas with none at all.

 Beardsley was a leading figure in the Aesthetic movement, which also included Oscar Wilde.

Often despondent and introverted, Beardsley’s main preoccupation for his short 25 years in existence would be to curate a flurry of singular and sometimes  bizarre, artworks that challenged Victorian norms and whose enduring legacy compensates for his all-too-early demise.

Beardsley’s contribution to the development of the Art Nouveau and poster styles was significant, despite the brevity of his career before his early death from tuberculosis.

Beardsley worked by outlining his sketches in pencil then tracing over them in black ink in a style reminiscent of Japanese woodcuts.

The simple elegance of his linework combined with the sharp contrast of black and white lent Beardsley’s works to a peculiar style comprised of Aestheticism, Symbolism, Decadence, and Art Noveau.

As though he was born haunted by his own premature death, Aubrey Beardsley’s drawings in black ink often developed under an obsession with the morbid — and it shows.

More of Aubrey Beardsley’s sketches can be found at https://www.illustrationhistory.org/artists/aubrey-beardsley and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aubrey_Beardsley .

 

Reflections

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Daniel Hannah

You know — I’ve been thinking lately. Reflecting.

That usually means trouble. Confusion.

As I have been in an over-emotional mood lately, I reflected upon my past blogs. The upbeat, pro-creativity, happy-go-lucky blogs.

I realize — that truly is me. I truly believe in handling your own destiny. At least as much as life allows.

But I also wanted you to know that at times I’m an emotional trainwreck, too.

I have fears, inhibitions, and confusion just like you do. I have crabby days, doubtful days, days of wonder and of wondering.

How do you get through those days?

Don’t you sometimes want to drink a bottle, take some pills, stand in the middle of the yard and just scream?

We all know only one of those three really work. And the neighbors might wonder if they see you standing in the middle of your yard one night yodeling your brains out.

First off, I am not against anti-depressants, a glass of wine now and then, or professional therapy. Never be ashamed to go the next step to clear your head. I know I have.

But what if you are just going through the normal ups and downs of a busy, fulfilling life?

Waiting for change to happen is like waiting for water to turn to ice.

That makes me swing back to Creativity.

I dunno. I just feel better creating something. Discovering something. Researching something. Moving feels so much better than sitting still. Especially sitting still day after day, watching nothing but my derrière spread wider.

Doing something for myself gets me out of my funk and back into the land of the living.

I happen to love writing. And certain crafts. And photography. And walking through nature. And taking a drive through the county. And fetching my dog. The list goes on and on.

Your list should go on and on, too.

As I said earlier, there is depression and then there is depression. If you are suffering from unrelenting sadness, confusion, and stress, talk to someone. Professional or otherwise. Don’t try to handle the world alone.

If you suffer from an occasional up and down moment, accept it while moving forward. Paint a picture. Doodle a whole page of nonsense. Buy a few inexpensive flowering plants and dig a hole and plant them. Research something odd like auras or Alpha Centauri or Medieval life (I’ve researched all three). Watch a stupid movie. Build something cool from your kid’s Legos.

Find a way back to Creativity.

To imagination.

To logic.

To love.

Admit the crabbies and move along back to what you were put on this Earth to do.

Create.

 

Faerie Paths — Repost — #FridayFantasy . . . If I were a fairy

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from Purplerays

https://purplerays.wordpress.com/2021/06/18/fridayfantasy-if-i-were-a-fairy/

 

If I Were A Fairy

I’d love to sit on a clover-top
And sway,
And swing and shake, till the dew would drop
In spray;
To croon a song for the bumble-bee
To leave his golden honey with me,
And sway and swing, till the wind would stop
To play.
I’d weave a hammock of spider-thread
Loose-hung,
Where grasses nodded above my head
And swung.
And all day long, while the hammock swayed
I’d twine and tangle the sun and shade,
Till the crickets’ song, “It is time for bed!”
Was sung.
Then wrapped in a wee gold sunset cloud
I’d lie,
While night winds sang to the stars that crowd
The sky.
And all night long, I would swing and sleep
While fireflies lighted their lamps to peep—
“Oh, hush!” they’d whisper, if frogs sang loud—
“Oh hush-a-by!”

.
by Charles Buxton Going

Art by Asako Eguchi

 

 

 

 

 

Sunday Evening Art Gallery — Ekaterina ‘Kate’ Lukasheva

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Ekaterina ‘Kate’ Lukasheva is an incredible Origami artist and designer from Moscow, Russia.

The artist has had a fascination with puzzles and construction sets since childhood and first discovered origami in her teens.

With its intricate folds and geometric patterns, there’s a lot of math in origami and Lukasheva would later graduate with honors from Moscow State Lomonosov University as a mathematician and programmer.

As Origami has come to describe a broad field with a number of niche disciplines, Lukasheva’s artwork focuses primarily around modular origami and Kusudama.

Japanese kusudama is created by sewing or gluing multiple identical pyramidal units in various shapes. Lukasheva does all this, but without glue or sewing.

All of her origami is made from one single sheet of paper.

According to the artist: “For me origami is a big conundrum. If you have a blank sheet you compose a conundrum out of it and you assemble this puzzle.

“Since the possibilities of the sheet are endless, I get an endless source of interesting puzzles.”

More of Ekaterina Lukasheva‘s amazing work can be found at https://kusudama.me/.

 

 

Yet ANOTHER Creative Pastime

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Along with all my other creative pastimes, I love photography. I haven’t taken any classes, no professional training. I just love taking pictures.

Today I am going to take a chance and share some of my photography from the last year. As you can see, I’m a sucker for nature in all its seasons, all its forms. No filters, no computer graphics or adjustments, no special lenses. Just my phone camera.

I hope you enjoy these as much as I enjoyed taking them.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dancing Through the Grey

~ humoringthegoddess ~ 9 Comments

I just love this gif.

Every time I come across it it makes me smile.

It’s Brad Pitt and his goofy character Chad Feldheimer doing the happy dance in the movie Burn After Reading.  I love this part with him dancing and pumping the air and laughing and being silly.

This is how I’d like to be.

At least most of the time.

I know no one is happy all of the time. Life isn’t always dancing in the street, a bowl of cherries, or the pot at the end of the rainbow. Sometimes life sucks.

But when it doesn’t, it’s a chance to make wherever you are, whatever you’re doing, the (almost) best time of your life.

Now I don’t necessarily do the happy dance when I’m mopping the floor or filling the dishwasher. But when times get tough/boring/ stressful, a little bit of hopping around to “Swing Swing Swing” by Benny Goodman or “Flirtin’ With Disaster” by Molly Hatchet or the ending of the “1812 Overture” by Tchaikovsky can certainly do a number on my emotional state.

I know I sound like the old broken record, but there’s something about waking up every morning that makes me want to dance (after coffee, of course). Well, not all the time, but you know what I mean. Even with the aches and pains and trials of life, the miscues, missteps, and mis-ery, I try and find a reason to smile. To dance. Or even tap my foot, if I so desire.

How do we find Brad Pitt’s level of happiness?

That’s up to the individual.

Good books, great movies, powerful music, all are triggers. So are babies and kids, puppies, kittens, sunsets, oceans, crafts, flowers, phone calls and photo albums. The past, the present, and the future eventually all blend together anyway, so why not find something that makes you smile and feel good and run with it?

I know many hate this simpleton point of view. Life is not just black and white. Happy or sad. Hot or cold. It’s always a matter of gray.

Grey is good.

According to an article in the online magazine Psychreg, “When we attempt to view life in cut and dry terms we end up boxing ourselves into a rigid way of thinking and feeling. Our abilities to resolve our differences become more difficult and we can negatively impact our effectiveness. The more we learn about the grey areas of life, the more we see how it shapes our earthly experience.”

So we need the grey area. But in the end, grey gives up to either black or white. You either do or you don’t. You stay or you go. You live or you die. 

You either dance to the music or you don’t. 

Try dancing. It’s more fun, more liberating, and more addicting than any dark corner of life.

And it sure beats filling the dishwasher.

 

Sunday Evening Art Gallery — Doug Adams

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Award winning recycled Sculptured Bell artist Doug Adams grew up in Fielding, Utah on a small Appaloosa horse ranch & farm.

After graduating from high school, Doug served his country in the military’s branch of Utah National Guard for five years.

 

Upon his return from basic training & advanced training as a tank mechanic, he found employment constructing a large steel mill located nearby & a year later he began his 30 year career in the steel industry.

Doug created his first bell using a recycled cylinder in the early 80’s but it wasn’t until he met his wife Dianne that they started creating one of a kind sculptured bells using many of the same techniques Doug became so familiar with in the steel industry.

Old tools, well worn machinery, old car parts are all sculptures in the making for Doug’s artistic endeavors.

His wife Dianne creates one of a kind glass in her art studio for each sculpture that’s created.

Each unique bell stand is designed for its respective bell and given Doug’s trademark distressed patina.

Each piece is carefully made to stand the test of time to be enjoyed by generations to come, both for indoor and outdoor settings.

More of Doug Adams  amazing bells can be found at http://www.dougadamsbells.com/.

Creative Multitasking

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Goddess Durga

Ahhhh …. the joys of Creativity.

While writing is still a passion for me, I am finding it harder and harder to get into the drive-till-you-crash novel mode.

I wonder why that is.

I’m going to skip the age thing, as I don’t think it’s as much that as it is the investment toll it takes to write 80,000 words (more or less).

As many of you know, there is a real commitment behind writing a full length novel. If you are as good as your grain (so to speak), you need to do a lot of research, have a flair for the English (or other) language, have patience for your story to develop, and be in a setting where you are not interrupted every five minutes.

You really should be willing to devote your entire being to writing that book, not only because you enjoy doing so, but it is so easy to get distracted into other creative worlds.

I know that all too well.

All you creative people do.

Where there’s writing there’s crafts. Where there’s quilting there is painting. Where there are Christmas ornaments there is ceramics. One door opens to another to another to another, and before you know it you look behind you and have left a half dozen doors wide open.

Which do you close? Which do you work on?

You love them all? The universe, in its wise forethought, only lets you do one project at a time.

I have a few novels I want to fine tune and get online. I have a third I need to write. I have a second trip to Paris outlined but (at the moment) have no Internet to do research. I also have a website I want to update, a craft show to prepare for, supplies to order, and a sketchbook I bought a few years ago that I’m dying to try out. And how about that Vietnamese Coconut Caramel Chicken recipe that’s been sitting in my inbox for over two weeks?

Dedication to one project at a time is a big mountain to climb. So is a writing free-for-all for weeks on end.

I hope by now you have found a main project to work on, plus have  a half dozen others waiting in the wing; research one, practicing on another, finishing up a third.

I find creative people find a way to multitask when it comes to Art in in its many forms. It’s a passion, it’s a destination. It’s a release and a growing experience. Prioritizing, unfortunately, is not as easy.

Tell me what creative balls YOU are juggling these days!

 

 

Friday Night Thoughts

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This ought to be a hoot, because I’m writing Friday Night Thoughts on a Monday morning.

What is your ideal Friday evening?

I’ve been listening lately to U-Tube videos of ambient music lately; hours of the same kind of background tunes you find in lounges, street cafes, and movies. Many have U-Tube videos/images in the background to match the ambience. They’ve got Victorian Libraries, Jazz Cafes, Lazy Summer Afternoons — even ambience built on Lord of the Rings or Hogwarts. Great for crafting, sitting on the porch, or reading.  

So that makes me have to redirect and rethink my question, turning it into two questions.

What is your ideal Friday evening fantasy?

What is your ideal Friday evening that you can actually carry out?

My dream Friday evening would be sitting at an outdoor café in Paris, eating some decadent French dessert and watching the Eiffel Tower sparkle in the distance. I would hope there would be some hammy accordion music in the distance, but I don’t know if they do that over there.

My ideal Friday evening back here in reality would be sitting around a fire, (indoor or outdoor), sharing conversation and laughs with family and friends, watching the sun set, sipping a pina colada or blueberry vodka and lemonade or even a big glass of chocolate milk.

There is something magical about Friday nights. Maybe it’s because it marks the end of the work week, end of a school week, or that politicians, weekly news reporters, and movie stars have gone home for a quiet weekend and left us alone.

Saturday nights are often date nights, wedding receptions, trips to the city or countryside, get-togethers, and other big deals that can’t be held during the week. There’s always time to enjoy a little bit of jazz, a rock concert, or a symphony  on the first true day of the weekend. It’s a dress up and glitz to the city or drive to the beach kinda day.

Of course, our Friday nights often turn out to be something else entirely. Kids drop by, you drop by the kids house, football games, grocery shopping — the distractions are endless. It’s the first night you can crash and (hopefully) sleep in the next day. Watch a little telly, a movie, catch up on your weekly TV series — the things you can jam into a Friday night are endless too.

But Friday nights are wonderful nights for reflection, too. For creative planning. For savoring the week’s bounty and planning your next step. It’s a time to shut off the past week’s work and domestic activities and plan something for yourself. A bath, a walk, a book. It’s the quiet of sunset, the fireflies of twilight, and the still of a crescent moon.

Take advantage of your Friday nights. They can be the first step on your magical ladder to tomorrow.

How do ~you~ spend your Friday nights?

 

 

Faerie Paths — Friends

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To know someone here or there with whom you can feel there is understanding in spite of distances or thoughts unexpressed – that can make of this earth a garden.

~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

 

 

Sunday Evening Art Gallery — Musical Notes

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Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination, and life to everything.   ~ Plato

 

Nora Kate Paints

 

 

 

 

Dmytro Kozlov

 

 

Stephanie Analah

 

 

 

 

Mary DeLave

 

 

wallup.com

 

 

David G Paul

 

 

Schmitt Music Building, Minneapolis

 

 

Kirsty Pargeter

 

 

Amid/Dreamstime.com

 

 

Wanfengda Glitter

 

 

 

 

 

 

Turn the Page

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Getty Images

I am always giving into daydreams of the future. What might happen. What steps I can take to turn things around. Or, conversely, steps I can take to keep things the same.

I do believe in letting life play out as it may.

But I also believe in trying to prevent accidents from happening. To prevent missteps, miscalculations, and mistakes. Of counting my steps and watching my step.

I have been forgetting little things lately. More than lately. For the last year or two. Nothing big — just things. I am constantly reminded that I am forgetting these things. Out of kindness, mind you — but I am being reminded I tend to forget.

I always wonder if this is the beginning. The beginning, maybe not of the end, but the beginning of turning the page. Of dealing with things differently than before.

I was never really an independent kind of girl, but I did work where I wanted and married who I wanted and started a business in another state. I had two children that I adore and have three grandkids that take my heart away. My world was my choice. Influenced by outside factors, people, and situations, yes. But still my choice.

I am starting to wonder, though– will this all change as times goes by?

Will this all change as I turn the page?

Words like dementia, Alzheimer’s, senility, all haunt my dreams. We do what we can to remember, but time takes away parts of our being every day. Tiny parts. Miniscule parts that you cannot even measure.  Suddenly all the miniscule parts start to add up. You forget directions, you forget to turn the gas all the way off. You forget the date and you forget birthdates. You fall a little more than you used to, get dizzy sometimes or bang your leg on more things than ever.  Every symptom becomes cancer or Covid or the beginning of some other drastic disease, because, at this point, it just could be that.

Maybe it’s just that I’m forgetting things.

It happens to us all. I refuse to be frightened by it. Or distracted by it. Or controlled by it.

But I do acknowledge it.

After reading and blogging about the American artist William Utermohlen who died from Alzheimer’s , I could see a talent far greater than mine waste away with time and disease. 

I wondered if that would someday be me.

I wonder if that someday will be all of us.

I’ve also heard positive things about turning the page ….

Sometimes you just have to turn the page to realize there’s more to your book of life than the page you’re stuck on. Stop being afraid to move on. Close this chapter [of hurt] and never re-read it … let your future create something better. ~Trent Shelton

I think I can do that. Move forward despite all the flags that are popping up in my way. I figure, I’ve got to go that direction anyway … why not jump on the pony and she where she goes? 

 

 

Sunday Evening Art Gallery — Benjamin Shine

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Benjamin Shine is a multidisciplinary British artist who has gained recognition in the fashion industry for his creations made from lengths of tulle — a practice which he describes as “painting with fabric”.
The fine netted material allows for dramatic differences in opacity depending on how densely it is is bunched or layered.Shine had to find the appropriate tool to bind the tulle to the canvas and create more depth. Small irons are perfect for him — they don’t have to be fancy, they just have to work.From afar these intricate portraits appear to be painted using the finest of brushstrokes, but take a step closer and the amazing reality is unraveled: they’ve been carefully crafted out of reels of folded fabric.

His amazing creations each contain 10 to 50 meters of tulle; pleated, folded and finally ironed in place to create evocatively realistic images.Shine explains his work this way: “I think that the positive reception [of my art] has enabled me to continue. It’s enabled me to grow spiritually because of the connection with the artwork and what it’s teaching me because I’m seeing … the sense of spirituality in it.

“[The tulle] is a material that is half not there, and I find that fascinating.”

More of Benjamin Shine‘s amazing artwork can be found at https://www.benjaminshine.com/ and https://www.instagram.com/benjaminshinestudio/. 

 

 

The Door

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Open the door and you shall see
The most wondrous things from land to sea.
Your dreams await on the other side
Imagination beckons far and wide
What do you think awaits you there?
Come! Let us venture without a care
A chance to explore worlds never seen
Magic and reality and all inbetween
Open the door and you shall see
The most wondrous things from land to sea.

 

 © 2015 Claudia Anderson

 

 

 

Faerie Paths — Who We Are

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So close no matter how far
Couldn’t be much more from the heart
Forever trusting who we are
And nothing else matters

 ~ James Hetfield, Metallica

 

 

William Utermohlen — Signs of Alzheimer’s

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Conversation Pieces, Loyola University Museum of Art, Chicago

This is a little bit Sunday Evening Art Gallery post, a little Humoring the Goddess post. You’ll see what I mean.

I am a sucker for those “10 Things You Didn’t Know About …..” Most of them are flops, but every now and then I come across something that is extraordinary.

 

In 1995, U.K.-based American artist William Utermohlen was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease.

1967

 

Before his death, Utermohlen created a heart-wrenching final series of self-portraits over the stages of Alzheimer’s, which lasted roughly five years.

1996

 

The last self-portraits, painted between 1995 and 2001, are unique artistic, medical, and psychological documents. They portray a man doomed yet fighting to preserve his identity and his place in the world in the face of an implacable disease encroaching on his mind and senses. 

1997

 

Alzheimer’s symptoms not only include memory loss or dementia and personality changes but it also affects the part of the brain, which is responsible for visualizing capabilities, so crucial for a painter.

1998

 

With Alzheimer’s progressing, the art becomes visibly more abstract, blurrier and vague, due to the loss of the aforementioned capabilities.

1999

 

The artist’s widow Patricia explains exactly why these images are so powerful:  “In these pictures we see with heart-breaking intensity William’s efforts to explain his altered self, his fears and his sadness.”

2000

 

Apart from portraits, still lives and drawings from the model, Utermohlen’s art can be arranged in six clear thematic cycles: The “Mythological” paintings of 1962-63; the “Cantos” of 1965-1966 inspired by Dante’s Inferno; the “Mummers” cycle of 1969-1970 depicting characters from South Philadelphia’s New Year’s Day parade; the “War” series of 1972 alluding to the Vietnam war; the “Nudes” of 1973-74; and finally the “Conversation Pieces”, the great decorative interiors with figures, of 1989-1991.

William Utermohlen died March 21, 2007. The mere thought that this artist tried to paint his being through the very end of his Alzheimer’s pays tribute to the creative soul in each one of us.

More of William Utermohlen’s story and paintings can be found at Bored Panda and Chris Boïcos Fine Arts websites.

 

 

Time to Check Out the Expanded Gallery!

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I thought I’d do a little self promotion this fine evening.

Not just because it’s MY Gallery, but I can’t begin to tell you how many unique, different, extraordinary artists there are in the world! I am blown away by these people’s ideas, whether it’s miniatures, fabric art, ceramics, photography, metal work, or dozens of other mediums.

If you are bored one afternoon or evening and want to get a more detailed look at some of the fantastic artists I’ve come across, stop on by. We’re open 24/7, there’s no admission charge, and you never know what creative world lies just around the corner!

 

Maps

Ptolemy’s Geography (150 AD)

Ancient Rome, 1602

 

Bisa Butler

 

Stained Glass

 

 

 

Carsten Wieland

 

Kathryn Vercillo

 

Melissa Schmidt

 

Charles Vickery

 

Donatello

 

There is more — so much more. Take a break from the confusion of life and see what Art is really all about!

 

Stressing Over Nothing — Yet

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I’m getting ready to do a little/a lot of travelling the next few weeks — camping this week and up to the cabin next week. It’s not so much escaping my day to day reality (which it kinda is), but it’s a chance to be away from the chatter of TV, loads of laundry, and pandemic protocol. 

I can set up blogs ahead of time, stop the mail, and leave three pounds of cat food in the feeder for my pussycat, no problem.

Unfortunately, I can’t take my crafting with me.

I know I will feel guilty sitting around daily, in a fishing boat, on the deck, or around the fire, reading, writing, sketching, visiting, sleeping, doing every thing a vacation is supposed to encourage. All I will be thinking about is the craft fair over Labor Day and if I will have enough product to sell.

What a dope.

That leads to the fear of not selling anything at all. The guilt of having spent money on supplies over and over again, of coercing my family to help out in the booth, and in the end having 300 Angel Tears hanging from my back yard gazebo. The fear of Mass Tanglement from Hell when Tears start wrapping around each other in knots only God can get out.

I wonder if I’m the only one who blows reality out of proportion for no good reason.

I know it won’t be as bad as all that — I am looking forward to getting a fresh look at nature and her beauty. I love the outdoors. I love campfires. I love the cabin and not being far from the water. I love sleeping in and going out for ice cream. And, of course, I love being with my grandkids in both situations. 

I just wonder why I waste time stressing about things I have no control over. Work will get done. The laundry pile in the corner isn’t going anywhere. It will wait for my return. As will the housework and yardwork.

And the crafting.

Do you sometimes get carried away with your stress moments? 

I’d like to think that’s all just part of being human. Of being passionate about life. 

Maybe I just need to take up a more “portable” hobby.

 

 

Sunday Evening Art Gallery — Paul Dmoch

~ humoringthegoddess ~ 13 Comments

Paul Dmoch is a Belgian painter whose watercolors are playgrounds of light.In them, light sparkles, bounces, glows, splinters and plays hide and seek amid the complexities of cathedral interiors, Venetian canals, narrow streets, dappled courtyards, open plazas and architectural landmarks of several cities.Light is an actor in his paintings, alternately coy and bold, shining with bravado and peeking out from the shadows.His deft handling of color and value, backed with his solid draftsmanship, give Dmoch’s paintings of familiar landmarks a fresh interpretation.Dmoch especially likes to paint cathedrals. As he says, “I can feel all the mystery of ‘another space’ where we sometimes come, but not spend our lifetime.“Inside these structures we feel small and not so important as we sometime think we are. We can see that incredible, enormous structure, filled with endless lights pouring through a stained-glass window.“For me, light and shadow is a metaphor for the everlasting battle between these two basic elements of human existence. In the contrast between light and darkness lies the secret of every human beginning.”

More of Paul Dmoch’s amazing paintings can be found at https://www.grandmastersfineart.com/paul-dmoch.html and at http://linesandcolors.com/2015/02/17/paul-dmoch/.