PEARL ESSENCE

Photographer and artist, Dave Ryan, has asked me to let my readers know that he has a blog now, and a book he is working on titled "Genius is Easy". In the book, Dave explores his thoughts on the creative process and how we can tap into our God given abilities that motivate us to make stuff and inspire others. Space, silence, a deepening of the creative experience, are all things Dave is passionate about and in his blog and his book he shares his own experience in awakening to his abilities for all types of artistic endeavors.

Dave's photo above is "Pearl", and it is just a small sampling of the lovely work he has done and catalogued throughout his blog. I urge you to take a look at his very unique collection.

Living with Art, my house

I frequent the thrift stores and here's a sampling of some of the things I have gathered over the years. The collage upper left was made from found magazine scraps which I touched up with a bit of my own artistry; you can't see it in the photo, but I made a small paper "bowl" and attached it to the bottom - my first try at 3D collage! The photo of the Venus statue was taken for Christmas 2007; the fake pearls she wears are one of my favorite thrift store finds. The "Island girl" bust has some wonderful rustic chips on her and it was nice to know I rescued her from a certain demise. And last, but not least of all, we've honored the sweet but small vintage bust with her very own bejeweled crown, somehow she just screams "royalty". Call me sentimental. More later.....

Living with Art

I love to see how other people live with art:

This image below is from House Beautiful magazine and was snipped years ago; I resurrected it from my studio file labeled "inspiring art and artists".

I do not know whose collection it was, nor who the quote is from, or the photographer, but what a cool idea for displaying a collection as sculpture, or as a table-scape. "No matter where I put my Mexican milagro crosses and Italian ex-votos, they work. Keep only what you love when you're starting over...."

The photo above is from the January '09 issue of Architectural Digest. The dandelion sculpture in the forefront right dates from the 1960's; I love it because it is so whimsical, and who doesn't like a dandelion? (artist unknown). The table runner is a Japanese obi; the prints or paintings in the background leaning on a long bench are also by an unknown artist. These paintings remind me of 2 large acrylics that my mother did in 1972; many years later she gave them to me when I moved into an apartment in Boulder, she saw that my new place had vaulted ceilings, and her huge paintings were perfect for that space; big paintings demand lots of space.

The dining room photo above from Vogue Living Australia, is the perfect example, I think, of how much flowers mean to a room. The flowers on the table and in the fabric of the comfy, modern chairs add a live able warmth that the room would be void of without those floral touches. Flowers always make a room homey and cozy, and in this example you would otherwise feel like you were in a conference room of some cold, corporate headquarters. Painting is a fun stunner (artist unknown); the red enamel "wall sculptures" (artist unknown), are wonderful!

Be like a child....

(This is the first part in a series of short essays about art.)

Children can be such great artists. If a child is allowed to just be, to be free from adult expectation, then what you will get is a picture or painting that is purely that child's expression and it will always be beautiful. What makes it beautiful? It's beautiful because spirit soars onto the paper as the child gets lost in a project with heart felt innocence.

In Colorado Springs recently, I saw an exhibit of abstract paintings by renowned expressionists. At the end of the exhibit they had another collection of abstracts, these were a little bit smaller, all were carefully framed, they were quite impressive. Upon further inspection it became clear that these were paintings by 2 year olds, some 3 olds. The curator was making a point that we (as children) have this art stuff within us from an early age, not because we are genius, but because as children, we were, in most cases, unconditioned and in tune with our natural state of being.

The drawings here by Dale Chihuly illustrate my definition of being child-like and letting your spirit shine in your work. His drawings are brilliant accidents that were intended to show his team of glass blowers his conceptual design for his art glass....but these drawings end up being works of art in themselves. Why? Because they have spirit, he was having great fun when he made them, they actually breathe. Dale has breathed life onto a blank piece of paper, he was in the moment, just being, much like a child expresses himself.

The word "Art" could translate as spirit and in my imaginary dictionary it does. There's lots of art that appears devoid of spirit, but I want to suggest that it is impossible for a work of art to be devoid of spirit. Perhaps, in many instances, the artist's spirit is conditioned, crushed and heavy. The art from this artist can be disturbing for the viewer. When you observe a piece of art you experience the space or conditioned mind of the artist at the point of creation. That's why some art moves you in one direction or another, and why children's art tends to be so delightful.

Original and multiples by Dale Chihuly at Pismo Glass Gallery, Denver, Aspen and Beaver Creek.

Authors@Google: Dale Chihuly

On June 19, 2008, glass artist Dale Chihuly visited Google's Mountain View, CA headquarters as part of the Authors@Google series.

It's fascinating to hear how he and his team create the installations....I love the "wall of ice" in the desert. Watch when you have about an hour to spare.

New Art - Fabric, Detail

New Art - Detail

Super Brain Yoga

A simple "yoga" position for us all.... Fascinating.