give me a daisy

~ ~ ~ ~ read ~ write ~ look ~ listen ~ create

Archive for the category “Art”

27 Oct 2012
7 Comments

putting some pieces together

These are a few of the quilted wall hangings created by my friend Sylvia. She bases many of them on designs from Dover books she’s collected over the years, adding whatever embellishments come to mind in the moment–beads, sequins, ribbon, shells, etc. I really admire her color and design choices.

The two of us collaborated on the design of a piece to hang over the bookcases in my living room. After we chose the fabric, she then did an amazing job of putting everything together. But I’ll let her tell that story–with pictures–in another post.

collage in progress

I don’t quilt, but I really enjoy arranging pieces in unusual or unexpected juxtapositions, which is kind of the definition of collage. I haven’t worked on one in several years, but I never stopped collecting material. A few weeks ago, I started this one, which is still in progress:

collage detail

Collage is a great way to create visual art if you’re like me and don’t consider yourself to be especially artistic. All you need are a stack of magazines, a pair of scissors, a glue stick, a piece of cardboard or poster board, and your imagination.

Posted in Art, Creativity and tagged , , ,
25 Oct 2012
1 Comment

the rhythm of evolution

The Bead Game

A short stop-motion animation film by Ishu Patel, 1977. The fantastic music is by Jnan Prakash Ghosh.

The film was nominated for an Oscar in 1978 and won six other awards.

Posted in Art, Creativity, Movies and tagged , ,
20 Oct 2012

a day in someone else’s life

If you ever get an urge to peek into what’s going on today in Amsterdam, Ann Arbor, or Auckland; Denver, Dubai, or Dublin; Lisbon, Lodz, or London; Oahu, Oeiras, or Oslo; Riga, Rome, or Rotterdam; Taipei, Tehran, or Toronto; Venice, Vilnius, or Vrsovice—or more than 300 other locations around the world, you can satisfy it quite easily.

More than 400 people regularly post photos from wherever they live on City Daily Photo blogs. I originally found this amazing gateway into all parts of the world via the City Daily Photo portal, but the portal has been down for several months. From what I recently read on the CDP Facebook page, it should be coming back up soon, which is great news. It’s always fun to while away an hour (or more) by stepping virtually into a few other worlds.

In the meantime, there’s another blog, CDPB Theme Day, where you can see thumbnail photos from the bloggers who post pictures on the current month’s theme. Another way to locate CDP blogs is from the lists some bloggers post on their own sites. This list from a Seattle CDP blogger was last updated a bit over a year ago, but is still a happy hunting ground for photo blogs.

I’ve followed more than a dozen different CDP blogs over the past few years, some for a few months and others over the long haul. My current favorites, with sample photos, are:

Santa Fe Daily Photo

Namaste

Oeiras (Portugal) and environs Daily Photo

Viewpoint

Adelaide (Australia) & Beyond

Tulips

Tulips

Salt Spring Photos (Salt Spring Island, BC, Canada)

Waiting for the Sun

Getting these bird’s-eye views into other people’s days, worlds, and worldviews reminds me how much more there is to notice and appreciate and consider than whatever may be right in front of me at the moment.

Posted in Art, Creativity, Nature, Photography and tagged , , , , | Leave a comment
04 Oct 2012

winged hands

My hands; Neruda’s poetry.

your hands

When your hands leap
towards mine, love,
what do they bring me in flight?
Why did they stop
at my lips, so suddenly,
why do I know them,
as if once before,
I have touched them,
as if, before being,
they travelled
my forehead, my waist?
Their smoothness came
winging through time,
over the sea and the smoke,
over the Spring,
and when you laid
your hands on my chest
I knew those wings
of the gold doves,
I knew that clay,
and that colour of grain.
The years of my life
have been roadways of searching,
a climbing of stairs,
a crossing of reefs.
Trains hurled me onwards
waters recalled me,
on the surface of grapes
it seemed that I touched you.
Wood, of a sudden,
made contact with you,
the almond-tree summoned
your hidden smoothness,
until both your hands
closed on my chest,
like a pair of wings
ending their flight.

–Pablo Neruda

Posted in Art, Poetry and tagged , , | Leave a comment
02 Oct 2012
2 Comments

early autumn, Santa Fe style

I took these photos on the last day of September 2012 on Museum Hill in Santa Fe. It was my second, but not my last, visit to the Margarete Bagshaw exhibit, “Breaking the Rules,” at the Museum of Indian Arts & Culture. With a title like that, how can I resist? If you don’t know Bagshaw’s work, here’s a link. Seeing some of these pieces up close and personal is truly a revelation. I found out about Margarete Bagshaw from my friend Gayle (thank you!). And I’m doing my best to spread the word. This past weekend, I shared her work with another friend, who was equally amazed and wants to go back to see the exhibit again.

museum hill, Santa Fe NM, 09/30/12

The warm colors and patina of the artwork on the plaza blend perfectly with the colors of this season. I’m really loving autumn this year.

Posted in Art, Nature, Photography and tagged , , ,
29 Sep 2012
1 Comment

she changes: Janet Echelman’s lacenet

She Changes, 2005 – Porto, Portugal

Janet Echelman spent seven years as an Artist-in-Residence at Harvard. She left Harvard to go to India on a Fulbright lectureship with the intention of giving painting exhibitions around the country.

Although she arrived in Mahabalipuram, a fishing village in India, her paints did not. Without her paints, she needed to find another medium. First she tried working with bronze casters, but that was expensive and unwieldy. Then one night, she notice the fishnet the fishermen were bundling on the beaches, and that sparked her imagination.

She wondered “if nets could be a new approach to sculpture: a way to create volumetric form without heavy, solid material.” The works she’s created are ethereal and stunning, unlike anything I’ve seen before. I really want one!

but what if her paints HAD shown up?

Echelman was probably dismayed, to say the least, that her paints hadn’t made it to India. But she didn’t give up and go home. It didn’t stop her from doing what she’d come to India to do. She took the materials at hand and used them in a way they’d never been used before. Although she didn’t have her paints, she still had her imagination and her creative spirit.

Things hadn’t gone according to her plan. And it was a very good thing they didn’t because if they had, we wouldn’t have these gorgeous lacy sculptures to look at. It’s important to have a plan. But it’s equally important to not be so committed to the specifics of the plan that when things begin to fall apart, you fall apart, too.

she changes

Change. Adapt. Be flexible. Look around you. Create from what’s already there.

More views of the piece She Changes (above) can be seen on Echelman’s website, which also describes the materials used in this and other sculptures and their method of construction.

And you can listen to Echelman–and see slides of her work–in this TED talk called “Taking Imagination Seriously.”

Posted in Art, Creativity and tagged , , ,
27 Sep 2012

arts & the mind

It’s more than sad and disappointing that so many elementary and secondary schools are decreasing art programs or cutting them out altogether. It’s a cost-saving measure that hurts not only the students, but also society in general. Arts–and creativity–are not add-ons or extras. They aren’t really dispensable.

Humans have been making art, in the form of painting, drawing, and carving, as well as music, since at least 20,000 BC–possibly even since 40,000 BC. Maybe it was engaging in those creative pursuits that contributed to our increased brain size and our unique capacity for learning and transforming the world we found ourselves in. How ironic is it then to get to this point only to collectively turn our backs on art?

your brain on jazz

Charles Limb is a surgeon and jazz musician. In this TED talk, he says:

Artistic creativity is a neurologic product that can be examined using rigorous scientific methods.

So he used fMRI (functional magnetic resonance imaging) on some jazz and rap musicians. Watch and listen to see what he found out.

And the man raps! (He claims it will never happen again.)

the neurological connections

Limb is featured in the recent two-part PBS series Arts & the Mind, hosted by Lisa Kudrow. It’s entertaining, moving, and informative. I highly recommend it. (The link takes you to a page where you can watch both episodes in their entirety.)

EPISODE ONE – Creativity

Arts & the Mind explores the vital role the arts play in human development throughout our lifetimes. Episode One, “Creativity,” features stories and the latest scientific research from experts around the country illuminating how the arts are critical in developing healthy young minds and maintaining them as we age. Showcases innovative arts education programs OrchKids in Baltimore and Get Lit in Los Angeles.

EPISODE TWO – The Art of Connection

This episode illuminates how art is the brain’s lifeline to empathy, emotion, mental agility and healing. Features stories and experts’ insights on: the positive effects of the arts for: children in hospitals; veterans suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder; building community in Appalachia; and warding off dementia.

final words

Science has to catch up to art.

–Charles Limb

Posted in Art, Creativity, Education, Music and tagged , , | Leave a comment

Post Navigation

Newer Entries →