Christmas Eyes

I am working on it

I know the breaks in our lines of text are not posting right. It is not in the settings, so I will bring in Bubba to look at it tonight.



We may change around the blog a bit just to play with some new options they added since we last maintained a blog.



Have patience and if you have any probs, list them in the comments section and we will walk through that as well.

I Don't Know Why...

But that portrait of the Aussie reminded me of this mural from Crete. Same color basics, same kind of retro funky. Except this mural is ancient.

"The Blue Ladies, restored wall painting or fresco, Palace of Knossos, Crete, h: NA, c. 1,500 B.C. (Herakleion Archeological Museum, Crete)"

Here is the link to some AMAZING art in the Palace of Knossos. Enjoy!

http://www.sandrashaw.com/AH1L13.htm

Working link for Woz

Sorry about that Woz.

Here is another gallery of Michelets work

http://www.micheletedouard.com/artist/


He is very cool. In many ways we have the same use of colors and brushstroke, but he is far more advanced than I am.

If I had to guess what I was evolving into as an artist, it probably will look somewhat similar to him.

Nick Cave

Australian Howard Arkley (1951-1999) painted this portrait of singer, song-writer and author Nick Cave in 1999.  It was his last work.  

Art critic Bruce James wrote that "Arkley once knocked about with Cave, and shared a few of his indulgences.  The portrait says that...it's a testament to complicity as well as comradeship, and among the savviest Australian portraits this century." 

Review Needed

Can someone on a non-crappy comp please watch this and tell me WTF it is about and is it as good as they are saying?


http://scalzi.com/whatever/?p=216


Now that I have the link posted here I can look it up when the good comp gets home!

Boccioni

Dynamism of a footballer 1913

Merry Christmas Everyone!

Saint Nicholas of Myra.

A secret stash

Click to enlarge

Kayakbiker, or anyone interested...

I do not know where I picked these Van Goughs' up from. I think a private collection, but I just had them in my files to study them.

As soon as I saw them I got excited. I had studied Van Gough all my life but had never seen these before. And... They are ALL very calm and soothing, unlike any of his other works I studied. This is what Van Gough certainly looked like when he was healthy and at peace.

Our Christmas Present From Mother Nature

I woke up this morning to find this adorable Kritter playing in our spring. Apparently he's found the perfect home there and he blends in quite well. At first we thought he might be an Otter--but a very small one at that! But then I discovered this link that tells more about the differences between Otters and Minks.

American mink are most commonly found in wooded or scrubby areas beside aquatic habitats, where they find much of their prey, though they may also be frequent in more open situations. They are territorial, with an individual mink occupying a territory of around 1-6km along a river or stream. Within its territory, a mink may have several dens, used for shelter and for raising young. Den sites are usually cavities amongst tree roots, in willow pollards, stick piles, rabbit burrows or in piles of rocks.


Mink mate in February/March, producing one litter of between three and six young, known as kits, in late April/May. The kits are weaned at 8 weeks but stay with their mother until late summer, when they disperse and establish their own territories.


Mink do hunt on land, preying upon small mammals and birds, but are expert hunters in the water. They take a wide variety of fish and also waterfowl in shallow areas near lakes and river banks. Occasionally a mink will indulge in 'surplus killing', taking a large number of prey at one time. Whilst this may appear wasteful, in their native North America, such surpluses would be frozen during hard winters and act as a store of food for the future. Mink are opportunist predators, taking whatever prey is available, with fish, birds, eggs, small rodents and particularly rabbits making up the major part of the diet in different areas.


They are also sometimes confused with otters; a mink is slightly smaller than a domestic cat, an otter is considerably larger, closer in size to a medium-sized dog.

Check the link to see the scaled drawing.

Degas - la Petite Danseuse de 14 ans

Degas is widely known for his paintings of ballerinas, but his sweet sculpture of this girl fascinates me! Apparently she was originally made of wax or clay, and was bronzed after his death.  The mixture of the hardness of the bronze with the softness of the skirt and ribbon in her hair make her so charming. I saw her in person many years ago and have been enthralled ever since.

English Book Cover

EDOUARD MICHELET

I love this artist.

Go see his gallery Here

Venus Victrix, or “Venus the Victorious.”

Not only is she French, but her breasts were actually cast from a real life mold of Pauline Bonapartes' breasts. Young sister of Napoleon.

Another Peaceful Van Gough

Again, I think he was at ease here as well. Great color play.

Click to enlarge.

Christy's first project

Thanks Christy! Sorry I couldn't post pics, as I had to put it away in storage - no safe place to keep it in my Republican household. I brought it to my hotel room in San Francisco to take these pictures. Thanks again for your artwork.

- Rachel AKA Ally McRepuke

Which reminds me...

Do feel free to interrupt the images with other forms of art, like poetry, or audio clips of music!


Party On!

Kandinsky

Kandinksy was Russian born - 1866-1944. He later became a French citizen. He's credited with the first modern abstract works.

I think I like abstract art because some of it makes me think (naively) "hey - I could do that!"

I'm a closet artist at heart who just doesn't have the time to give to it. I'm living vicariously through you, Christy!

Castle Woman

This artist is someone I'm familiar with from MySpace - has quite a nice body of work, graduated from Evergreen in Olympia in 2002. You can probably see more of his work here: more art

Ok, who is Guess Who?

I give up.

Unless it is my man playing with my mind?

Hmmmm.

I feel a 'Who's on first?' conversation coming on.

For Our Ally

Grand Odalisque

Vintage SanFrancisco

Wish We Were There With You Ally!

Have fun darlin!

Vintage War Propoganda

I can only assume it is British... Don't know for sure, though.

Very powerful imaging. A macho thing, no doubt.

Camille Monet on her Deathbed

I was able to see the Monet exhibit when it included all his pieces. It was an amazing show. But this picture always struck me as being so incredible. It doesn't show it online very well, so I recommend if you ever get a chance to see it at a museum that you do so.

But I will do my best to describe some of the amazing things in this painting.

When you see it in person, you can see shadowy figures in the background. Almost as if he carefully painted angels coming to take her away. It's how he played with shadows and light that created those hidden angels in the background. Ironically, it was painted as the morning sun entered the room just as she was his special sunbeam, but it also was an allegory of the mourning to come, because like the morning sun comes in, it also leaves--leaving the afternoon shadows and the evening darkness in its wake.

You know how you can move around a room and see different things in a painting? The light shows things from one view but not from another. Or the eyes follow you around, no matter where you go.


It's like that with this painting. You can move around the room and see one angel or move around the room and there were two or three.

Also, for Monet, it was rare for him to put so much detail in a person's features, and yet he did so on Camille as she lay there dying.

When you see the painting up close, you will be amazed by both the eerie feelings it evokes, but also you'll have an intense sensation that there were really angels there taking care of her and readying her for her departure from earth. too.

Look what I found

I don't usually like abstract art, but, look at this artist...

http://artbylena.blogspot.com/

FANTASTIC!

I have a sudden craving for Van Gough

The Red Vineyard
I do believe this was the only painting of his that sold in his lifetime.

Van Gough

To me, this one is so calm and serene, I think Van Gough was in a peaceful period in his mind when he painted it. It is very different than the hyper and edgy feelings of his usual works.

BTW Ladies

I am so glad you are here with me. I think we are going to have a ball sharing art that touches our lives.

The only thing left to add really, is when posting an art piece, if you can remember, please post some info about it... For example... It is Roman, circa 300AD. Or if you know the artists name, list that. Just so the rest of us can go back and research pieces that catch our intrest.

Even just naming the style or country of orgin will be helpful.

On some pieces, like Winged Victory, the actual artist is in doubt. Don't worry about trying to solve ancient riddles, like I said, just the country of origin or period or the name of the work will help us identify and keep straight the works presented here.

I love yall, and HAPPY POSTING!

Buddist Nuns (Burma)

The contrast between thier shaved heads and the pink robes to me is endlessly interesting.

Vintage Ad Art

I LOVE this image. And I am not even sure why. I think it is her natural pose.

She makes me think 'hippi'.

Learning

Ok - I'm just learning and made a bit of a mess with my post. I don't dare try and fix anything. Not yet. Now, Christy - I don't have an artistic bone in my body so I won't post any of the nudes I've painted. I assume that I'm allowed to post other Australian artists. I promise - there will never be an image that could ever have my name attached to it - unless I'm the subject. And it won't be nude. I promise that too.

I will go and seek out some favourite artists - many are children's illustrators since it is children's literature which is my greatest love.

Publishing history - very short

Well, Christy - you wanted a picture of Is It True, Grandfather?  And here it is.

And here is my very first children's book - and most special one - which is about my youngest son and his imaginary friend, Daven.  Daven was a huge part of our lives after Trent's older brother started school - for two years.  We still talk of him with great affection.  I discovered that Trent used Daven to test the waters with me, without having to risk my love.  For example, one day he came running in - age 4 - and said, "Daven's out there and he's lighting matches."  I was horrified and said, "That's it.  No matter what you say, I need to meet this Daven character and he's getting a smack!"  Trent, didn't pause for thought, "No, I yelled at him and made him go home and I took the matches off him and here they are."  He put the matches on the bench and smiled to show me how he could be trusted to do the right thing.  Trent taught me a lot through Daven.

Guess who!

Winged Victory

Whomever carved her was one of the best that ever lived.

Look how that fabric draws across her belly. Just stunning!

Roman, of course.

Nature. Is. Sexy.

Ohhh LaLa! I want One

As the Lakota Nation Secedes from the USA...

A reminder of how beautiful they are.

Hey Ally

Any chance you can get me some covert pics of the piece I sent you?

Inside and out....?

Pretty Please?

About those invites you got

I have decided my art blog is lonely. So I am inviting several of you to start posting with me.

Each post should be an image, prefferrably an art piece, but art photos or links to art as well. Any art, all kinds of art. Graphic images should be avoided if possible, of course. Nudity is fine. Again not graphic.

Show us what you've done, what you like, what you don't like. Let's introduce each other to new forms of art and inspire each other...shall we?

In case you are wondering

Yeah. It is like that.

.

I am light on posting to work on a commissioned piece. Will be back in a bit.

Hey Rossi

Have I told you lately that I love you?

Because I do.

Have you gotten any packages from me in the mail lately?

BTW Woz... If you are lurking, I still can not get pics of your book or the tag on it. It blurs so bad you can't read it at all.

Stupid camera. I thought technology was suppossed to make our lives easier....?

The Best Photo Ever Taken

When I was just a kid, my brother came home from Germany. In a casual conversation about the Berlin Wall, he described a mural he saw, done from an old photo. I will never forget the way he so clearly spoke of one mans break for freedom. I could see it, in my mind. I knew one day I would find that photo, and marvel at the bravery of that man. And now I have.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

How I comforted myself in the aftermath of 911

I almost went blind painting these. They were painted in the weeks after 911. I just had to put them back the way they were, if even on canvas.

If a painting is only worth what people will pay for it, then these are worth $200. Each. I still can not believe I turned that down, but I did. They now are hanging in my own home.

You may notice my signature is different on these, but I did not start using the other signature until late last year.

Just thought yall would like to see some of my old work. As always click to enlarge for detail.

A moment to satisfy curiousity

I keep being asked the same two questions...

If I am not gay, why do I paint women and not men?

Because women are prettier. Duh.

And...

CAN I paint men...?

Ummmm. Yeah.

Now you know.

Dianna, Goddess Of The Hunt

Leyla detail shot (Thank you Woz!)

Click to enlarge.


Now, I don't have to miss her.

Better pic of Joan of Arc

The background color is MORE true here, but still not exact. The pic does show the lines much cleaner than the others do though. Click to enlarge for detail.

I am having to learn photography just to post them here, and apparently, I suck at it so far.

A Beautiful Mystery. On the wall.

Joan Of Arc (With added inspiration)

This was the portrait of her that inspired me. It is an odd image, a young girl in armor is very striking, even today....

And mine. Again the yellow did not photograph exactly right, but her hair is true to color, so I think the color 'tangerine' just hates me...

Details of the face

Full canvas