JUST THINKING by William Stafford
Got up on a cool morning, Leaned out a window.
No cloud, no wind. Air that flowers held
for a while. Some dove somewhere.
Been on probation most of my life. And
the rest of my life been condemned. So these moments
count for a lot -- peace, you know.
Let the bucket of memory down into the well,
bring it up. Cool, cool minutes. No one
stirring, no plans. Just being there.
This is what the whole thing is about.
Inner Journey by Robyn Gordon
"In order to accomplish an experience, you have to have a chance to dance with it. You have to have a chance to play, to explore. Then each style of exploration that takes place is a different manifestation, we could say. Nevertheless, it is all part of one big game." -- Chogyam Trungpa
It's a good feeling to be surrounded by my totems again.
Just before the big clean-up,
I was sitting quietly
trying to trace back to a time when I didn't feel
that something was missing from my art practice
and it dawned on me
that I was no longer surrounded by my own art.
I've been setting my totems free too soon
and feeling empty without them.
Stillness by Robyn Gordon
There are now three completed pieces watching over me,
a work in progress nestles on the workbench
and the missing spark has returned.
"Stop thinking about art works as objects, and start thinking about them as triggers for experiences." -- Brian Eno
Party Girl by Robyn Gordon
When I met my muse by William Stafford
I glanced at her and took my glasses
off -- they were still singing. They buzzed
like a locust on the coffee table and then
ceased. Her voice belled forth, and the
sunlight bent. I felt the ceiling arch, and
knew that nails up there took a new grip
on whatever they touched. "I am your own
way of looking at things", she said. "When
you allow me to live with you, every
glance at the world around you will be
a sort of salvation." And I took her hand.
Inner Journey by Robyn Gordon
" .... and there was a new voice
which you slowly
recognized as your own."
-- Mary Oliver (from The Journey, here)
"Do you keep your creative work close enough? Is it always available? Keep it so close that when you turn around you run right into it!" - Eric Maisel
Walter Rast (mixed media on canvas). See website here
Many of us are drawn to objects marked by the passage of time and this fascination is often transferred to our art. Looking at the images in this post one can see that some artists use old, sometimes decaying and often patinaed found materials while others achieve the time worn effects through art techniques.
Walter Rast. See more of Walter's work on his website here
Walter Rast uses materials such as concrete, sand and pigments applied in successive layers. He scrapes back and scratches into the surface and also uses gold leaf and symbols.
Old Posts Hold Stories by Fiona Dempster. See Fiona's website here. and blog here
"There is warmth and strength, gentleness, tenderness even, and respect for worn and used old things." -- Fiona Dempster
Metal Book by Fiona Dempster. See more metal books here
"I really love the look and feel of rust. I love it's discarded beauty; the way it proudly wears its history and I love the sense of rediscovery that happens when I begin to work with rusted materials.
It feels as if the old, the worn, the forgotten, the discarded and the weary have found; their beauty recognized and valued, and new life given to them." -- Fiona Dempster
Object by Tim Rowan. See more at the Lacoste Gallery, here.
Marleen Vansteenvoort. See website here
Lu Bin. See website here
The Book by Sally Lee. See more here
Jeanne Medina, weaver/designer. Website here
Collage by Robert Ohnigian. Website here
"Robert Nickle's collages evoke the passage of time and the present's ambiguity; they forshadow future disintegration. By locking paper detritus-soiled, crumpled, cracked, folded, marked, printed, stained and decaying tags, wrappers, cardboard, foils, etc. - in a poetic time capsule, Nickle shows us where we've been, are, and by progression what the future holds." - Devonna Pieszak
Collage by Robert Nickle. Website here
Gerry Keon. See website here
Randall Reid. See more at Nuart Gallery, here
I've been perusing paint charts and enjoying the names of the colours:
Anthill Grey, Elephant Dung, Kalahari Sand, Hippo Pool,
Limpopo, Zambezi Sand, Kariba Sunset, Serengeti Sand ......
They're all beautiful African colours
Take a look at this colour chart here
Rope and Pulleys. Found here
I'm drawn to the naturals
the colour of rope
wheat and haystacks
Patterns in the sand on the east coast of Scotland. Photo by Martyn Gorman. See more here
sun warmed beaches
Tourner la page by Nathalie Dumonteil. See website here
aged, discoloured papers
Mbuti bark cloth. Exhibition of historic textiles assembled by Seth Siegelaub. See more here
the hues of Mbuti bark cloth
Collage on canvas by Eva Isaksen. See more at the Duane Reed Gallery, here.
Glorious paintings
beautiful art
Her Spring Ribbons (oil and wax on panel) by Jeane Myers. See website here
I don't know much about colour therapy
but I do know the colours that have a calming effect on me.
By Vered Gersztenkorn with Jermaine Passmore. See Vered's paintings on Face Book here.
Natrals and neutrals
give me great satisfaction
a sense of coming home.
Vered Gersztenkorn. See more here
The Book by Alexander Gurevich. See more here and website here
Ceramic murals by Jeanne Opgenhaffen. Click here to see website
Jeanne Opgenhaffen is a Belgian ceramicist who creates murals from thousands of fine overlapping porcelain tiles. They remind me of stacks of aged papers.
Jeanne Opgenhaffen
"Color provokes a psychic vibration. Color hides a power still unknown but real, which acts on every part of the human body" - Wassily Kandinsky
See my Naturals Neutrals Pinterest board here
Graphic artist, Antonio Ladrillo. See website here.
In grade one I was in awe of the little girl who sat at the desk next to mine.
She drew beautiful horses.
Real horses! Not just the stick figure variety.
I couldn't wait to tell my mom when she fetched me from school. "There is a REAL artist in my class!"
From as far back as I can remember, I have perceived artists to be the most amazing, luckiest, magical people.
"With the word creative we stand under a mystery. And from time to time that mystery, as if it were the sun, sends down upon one head or another, a sudden shaft of light.... "
-- Pamela Travers, Creators on Creativity
Choreographic Drawings by Tony Orrico. See Tony's website here.
Self portrait by South African artist William Kentridge. See more here.
Anselm Kiefer putting the finishing touches to his painting, Journey to the End of Night. Click here
April Zanne Johnson working in her studio. See more here
Abstracts by Conny Niehoff. See website here.
Isabella Ducrot. See website here.
Nnenna Okore. See website here
Neckpiece by fiber artist and sculptor, Jennifer Moss. See website here
Woodfire Ceramic Artist, Ashwini Bhat. See website here
"I gather shapes from the world around me, from travel, and from my journeys through books. I also look inside myself for forms that arise from my experience as a dancer, seeking to rephrase that understanding of the body through a new medium of expression, the body of clay."
-- Ashwini Bhat
Wood Sculpture by Pilar Ovalle. Photographer Silvio Lacerda, click here
Joshua Vogel (Photo by Rose Callahan). See website here
Ariele Alasko makes eye catching furniture from reclaimed wood. See Ariele's website here.
Wood sculpture by Bruno Walpoth. See website here.
Patrick Dougherty. See Patrick's amazing sculpture here.
"Life is so ridiculously gorgeous,
strange, heartbreaking, horrific, etc.,
that we are compelled to describe it
to ourselves, but we can't!
We cannot do it!
And so we make art."
-- Miranda July
