Tag Archives: photograph
Slow Art, Some Lettuce and a Tangerine – San Francisco
Foods have a special significance during Chinese New Year because of the way the Chinese word for it sounds. The Cantonese word for lettuce sounds like rising fortune, it is common to serve a lettuce wrap filled with other lucky food. Tangerines and oranges are passed out during Chinese New Year as the words for tangerine and orange sound like luck and wealth.
http://chinesefood.about.com/od/chinesenewyear/a/symbolicnewyear.htm
Slow Art relates to creating art in a slow way. This practice is about being mindful of detail, valuing the history inherent in re-usable materials, putting time into creating small items. The practice encourages the maker to be naturally meditative as they create. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slow_Movement
Early in the morning I decided to write some thank you notes.
Why not make original drawings of items bought at the Farmer’s Market the day before?
While propping them up on the table to review, the sun came up – gorgeous light!
I ran to get my camera. Here is the result.
A very productive day and it was only 7 o’clock in the morning.
I kept a dozen drawings with the thought of printing notecards.
Maybe they are the beginning of an Artist’s Book.
Where shall I get them printed?
Any suggestions would be appreciated.
‘A’ San Francisco
letter A hidden in everyday places and objects
Raoul Dufy and Me – Southern France
Click on image to see detail
Carla’s interpretation of view in Larmet, France
The camera’s interpretation of the scene
Megan’s interpretation of the scene
Upon entering a hotel room in Aix en Provence, many years ago, I noticed a familiar print by Dufy hanging on the wall next to the window. Accompanying the print was a note saying Raoul Dufy had painted the watercolor from this window. Yes, right there, I was looking out the window at the same scene painted in the 1920’s. Of course, I had to paint that scene. Now, my watercolor is framed and hanging in my daughter’s house. In August, I painted the another view in France, with her daughter. Here are three interpretations of the same view.
“I think a painter is happy because he is in harmony with nature as soon as he can express what he sees.” Vincent van Gogh
Happy New Year 2012 !!
In front of the Oakland – San Francisco Bay Bridge, fireworks fill the sky over the Transamerica building. During the holidays, more than 17,000 lights decorate four buildings in the Embarcadero district.
Have you thought of your new years resolution? I have. Tomorrow starts a new series – back to slow art, drawings from my travel sketchbooks starting with Seattle. My plan is to create short posts more often.
little tree
Here’s a poem by e.e.cummings called little tree. I found it on a blog website
http://thegirlinthehat.wordpress.com/2011/12/11/enormous-tree/
Anna has a great blog going.
Merry Christmas !
little tree
little silent Christmas tree
you are so little
you are more like a flower
who found you in the green forest
and were you very sorry to come away?
see i will comfort you
because you smell so sweetly
i will kiss your cool bark
and hug you safe and tight
just as your mother would,
only don’t be afraid
look the spangles
that sleep all the year in a dark box
dreaming of being taken out and allowed to shine,
the balls the chains red and gold the fluffy threads,
put up your little arms
and i’ll give them all to you to hold
every finger shall have its ring
and there won’t be a single place dark or unhappy
then when you’re quite dressed
you’ll stand in the window for everyone to see
and how they’ll stare!
oh but you’ll be very proud
and my little sister and i will take hands
and looking up at our beautiful tree
we’ll dance and sing
“Noel Noel”
Marta Spurgeon or “As I See Myself”
I felt I was missing something when I came out of the San Francisco Fine Art Fair. I found some little drawings I liked. I said hello to a sculpture by Manuel Neri but that was about it. Walking back to the car we decided to check out the MFA Graduate Exhibition. That building was full of energy. This self portrait, taken with my iphone, is of Marta Spurgeon’s hanging plastic boxes. They remind me of Ct , CAT scans of the brain or three-dimensional images of the inside of the head from a series of two-dimensional x-ray images. Marta has layers of transparent plastic sheets hanging in space. Each sheet has part of a face painted on it – altogether they make up a whole three dimensional face.
