Searching the ordinary for the extraordinary
“I write from my soul. This is the reason that critics don’t hurt me, because it is me. If it was not me, if I was pretending to be someone else, then this could unbalance my world, but I know who I am.” Paulo Coelho Who decides whether art is good or bad? Is it based […]
MoreMost of us, when asked, “are you an artist?” would be hesitant to answer with an unqualified “yes.” After all, that label applies to the great ones: Michelangelo, Rembrandt, Cassatt, Picasso, Monet, O’Keeffe and the list goes on. How can we dare compare ourselves to that brilliant assembly? That was the question that I […]
MoreToday is World Art Day, a global celebration of the fine arts. It is a reminder to be aware of the creative spirit that spans our world. So what does that actually mean? How do we live, aware of the art that surrounds us? Art is much more than a painting on a wall […]
MoreToday marks the birthday of Paul Cézanne. Paul Cézanne’s life is a poignant reminder that it is not easy to be the bridge between ideas. It takes courage to go forward into unknown territory, alone without support or encouragement. Cézanne was the connection between two art forms – late 19th century Impressionism and early 20th […]
More“Colour is the keyboard, the eyes are the harmonies, the soul is the piano with many strings. The artist is the hand that plays, touching one key or another, to cause vibrations in the soul.” Wassily Kandinsky (December 4, 1866 – December 13, 1944) Russian painter and art theorist, recognized as painting the first purely […]
More“When I painted him, he had just had a set of false teeth inserted, which accounts for the constrained expression so noticeable about the mouth and lower part of the face.” Gilbert Stuart, speaking of George Washington. (December 3, 1755 – July 9, 1828) One of America’s foremost portraitists. Brilliant and temperamental, Gilbert […]
More“Once, Picasso was asked what his paintings meant. He said, “Do you ever know what the birds are singing? You don’t. But you listen to them anyway.” So, sometimes with art, it is important just to look.” Marina Abramović Happy Birthday, Marina Abramović (November 30, 1946 – ) Performance artist who explores the connection between […]
More“I would like to paint the way a bird sings.” Claude Monet, Founder of French impressionist painting. (November 14, 1840 – December 5, 1926)
More“I have read that the ancients, when they had produced a sound, used to modulate it, heightening and lowering its pitch without departing from the rules of harmony. So must the artist do in working at the nude.” Antonio Canova (November 1, 1757 – October 13, 1822) Italian sculptor from the Republic of Venice celebrated for his marble sculptures that delicately […]
More“Though the artist must remain master of his craft, the surface, at times raised to the highest pitch of loveliness, should transmit to the beholder the sensation which possessed the artist.” Alfred Sisley, Impressionist landscape painter. October 30, 1839 – January 29, 1899 Of all the Impressionists, he was the most consistent in his commitment to painting the landscape […]
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