I need to give credit where credit is due.
All of the paintings downloaded onto this blog came from Mark Harden's Artchive, which is a marvelous source of art images from nearly every era as well as art historical commentary and some critical analysis. Please visit the site and if you can contirbute, do so as this is a fabulous resource.
Tuesday, April 26, 2005
"Self-Portrait with Model"
By Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, oil on canvas, 1910-26. This one has always stood out for me.. mostly because it seems like he's bragging.
As a woman, I can see how these sort of images get irritating after awhile. And I'm glad artists went in different directions, particularly in recent years.
But it's time for the traditional methods to come back, artists need to learn how to draw again and the human figure needs to be explored in this new society we live in. So much has changed in the last 100 years ... It will be interesting to see what comes next.
As a woman, I can see how these sort of images get irritating after awhile. And I'm glad artists went in different directions, particularly in recent years.
But it's time for the traditional methods to come back, artists need to learn how to draw again and the human figure needs to be explored in this new society we live in. So much has changed in the last 100 years ... It will be interesting to see what comes next.
"Puberty"
This painting by Edvard Munch is one of his more positive images of a female subject. Franky, I feel sorry for her as she looks rather nervous.
But pictures like this one need to be painted...
But pictures like this one need to be painted...
Problem Solving
A few weeks ago the NY Times online ran this article about a group of fairly established NYC artists who get together once a week to draw from life. There was a time when this would not seem like an unusual thing.. and maybe to some it seems like the sort of thing artists do.
But that hasn't been the trend. In the past few years, decades even, art has been conceptual or digital, or an installation, or some combination of the above. The traditional methods have largely gone out of fashion, especially if the subject is a nude female. I suppose feminism had something to do with that, and I can see the point as some of those Expressionist pieces in the early 20th century were kind of creepy. (I'll post examples later.)
It's a good practice though, one of the things I miss about art school is the drawing sessions. They are a nice way to work on skills and socialize and have a nice give and take. And some of the artists in the article make good points in that it's a nice way to just do what you do and not worry about sales or the market or buyers or any of that. Actually, I think all that other stuff is imposed on art by the sellers and buyers and the "scene" and not really why artists do anything. But it can be difficult to get away from what you are expected to do.. so I'm glad that this group has the chance to just go and make art without expectations.
But the best thing about these drawing exercises, is that they give the opportunity to problem solve. Just drawing multiple poses and doing it because that's what you do.. It's great. It's never boring, even if it's the same model every time. Or the same tree. I can't afford models so I draw trees. Or I did. It's been a long time since I just drew something.
I'm glad to see this trend start again. I'm glad that the traditional methods are back again. Since art tends to be a mirrored perspective, I wonder if the reason is that we are now so bludgeoned by technology... it's kind of nice to only have to worry about a piece of paper and some charcoal.
But that hasn't been the trend. In the past few years, decades even, art has been conceptual or digital, or an installation, or some combination of the above. The traditional methods have largely gone out of fashion, especially if the subject is a nude female. I suppose feminism had something to do with that, and I can see the point as some of those Expressionist pieces in the early 20th century were kind of creepy. (I'll post examples later.)
It's a good practice though, one of the things I miss about art school is the drawing sessions. They are a nice way to work on skills and socialize and have a nice give and take. And some of the artists in the article make good points in that it's a nice way to just do what you do and not worry about sales or the market or buyers or any of that. Actually, I think all that other stuff is imposed on art by the sellers and buyers and the "scene" and not really why artists do anything. But it can be difficult to get away from what you are expected to do.. so I'm glad that this group has the chance to just go and make art without expectations.
But the best thing about these drawing exercises, is that they give the opportunity to problem solve. Just drawing multiple poses and doing it because that's what you do.. It's great. It's never boring, even if it's the same model every time. Or the same tree. I can't afford models so I draw trees. Or I did. It's been a long time since I just drew something.
I'm glad to see this trend start again. I'm glad that the traditional methods are back again. Since art tends to be a mirrored perspective, I wonder if the reason is that we are now so bludgeoned by technology... it's kind of nice to only have to worry about a piece of paper and some charcoal.
Wednesday, April 20, 2005
YAY!
We have pictures!
Now.. how might I avoid posting them twice?
Practive makes perfect, I suppose..
:)
Now.. how might I avoid posting them twice?
Practive makes perfect, I suppose..
:)
LavenderMist
A painting by Jackson Pollock.. Abstract Expressionism and the NY School of the 1950's. I'll post the rest of the painting's info later.
For now, just look at it...
What ideas do you get from this picture?
What feelings are evoked?
Allow yourself to have the experience of just looking at the picture.
For now, just look at it...
What ideas do you get from this picture?
What feelings are evoked?
Allow yourself to have the experience of just looking at the picture.
Picture test
I'd like to do a bit of art-blogging.. mine and other's. I feel it will help to illustrate points as well as provide an additional fourm for art on the web.
But I need to do a test run first. If it works, "Lavender Mist" by Jackson Pollock will appear...
Annnndddd I seem to be having trouble with Flickr, so art-blogging may have to wait a bit.. Ah well...
But I need to do a test run first. If it works, "Lavender Mist" by Jackson Pollock will appear...
Annnndddd I seem to be having trouble with Flickr, so art-blogging may have to wait a bit.. Ah well...
Why Art?
Why do artists make what they make? Do we have different brains? We know that there are specific personality traits that artists share (see Getzels and Csikszentmihalyi) and that each medium has traits specific to that medium.
And what is it about the appreciation of art? Why are some drawn to colors and others to form? And why one form over another? What is it about the work of Pollok and other non-objective painters that turns people off? And in a big way too.. I have had many voice rather hostile opinions about this sort of work.. Pollock's in particular. A lack of education in the arts explains some of that, but not all.
I see creativity manifested in art. It expresses something that otherwise is left unexpressed. But why? Is it that there simply are no words for some things, like feelings and emotions and all that sort of thing? It's almost as if another language exists out there and art is the only means of expressing it.
These questions may not be new to art and aesthetics, but in the context of creativity research there is a great deal the two fields can laern from each other.
And what is it about the appreciation of art? Why are some drawn to colors and others to form? And why one form over another? What is it about the work of Pollok and other non-objective painters that turns people off? And in a big way too.. I have had many voice rather hostile opinions about this sort of work.. Pollock's in particular. A lack of education in the arts explains some of that, but not all.
I see creativity manifested in art. It expresses something that otherwise is left unexpressed. But why? Is it that there simply are no words for some things, like feelings and emotions and all that sort of thing? It's almost as if another language exists out there and art is the only means of expressing it.
These questions may not be new to art and aesthetics, but in the context of creativity research there is a great deal the two fields can laern from each other.
Thursday, April 14, 2005
Concerning the Spirituality of Art
There was a really good article on nytimes.com, this is the link.
Hopefully it will open, but just in case I'm going to summarize. It's called "The Modernist vs. the Mystics" by Ken Johnson and appeared on 4/12/05. Seems there is a new show up at the Drawing Center in SoHo through May 21 (really hope I can get in for this, but it's not looking good). The show feaures the works of Hilma af Klint (1862-1944) of Sweden, Emma Kunz (1892-1963) of Switzerland and Agnes Martin (1912-2004) a US Modernist. The article is a review and highlights the contrasts between the artists... af Klint and Kunz were both Europeans who made art in a time and place where spirituality and mystisysim were popular among intellectuals. Martin is a product of the NY School and while there is an interest in Eastern philosophy and aestetics among this crowd, it's not really what they were about. Not overtly anyway.
But I digress because the contrasts, while interesting, are not what concerns me. Not for this fourm anyway. Here is an excerpt of the article:
"What has preserved the credibility of visionary spiritualism for many today is psychology: translating it into psychological not supernatural terms. The literally supernatural may be hard to credit, but it is believable that through art we can be in touch with dimensions beyond those of our day-to-day consciousness. By making or meditating on art, we may not only cultivate more refined aesthetic sensitivities but also release energies buried in the unconscious.
What is pulling me is the relevance to studies in creativity. Why do people make art? And why one form of art over another? For example, I really hate landscape painting. Not viewing it, although dramatic sunsets really do put me off, but the making of it. For me art is about looking inward. My response of what I am seeing and experiencing and the manipulation of materials.
I just found the article interesting and want to comment on it to facilitate incubation. Lately I've been thinking about pursuing a PhD... and this is such an interesting area. I find it fascinating that art is pretty much overlooked in the creativity research.. I think the tendency is to take it for granted that art and artists are creative and have been discussed and analyzed a LOT throughout history, so why bother? Csikszentmihalyi is the only one that I can think of off hand that studies art and artists in relation to his work on happiness. (I know there are others, but I'm not bringing them to mind.) I know that there is resistance in the art community to creative studies.. I'll discuss that another time. But the connections between art and Eastern and North American indiginous art and aesthetics and spirituality and creativity are just so huge.. to me anyway.
Hopefully it will open, but just in case I'm going to summarize. It's called "The Modernist vs. the Mystics" by Ken Johnson and appeared on 4/12/05. Seems there is a new show up at the Drawing Center in SoHo through May 21 (really hope I can get in for this, but it's not looking good). The show feaures the works of Hilma af Klint (1862-1944) of Sweden, Emma Kunz (1892-1963) of Switzerland and Agnes Martin (1912-2004) a US Modernist. The article is a review and highlights the contrasts between the artists... af Klint and Kunz were both Europeans who made art in a time and place where spirituality and mystisysim were popular among intellectuals. Martin is a product of the NY School and while there is an interest in Eastern philosophy and aestetics among this crowd, it's not really what they were about. Not overtly anyway.
But I digress because the contrasts, while interesting, are not what concerns me. Not for this fourm anyway. Here is an excerpt of the article:
"What has preserved the credibility of visionary spiritualism for many today is psychology: translating it into psychological not supernatural terms. The literally supernatural may be hard to credit, but it is believable that through art we can be in touch with dimensions beyond those of our day-to-day consciousness. By making or meditating on art, we may not only cultivate more refined aesthetic sensitivities but also release energies buried in the unconscious.
So if we feel something uncanny or hair-raising in the works of af Klint and Kunz, it may be because we believe that they were in touch not with real supernatural forces but with parts of the mind where extraordinary psychic energies reside. Though such places may be inaccessible for most of us, we may feel subterranean reverberations in response to certain kinds of art. "
What is pulling me is the relevance to studies in creativity. Why do people make art? And why one form of art over another? For example, I really hate landscape painting. Not viewing it, although dramatic sunsets really do put me off, but the making of it. For me art is about looking inward. My response of what I am seeing and experiencing and the manipulation of materials.
I just found the article interesting and want to comment on it to facilitate incubation. Lately I've been thinking about pursuing a PhD... and this is such an interesting area. I find it fascinating that art is pretty much overlooked in the creativity research.. I think the tendency is to take it for granted that art and artists are creative and have been discussed and analyzed a LOT throughout history, so why bother? Csikszentmihalyi is the only one that I can think of off hand that studies art and artists in relation to his work on happiness. (I know there are others, but I'm not bringing them to mind.) I know that there is resistance in the art community to creative studies.. I'll discuss that another time. But the connections between art and Eastern and North American indiginous art and aesthetics and spirituality and creativity are just so huge.. to me anyway.
Sunday, April 10, 2005
Wheee!!
I got the links field on the template I like!!
Now all I have to figure out is how to put on MY links... But this is still pretty cool..
:)
Now all I have to figure out is how to put on MY links... But this is still pretty cool..
:)
OK
So I'm going to try a new template because I can't figure out how to put links on this one. Of course the templates with a links field are kind of *eh* looking, but that's ok. Sooner or later I'll figure out how to post pictures and I'll be all set.
Of course, I may switch back to this one.. We'll see...
Of course, I may switch back to this one.. We'll see...
Saturday, April 09, 2005
Links
I think it's my template that is preventing me from having a links area... hmm. But as I look over the template choices, I see that there are some that seem to have no links area but I've read blogs with the same templates that DO have link listed....
Gonna have to do more investigating I suppose..
Gonna have to do more investigating I suppose..
By the way
I think this will be a creativity blog... I have a live journal for brain dumping, so this can be the creativity blog. What I want to do is post articles and links as I find them or write them.
What would be sweet is if I could figure out how to post links on the front page...
What would be sweet is if I could figure out how to post links on the front page...
Visions
One of the things I've been working on lately is how to facilitate visions. Not the "I see Jesus in my ham sammich" kinds of visions, but a vision for life and goals, then planing to make them happen.
It's interesting because there is a kind of learned resistance to doing this. And I really do think it's learned. One of those things that grown-ups do because of the whole survival thing. Kids don't do that. If you ask a kid what he wants to be when he grows up and you will get a very detailed response. But grown-ups tend to get bogged down in pesky reality.
But it is possible, and necessary if you are going through changes, as everyone does from time to time. That's what I'm working on at the moment.. facilitating the vision and identifying the steps needed to make it come true.
It's interesting because there is a kind of learned resistance to doing this. And I really do think it's learned. One of those things that grown-ups do because of the whole survival thing. Kids don't do that. If you ask a kid what he wants to be when he grows up and you will get a very detailed response. But grown-ups tend to get bogged down in pesky reality.
But it is possible, and necessary if you are going through changes, as everyone does from time to time. That's what I'm working on at the moment.. facilitating the vision and identifying the steps needed to make it come true.
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