More Museums

I was able to visit two of my local museums a few days ago and it was great. The Springville Museum had a variety of exhibits but the one I was most intrigued by was Fahimeh Amiri's miniatures, she learned the tradition and technique when she was a child, they are fascinating.

I also returned home to my alma mater and visited the MOA. They have a stunning exhibit, Treasures of British Art 1400-2000. I was thrilled to see paintings dating from the renaissance and of such famous subjects as the Tudors. I highly recommend checking it out!

"New" Designs

I've been wanting to get back into geometric designs since I stopped working on the Eight Fold series. I tried some hexagonal based designs inspired by some I've seen from Lisa DeLong, Jeea Mirza, and others. I've been trying something new with the paintings I've been working on and I'm not loving it, so today I took a break from them to try something different. I tried a couple of new (to me) designs from this book.

It probably should have been obvious but pastels are not the best for precision work. We live and learn. It's my first real attempt at pastels.

Walt Disney

Anyone else see the American Masters program on Walt Disney? I was able to catch most of it. Whether you like him or no, there's no doubt that Walt Disney has been incredibly influential. I grew up with Disney and so it was very interesting for me to learn more about the man behind it all and also to take a grown up and different look at things that I've previously looked at with childish eyes.

There have been full length animated movies my entire life and so it was very interesting to learn just how much Disney made animation what it is today, how much he changed it from a simplistic (sort of) entertainment, to a real art form and paving the way for such artists as Miyazaki, etc. I want to go back and re-watch things like Snow White etc. to really appreciate the visual splendor.

Museum days

I didn't actually paint today (or Monday, since it was a holiday) and that makes me a little sad, but today I did visit an art museum and in some ways I feel like that's just as important. I went with my friend to The British Passion for Landscape: Masterpieces from National Museum Wales exhibit. It was a nice exhibit with a lot of beautiful paintings etc. If you're a fan of beautiful and sort of pastoral landscapes, you'll be thrilled. Many of the paintings felt the same to me, though they were obviously different.

I was glad that I went with a friend, on my own in a museum I tend to speed through, perhaps not giving the art the consideration that it deserves; with my friend (who happily has a similar but perhaps slightly slower viewing speed than my own) along I was altering my standard walk through and spent longer looking at paintings, maybe even actually reading the cards posted with the paintings for more than just the artist name or medium and support used. It was also awesome that my friend and I were pretty much in agreement on taste, we liked and didn't like the same paintings. I don't like when I'm with someone at a museum or art show and they say "oh, isn't this wonderful" about something I think is ugly and perhaps wouldn't even consider art; I have very strong views and opinions on art and it's sort of rude to express some of the negative ones when someone wants to discuss art.

This has become a ramble and I'm not sure if I'll post if after all but I think the point I was trying for, is that it's good to get out and view good art, to view art that isn't your own and perhaps even to view the things that I don't consider to be art. It's good to get a little perspective, to be inspired, to study the techniques of others and to get out and do something a little different. I love a good museum trip, from the palaces of art to my own local and perhaps somewhat humble local museums.

100th Eight Fold

About two and a half years ago I began this series to see if there really was infinite possibility for variety of designs from one base. I recently finished the 100th design, it is not infinity of designs but there were times along the way that I never thought I'd get that far. I'm taking a break from the series to focus on other things for a while but I have many more ideas for designs and I'll come back to them in time.
For now I'm striking off in pursuit of different designs and silly though it may be, I'm quite excited. It has it's drawbacks at times but I love the freedom of being my own boss as an artist, if I want to go one direction, I can, and can also change on a whim in another direction.

C
watercolor
9x9in.
2015
Series: Eight Fold

For the love

I stumbled upon a program on the National Gallery in London, it's kind of showing a look at the Gallery and a sort of a behind the scenes look at a day in the life, or year of the life of the gallery.
I've never been to the museum and it isn't one that I've given a great deal of thought to, I knew there were a lot of great museums in London and intended to get there some day, I now fully wish/intend to make it to the National Gallery some day.
Going to the museums, standing among great masterworks is good for the soul, good for my soul anyway (and I would venture to impose it to all souls).

I am an art nerd, the friends I went to Italy with can verify. I get a huge thrill seeing masterworks in person, pieces that I've studied and pieces that I love. It was such a thrill to be there and in person in the Vatican Museum, the Ufizi, the Academia and to be right there, real and in person with the works of Durer, da Vinci, Michelangelo, etc. those that I admire, look up to and respect.  The National Gallery is full of gems, they have a list of 30 paintings, highlights of the collection and the artists, the paintings, they're fantastic!
I may be rambling, I just felt moved, as I often am, by great art and moved to share some of my feelings and enthusiasm. It's been an art rich evening, I hit a few galleries in my local gallery stroll and then this program...art is wonderful.

Paint problems

While painting today I came to wish that I had a different shade of green, I have two but neither of them is really what I would hope. I've been looking around for a new green but I haven't been able to find one that doesn't have multiple pigments, or the possibility to cause cancer etc. The search continues I suppose, maybe I'll be able to find something.
If you know of a green that's great, let me know.