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Yayoi Kusama

Title: Infinity Dots

Date: 1993

Medium: Acrylic on Canvas

Artist: Yayoi Kusama, Japanese b. 1929

Of Infinity Dots and other works of art:” To this day, I represent myself as a lone wolf most comfortable with being known as independently avant-garde.”

In viewing the artwork of Kusama, her relationship with earlier practices in Buddhism is reflected in the simplicity of her artwork. Known for her creativity of dots such as the one shown above, she is best known for her works of Illusion rooms and mirrors. (See below).

As a young Japanese child, she was highly influenced and directed by her abusive mother who would only encourage her if there was a piece of art that Kusama created. She would encourage her to write poetry and would sell them to the public but discouraged her in the realm of painting. Whenever she felt the need to paint, she would hide away, paint the item and then hide it or destroy it so her mother would not find it and use it as a way to demean her.

Her father was unfaithful to his wife and her mother would send Kusama even as a child to follow her father and watch him having sex with other women and then would report back to her mother what she saw. This became a sick obsession for Kusama and was driven to regard sex as dirty and would never engage in it. Even with love interest, there was a long time before the relationship would involve sexual activities because she could never overcome the damage that she was mentally driven to in watching her father.

The simplicity of the Infinity Dots was part of hallucinations that she would have as a child where she saw everything in the realm of dots. She used these hallucinations to become a fashion designer in New York when she realized the Japanese social norms were stifling her creativity. Later she got involved in the theater whether as an actress or set designer, she found America as the place that she needed to reside and moved to New York on a permanent basis.

Yayoi practiced her Buddhism early on and the art that she created through the use of dots reflects the theology that people are reincarnated and reborn after they die. In her portraits and in this particular art piece, there is no ending or beginning but instead a 4 panel that is attached to reflect the beginning, the middle, the older and then eventually the part where one fades away and is reborn again in reincarnation add to the validity of Buddhism.

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Virtual Sketchbook 3

In this oil painting on canvas that is approximately 5’x 8’ painted by Guercino (Giovanni Fracesco Barbier) called Fra Bonaventura Bisi also known as Il Pittorino shows a variation of color and forms. In the forefront you will note the human form of a Franscican Monk who is holding a picture of a profile of another human form. He points downward to the papers that are on the table at the side of him to draw the eye to the different types of paper and the uses they may have a position for from writing to drawing. In the background there is a library of books that again shows the wisdom that the Franscican monk is persuading. The truth of the matter is that this is just not a typical Fransican Monk but instead an heir to the d’Medici family of Italy. It never appeared in any of the journals from Guercino so suspicion gave way that this perhaps was instead a painting that was to be given as a gift to perhaps the Francesco;s son and successor Alfonso IV.

The monk is showing as a smiling individuals with an exhuberance of the warm and sensitivity that the muse reflects and with a slight tin of a smile shows the indiviudal in sync with mutual esteem for the purpose of the tools that surrounds him but also with the artist.

The painting is off balanced with the human form centered and the angles in which the book fill up the left side of the oil painting leaving the right space to dark walnut brush strokes. The focal point of the monk is pushed more the center right of the painting and while it does draw the eye immediately to the human form the second pass shows the books and papers. Not until you are completely drawn into the picture can you determine the color pallette as overall dark with frays, burdundy, blues, walnut brown, white and peach only leaving the flesh tone to appear directly on the human form. All of these colors are of a darker hue except for the portrait that the monk is holding and this is where you finally can see the pointing of the finger to the papers that are all different in shape and color that lie below the secondary portrait. This portrait in a portrait draws one to conclude that you can just feel the monk pulling the portrait from the piles of paper and is enthralled with looking at this while he is aware that much of the money he makes on the side is by selling different mediums to those who seek more knowledge.

With the artist known for painting portraits in miniatures, the presence of such a large painting that was never entered into his journal made him an unpredictable artisan. I believe this is why John Ringling sought out this artist because he could not purchase his first painting called Annunciation and when this came onto the auction block, he felt that he wanted something that was large enough to fill a wall as the focal point in Ca’d’zan but also accompanied with smaller Baroque paintings that could be hung to show the focus on the Monk.

There is unity in the message that the art world and reading and writing was becoming a modern way of communicating while the variety reflects from books to portraits to papers, all different in their source but aligned with the futuristic means of the time that indiviuals were learning how to communicate which would continue into the future.

The work made me feel first on a religious backing but instead after viewing it from different angles I became more drawn into the fact that the medium of communications varied and that the smiling Monk was engaged in knowing about the new mediums but also that his portrait was to become a famous work of art that would one day hang in an Italian home such as that of the Medici family or even in some great monastery, unaware that it would instead become part of a massive art collection owned by John and Mabel Ringling. When I think about the travels that the Ringlings undertook to seek out just this particular painting had more meaning than many of the other Baroque or Renaissance paintings that they collected. It is apparent in walking through the Ringling museum that the taste of the Ringlings were varied and ecclectic but that the art was purchased for no other reason than they loved a particular piece of artwork. So to seek out and pay an undisclosed price for this piece at an auction, shows instead that John Ringling had a love for the artist and the iconic paintings he created.

I believe that the artist who painted this particular painting may have been stating that in the past only those in high places within the church were able to read and write but here the artist is showing that this no longer will continue to be the business as usual but instead the reformation caused the church to cease their ideals of secular knowledge and that the people were yearning and eager for knowledge and thus the church could play a role in the future of the public while still maintaining some control as to what was written or communicated. Because the painting was never listed in the artists journals of the items he painted and then sold, this was perceived to instead be a gift and it first may have been placed in Pope Gregory XV and then eventually found its way into the d’Medici family first, it may have just been for them or for one of the many homes or government places they resided within. Eventually it was placed up for auction and through several buyers over the generations, it finally was purchased by John Ringling fro the Earl of Yarborough through Christie’s in London on July 12, 1929.

[jacquehealyrinehart]

Virtual Sketchbook 3

In this oil painting on canvas that is approximately 5’x 8’ painted by Guercino (Giovanni Fracesco Barbier) called Fra Bonaventura Bisi also known as Il Pittorino shows a variation of color and forms. In the forefront you will note the human form of a Franscican Monk who is holding a picture of a profile of another human form. He points downward to the papers that are on the table at the side of him to draw the eye to the different types of paper and the uses they may have a position for from writing to drawing. In the background there is a library of books that again shows the wisdom that the Franscican monk is persuading. The truth of the matter is that this is just not a typical Fransican Monk but instead an heir to the d’Medici family of Italy. It never appeared in any of the journals from Guercino so suspicion gave way that this perhaps was instead a painting that was to be given as a gift to perhaps the Francesco;s son and successor Alfonso IV.

The monk is showing as a smiling individuals with an exhuberance of the warm and sensitivity that the muse reflects and with a slight tin of a smile shows the indiviudal in sync with mutual esteem for the purpose of the tools that surrounds him but also with the artist.

The painting is off balanced with the human form centered and the angles in which the book fill up the left side of the oil painting leaving the right space to dark walnut brush strokes. The focal point of the monk is pushed more the center right of the painting and while it does draw the eye immediately to the human form the second pass shows the books and papers. Not until you are completely drawn into the picture can you determine the color pallette as overall dark with frays, burdundy, blues, walnut brown, white and peach only leaving the flesh tone to appear directly on the human form. All of these colors are of a darker hue except for the portrait that the monk is holding and this is where you finally can see the pointing of the finger to the papers that are all different in shape and color that lie below the secondary portrait. This portrait in a portrait draws one to conclude that you can just feel the monk pulling the portrait from the piles of paper and is enthralled with looking at this while he is aware that much of the money he makes on the side is by selling different mediums to those who seek more knowledge.

With the artist known for painting portraits in miniatures, the presence of such a large painting that was never entered into his journal made him an unpredictable artisan. I believe this is why John Ringling sought out this artist because he could not purchase his first painting called Annunciation and when this came onto the auction block, he felt that he wanted something that was large enough to fill a wall as the focal point in Ca’d’zan but also accompanied with smaller Baroque paintings that could be hung to show the focus on the Monk.

There is unity in the message that the art world and reading and writing was becoming a modern way of communicating while the variety reflects from books to portraits to papers, all different in their source but aligned with the futuristic means of the time that indiviuals were learning how to communicate which would continue into the future.

The work made me feel first on a religious backing but instead after viewing it from different angles I became more drawn into the fact that the medium of communications varied and that the smiling Monk was engaged in knowing about the new mediums but also that his portrait was to become a famous work of art that would one day hang in an Italian home such as that of the Medici family or even in some great monastery, unaware that it would instead become part of a massive art collection owned by John and Mabel Ringling. When I think about the travels that the Ringlings undertook to seek out just this particular painting had more meaning than many of the other Baroque or Renaissance paintings that they collected. It is apparent in walking through the Ringling museum that the taste of the Ringlings were varied and ecclectic but that the art was purchased for no other reason than they loved a particular piece of artwork. So to seek out and pay an undisclosed price for this piece at an auction, shows instead that John Ringling had a love for the artist and the iconic paintings he created.

I believe that the artist who painted this particular painting may have been stating that in the past only those in high places within the church were able to read and write but here the artist is showing that this no longer will continue to be the business as usual but instead the reformation caused the church to cease their ideals of secular knowledge and that the people were yearning and eager for knowledge and thus the church could play a role in the future of the public while still maintaining some control as to what was written or communicated. Because the painting was never listed in the artists journals of the items he painted and then sold, this was perceived to instead be a gift and it first may have been placed in Pope Gregory XV and then eventually found its way into the d’Medici family first, it may have just been for them or for one of the many homes or government places they resided within. Eventually it was placed up for auction and through several buyers over the generations, it finally was purchased by John Ringling fro the Earl of Yarborough through Christie’s in London on July 12, 1929.

[jacquehealyrinehart]

Virtual Sketchbook 3

In this oil painting on canvas that is approximately 5’x 8’ painted by Guercino (Giovanni Fracesco Barbier) called Fra Bonaventura Bisi also known as Il Pittorino shows a variation of color and forms. In the forefront you will note the human form of a Franscican Monk who is holding a picture of a profile of another human form. He points downward to the papers that are on the table at the side of him to draw the eye to the different types of paper and the uses they may have a position for from writing to drawing. In the background there is a library of books that again shows the wisdom that the Franscican monk is persuading. The truth of the matter is that this is just not a typical Fransican Monk but instead an heir to the d’Medici family of Italy. It never appeared in any of the journals from Guercino so suspicion gave way that this perhaps was instead a painting that was to be given as a gift to perhaps the Francesco;s son and successor Alfonso IV.

The monk is showing as a smiling individuals with an exhuberance of the warm and sensitivity that the muse reflects and with a slight tin of a smile shows the indiviudal in sync with mutual esteem for the purpose of the tools that surrounds him but also with the artist.

The painting is off balanced with the human form centered and the angles in which the book fill up the left side of the oil painting leaving the right space to dark walnut brush strokes. The focal point of the monk is pushed more the center right of the painting and while it does draw the eye immediately to the human form the second pass shows the books and papers. Not until you are completely drawn into the picture can you determine the color pallette as overall dark with frays, burdundy, blues, walnut brown, white and peach only leaving the flesh tone to appear directly on the human form. All of these colors are of a darker hue except for the portrait that the monk is holding and this is where you finally can see the pointing of the finger to the papers that are all different in shape and color that lie below the secondary portrait. This portrait in a portrait draws one to conclude that you can just feel the monk pulling the portrait from the piles of paper and is enthralled with looking at this while he is aware that much of the money he makes on the side is by selling different mediums to those who seek more knowledge.

With the artist known for painting portraits in miniatures, the presence of such a large painting that was never entered into his journal made him an unpredictable artisan. I believe this is why John Ringling sought out this artist because he could not purchase his first painting called Annunciation and when this came onto the auction block, he felt that he wanted something that was large enough to fill a wall as the focal point in Ca’d’zan but also accompanied with smaller Baroque paintings that could be hung to show the focus on the Monk.

There is unity in the message that the art world and reading and writing was becoming a modern way of communicating while the variety reflects from books to portraits to papers, all different in their source but aligned with the futuristic means of the time that indiviuals were learning how to communicate which would continue into the future.

The work made me feel first on a religious backing but instead after viewing it from different angles I became more drawn into the fact that the medium of communications varied and that the smiling Monk was engaged in knowing about the new mediums but also that his portrait was to become a famous work of art that would one day hang in an Italian home such as that of the Medici family or even in some great monastery, unaware that it would instead become part of a massive art collection owned by John and Mabel Ringling. When I think about the travels that the Ringlings undertook to seek out just this particular painting had more meaning than many of the other Baroque or Renaissance paintings that they collected. It is apparent in walking through the Ringling museum that the taste of the Ringlings were varied and ecclectic but that the art was purchased for no other reason than they loved a particular piece of artwork. So to seek out and pay an undisclosed price for this piece at an auction, shows instead that John Ringling had a love for the artist and the iconic paintings he created.

I believe that the artist who painted this particular painting may have been stating that in the past only those in high places within the church were able to read and write but here the artist is showing that this no longer will continue to be the business as usual but instead the reformation caused the church to cease their ideals of secular knowledge and that the people were yearning and eager for knowledge and thus the church could play a role in the future of the public while still maintaining some control as to what was written or communicated. Because the painting was never listed in the artists journals of the items he painted and then sold, this was perceived to instead be a gift and it first may have been placed in Pope Gregory XV and then eventually found its way into the d’Medici family first, it may have just been for them or for one of the many homes or government places they resided within. Eventually it was placed up for auction and through several buyers over the generations, it finally was purchased by John Ringling fro the Earl of Yarborough through Christie’s in London on July 12, 1929.

[jacquehealyrinehart]

Guercino Fra Bonaventura Bisi

This particular oil painting at the Ringling Art Museum is stated in Gallery 12 with many other Baroque artisans. This particular painting by Guercino (Giovanni Francesco Barbieri and Italian painter from 1591 to 1666 is called Fra Bonaventura Bisi or Fra Bisi or Il Pittorino. While Guercino was known for miniature painting, this one hanging in the museum appears to be around 5 ft wide and 8 ft high, although this is only by my own opinion since tape measures are not allowed in the museum and a dossier was also unaware of the actual size.

This was not the first painting that John Ringling fell in love with but instead an original also painted by Guercino called the “Annunciation.” This particular painting was sold to another art lover and so when the painting above was put on auction, John Ringling felt he needed to have one of the originals by this artist.

In this oil, the Francesco’s son and successor to the de ’Medici family in Florence, Alfonso IV d’Este holds a picture of a profile of the drawing of an unknown individual while he points to the different types of paper and techniques that were used at the time to write or draw which reflected Bisi’s successfulness in dealing and procuring such new techniques for his different clients.

It is confusing to say the least as to why this particular portrait is not listed in the artist own journals and many felt that it was to be a gift instead of a painting for sell.

As I looked around the museum, it became obvious that the range of artistic talent and artistry was not limited to just a period of time or particular artist but instead was very formidable and eclectic. I believe that John Ringling fell in love with this painting because of his first love of the Annunciation painting and had to own one of the originals of this particular artist. While in Baroque style, in this gallery 12 there were other paintings from the same period by different artist but the love that John Ringling had for this painting was obvious in how and where it was hung. As you enter gallery 12, the placing of this painting on the back wall is the first thing that your eye is drawn to as you enter the room. It is said through the many times that I have visited Ca’d’zan that if John Ringling liked a person, he would set them with their backs to a painting of the bloody picture of dogs ripping an animal to shreds in the breakfast room but if he did not like you, he would sit you there facing the picture so that the individual would be disengaged in the breakfast conversation and unable to eat because of the hideous picture and they would leave earlier. Because the painting mentioned above was the first thing that your eyes gazed upon in Gallery 12, I believe John loved this painting and the artist that painted it. After all, John was a circus person who always wanted to be considered high society and by owning the works of art, although very expensive, still people today refer to him not as a lover of art but instead the Master of the Circus.

[jacquehealyrinehart]

Guercino Fra Bonaventura Bisi

This particular oil painting at the Ringling Art Museum is stated in Gallery 12 with many other Baroque artisans. This particular painting by Guercino (Giovanni Francesco Barbieri and Italian painter from 1591 to 1666 is called Fra Bonaventura Bisi or Fra Bisi or Il Pittorino. While Guercino was known for miniature painting, this one hanging in the museum appears to be around 5 ft wide and 8 ft high, although this is only by my own opinion since tape measures are not allowed in the museum and a dossier was also unaware of the actual size.

This was not the first painting that John Ringling fell in love with but instead an original also painted by Guercino called the “Annunciation.” This particular painting was sold to another art lover and so when the painting above was put on auction, John Ringling felt he needed to have one of the originals by this artist.

In this oil, the Francesco’s son and successor to the de ’Medici family in Florence, Alfonso IV d’Este holds a picture of a profile of the drawing of an unknown individual while he points to the different types of paper and techniques that were used at the time to write or draw which reflected Bisi’s successfulness in dealing and procuring such new techniques for his different clients.

It is confusing to say the least as to why this particular portrait is not listed in the artist own journals and many felt that it was to be a gift instead of a painting for sell.

As I looked around the museum, it became obvious that the range of artistic talent and artistry was not limited to just a period of time or particular artist but instead was very formidable and eclectic. I believe that John Ringling fell in love with this painting because of his first love of the Annunciation painting and had to own one of the originals of this particular artist. While in Baroque style, in this gallery 12 there were other paintings from the same period by different artist but the love that John Ringling had for this painting was obvious in how and where it was hung. As you enter gallery 12, the placing of this painting on the back wall is the first thing that your eye is drawn to as you enter the room. It is said through the many times that I have visited Ca’d’zan that if John Ringling liked a person, he would set them with their backs to a painting of the bloody picture of dogs ripping an animal to shreds in the breakfast room but if he did not like you, he would sit you there facing the picture so that the individual would be disengaged in the breakfast conversation and unable to eat because of the hideous picture and they would leave earlier. Because the painting mentioned above was the first thing that your eyes gazed upon in Gallery 12, I believe John loved this painting and the artist that painted it. After all, John was a circus person who always wanted to be considered high society and by owning the works of art, although very expensive, still people today refer to him not as a lover of art but instead the Master of the Circus.

[jacquehealyrinehart]

Neuschwanstein Castle

 If you have ever visited Disney and walked through Cinderella’s castle one might contemplate where the idea originated from. While we give Walt Disney a lot of praise and kudos for the creation of Mickey and the other characters that enchanted all of our childhoods, we cannot give him the praise for the original design of the castle. For you see the Castle was a mere image of the original thought of King Ludwig II of Bavaria. Neuschwanstein Castle built in the 19th century served no defensive purposes but instead fed the greed and imagination of what was later referred to as Mad King Ludwig’s castle.

Regardless of the amount of expense and the taxes that the Bavarian citizens paid, he still wanted more. During the building of the castle upon a rocky cliff, millions was spent even in those times to excavate the property and begin the building of the castle. The original idea and even down to the illustrations and architectural concepts were drawn up and supervised by King Ludwig.

King Ludwig came to the throne at the mere age of 19 as a spoiled and indulged child who wander the areas with his father as a youth and always found peace within the solitude of the woods and the wild life that surrounded it. He always stated he would one day return to the land and build his home there. As a King he was not to be bothered with the state of concerns or the people in Bavaria and was an introvert who stayed away from people and never married. He never had children or family and was most at peace when even the servants were gone.

During the construction, 30 men fell to their deaths from either the ice-covered structures while building or the rotting of timbers due to the heavy snow falls, tumbling downward off the side of the cliff. But even then, Ludwig could only see the end result of his vision and had little concerns for the loss of life or even the destitute that he was placing Bavaria under.

During the reign of Hitler, he did not even fight to protect Bavaria and it soon fell into the hands of the Nazis. In order to remain in his still unfinished castle, he gave up his Kingship and the throne to Hitler and left the Bavarian people to the whims of the Nazi regime.

After a period of time, the state advisors who had been monitoring the activities of Ludwig decided that something had to be done before everything was lost that was Bavarian. With the help of paid and handsomely I might state physicians, he was interviewed over and over again until it was determined that he was crazy and should not be involved in anything that gave him rights to Bavaria. He was removed from his throne and was left in the castle in which he became a prisoner.

And although the mystery still continues, the death of Ludwig is still controversial even today, Many state that while on a walk in his peaceful woods with one of his physicians, that he took out a pistol and shot the good doctor in the head and then speculation is that he either tried to swim across the river and drowned or that he committed suicide himself falling into the river where his body was never found. Others state that he left the area under disguise and lived out his days as a recluse in some other country.

While the castle that once was to be his escape from the world and the Bavarian expectations of a King, a man who cared little for anyone but himself and would never have thought to allow the people to enter his castle for any reason, was turned over to the State and was opened to the Public. It is stated that while the castle costs millions and millions of dollars, it remained unfinished and even during his residency there, he only held himself to the upper chamber of one room which acted as his bedroom, sitting room and bath area and occasionally he would send down for food from one of the underservants.

I see this as a work of art not just because of the vision of one man but that of the dimensions in which the castle was built. With no expense spared the Neuschwanstein Castle became the model for other countries who wanted to show their royalty through the images of King Ludwig’s drawings. Even during his time in design, he used only a chalk pencil and white parchment paper in order to explain each and every timber, stone and intricate detail only sharing his imagination through his artistic talent to many workers who were mostly illiterate and yet the castle became another great wonder of the world. So much so that even Hitler could not see to destroying it or living within it during his rise to power even after he won Bavaria with so little effort.

I am attaching a link because there are just too many photos in which to show the elegance of the exterior and interior of the castle.

  Pictures of Neuschwanstein Castle., https://www.bing.com/images/search?q=Neuschwanstein+Castle&FORM=IARRTH&ufn=neuschwanstein+castle+germany&stid=f7252488-468a-b9a7-572c-b7e41e72dafa&cbn=EntityAnswer&cbi=0&FORM=IARRTH

Visions of Germany, Bavaria and along the Rhine., A video by Acorn Media., 2004, New York, New York., Venice Public Library., 2/2020

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Vik  C:\Users\sunwa\OneDrive\Desktop\IMG_4062.JPG 

Toy Soldier Cibachrome Print 2003., 92x72” Collage This particular piece was done as a collage wherein Vik Muniz used toy soldier and army weaponry to inspire a story about the bouts that war bring. In this particular artwork placed against white space poster board, he has assembled the pieces to form the humanistic side of being just a young immature solder sent off to war just as that during the civil war times where age was not a factor. In the body of the body that represents the human form, you will note that all the toy pieces are laying down that represent the human soldier while the horses stand up to represent that no matter how you view the piece, the soldiers will change form as you walk around the collage while the horses remain status. With the construction of the art being created entirely out of plastic war toys, even the appearance of the lips that form the mouth are soldiers lying down as if to state they speak no more. With the visual pruning that Vik Munez creates, it makes him consider one of few international contemporary artists. While some of his creations are inspired by other famous paintings or people, in this case, this is an original. To conjure up the materials that he utilizes whether perishable or unstable, in this artwork, he has used the mindset of a child playing with toy soldiers and pretending to go to war while adding the adult illusion to the matter that war is not in a child like mindset but instead in the horrors that war brings within the real adult world. Individuals who were sent off for example during the civil war were no more childlike than the children they sent but also the men that were unprepared and untrained to encounter such atrocities that the civil war brought. After watching the videos, you can quickly see that Vik Munez has a sense of humor but in this particular piece of art there is nothing funny about it. Therefore the reconciliation in this masterpiece is the color palette that he utilizes while the tension is that there is only one color within war and that is the color red for the blood that is spilled from so many innocents, whether in the military or just a bystander watching as their lands are pummeled into destruction. The ambiguity is also interesting in that he used the collage medium of toys to inspire the behaviors of an innocent soldier being sent off to battle no longer to return as a child but instead a child that was forced to grow past their childhood and rush into adulthood no longer wanting to play with toy soldiers because they have succumbed to an early onset of adulthood with no longer the innocence of a child. Seckel, Al 2004., Vik Munez, 2003, Masters of Deception., Toy Soldier, p. 209., Sterling Publishing         Company., New York, New York 

[jacquehealyrinehart]

Photography/Film/Digital, etc.

In this online picture of a baby seal, it shows me that they are one of God’s cutest animals. While they are never seen in the areas that most humans live in, yet we still have destruction of such a timid creature for the sake of their furs. The way they are killed in beyond humane and with more notice given to their destruction, hopefully it will become a criminal action for anyone who kills them. 

Portrait

I love this picture for two reasons: the beach and the water. I am such a beach girl and this photo could be taken any day of the week at the Venice Beach which is very close to me. I can see myself walking after a long day at work dropping off my shoes, handbags, etc. as I walk towards the sand reviving myself with each intended step. Feeling the sand on my feet and in between my toes, let the chaos of the day melt away. As I get closer to the water, I wouldn’t walk but instead begin a slow run that ends up being a speeders pace and jumping head first into the water. With sun kissed skin and salt water hair, the beach has always been my go-to happy place. 

Landscape

Still Life

This still life stood out to me today. As I was searching, we continue to hear more about the Chinese people and the death that they are succumbing to with no hope in sight for the Coronavirus.

The message I receive from this picture is that regardless of how things are right now in China with a depressed economy, diseases and the like, that there is still a vivid color of life and happiness.

The Chinese people always appear to be happy in any media photo that is taken and I believe that is because they are still steeped deeply in their own history. Unlike Americans who are constantly looking for the next historical statute to tear down, the Chinese uphold their ancestry and respect it.

I also found in looking at this picture that while there is much darkness right now in China, that they will survive because they have been survivors throughout their history. Whether it is from a foreign enemy to an incurable disease, they always seem to find a way to survive.

And lastly not to get into politics, but with the vast amount of the Chinese lanterns, and their goal of world dominance, the population of Chinese citizens and their military growing everyday while they continue to steal intelligence from other countries and companies, there is still a fear that one day China will be the world power and just like the vast amount of Chinese lanterns in this picture, we may also find one day our democracy silenced and our human rights suffocated just like the lack of air between the Chinese lanterns. 

[jacquehealyrinehart]

In this assignment, I actually wanted to know more about the Principles of Design and found that there are seven: emphasis, balance, alignment, contrast, repetition, proportion, movement and white space.

Emphasis means the focal point. In a poster for example that is making an announcement, one needs to step back and visualize the poster to determine what the designer wants to communicate first. For example, in a poster advertising an event such as that of the Super Bowl and the advertiser is a beer, does the design want the focus to be on the event or on the product and that is what the focal point should be.

Balance and alignment play well together if you realize that each color has its own weight and how it affects the size and texture of the overall art work. Just like organizing anything else, you cannot place all items in one nice little box and sit it in one corner but instead life flows just as if you were trying to organize everyday tasks, each one is designed as a priority giving more weight to one or another. So does the artist when they are creating in that balance and alignment of their project should each carry an importance or weight in order to bring their vision together.

Contrast is the blending of colors and elements that makes the art work together in harmony. This is what created the Pop culture in that colors and art works popped so that when you walked away from say an Andy Warhol painting, your mind retains the element that came forth and stuck in our brain, thus the popping of color or the innocence of Marilyn Monroe in his painting of her, reminds you later how devastating her life was and how the world mourned for her. This vision of Marilyn is what many people still recall today even though both the artist and the muse have long passed.

Repetition can be easily found if you just look around your own surroundings and note that many items that are dressed in material have a design element that is repetitive. An artist may choose to use only a blue italic san-serif and if they only use two, then it will look like an error but if they add three or more, a pattern begins to form over and over and now you have a work of art.

When it comes to visual size and weight of elements used in art works, proportion is vital. The composition of how each piece works together to create the whole is how many designs are created by smaller subsections that add to the entirety of the art piece. Think of a small item being painted in a piece of art and then covered by larger pieces, there needs to be something else that drives the eye to the smaller piece so that it is not lost to the larger forms. In this example if you look at a movie ticket and notice that there is an advertisement for the next movie or times of the one you are currently seeing, you don’t want the vital information lost on the ticket just because it is smaller so designers will place such information on the side of a ticket forcing you to turn the ticket around so you can read it, thus it comes together as a whole ticket but with smaller elements that are in proportion to the information that the designer is sharing.

Movement is how the elements in a composition are controlled so that one’s eye is led to move from one place to the next. For example, if you were advertising a local band that is performing, you would want to communicate to the audience that a band is playing and where and when but you want the band to get the publicity so the eye is led to a guitar that is drawn to reflect it is moving and the band name or picture is within the same eye frame.

While many artisans fill the need to eliminate every white area of a drawing or painting, instead the white space is the empty area of the composition that will allow the other design to become the focal point. For example, say you have a painting of a vase with flowers and you paint it against a board that has the design of wallpaper, the vase and flowers would soon be lost in the background of the art work but instead if you were to paint that same vase and flowers against a white background, the vase and flowers would stand out and become the focal point and this is the purpose of the white space, to allow the topic or subject matter to stand out more so than original intentions may have thought about.

 Reid Meg., 2019., The Principles of Design., https://99designs.com/blog/tips/principles-of-design/

 The Art Work of Romane Bearden in this particular art design was created out of his use of collages. The elements of the background are varied from design to structure and create a visual effect that gives one the draw to rhythmic chaos. Romane Bearden delves in black history and thus his art work reflects the evolution of the black from working to just enjoying being with family and friends. In all his art work, he uses the collages to bring forth the focal point such as he has done in this case with the musician playing his instrument. One can look at this painting and feel the music of jazz and the passion that is completed in the musical composition by the movement of only two fingers on the strings. Within this design he uses varied shapes from circles to scatter and the different colors of the geometric shapes such as the reddish circle drawn around an eclectic shape could envision a symbol from an African tribal chief and thus the importance is drawn to the eye because of the circle drawing you in. The placement of the figure sounds out loud and clear in this painting of a rhythmic sound engaged in a very passionate jazz rendition.

The color blue has always been my favorite color. Regardless of the deepness of the color to the brightest blue, I have always felt most attracted to blue. It is my birthstone so I wear it as part of my wedding ring set and that alone makes me very happy every time, I see my wedding ring because it reminds me of the happiest day of my life. With hues of deep royal blue that is called royal because so many kings and queens use the royal blue to signify their heritage, I also see that the lightest blue which is shown every day here in Florida in the beautiful skies. The closer one gets to the water, the blue becomes a rainbow of varied colors of blue and regardless of the textures that you note or touch, the blues are always the armature of the design. Whether used in an abstract art or just a mere chalk design, somewhere there is always a hue of blue whether stated or hidden within the black chalk. Even in times of glazing, blue was the most used color because it lasts the longest. Look at vases from Rome and Greek during the pre-historical times and you will find blue. It is also the most used color in my wardrobe and accessories. There is something about the light glinting off a piece of blue that I could see myself walking in a runnel that goes from the first shade of blue all the way through a kaleidoscope of blues.

When the movie Avatar came out, I wanted to be that color of blue and always said I wanted to be born blue if we humans were allowed to pick a color and Avatar reminded me of that earlier child thought. With the Avatar characters born in varied shades of blue, they showed themselves to be resilient and spiritual and strong and that is how I feel when I am surrounded by the color blue.

This is a painting I did last week in our community center as part of a wine and paint event. It is the harvest moon that we were to paint and with the instructors help and a lot of wind, this is my final creation. My husband added the frame this week while I was at work and it now hangs in our dining room. Part of me is embarrassed because I do not consider myself an artist of any means but I am also quite proud that it came out with my own additions such as the bats that add to the nature of a Halloween picture and since we are crazy about our Halloween decorations, I expect this will fit well into the motif.

[jacquehealyrinehart]

Self Portrait Collage            

These are the things that describe my life. Time as represented by the clock becomes shorter as you grow older, and family is the most important thing in order to leave a legacy. The beach is my place of peace and I always see myself going to the beach with a paddleboard stuck in the back of a 1957 Chevrolet Corvette with the roof down, and my hair whipping in the wind. I also like to write which is represented by the artwork of the hands in black and white. Color background of purple represents the royalty of my native Scottish heritage as well as the plaid tartan of the Christy name. 

[jacquehealyrinehart]

Self Portrait

    As a 62-year young female, I appear to align well with individuals who are spiritual in nature and thus my art appreciation follows the same genre. I love looking at art that is religious in nature and try to determine the underlying message and how it relates to the words of the bible. I also love looking at art forms that are realistic especially anything that shows the splendor of God’s creations. I am from the north born and raised in Columbus, Ohio but after I moved to California, I came to realize how much of a beach girl I am at heart. So, while I have very conservative views, I also learned how to leave time to listen intently to other individual views. I am white but through time spending on the research of my DNA and historical data, I find that my family was originally from Scotland and known them as the Scottish family of Christian which was Americanized and changed to Christy in the 1800s. We are of the Highland Farquharson clan from Aberdeenshire and later moved to Ulster and part of the Clan Chattan confederation. Our Scottish plaid is red, green, blue plaid with yellow and white piping and our crest is Sic Viresco which means “Thus I flourish” with a green leaf symbol for the purple flower of Scotland which is the Thistle. We were strong military forces in the Scottish Wars and were also part of the drum and fife corps that lead the Scottish soldiers into battle. Throughout generations, we finally moved to by way of the revolts and moved to Ireland then then later to America. As a person raised in a semi-religious household, I was exposed to many different religions as my father continued to search for his own spirituality and my mother always believed that God was with you so church was not a requirement. In a sense I have combined both those methodologies and thinking and have combined that I do go to Church and I am involved in my church but also believe that God is always with you. I also became somewhat mystical in believing that since my mother saved me so many times from simple childhood mishaps, that in my adulthood that she sits on my shoulder constantly and helps me when I am torn between what is right and what is consider today’s behaviors, she helps guide me to the right side of life. When my children are tormented, I tell them that I am sending my mother to watch over them and this gives them comfort. My biggest hurdle or battle is that I try to still live with conservative behaviors in a non-conservative world so I tend to give opinions when not wanted while also learning that sometimes I need to keep my opinions to myself which tend to push me away from individuals who are too far on the other side of the track of conservatism. I retired in 2010 but decided that I was too young to just stay at home and golf or lay in the sun so I decide to go back to school and pursue my BAS which I will receive this Spring 2020. I am currently pursuing career options but feel that I am facing agism even though it is not randomly stated but I can tell my interviews that there is a focus on the younger generation pushing us seasoned individuals to the lesser paying and part time jobs, while I am looking for a career, this becomes very disheartening and frustrating.

    I feel I am unique in many ways but more so that while I am a family person, I also know that my children and grandchildren have lives they need to seek for themselves and therefore, I am there and have always told our children that as long as they are happy and healthy, that I will not interfere in their life choices. I also love the hot weather which is unique for many of the individuals that I live around because they cannot handle the hot weather while I seem to bask in it and find more energy. I also consider myself a person who is open and caring with others and will always be available until I feel the fine line of caring turns into being used and then I find that I back off from those individuals who tend to live in the me era. The other thing that I feel I am unique about is that while I enjoy history, especially American history, that I also want to learn more about the Celtic heritage and others that were well established before America even existed and then I look for the change or the point in time where that history changed and how it makes a difference in today’s historical moments.

    I am a Phi Theta Kappa, Alpha Mu Upsilon and Phi Kappa Delta and also a member of our church and the neighborhood Citizens Patrol. I have a social group that I interact with daily and as far as fun, send me to the beach and you will never see me in a downward smile. I feel I am in sync with the water and love to paddle board, boat, swim or just about anything that puts me in the water, on the water or around the water. For fun, I just need a blanket or towel, a good book, sunglasses and the sand. I look for unique shells while walking on the beach and any stress that I have, whether realized or not, I can feel it fall to the wayside when I am at the beach and take in the fact that this is one of God’s greatest creations and we should enjoy the pleasure that God lays in front of us.

[jacquehealyrinehart]

Mermaid Zone

   This picture is posted on my patio and I look at it almost daily. There are many reasons that I fell in love with this painting and my passion with childhood fantasies about being a mermaid, still today allows me to dream.  

   Because a local artisan by the name of Brendan Condal created this picture using the style of painting on pallet or straight to the wood board without any other material other than the paint and imagination. Brendan Condal at this stage may be using a template because you can see these paintings throughout Sarasota, Venice, Nokomis and other local areas mostly held in restaurants with a theme of eating by the water. Brendan as a local artist paints many artistic mediums whether on postcards, stretched canvas or pallets but his genre appears mostly in retro style even on paddle boards.

   In Homer’s painting called the Odyssey, mermaid is his main theme and perhaps that is where my fascination started. Mermaids were once thought to be the wives of powerful sea creatures and had voices that were so beautiful and enticing, that folklore speaks of the Gaelic people stuffing their ears with wax in order to avoid being drawn to the sea and succumb to the mermaids will soon drown. While many individuals over time see an illusion of very beautiful mermaids dancing in the sea with their glistening tails and shell-like bras, other over history see them as formidable creatures who draw human flesh into the deep waters where they are eaten by the mermaids. Such a variation of the vision of mermaids differ but I prefer the ones of beautiful mermaids calling out to ships to warn them of dangerous waters and saving those that fall beneath the turbulent waves.

   Women have always been drawn to mermaids because the images of a woman like feature saving lives and helping others is the same behaviors that women who walk on land have been programmed to assimilate to. We are caring individuals who help others and many times save those that are around us whether physically or emotionally. We are attuned to mermaids. I find them beautiful because they represent a world we know so little about.

Reference:

Why women are drawn to mermaids? https://www.quora.com/Why-are-mermaids-so-fascinating-to-women

Odyssey by Homer., https://www.bing.com/search?q=homer%27s+odyssey+summary&form=EDGEAR&qs=SC&cvid=a9818ea39c8f40479fa355f7b4faf27d&cc=US&setlang=en-US&elv=AXK1c4IvZoNqPoPnS%21QRLOPLoC1K7*66mrNBcXN0wskA1TM6uNx74JieVB7*LfD*C*DFVGPyvMm19e2fEg7K25vHGwDoFUmY*Fn09IReSWZt&plvar=0&PC=HCTS

Who is Brendan Condal?, www.brendancoudal.com/

[jacquehealyrinehart]

Georgia O’Keeffe 1919 Music in Pink and Blue II

My first initial impression of the works created by Georgia O’Keeffe in 1919 called “Music  in Pink and Blue II was sexual in nature since the photo appears to be a female vagina.

(1.) Georgia Totto O’Keeffe was born on November 15, 1887 as one of seven children and grew up on a farm in Sun Prairie, Wisconsin.

(2). She is known for her art work surrounding flowers, dramatic cityscapes, landscape and images of bones against desert sky and was one of the original contributors to American Modernism. She studied in Chicago at the Art Institute in 1905-1906 and later in New York under the direction of William Merritt Chase, F. Luis Mora and Kenyon Cox at the Art Students League in New York in 1907-1908. Here she learned to create the techniques required of traditional realism paintings.

(3.) She experimented for two years and taught art during this duration in South Carolina and Texas and dealt in abstract charcoal drawings that represented a radical break from the normal pure abstractionist.

(4.) She was discovered in 1916 by an art dealer named Alfred Stieglitz which later became her husband.

(5). She suffered from macular degeneration and had failing eyesight which forced her to cease painting unassisted in 1972. With the help and encouragement of fellow artist and her husband she engaged the assistance of several individual who helped her in bringing her vision to the art world. She died in Santa Fe, which she always refers to as home on March 6, 1986, at the age of 98.

I found the investigation into the painting by O’Keeffe to represent female sensuality at first glance. With the softness of a woman and the fact that she can bring forth life from the womb, I later found it to be instead the female vagina but instead the birthing canal. Interesting to note that O’Keeffe withdrew from painting abstracts before this painting was created because her critics felt that she had created psychological expressions of her sexuality. In the makeup of the paint scheme that is utilized, it is noted that there are many variations and depths in the colors blue and pink which represent to me the gender potential of a new born whether it be the blue of a boy or the pink of a girl.

Works Cited:

The life of Georgia O’Keeffe., Retrieved from website https://www.georgiaokeeffe.net/