Spectacular Images

A Day In the Life..Full of Surprises  page11 color pencils

I am waiting for The Art House Co Op to finish revamping their website and for my project A Day in the Life -in Blue Jeans With Gold Embroidery  to be added to their digital library. I am also hoping their scanned online versions are better than mine :).  

Even as I am pleased to have completed writing and illustrating  a small book for the Fiction Project, I am fascinated by what I read and see on their site about how some artists challenged themselves to take their art to new level by changing the paper in the moleskine journals or turning it into an accordion book etc., transforming the materials they were given. I just watched a TED talk by artist Janet Echelman on 'Taking Imagination Seriously.' I am in awe of her creativity and drive to pursue her unbelievably big imagination! I also really like how she combines science and art in her work. Having just returned from Chicago last month, where Anish Kapoor has his sculpture the Bean/cloud, I wonder how does one come up with work of art that scale and magnitude that boggles the mind? Is it a different level of risk taking, resourcefulness, determination, tenacity  combined with  the serendipity of being in the right place at the right time and to know to seize upon the opportunity presented?  And does it have to be  really spectacular or it is not imagination taken to the edge?  

Magical Bloom

Christmas Cactus in Bloom, Digital potography

"Where flowers bloom, so does hope"  wrote Lady Bird Johnson in 'Public Roads:Where Flowers Bloom.'  Last month, as if on cue, soon after christmas, when we were buried in a snow storm,  this plant in our sunroom gave a spectacular display of beautiful deep pink blossoms.  Was nature laughing at her own wonders? No matter -  What a treat for us to see the magic outside as well as indoors! 

Happy Thanksgiving!

Aspen on Asphalt  color pencils sketch

Giving thanks for the moment is the only way to glimpse eternity.

-Meditation from Seville, Spain

Art and Nature

Yesterday we celebrated our 35th wedding anniversary :).  We spent the better part of the day going up and down in the gondola taking pictures of the snow covered mountains and valleys. To add to the excitement, because of the very cold weather and extremly low temperatures, the gondola got stuck and we got to enjoy (even though it got a bit too cold inside the gondola) the beautiful scenery for extra 15-20 minutes or so! 

"Speak to me about art and I will learn more about you. Nature is also like that. When you look deeply into the natural world, you look deeply into yourself- when you describe nature you describe yourself" Adam Wolport in a Ode magazine article. 

Irony

"Nature-deficit disorder"  is a word I came across in the latest Audubon magazine. According to John Flicker, author Richard Louv, in his acclaimed book Last Child in the Woods, coined the phrase "to describe an array of health, education, and environmental-awareness problems afflicting children who lack outdoor experiences." I didn't know that phrase existed when I painted ' Irony' a few years ago.  I had encountered an adult who freaked out and screamed 'BUG'  upon seeing a beautiful, plant friendly lady bug crawling around.  That became the basis for this painting that explored opposing concepts. As soon as I heard her yell I knew I had a subject matter for my next painting.  I was glad to note in the article that Richard Louv "launched Children and Nature Network, a coalition of people working on environmental, health and education issues who recognize the importance of outdoor activities for children and promote efforts to reconnect kids with nature."   I hope we as humans will learn to live and let live with all of nature. 

Irony watercolor, 30" x 22"