slightly wonky


200!
March 1, 2013, 11:52 am
Filed under: Drawing, painting, printmaking | Tags: , , , , , , ,

No, that’s not what I saw on the scale this morning!  I mean: do you know that I’ve done 200 posts on this blog?  No joke!  Sometimes I scroll back to early posts just to see what’s been happening over the past couple of years.  Hmmm.  Not as much as one might hope for.  No one has offered me a solo NYC show yet.  Can you believe it?  WHAT’S WRONG WITH THESE PEOPLE????  Clearly, I am the only one who basks in my artistic brilliance.   (ummm…I’m kidding)  I may have to shut off the “comments” feature with this post…the beauty of the internet is that I can’t see anyone rolling their eyes right now…

Perhaps instead of revealing my true struggles on this blog, I should create a faux online persona of artistic brilliance.  I could create faux galleries that represent me and who gush over my faux creations.  I could also imply that although I’m almost 40, I have no gray hairs and look like Zoey Deschanel.

None of this would be true, of course.  My sham persona would soon be discovered.  So, I’ve had to rely on the truth on this blog, and it’s often not so pretty, or exciting.  Perhaps you’re relieved to know that your life isn’t so wrapped up in drivel and nonsense as mine?  Perhaps you’re relieved to know that I keep a messy house, with Lego bits and dust bunnies brazenly staring me down every morning as I walk to the kitchen?  Yes, I’ve heard of a mop, a broom, AND a vacuum.  I just don’t choose to use them very often.  Maybe if I think of housework as some kind of domestic performance art, I might get slightly more interested…

This week, I went to the Arlington Center for the Arts to see a show they have of faculty artwork.  I’ve taken a drawing class there with a teacher who is funny and talented.  Here is the work that she submitted:

a-thibaut

Connie Thibaut, Memento Mori, Mixed Media

This looks to be a “trace monotype.”  Can you see how amazing her drawings are?  She tends to do surrealist subjects.  I thought that this was really lovely.  Look at the doll/person’s hand in the upper right!  Beautiful.  I couldn’t find a website for her.  CONNIE, YOU NEED A WEBSITE.  EVEN IF IT IS A FAKE PERSONA.  I know.  Some people have standards, and don’t feel like revealing their ineptitude online.  Go figure.  Next:

a-goransson

A. Kristina Goransson, Collection III & Collection IV, Felted & Dyed Wool

Isn’t that beautiful?  These are two, separate works of art, but they do look so amazing together, don’t they?  Her website is here.  Check it out.  All of these pieces are felted wool.  SO interesting!  I love how delicate they are.  I wish that I knew her, as I’d ask her if I could touch one of them…(the inner preschooler in me.)  Next:

a-calderonsaenz1

Gloria Calderon-Saenz, Rivers and Nests #4, Acrylic on wood

Isn’t that gorgeous?  It looks like she paints the surface of the wood, then carves it to create the image.  I loved this.  Check out her website here.  She has another one:

a-calderonsaenz2

Gloria Calderon-Saenz, Open Nests, Acrylic on wood

I love how graphic these are.  The texture is also gorgeous, but you can’t see that from the photo.  If you’re in the area, you should stop by this show in Arlington.  The gallery is small, but these works (and others) are really worth it.

This week, my son’s artistic brilliance was to create this:

a-SOL

Do you know what that is?  THAT’S THE STATUE OF LIBERTY!  I thought that was pretty cool.  Maybe he’ll be a sculptor when he grows up?  Take a look at this:

a-wrong

Maybe I should suggest that he NOT become a sculptor?  Isn’t that kind of deranged looking?  This is the kind of stuff that I’m constantly tripping over around here.  Creepy.  You’d think that I’d clean up more often just so that this kind of stuff wasn’t glaring at me all day.  I know…get the broom…yadda yadda yadda.

Well, it’s lunchtime.  Time to go forage for something to eat…perhaps a rice crispy treat or two? (or three?).

If I sandwich two of them together with peanut butter, does that make them more nutritious?  Discuss.

a-snow

Advertisement


Dino-disaster and hands-off
January 11, 2013, 9:37 am
Filed under: Drawing, Fleeting thoughts... | Tags: , , , ,

So, I recently brought my son to a dinosaur exhibit at the Boston World Trade Center.

Total.  Parental.  Hell.

a-dino1

I imagined that there would be oh…50 or so of these large scale dinosaurs to look at.    Great.

There were actually more like 15, which only filled 1/5 of the expo hall space.  What was in the rest of the space, you may ask?  Well…the rest of the space was devoted to:

1. A store where your children could obsess over dinosaur paraphernalia,

2. A dino bouncy house, for which you had to stand in ANOTHER a mile long line to BUY tickets for (because the tickets that you bought to get into it didn’t count), and

3. A dino mini-golf area, where you also needed to stand in the four hour line to BUY more tickets.

It was a total dino-scam.  Do NOT go.  Luckily, my son didn’t want to do the bouncy house or mini golf.  He did want a mini paleontologist kit, though.  I thought it sounded harmless enough…you dig out bones from a block of something.  Cool, right?

a-dig

Oh…SO unbelievably NOT cool.  SO MUCH FILTH.  There was dust EVERYWHERE… thick, reddish plaster dust EVERYWHERE.  There was so much dust that I thought my son and  I would develop black lung and/or a nasty rash.  I am the worst housekeeper ever, but even I was in a filth panic.  Me!  Parents…do NOT buy this gift in the winter.  This is an OUTDOOR gift.  Actually, you may want to just forget it altogether.

DO NOT BUY THIS, EVER.

Yes, my son did work on it from 11:30 am – 3:30pm , with a brief break for lunch…but still.  It was NOT worth it.  I suggest that you be the slacker parent and neither take your kid to the dino-scam exhibit, nor buy this educational toy.

Consider yourself warned.  So there.

I had high hopes of going to see some art this week, but it didn’t happen.  I did install a cabinet door myself, though! Only 17 more to go!  Woo hoo!

Here is a recent concern of mine that I’d like your feedback on:

My son can sometimes be a happy normal kid, and draw stuff like this:

a-aliens

These are aliens, I think.

Or, he can be kind of high strung, and draw things like this (on the other side):

a-hand

(I erased the background scribbles from the other side for clarity)

Do you think that I should be concerned?  Who was this for???  Me?  What was I not supposed to touch?  Wha?  Thoughts?

This drawing, and other instances, sometimes make me feel unwanted.  Example:

a-legoship

This lego ship is apparently using the couch.  I guess I’ll just go sit on the floor with the red plaster dust and be sure not to touch anything. Is he trying to tell me something?

Don’t mind me…I just work here…

Just so that you don’t feel totally gypped from seeing any art, I’ve found this cool artist online:

a-tower

Sagati Keita

Original Drawing of [Expedia City Breaks:Paris], 2012, pen on kentboard, h.42×w.29.7cm., Ogilvy & Mather collection

Kind of crazy, right?  Look at this detail:

a-keito

Sagati Keita

Detail of Original Drawing of [Expedia City Breaks:Paris], 2012, pen on kentboard, h.42×w.29.7cm., Ogilvy & Mather collection

ISN”T THAT SO COOL????  He/she draws these incredible images with tons of doodle-esque characters!  AMAZING!!!  Isn’t that incredible??? Talk about skill.  I would like it more if he/she would not choose these famous images, but instead drew images from his own life.  What do you think?  Comments?  Isn’t he/she SUPER TALENTED?????  Check out the website here.  Also, if anyone can clarify if Sagati is male or female, I’d appreciate it.  (ありがとう)

Wish me luck avoiding the flu epidemic here!!!  I’m going to go now and order a haz-mat suit online.  I hope that I can wear it on top of my snuggie!!!




%d bloggers like this: