“Reality only reveals itself when it is illuminated by a ray of poetry.”
Georges Braque (May 13, 1882 – August 31, 1963
Happy Birthday!

The Grand Banquet and Auction was held on the evening of September 27, 2012.  It was a remarkable success.

That morning I came to see my Terracotta Warriors together for the first and last time before they were taken to new homes.  The hall was quiet, even serene in anticipation of the evening’s celebration.  It was a perfect time to reconnect with my Warriors, for that is how I will always remember them.  More importantly, they were the Warriors for children with disabilities.

The media release given by BC Lions Society for Children with Disabilities demonstrates how a community can rally behind a worthy endeavour.  The Terracotta Warriors raised $170,000 for Easter Seals British Columbia. My thirty-four Terracotta Warriors, all which had been on public display since April 2012, were the stars of the evening.

As I said good-bye to my Warriors, I recalled the words of Lao Tzu

“We join spokes together in a wheel,
but it is the center hole
that makes the wagon move.

We shape clay into a pot,
but it is the emptiness inside
that holds whatever we want.

We hammer wood for a house,
but it is the inner space
that makes it livable.

We work with being,
but non-being is what we use.”
― Lao Tzu

Filed under: Art, Terracotta Warriors, Vancouver, Vancouver Artists Tagged: Art, Terracotta Warriors, Vancouver ]]> http://chasingart.com/2013/05/13/terracotta-warriors-the-grand-banquet-auction/feed/ 10 clanmother The Grand Banquet & Auction The Grand Banquet & Auction The Grand Banquet & Auction The Grand Banquet & Auction The Grand Banquet & Auction The Grand Banquet & Auction The Grand Banquet & Auction The Grand Banquet & Auction The Grand Banquet & Auction The Grand Banquet & Auction http://chasingart.com/2013/05/12/places-that-are/ http://chasingart.com/2013/05/12/places-that-are/#comments Sun, 12 May 2013 19:00:57 +0000 Clanmother http://chasingart.com/?p=1504 ]]>

“Places that are empty of you are empty of life.”
Dante Gabriel Rossetti
(May 12, 1828 – April 9, 1882)
Happy Birthday!

“At the age of six I wanted to be a cook. At seven I wanted to be Napoleon. And my ambition has been growing steadily ever since.”
Salvador Dalí,

May 11, 1904 – January 23, 1989

Happy Birthday

“My aim is to show the visible as possibility in a state of perpetual becoming.”
Yaacov Agam
May 11, 1928 –

Happy Birthday

The Warrior of Love did not make it on the Terracotta Warrior Map. He was beautiful.  Artist Joe Mandur, Jr. said, “I wanted to show the human side of the Warriors and the men that wore the armour and went to battle prepared to sacrifice their lives for the Emperor.   Their lives were full of violence and aggression but also these Warriors had families and loved one.  This Warrior is both a protector of the Empire as well as a protector of family.”

Map Position: Unspecified

The Warrior of Love

Artist: Joe Mandur, Jr.

The Terracotta Warriors Gallery is open for viewing.

“You have to be objective about money to use it fairly. It doesn’t make you any better or any more useful than any other person. Even if you use your money to help people…that doesn’t make you better than somebody who has no money but is sympathetic and genuinely loving to fellow human beings.”
― Keith Haring, Keith Haring Journals
May 4, 1958 – February 16, 1990

Buried Treasure had the farthest journey to make – Whitehorse, Yukon, which is approximately 1,478 kilometres or 918 miles away from Vancouver.  I had to wait until this remarkable Terracotta Warrior came to Vancouver for the Great Banquet and Auction.   He stood proudly beside Enlightened Warrior, the other Warrior that I could not photograph in his native surroundings.

Qin Shi Huangdi, the first Emperor of China, had an estate plan long before he took the seat of absolute power.  The burial place was the focal point – something to remember his time on earth and confirm his continuing power in the afterlife. His Terracotta Warriors guarded his buried treasure until the time was right for a distant generation to discover the glory of a past civilization.

“Knowledge is a treasure, but practice is the key to it.” 
― Lao Tzu

Map Position: #33 – Air North, Yukon’s Airline & MacBride Museum of Yukon History

Buried Treasure

Artist: Jeanette Jarville

The Terracotta Warriors Gallery is open for viewing.

Romare Bearden

Art is not static; it is fluid and dynamic.  It is above all, experiential.

Today, when I moved my “The Metropolitan Museum of Art Gallery Calendar” ahead, I recognized the artist immediately – Romare Bearden. And I felt that lift to my spirits as if meeting a long-lost friend.

Let me be perfectly clear, I am by no means an art connoisseur with vast amounts of knowledge on the subject of art.  I am learning as I go along.  What I have discovered over the past few months is that creative expression is a narrative.  There is always a story behind a painting, sketch, photograph or sculpture.   Yet, the story remains incomplete until the relationship with the observer has been secured.

My journey began with the purchase of notepaper.  Out of that simply transaction, I discovered an artist that used his life experiences to create art and to express compassionate humanity that he felt was missing after his experiences in WWII. His African-American heritage, along with his studies of art history and philosophy at the Sorbonne in 1950 positioned him to focus on unity and cooperation within his community during the struggle for civil rights.

I did not see a date on a calendar this morning; instead, I completed the story.

“There are roads out of the secret place within us on which we must all move as we go to touch others.”

Romare Bearden

Map Position: #24 – Continental Seafood Restaurant (Inside)

Romantic Journey to the Land of the Dragon

Artist: Herman Zheng

The Terracotta Warriors Gallery is open for viewing.