I have been working on the upcoming presentation. The posts on the blogger are very useful. I saves all of them in Word; 18 pages in total. I am also putting together artwork I liked in books, online, and art galleries; after all these works have shaped my work this semester. Come to think about it, it seems the artwork I saw in galleries have been influencing me since I started taking art classes a couple of years ago.
Book reviews we did, individual and group critiques, and critiques by Dan Hernandez and art students are very important assets to my work, too. Hopefully I can include all the sources to my presentation.
Sunday, December 4, 2011
Saturday, December 3, 2011
Tools
I am so happy that the art show downtown was so successful. Congratulations to Dustyn and all.
I learned how to use tools such as the drill and drill bits this time. When I opened the package from the American Frames, I just thought all I had to do was to lay the plexi glass, watercolor, mat board, and the styrofoam board in order. When I read the instructions, I learned I had to use a drill to put spring clips. I went to Wal-mart to find the drill, but I didn't even know what the drill looked like. I tried to find a store attendant who could help me in vain. Then I went to Home Depot where I could get a decent help. The attendant took me to the right place and started explaining the tools, so I said all I want is a tool to put the frames together. I got the drill; I asked him several times how to use it. He said there are two screws, plus and minus (of course, these are my terminology), so I said I need something to make a hole. Then he realized I need a drill bit. I practiced how to drill a hole on a board; the drill bit wouldn't go in, and eventually I realised I turned the switch to the wrong direction, so instead of making a hole, the drill bit kept coming out. After several trying, I could put all frames and pictures together.
Monday night we hang pictures; Dustyn let me know sawtooth hangers are pulling the frame; the frame will eventually snap. So I had to go to Home Depot and bought hanging wires and wire cutter. Even at Home Depot a female store attendant didn't know what a wire cutter looked like, and she took me to a metal cutter section. I said to myself if I had to use these huge cutters to cut the hanging wire. She asked for another help. Finally I could put all the wires on the back of the frames.
What a joy to see the pictures hang properly, and I did all by myself! I can order more frames for the artwork I have done in the past couple of years.
I learned how to use tools such as the drill and drill bits this time. When I opened the package from the American Frames, I just thought all I had to do was to lay the plexi glass, watercolor, mat board, and the styrofoam board in order. When I read the instructions, I learned I had to use a drill to put spring clips. I went to Wal-mart to find the drill, but I didn't even know what the drill looked like. I tried to find a store attendant who could help me in vain. Then I went to Home Depot where I could get a decent help. The attendant took me to the right place and started explaining the tools, so I said all I want is a tool to put the frames together. I got the drill; I asked him several times how to use it. He said there are two screws, plus and minus (of course, these are my terminology), so I said I need something to make a hole. Then he realized I need a drill bit. I practiced how to drill a hole on a board; the drill bit wouldn't go in, and eventually I realised I turned the switch to the wrong direction, so instead of making a hole, the drill bit kept coming out. After several trying, I could put all frames and pictures together.
Monday night we hang pictures; Dustyn let me know sawtooth hangers are pulling the frame; the frame will eventually snap. So I had to go to Home Depot and bought hanging wires and wire cutter. Even at Home Depot a female store attendant didn't know what a wire cutter looked like, and she took me to a metal cutter section. I said to myself if I had to use these huge cutters to cut the hanging wire. She asked for another help. Finally I could put all the wires on the back of the frames.
What a joy to see the pictures hang properly, and I did all by myself! I can order more frames for the artwork I have done in the past couple of years.
Saturday, November 26, 2011
Sunrise
One of my four titles in my art project was the sunset. The sunset is often associated with death as Turner and many other artists imply. Just because I saw a beautiful sunset, I was going to use it as one of the themes, but I decided to try the sunrise instead as it implies the beginning of new life. One of the art students suggested I use the ocean since I crossed it to come to the States. I have seen both the sunrise and the sunset from the plane many times, but since my topic is "Big Sky" in the States seen from the ground, I decided to search an image of the sunrise at the Mississippi; I have crossed it many times. This weekend I am working on this sunrise, and hopefully it will turn out as I hope.
Sunday, November 13, 2011
The Sublime
The Introduction
"The essential claim of the sublime is that man can, in feeling and speech, transcend the human. What, if anything, likes beyond the human - God or the gods, the daemon or nature - is matter for treat disagreement. (Thomas Weiskel. The Romantic Sublime: Studies in the Structure and Psychology of Transcendence. 1976.)
Sublime in 18th century: "The concept of the sublime . . . was applied in relation to the art to describe aspects of nature that instill awe and wonder, such as mountains, avalanches, waterfalls, story seas or the infinity vault of the starry sky."(12)
Today:"The incredible power of technology is more likely to supply the raw material for what can be terms a characteristically contemporary sublime." (12)
Rosenblum, Robert. "The Abstract Sublime" 1961
Among all the articles under "Nature," I was most interested in Rosenblum's "The Abstract Sublime" as it deals with Turner's work. He quotes Kant's definition by saying the Sublime is to be found in a formless and boundless object. Then Rosenblum discusses James Ward and Clyfford Still's art. Both of them portrayed nature in large canvases; the one described in his article is 131x166 cm by Ward and 113x159 by Still. These are representative of sublime landscape which portrayed awe, terror, boundlessness and divinity during 18th and early 19th centrury; as a result the viewers were often awed by the void in such boundless and vast nature.
Turner, however, expresses Sublime by filling the void with cosmic energy such as steam, wind, water, snow and fire. The author continues to discull Turner's contemporary, John Martin (1789-1854). Then the author brings Jackson Pollock (1912 - 1956) as the third master of the Abstract Sublime. "That brink is again reached when we stand before a perpetuum mobile of Jackson Pollock, whose gyrating labyrinths re-create in the metaphorical language of abstraction the superhuman turbulence depicted more literary, in Turner and Martin." (111)
AS the fourth master of the Abstract Sublime, the works of Barnett Newman (1905-1970) are introduced. He explored "a realm of sublimity so perilous that it defies comparison with even the most adventurous Romantic exploration into sublime natioe." Newman drew "Vir Hericus Sublimis," which is 114.5 inches.
Honestly speaking, I have not seen the real works by Martin or Newman; it is impossible to capture the impression of paintings which are just several colors of red and a line. But I try to picture a huge painting with only a few colors in front of me, I will just feel lost in its simplicity.
Marley Simon. Ed. The Sublime: Documents of Contemporary Art. London: Whitechapel Gallery. 2010.
"The essential claim of the sublime is that man can, in feeling and speech, transcend the human. What, if anything, likes beyond the human - God or the gods, the daemon or nature - is matter for treat disagreement. (Thomas Weiskel. The Romantic Sublime: Studies in the Structure and Psychology of Transcendence. 1976.)
Sublime in 18th century: "The concept of the sublime . . . was applied in relation to the art to describe aspects of nature that instill awe and wonder, such as mountains, avalanches, waterfalls, story seas or the infinity vault of the starry sky."(12)
Today:"The incredible power of technology is more likely to supply the raw material for what can be terms a characteristically contemporary sublime." (12)
Rosenblum, Robert. "The Abstract Sublime" 1961
Among all the articles under "Nature," I was most interested in Rosenblum's "The Abstract Sublime" as it deals with Turner's work. He quotes Kant's definition by saying the Sublime is to be found in a formless and boundless object. Then Rosenblum discusses James Ward and Clyfford Still's art. Both of them portrayed nature in large canvases; the one described in his article is 131x166 cm by Ward and 113x159 by Still. These are representative of sublime landscape which portrayed awe, terror, boundlessness and divinity during 18th and early 19th centrury; as a result the viewers were often awed by the void in such boundless and vast nature.
Turner, however, expresses Sublime by filling the void with cosmic energy such as steam, wind, water, snow and fire. The author continues to discull Turner's contemporary, John Martin (1789-1854). Then the author brings Jackson Pollock (1912 - 1956) as the third master of the Abstract Sublime. "That brink is again reached when we stand before a perpetuum mobile of Jackson Pollock, whose gyrating labyrinths re-create in the metaphorical language of abstraction the superhuman turbulence depicted more literary, in Turner and Martin." (111)
AS the fourth master of the Abstract Sublime, the works of Barnett Newman (1905-1970) are introduced. He explored "a realm of sublimity so perilous that it defies comparison with even the most adventurous Romantic exploration into sublime natioe." Newman drew "Vir Hericus Sublimis," which is 114.5 inches.
Honestly speaking, I have not seen the real works by Martin or Newman; it is impossible to capture the impression of paintings which are just several colors of red and a line. But I try to picture a huge painting with only a few colors in front of me, I will just feel lost in its simplicity.
Marley Simon. Ed. The Sublime: Documents of Contemporary Art. London: Whitechapel Gallery. 2010.
Turner: The Fighting Temeraire
J.M.W. Turner (1775-1851) named his painting as "The Fighting Temeraire tugged to her last berth to be broken up." But when it was displayed at a museum, the title was shortened. Turner painted this oil painting in 1838. The ship was made in 1798 and was dismantled in 1838. The art was complimented as "the most wonderful of all the works of the greatest master of the age," "a nobly-composed poem, very poetical conception."
Turner didn't witness this 2,110-ton ship being tugged to be dismantled. He painted the ship from imagination; however, he did paint four other works based on the Temeraire. The motif of picture came from a steam boat tugged on the Seine. The paint is 90.7x112.6cm, rather a large painting, but smaller compared to other landscapes during 18th century.
The Temeraire was in the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805, which brought the glorious victory to the Britain. When the ship was tugged, some of the equipment on the ship had been already taken out; only three bare masts without sail remain. Absolutely vacant space on the ship symbolizes the fact that the ship has completed its role. The ship looks almost ghostly. The original colours used for the ship were yellow and black, but there are no such colors left on the ship in the painting. The glorious looking sunset also symbolizes the destiny of the Temeraire; at the same time it relates to a death of human.
By the way, Turner is the first person to use "tug" as a verb according to the OED. "Towed" was used before Turner.
My comment: left side of the painting depicts the Temeraire tugged by a dark tug boat. The tug boat looks like a fate because of its dark color. Behind the tug boat are two ships with sails, which symbolized they are still active, but eventually they are going to follow the step of the Temeraire. Ont he right side of the painting is this beautiful sunset. It it stands alone, I don't associate it with a death of the ship/human. But, with two images together, however the beautiful the sky (ship) is, it has a straightforward message that the glory is going to end.
Egerton, Judy. "Making and Meaning: Turner-The Fighting Temerarire. London: National Gallery Publications. 1995.
Turner didn't witness this 2,110-ton ship being tugged to be dismantled. He painted the ship from imagination; however, he did paint four other works based on the Temeraire. The motif of picture came from a steam boat tugged on the Seine. The paint is 90.7x112.6cm, rather a large painting, but smaller compared to other landscapes during 18th century.
The Temeraire was in the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805, which brought the glorious victory to the Britain. When the ship was tugged, some of the equipment on the ship had been already taken out; only three bare masts without sail remain. Absolutely vacant space on the ship symbolizes the fact that the ship has completed its role. The ship looks almost ghostly. The original colours used for the ship were yellow and black, but there are no such colors left on the ship in the painting. The glorious looking sunset also symbolizes the destiny of the Temeraire; at the same time it relates to a death of human.
By the way, Turner is the first person to use "tug" as a verb according to the OED. "Towed" was used before Turner.
My comment: left side of the painting depicts the Temeraire tugged by a dark tug boat. The tug boat looks like a fate because of its dark color. Behind the tug boat are two ships with sails, which symbolized they are still active, but eventually they are going to follow the step of the Temeraire. Ont he right side of the painting is this beautiful sunset. It it stands alone, I don't associate it with a death of the ship/human. But, with two images together, however the beautiful the sky (ship) is, it has a straightforward message that the glory is going to end.
Egerton, Judy. "Making and Meaning: Turner-The Fighting Temerarire. London: National Gallery Publications. 1995.
Georgia O'Keeffe
Group Critique by Dan Hernandez
I was very nervous about what Dan Hernandez was going to say about my watercolor in his critique, but rather I felt his critique gave me a direction to complete my watercolor project. It was my plan to include a water tower with the stormy sky. I practiced how to paint the stomy sky many times, but I was not sure how big the water tower should be. When I was introducing my watercolor to him in the group critique last week, I commented on my first impression of the water tower when I came to the States; it was an out of ordinary shape and it looked like a space ship. I have seen many water towers since then, some look like a tin man from the Wizard of Oz, some just a ball (not scary), but the type I see in Beebe exit to highway 64 really looks like a spaceship. I think that is the type I saw when I came to the States (Iowa) first time. I was glad to hear when Dan suggested I should paint the watertower large. I was stuck with the idea of painting something very small and flat on the bottom of the paper, so with his comment I could finally free myself from the tedious drawings on the bottom of the paper.
Wednesday, November 9, 2011
Try, error, try, discover
They sounds so cliche, but this is what I have been going through while trying to learn how to use watercolor. After many trials, I finally realized how to erase lines when I paint the paper with the same color. I just picked up the paper, and hang it from my hand from one side to another side. The dark color on the light color created an interesting effect.
I was using paper towel, tissue paper, towels, and different kinds of brushes so that I can draw puffy clouds, round clouds, stormy clouds; I had to remove a piece of hair from the brush with paper towel, and accidentally found an interesting effect on the paper.
I was not satisfied any dark watercolors; I was using sumi for something else, I decided to try it, and it worked a lot better to portray evening view of the background.
After try and error, I finally mastered to use the masking fluid; however, I don't really care for its effect; I don't like its smell, either.
Hake is really useful; I use it not only to wet the paper but also to paint. It holds a lot of watercolor at a time, so I don't have to go to the pallet to fill the brush.
Japanese sumi-e brushes are a lot more resilience; the ones I am using are made of rabbit hair. I use the ones with horse hair for writing, but I might try horse hair for watercolor.
As I challenge watercolor, I find more interesting ways to maneuver it. I finally feel I enjoy painting with watercolor; I do not hesitate as much as I used to.
I was using paper towel, tissue paper, towels, and different kinds of brushes so that I can draw puffy clouds, round clouds, stormy clouds; I had to remove a piece of hair from the brush with paper towel, and accidentally found an interesting effect on the paper.
I was not satisfied any dark watercolors; I was using sumi for something else, I decided to try it, and it worked a lot better to portray evening view of the background.
After try and error, I finally mastered to use the masking fluid; however, I don't really care for its effect; I don't like its smell, either.
Hake is really useful; I use it not only to wet the paper but also to paint. It holds a lot of watercolor at a time, so I don't have to go to the pallet to fill the brush.
Japanese sumi-e brushes are a lot more resilience; the ones I am using are made of rabbit hair. I use the ones with horse hair for writing, but I might try horse hair for watercolor.
As I challenge watercolor, I find more interesting ways to maneuver it. I finally feel I enjoy painting with watercolor; I do not hesitate as much as I used to.
Thursday, November 3, 2011
Home studio
Earlier this semester we read "Inside the Painter's Studio." This semester I have been using my dining table at home as a studio. I have pros and cons about using home as a studio as these artists have discussed in their articles
I like to work at home since I can work on watercolor any time I want to till late into the night; however, I have to look at my work constantly asking myself what can be done to improve it. There is no break from my painting; I am always reminded of the work I need to do. (I tend to forget things, so this constant reminder might be useful, but I would like to have some time out once in a while.)
I would appreciate the feedback from my classmates if I were working in the Alphin studio; on the other hand, I would like to think through by myself to solve certain problems without being influenced by others.
More pros and cons, but right now I'd like to get back to my painting; the stormy wind outside tells me to get back to my work!
I like to work at home since I can work on watercolor any time I want to till late into the night; however, I have to look at my work constantly asking myself what can be done to improve it. There is no break from my painting; I am always reminded of the work I need to do. (I tend to forget things, so this constant reminder might be useful, but I would like to have some time out once in a while.)
I would appreciate the feedback from my classmates if I were working in the Alphin studio; on the other hand, I would like to think through by myself to solve certain problems without being influenced by others.
More pros and cons, but right now I'd like to get back to my painting; the stormy wind outside tells me to get back to my work!
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
Arches Watercolor Block
I have been practicing painting clouds almost every evening on 9x12 watercolor paper. I learned some techniques from Karen Jensen, sumi-e artist, so I tried some of them. Alum works on washi as resist, but I am not sure if it is working on watercolor paper. I will try other techniques when appropriate.
I finally received Arches watercolor block last Wednesday, but I didn't get a chance to try it. I was just so afraid to ruin expensive paper. Today I challenged painting on Arches watercolor. I really like it; the paper does not buckle! The color is absorbed by the paper evenly. The brush moves very smoothly on the paper; when two colors touch, they blend nicely. However, the pen I used to draw rough sketch on the paper does not disappear, so I cannot use it anymore. Oh, well. Hopefully I will have a few pictures ready by next November 10.
Dustyn, you implied I should use better paper; I agree with you. I like Arches!
I finally received Arches watercolor block last Wednesday, but I didn't get a chance to try it. I was just so afraid to ruin expensive paper. Today I challenged painting on Arches watercolor. I really like it; the paper does not buckle! The color is absorbed by the paper evenly. The brush moves very smoothly on the paper; when two colors touch, they blend nicely. However, the pen I used to draw rough sketch on the paper does not disappear, so I cannot use it anymore. Oh, well. Hopefully I will have a few pictures ready by next November 10.
Dustyn, you implied I should use better paper; I agree with you. I like Arches!
Sunday, October 23, 2011
Watercolorist's advice
Dustyn told me to consult local watercolorists several weeks ago. I didn't really have anything to show, so I was hesitant about it. After we did the second group critique, I felt I should get some advise since I felt better about my watercolor.
I met Ms. Aline McCracken at the Batesville Area Arts Council last Friday. I told her what problems I am encountering. Before she started giving me advice, she said, "we are learning something every day." I felt very encouraged by her comment. I am going to get more advice every Friday.
Her advice:
Use Arches 140 block. 18x24 is big enough (I have samples of 22x30. There were three kinds of Arches watercolor paper; cold press, hot press, rough. I chose rough since the texture feels so good. I ordered a block.)
Mr Clean's original scrub (Sherry told me about this scrub, so I went to Wal-mart, but I couldn' find it. Do they mean a big bathtub scrub? I have to go to Kroger if they have it.)
She said if the paper is good I can literally scrub it; some scrub the paper in the bath tub.
I told her I have trouble with dark clouds; she suggested I get ultramarine blue and burnt umber, so I ordered.
I am looking forward to have my order delivered, hopefully on the 26th. Today I am going to try to paint clouds after a stormy day.
I met Ms. Aline McCracken at the Batesville Area Arts Council last Friday. I told her what problems I am encountering. Before she started giving me advice, she said, "we are learning something every day." I felt very encouraged by her comment. I am going to get more advice every Friday.
Her advice:
Use Arches 140 block. 18x24 is big enough (I have samples of 22x30. There were three kinds of Arches watercolor paper; cold press, hot press, rough. I chose rough since the texture feels so good. I ordered a block.)
Mr Clean's original scrub (Sherry told me about this scrub, so I went to Wal-mart, but I couldn' find it. Do they mean a big bathtub scrub? I have to go to Kroger if they have it.)
She said if the paper is good I can literally scrub it; some scrub the paper in the bath tub.
I told her I have trouble with dark clouds; she suggested I get ultramarine blue and burnt umber, so I ordered.
I am looking forward to have my order delivered, hopefully on the 26th. Today I am going to try to paint clouds after a stormy day.
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
Spot practice
When my sons were taking music lessons, they were encouraged to practice spots where they couldn't play well. I wanted to paint the burning sunset I saw in Marion when I was going to change highways from 64 to I55 last week. I applied this spot practicing in music to the watercolor. I painted just the sunset on 9x12 watercolor paper four times, examining each sunset and making sure it is close to the image I had. When I finally felt better, I tried on 18x24 paper. This spot practice worked well; first of all I didn't feel pressured to make the first paint perfect since I learned what color I should use. Most importantly I didn't have to waste large paper! Spot practice does not apply to everything, but it does for my watercolor project.
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
Watercolor on upright easel
So I tried the watercolor today on an upright easel. First I thought about propping up the watercolor paper about 10 to 15 degrees, but I couldn't find any support, so I decided to use the upright easel.
I had trouble controlling the amount of water; it kept dripping down the area where I was going to draw trees. When I watched several online watercolor demonstrations, some did on a flat surface and some on an upright easel or wall. The professional watercolor artist knows how much water the brush should hold so that it won't run down on the paper. I just started experimenting, so it was a fun disaster; I just have to try several times. Some part of the sky looks really nice already, though.
I had trouble controlling the amount of water; it kept dripping down the area where I was going to draw trees. When I watched several online watercolor demonstrations, some did on a flat surface and some on an upright easel or wall. The professional watercolor artist knows how much water the brush should hold so that it won't run down on the paper. I just started experimenting, so it was a fun disaster; I just have to try several times. Some part of the sky looks really nice already, though.
Monday, October 10, 2011
Free Art Lessons to enjoy
I was surfing on the Internet to find watercolor lessons and found many. The first one I found was at Daniel Smith site. For some reasons, I cannot find it from my home computer. But I learned that I should put the paper more vertically than horizontally to avoid streaks on the paper. I have been using paper towels and sponges to make the impressions of clouds, but from this Daniel Smith site I learned to use Kleenex paper; certainly Kleenex will give a softer impression.
Then I visited Jennifer Branch, Peter Fleming, and Roland Lee site. I learned to plan a value pattern before I start painting among other things.
While I was trying to find the free watercolor online lessons from the Daniel Smith site, I accidentally found Jerry's Artrama site http://www.jerrysartarama.com/art-lessons/Medium/Watercolors/index.html?utm_source=adwords&utm_medium=ppc&utm_campaign=Free+Art+Lessons&gclid=CKzm0aas36sCFQtb7AodKGUrTQ which offers more than 800 free art lessons, more than 100 of which are watercolor lessons.
One more: How to create effcts in watercolor watercolor paintings at http://www.ehow.com/how_4525147_create-effects-watercolor-painting.html
I can experiment some of these techniques tomorrow!
Then I visited Jennifer Branch, Peter Fleming, and Roland Lee site. I learned to plan a value pattern before I start painting among other things.
While I was trying to find the free watercolor online lessons from the Daniel Smith site, I accidentally found Jerry's Artrama site http://www.jerrysartarama.com/art-lessons/Medium/Watercolors/index.html?utm_source=adwords&utm_medium=ppc&utm_campaign=Free+Art+Lessons&gclid=CKzm0aas36sCFQtb7AodKGUrTQ which offers more than 800 free art lessons, more than 100 of which are watercolor lessons.
One more: How to create effcts in watercolor watercolor paintings at http://www.ehow.com/how_4525147_create-effects-watercolor-painting.html
I can experiment some of these techniques tomorrow!
Sunday, October 9, 2011
Copmposition
I finally figured it out that I forgot to do the composition before I even painted! I did it when I took the Introduction to drawing and oil painting; over and over we learned the composition when we used pencils, charcoal, and India ink. The first thing I did when we did oil painting outside was to use my hand-made square pattern with strings crisscrossing in the middle so that I could see where the focal point was and where the border lines were.
I have been painting my sky from the pictures I took and from my memory. I sketched on a 9x12 watercolor paper and then moved on to 91/2 x13 paper. My goal is to use 22 x 30, so I moved to 18x24, too big a jump, and I got lost. Why didn't I buy 12x18? I thought about changing the proposed paper size to smaller ones.
Today I finally figured it out that I didn't think about the composition at all. I drew on my picture a vertical and horizontal lines crisscrossing in the center. I feel a lot better about my painting today. I started feeling comfortable with watercolor, too.
Hopefully I can start my proposed work after the fall break. I might still change the paper size after I talk to Dustyn tomorrow.
I have been painting my sky from the pictures I took and from my memory. I sketched on a 9x12 watercolor paper and then moved on to 91/2 x13 paper. My goal is to use 22 x 30, so I moved to 18x24, too big a jump, and I got lost. Why didn't I buy 12x18? I thought about changing the proposed paper size to smaller ones.
Today I finally figured it out that I didn't think about the composition at all. I drew on my picture a vertical and horizontal lines crisscrossing in the center. I feel a lot better about my painting today. I started feeling comfortable with watercolor, too.
Hopefully I can start my proposed work after the fall break. I might still change the paper size after I talk to Dustyn tomorrow.
Sunday, October 2, 2011
Watercolor and Zen meditation
Watercolor is completely different from oil, acrylic, and pastel; I cannot go back and paint over. It is more like Japanese (oriental) calligraphy. What I write is what I get. I cannot write over the calligraphy.
I sketch the scenes several times on paper and in my mind, but what comes out is all different. I tried the same scene several times, and they are all different. I like some part of each picture, but since overall it does not look right, I get another sheet of paper and try again. I just wonder how many times I have to practice before I can challenge my goal size, 22 x30. What I did this afternoon is about to dry, so I am going to try again. Hopefully I will learn to control paper, colors, and brush strokes.
I tell myself, "Don't think, just let my hand draw what I have in my mind." But while using the brush, I am thinking, "Is this color OK? Maybe I should try different colors. Oops, this is not what I want. OK, I am going back to the first color. Oh, no, it is completely different from what I did first. Is the stormy sky really blue? green? purple? pink? . . . . Many different kinds of thoughts continue to pop up in my mind. Learn Zen meditation!!!
I sketch the scenes several times on paper and in my mind, but what comes out is all different. I tried the same scene several times, and they are all different. I like some part of each picture, but since overall it does not look right, I get another sheet of paper and try again. I just wonder how many times I have to practice before I can challenge my goal size, 22 x30. What I did this afternoon is about to dry, so I am going to try again. Hopefully I will learn to control paper, colors, and brush strokes.
I tell myself, "Don't think, just let my hand draw what I have in my mind." But while using the brush, I am thinking, "Is this color OK? Maybe I should try different colors. Oops, this is not what I want. OK, I am going back to the first color. Oh, no, it is completely different from what I did first. Is the stormy sky really blue? green? purple? pink? . . . . Many different kinds of thoughts continue to pop up in my mind. Learn Zen meditation!!!
Wednesday, September 28, 2011
Art Proposal
Thesis Statement: Experiences of a stranger to a new land
Why: The inspiration for this work is the emotions I felt when I arrived in the United States for the first time and subsequent changes in these emotions. I hope to express these emotional stages through this art project.
The final painting in the series will seek to capture a recent related experience. A month ago, I visited my Iowa host mother, who now lives in Minnesota. While driving from Sioux Falls, South Dakota, to St. James, Minnesota, I experienced this huge sky hitting my heart as if I was finally accepted by the big sky. I enjoyed seeing the corn and soybean fields, cows and horses under the sky, and the wind turbines embracing the sky. I definitely felt I was accepted by the sky in the States. This time I didn’t feel pressured by the sky and the clouds.
The first painting in the series will feature dark clouds, mall, and open space. The clouds are going to become lighter as the artwork progresses ending with blue sky, cosmos (flowers) forefront, and buildings far away in the last painting. The four paintings in between will include, sky with various types of clouds, morning/afternoon/sunset, and cornfield.
Why: The inspiration for this work is the emotions I felt when I arrived in the United States for the first time and subsequent changes in these emotions. I hope to express these emotional stages through this art project.
Subject matter: Initial isolation and eventual acceptance of life in a new land.
The first painting in this series of six paintings will reflect my first impressions of the States—dark clouds and buildings far away. Shortly after I flew to Iowa to start a graduate school, I went to a local shopping mall. When I came out of the mall, I saw a huge sky with thick gray clouds moving right above my head very fast. That moment I felt I was all alone in the United States. I still remember a small me feeling pressured by the huge sky and wondering anxiously what was going to happen to me in the “dream” world of the Midwest.
The final painting in the series will seek to capture a recent related experience. A month ago, I visited my Iowa host mother, who now lives in Minnesota. While driving from Sioux Falls, South Dakota, to St. James, Minnesota, I experienced this huge sky hitting my heart as if I was finally accepted by the big sky. I enjoyed seeing the corn and soybean fields, cows and horses under the sky, and the wind turbines embracing the sky. I definitely felt I was accepted by the sky in the States. This time I didn’t feel pressured by the sky and the clouds.
The four middle paintings will reflect the emotional transition from the first to the sixth painting (see below).
Description: Three panels, six paintings in total. I plan to use 22 x 30, 140 or 300 pound cold press watercolor paper.
The first painting in the series will feature dark clouds, mall, and open space. The clouds are going to become lighter as the artwork progresses ending with blue sky, cosmos (flowers) forefront, and buildings far away in the last painting. The four paintings in between will include, sky with various types of clouds, morning/afternoon/sunset, and cornfield.
The tentative titles of the drawings are
1. Alone
2. Sunrise
3. Road
4. Awe
5. Sunset
6. Cosmos
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
Group critique
I was absolutely lost in yesterday's critique and felt alienated in class. I wondered why I felt this way and came up with several reasons though some might take my reasons as excuses.
First I felt anachronistic. The only time I saw a real barn closeby was decades ago in Iowa. I did ride the combine and again felt vastness of the corn field. So I have this sentimental memory of a barn made of wood surrounded by hay, flat and huge field, cows, cow smell, and vegetable and flower gardens around a big farm house and a barn. I have seen plenty of barns while driving, but none of them looked as modern as I saw yesterday in the picture; they looked often forlorn standing alone in the big field. This is my stereotypical impression of barns.
Second I felt old (ha, it is true) and out of place. When I saw the etching on the TV screens, I didn't know who they were. The second man reminded me of an old man because of the gray hair, gray eye brows, and wrinkles on the head. While everybody enjoyed talking about him, I was wondering who he was; when his picture was placed right next to him, I recognized him. The only time I'd watch his show is when my son is home. My son introduces me to the world of "young people." I don't mean I don't watch TV. I do watch TV news, but not the talk shows. I do watch CNN to catch up with the world news, but it is often much faster to get the world news when I read Japanese news on the Internet. The Japanese news are very concise and tells the essence of the news 5 W 1 H, whereas CNN news often confuses me with a lot of debates and comments. I turn off TV when the commentators start talking over loud interrupting each other. Anyway, what I want to say here is I am not familiar with the characters etched on TV.
Third I am not up to date with all the things happened in the States. I need more explanations of the portrayal of the execution of a wrong person through the drawing. So much information in the work, I got lost and didn't know how to respond.
Fourth I am not grasping what I am supposed to. I enjoyed looking at the headless driver with a helmet on; I was contemplating why he was headless till I was told he has a head but because of the angle of the camera, he became headless.
Fifth cultural background is hard to convey in any kind of art form. The Critical Handbook deals with more of negative sides of comments based on ethnic differences, but I have more trouble with American reality such as barns, TV characters, medieval vs. modern times (this is not American, but the main character comes back to the present USA). It is my hope that I can display all of my feelings as a foreigner in the watercolor, but my second thought is they are just my feelings, and again just like I felt lost in my classmates' presentations, they might be lost what I am trying to convey in watercolor.
In the previous four semesters, we worked on different topics with the same medium. This semester everybody has different project with different medium. I still would like to challenge watercolor to pursue my project in spite of my handicap in watercolor techniques and anachronistic mentality.
I take my hat off to all these young artists for their originality to pursue their projects in this class. I wish I had this originality!
First I felt anachronistic. The only time I saw a real barn closeby was decades ago in Iowa. I did ride the combine and again felt vastness of the corn field. So I have this sentimental memory of a barn made of wood surrounded by hay, flat and huge field, cows, cow smell, and vegetable and flower gardens around a big farm house and a barn. I have seen plenty of barns while driving, but none of them looked as modern as I saw yesterday in the picture; they looked often forlorn standing alone in the big field. This is my stereotypical impression of barns.
Second I felt old (ha, it is true) and out of place. When I saw the etching on the TV screens, I didn't know who they were. The second man reminded me of an old man because of the gray hair, gray eye brows, and wrinkles on the head. While everybody enjoyed talking about him, I was wondering who he was; when his picture was placed right next to him, I recognized him. The only time I'd watch his show is when my son is home. My son introduces me to the world of "young people." I don't mean I don't watch TV. I do watch TV news, but not the talk shows. I do watch CNN to catch up with the world news, but it is often much faster to get the world news when I read Japanese news on the Internet. The Japanese news are very concise and tells the essence of the news 5 W 1 H, whereas CNN news often confuses me with a lot of debates and comments. I turn off TV when the commentators start talking over loud interrupting each other. Anyway, what I want to say here is I am not familiar with the characters etched on TV.
Third I am not up to date with all the things happened in the States. I need more explanations of the portrayal of the execution of a wrong person through the drawing. So much information in the work, I got lost and didn't know how to respond.
Fourth I am not grasping what I am supposed to. I enjoyed looking at the headless driver with a helmet on; I was contemplating why he was headless till I was told he has a head but because of the angle of the camera, he became headless.
Fifth cultural background is hard to convey in any kind of art form. The Critical Handbook deals with more of negative sides of comments based on ethnic differences, but I have more trouble with American reality such as barns, TV characters, medieval vs. modern times (this is not American, but the main character comes back to the present USA). It is my hope that I can display all of my feelings as a foreigner in the watercolor, but my second thought is they are just my feelings, and again just like I felt lost in my classmates' presentations, they might be lost what I am trying to convey in watercolor.
In the previous four semesters, we worked on different topics with the same medium. This semester everybody has different project with different medium. I still would like to challenge watercolor to pursue my project in spite of my handicap in watercolor techniques and anachronistic mentality.
I take my hat off to all these young artists for their originality to pursue their projects in this class. I wish I had this originality!
Sunday, September 25, 2011
The Art of Living: Japanese American Creative Experience at Rohwer
During the World War II, there were ten internment camps where 110,000 Japanese Americans on the West Coast were shipped to. Two of them were located in Rohwer and Jerome in Arkansas. 8,000 Japanese Americans were detained in the Rohwer Relocation Center; 7,000 more were sent to Jerome.
These Japanese Americans worked to clear the swamp, among other things, to receive an income. The administration encouraged them to participate in activities in their leisure time. Ms. Jamie Vogel, an art teacher, saved the pieces of art created by her students. Vogel willed the collention to her friend, Rosalie Gould. Gould donated all the collection to the Butler Center for Arkansas Studies. The collection is on display from September 9 to November 26, 2011. http://www.butlercenter.org/
The art varies from camp scenes in watercolor, found-objects arts and crafts (The Japanese American at Rohwer camp converted anything they saw to arts and crafts), wood carving, furniture, bird pins, murals to portraits and posters. Some internees used Eastern artistic techniques such as brush strokes.
What amazed me most was in spite of their dire situations, the colors they used were beautiful reflecting four seasons. Some pictures depicted my favorite "big sky."
I was tickled by the comment on page 80, The Critical Handbook: "If you were to travel back in time to 1950 and land in a critique at most any art school . . . . The nude would b taken for granted, most of the students and faculty would be well-dressed males of European heritage . . . . The model would typically be female." The brochure of "The Art of Living: Japanese American Creative Experience at Rowher" has a picture of "artisits working at Rohwer". The picture was taken between 1942 and 1945. A casually clad male model is sitting on a little stage, and mostly female Japanese are sketching with a pencil. I have become a fan of Ms. Jamie Vogel.
These Japanese Americans worked to clear the swamp, among other things, to receive an income. The administration encouraged them to participate in activities in their leisure time. Ms. Jamie Vogel, an art teacher, saved the pieces of art created by her students. Vogel willed the collention to her friend, Rosalie Gould. Gould donated all the collection to the Butler Center for Arkansas Studies. The collection is on display from September 9 to November 26, 2011. http://www.butlercenter.org/
The art varies from camp scenes in watercolor, found-objects arts and crafts (The Japanese American at Rohwer camp converted anything they saw to arts and crafts), wood carving, furniture, bird pins, murals to portraits and posters. Some internees used Eastern artistic techniques such as brush strokes.
What amazed me most was in spite of their dire situations, the colors they used were beautiful reflecting four seasons. Some pictures depicted my favorite "big sky."
I was tickled by the comment on page 80, The Critical Handbook: "If you were to travel back in time to 1950 and land in a critique at most any art school . . . . The nude would b taken for granted, most of the students and faculty would be well-dressed males of European heritage . . . . The model would typically be female." The brochure of "The Art of Living: Japanese American Creative Experience at Rowher" has a picture of "artisits working at Rohwer". The picture was taken between 1942 and 1945. A casually clad male model is sitting on a little stage, and mostly female Japanese are sketching with a pencil. I have become a fan of Ms. Jamie Vogel.
Thursday, September 22, 2011
Blue vs. Green
According to the Wikipedia in Japanese, in ancient Japan there were only four colors: red, black, white, and blue. The word green (midori) was introduced to Japan more than 1,000 years ago from China, but it was not really classified as a color. Blue (ao) is still used to describe green leaves, green vegetables, green rock, green mountains, and even green rice field. Blue (ao) is written in at least four different kanji (Chinese characters), and each character means slightly different blue, some bluish, and some greenish. One character implies the color of face when somebody is sick, one character means greenish sea blue, and one character means real blue (western blue). They are all pronounced as "ao." In English when a person is inexperienced, they call him/her "green," but in Japanese we say he/she is blue.
If you check blue in a Japanese dictionary, it includes green, indigo, as its meaning; therefore, blue is still widely used to mean green.
What would you call the traffic light color in the picture on the right? I see the same color in the States, too. Do you call this green light or blue light? Japanese people used to call this blue because blue (ao) still includes green. I still call this ao (green) if I am not alert. Parents calls this blue, so will their children. Even though the Japanese government officially changed the name of this color to green, most people still call it blue.
How about this rice field? When I call it "bluish rice field" in Japanese, I feel the rice plants are growing vigorously; whereas if I call this green rice field, it tells me only the color green.
I know the differences between blue and green, but I catch myself saying blue when I mean green. Though I live in the 21st century, I carry 1500 years of my culture on my back, and it is an important part of my life. When someone asks me where my home is, I almost instantly say "Japan." Hopefully I can reflect it in my project. The deep seeded cultural background stays where it is. When I was in Iowa, everybody in class was asked which (foreign) country they were from; one man proudly said, "I am from Texas."
If you check blue in a Japanese dictionary, it includes green, indigo, as its meaning; therefore, blue is still widely used to mean green.
What would you call the traffic light color in the picture on the right? I see the same color in the States, too. Do you call this green light or blue light? Japanese people used to call this blue because blue (ao) still includes green. I still call this ao (green) if I am not alert. Parents calls this blue, so will their children. Even though the Japanese government officially changed the name of this color to green, most people still call it blue.
How about this rice field? When I call it "bluish rice field" in Japanese, I feel the rice plants are growing vigorously; whereas if I call this green rice field, it tells me only the color green.
I know the differences between blue and green, but I catch myself saying blue when I mean green. Though I live in the 21st century, I carry 1500 years of my culture on my back, and it is an important part of my life. When someone asks me where my home is, I almost instantly say "Japan." Hopefully I can reflect it in my project. The deep seeded cultural background stays where it is. When I was in Iowa, everybody in class was asked which (foreign) country they were from; one man proudly said, "I am from Texas."
Portrait vs.Landscape
I have a different notion about "general impressions" about portrait/landscape described in The Critique Handbook. If a landscape is drawn in a landscape format, the nature looks wide (of course!) and gives us the impression it is embracing the earth, people, buildings, and nature underneath it. Sometimes, just like I felt when I first came to the States, landscape format gives the impression of the pressure from the widely spread sky with stormy and ominous clouds.
I am used to the portrait format when landscape is portrayed. My parents always have/had a scrawl or two in the alcove. Every time I visited museums, art shops, and friends' and relatives' in Japan, I enjoyed seeing scrawls and block prints in "portrait" format which shows sky much higher than landscape format. I have had several scrawls and block prints in our house wherever we lived in the States. Most landscapes includes tall mountains, precipices, and/or cliffs with steep roads, ocean, lakes, and/or river below them. But I have a couple of block prints with different colors of high blue sky over a horizon. The portrait landscape gives me feelings of awe and respect for the nature. The sky is far above beyond our reach but it watches and protects us. On September 11, 2011 during the 10th anniversary of 9-11.David Muir on ABC said, "we can final retake the sky," while looking at the new World Trace Center. I do not believe human beings can even take the sky. He might have been talking figuratively, but we cannot even take a portion of sky; instead we should appreciate what is given by the nature.
One of my favorite Hokusai drawings is "A Dragon over Mount. Fuji." Different from Mt. Fuji described in his famous block prints, this Fuji is elongated. A dragon, an imaginary creature who is supposed to control clouds and rain, is going up to the sky. Very simple sumi-e (brush painting), and the sky is light brown, but I feel the movement of clouds behind the black smoke. If this is drawn in portrait, it is not to going to give us the feelings of awe and respect to the high sky.
My conclusion is I am going to include sky with/without clouds in portrait format.
I am used to the portrait format when landscape is portrayed. My parents always have/had a scrawl or two in the alcove. Every time I visited museums, art shops, and friends' and relatives' in Japan, I enjoyed seeing scrawls and block prints in "portrait" format which shows sky much higher than landscape format. I have had several scrawls and block prints in our house wherever we lived in the States. Most landscapes includes tall mountains, precipices, and/or cliffs with steep roads, ocean, lakes, and/or river below them. But I have a couple of block prints with different colors of high blue sky over a horizon. The portrait landscape gives me feelings of awe and respect for the nature. The sky is far above beyond our reach but it watches and protects us. On September 11, 2011 during the 10th anniversary of 9-11.David Muir on ABC said, "we can final retake the sky," while looking at the new World Trace Center. I do not believe human beings can even take the sky. He might have been talking figuratively, but we cannot even take a portion of sky; instead we should appreciate what is given by the nature.
One of my favorite Hokusai drawings is "A Dragon over Mount. Fuji." Different from Mt. Fuji described in his famous block prints, this Fuji is elongated. A dragon, an imaginary creature who is supposed to control clouds and rain, is going up to the sky. Very simple sumi-e (brush painting), and the sky is light brown, but I feel the movement of clouds behind the black smoke. If this is drawn in portrait, it is not to going to give us the feelings of awe and respect to the high sky.
My conclusion is I am going to include sky with/without clouds in portrait format.
Sunday, September 18, 2011
Sketch with watercolor
I am still not sure my plan works as I want it to, but at least I tried to make six sketches as I proposed. I started at 10 this morning; it is 5:30 and one more to go. I didn't work on painting constantly; I have to take a lot of short breaks while watercolor dries. I do not have large watercolor paper (hopefully 300 lbs) yet; even if I had some, I wouldn't experiment the trial on the expensive paper! I still have Rives paper, so I tried on it, too, but the masking fluid tore the paper. I like the way watercolors settle on the Rives paper, though. Checking Turner and other painters have helped me to pursue my project.
Friday, September 16, 2011
Turner
Yesterday I started practicing watercolor. It was my first try on this project with almost no experiences of watercolor, so naturally I was disappointed with the result. I needed some directions in addition to my small collections of watercolor books, so I decided to check out Turner book today. I always thought his works were all oil on canvas; however, I found in this book more than 20 works in watercolor with mix media such as graphite, ink, and body color. I don't know what body color is, but these works have given me some directions. Hopefully I will have a little better result in watercolor this weekend.
By the way, when I was in junior high school (long, long time ago), my art teacher introduced students many western artists. I think Turner's work was one of them, and he became my favorite. Every time I go to a museum, I try to find his works. I am very excited I have found him again in pursuing my project.
By the way, when I was in junior high school (long, long time ago), my art teacher introduced students many western artists. I think Turner's work was one of them, and he became my favorite. Every time I go to a museum, I try to find his works. I am very excited I have found him again in pursuing my project.
Sunday, September 11, 2011
Acrylic painting
I took a 'Palette Knife Painting' workshop by Cathy Demko www.cathydemko.com yesterday at theBatesville Area Arts Council. This was my first time to use acrylic. I thought acrylic is much easier than oil painting. I couldn't handle palette knife well, so I painted mostly with my brush. I learned I could use oil painting on acrylic. I could use this mix medium for my project sometime.
I spent all afternoon today to select about 100 photos from my picture files to use for my project. I realized I took a lot of pictures of sky wherever I went. I am fascinated by the formation of clouds. While trying to select appropriate pictures, I started getting some idea of what kind of theme I should have between the first and the last paintings. I went to Wal-mart to have them developed, but it was too late; they were about to close. I will have them developed tomorrow.
I spent all afternoon today to select about 100 photos from my picture files to use for my project. I realized I took a lot of pictures of sky wherever I went. I am fascinated by the formation of clouds. While trying to select appropriate pictures, I started getting some idea of what kind of theme I should have between the first and the last paintings. I went to Wal-mart to have them developed, but it was too late; they were about to close. I will have them developed tomorrow.
Thursday, September 8, 2011
Ordering materials is a pain!
I feel I am getting out of fog about what I'd like to accomplish this semester. I had the concepts from the beginning, but I am still struggling with how to construct the process. Early morning walk gives me a lot of constructive idea, and best of all I get to see the "beautiful sky" that I'd like to work on. When I was writing the proposal, I finally decided to try only watercolor. I gathered what I have and talked to Dustyn today. He gave me a lot of good idea. Then I started checking the materials that I could order online. I visited Daniel Smith and Dick Blick. It took three hours to order just watercolors, brushes, and watercolor pencils; there are too many brands and too many colors to choose from. I wanted natural brushes, but they are way too expensive for a beginner. I wanted primary colors and white, but I couldn't find just white in Holbein brand. Holbein?? I thought it was German, but it was Japanese. I selected Holbein just because one of the artists I admire used Holbein. I could have checked Cheap Joe and other online companies, but after checking two, I didn't want to try any other online stores. How much I wished I were at one of the stores. I wanted to feel the brushed before I ordered. Oh, well, not much of academic blog today. I will experiment some watercolor techniques this weekend with what I have.
Sunday, September 4, 2011
Andy Warhol Live
Before I went to Nashville this weekend, I checked if there were any art exhibits, and there was http://fristcenter.org/calendar-exhibitions/detail/warhol-live I have seen his works in New York many years ago, but this time I had some knowledge of printmaking (!), so I really enjoyed looking at his work at the Frisk Center for the Visual Arts. I didn't know he had a great interest in classical music and was a subscriber to the Metropolitan Opera. His work of "toe shoes" are so lively and lovely. You will get to see all those Hollywood stars in prints, illustrations for almost fifty record covers, works from the Silver Factory such as Heinz Boxes and soup cans, and portraits of Mick Jagger and other famous people. I have learned to appreciate modern art more. His works will be at Frist Center till September 11, so if you have a chance to go to Nashville, visit there!
Thursday, September 1, 2011
Maureen Gallace
Maureen Gallace is one of the 55 artists selected for the 2010 Whitney Biennial. Among all the contemporary works, I became bery drawn to this artist. Her themes are very limited - "windowless sheds or houeses, seascapes, winter bridges and lakefronts of New England." (Maureen Gallace: New Paintings). The colors are also limited; she often uses white and other light colors. Houses seem to be floating, but it is centered in the middle of the canvas and gives us the impression that the the houses are not going to float away. Surrounding trees are done with very simple brush strokes. The only thing I can observe to be real is "sky". Her works reminded me of Japanese artists, Azechi Umetaro and Kawase Hasui for their simplicy in painting a large scale of landscape. Details will be discussed in class!
Maureen Gallace
Azechi Umetaro
Kawase Hasui
Maureen Gallace
Azechi Umetaro
Kawase Hasui
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
Shea Hembrey
I was introduced to Shea Hembrey: "How I Became 100 Artists" in class yesterday. http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/shea_hembrey_how_i_became_100_artists.html He is a contemporary artist, and I never thought I would be interested in contemporary art!
I like "Flipped Earth" by Neo Reynolds (?), one of his imaginary artists. She used the 20' long mirror to reflect the image of the sky in the ground, so it is as if you are looking down the sky. I like the concept of using sky to cleanse barren ground. Below are the pictures from ted.com There are no diagonal lines in the original pictures.
A couple of days ago, I posted "Sky above Clouds" by Georgia O'Keeffe. I commented that nobody can see anything below clouds; the horizon reflects more of eternity. What I was impressed about the US when I came first time was its vast sky, which I felt could swallow everything on the earth, including me. Now Shea's imaginary female artist uses sky to cleanse earth, mother earth. Though Shea is a contemporary artist, his imaginary artist uses a very traditional archetypal approach.
I'd like to share one more picture that I took in January 2009 in my yard. Again I was impressed with the Big Sky, but here frozen branches spread out to the sky for warm air so that they can restore their life; they were frozen all day, though.
Right now I am stuck with the sky. I will go back to the topic of wind turbines soon.
I like "Flipped Earth" by Neo Reynolds (?), one of his imaginary artists. She used the 20' long mirror to reflect the image of the sky in the ground, so it is as if you are looking down the sky. I like the concept of using sky to cleanse barren ground. Below are the pictures from ted.com There are no diagonal lines in the original pictures.
A couple of days ago, I posted "Sky above Clouds" by Georgia O'Keeffe. I commented that nobody can see anything below clouds; the horizon reflects more of eternity. What I was impressed about the US when I came first time was its vast sky, which I felt could swallow everything on the earth, including me. Now Shea's imaginary female artist uses sky to cleanse earth, mother earth. Though Shea is a contemporary artist, his imaginary artist uses a very traditional archetypal approach.
I'd like to share one more picture that I took in January 2009 in my yard. Again I was impressed with the Big Sky, but here frozen branches spread out to the sky for warm air so that they can restore their life; they were frozen all day, though.
Right now I am stuck with the sky. I will go back to the topic of wind turbines soon.
Sunday, August 28, 2011
Sky above Clouds
I was going to discuss wind turbines today, but my image of America as Big Sky reminded me of Georgia O'Keeffe's Sky above Clouds. I thought Georgia O'Keeffe's works are mostly flowers. So when I was walking down the stairs in The Art Institute of Chicago, I was shocked to see the simplified yet definite existence of clouds. I just wonder why she decided to draw Sky above Clouds. Definitely Sky above Clouds present a world of no problems; the world underneath is covered by her clouds, and all you can see is the rosy horizon. You are above everything. All those clouds, though identical, are all different sizes, and none of them look they are blown by winds; they just stay where they are. They are not influenced by anything else. The clouds I see from the earth change forms constantly. While O'Keeffe eternalized small flowers in such a large size, she also shrunk the sky as our size. The canvas is very wide, and it looks big, but compared to the real sky, it is very small!
http://www.artic.edu/aic/collections/citi/images/standard/WebLarge/WebImg_000001/8222_355125.jpg
Big Sky is the first impression of the United States for me, but the sky with various types of clouds represent unstable world. If I happen to be drawing Sky above Clouds, I might be drawing anything and everything I can see between clouds! I just wonder where Big Sky and Sky above Clouds will take me.
http://www.artic.edu/aic/collections/citi/images/standard/WebLarge/WebImg_000001/8222_355125.jpg
Big Sky is the first impression of the United States for me, but the sky with various types of clouds represent unstable world. If I happen to be drawing Sky above Clouds, I might be drawing anything and everything I can see between clouds! I just wonder where Big Sky and Sky above Clouds will take me.
Thursday, August 25, 2011
Big Sky
Big sky was my first impression when I came to the States (Iowa) decades ago. I went to visit my host mother in Minnesota from August 9 to 11 and saw this big sky while driving from Sioux Falls SD to St. James MN. I didn't get a chance to take pictures of this big sky while driving, but I did take a picture of the sky and cornfield in St. James. While driving, I saw a cat crossing in front of my car and this brave cat disappeared into the cornfield. Hoped it wouldn't get lost. Then I saw another cat in St. James crossing the street and disappearing into the cornfield. Maybe I thought they went into the cornfield; maybe they just stepped into the cornfield and came out right after I drove by. The image of cats, cornfield, and wind turbines somehow stuck in my head.
I thought wind turbines are the next power source, so I started checking about it on line, and found pros and cons. I will discuss it next time.
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