Divine Comedy, Redux
No, I'm not going to wax on about my current journey through Hell, Purgatory & Paradise (if Oklahoma is as good as they say...hey, we're almost home anyway!). I just want to comment on a recent...um...I don't know what you call this:
During our short stay in San Francisco, we strolled into a few art galleries along the Wharf (near Ghiradelli Square). One was exhibiting the prints of Salvador Dali that illustrate the "greatest Italian work of poetry,"
Dante's Divine Comedy. I don't fashion myself a guru of poetry by any stretch of the imagination (or art for that matter...just ask
Sisiggy ;-), but I do have a college education and would think that I should at least be familiar with the title, if not the concept of Divine Comedy. Alas, I was clueless. If I were playing a game of Trivia, I would have said it was a Woody Allen movie. I mean, I've heard of Dante's Inferno, but I thought that
was the poem. I didn't realize that was just a part of the bigger whole. As you can tell, I've read none of it.
Anyway.
In addition to being ignorant about Dante, I've really only ever known one of Salvador Dali's paintings,
The Persistence of Memory (though I could not have told you what this painting was called). What I discovered in the gallery was that I really like some of Dali's work. Specifically, I really liked
his depictions of the Divine Comedy. They were ethereal and beautiful. In fact, I came dangerously close to buying one when I learned that the prices were not prohibitive. But alas, I do not need such a thing, especially given that I do not even know the history of either artist, but it did give me pause and cause to do a bit of googling.
Fast forward to today (traversing OK on I-40, the very image of Paradise) and I'm reading a book given to me by a friend that "I must read" (I'm sure this had to be on Oprah's Book Club list), entitled Eat, Pray, Love which is both a travelogue (I
love travelogues) and a story of one woman's journey to Italy (to eat...she's "double majoring in speaking (Italian), and eating - with a concentration in gelato"...heh :-), to India (to pray), and to Indonesia (to find the balance between worldly enjoyment and divine transcendence). I'm still in Italy, and reading about why it is that she and so many others travel to Italy simply to learn the language which she describes as "perfectly ordained to express human emotions." By her description and research, the Italian language as spoken today was chosen by a group of intellectuals in the 16th century who decided that there needed to be one dialect chosen to be the national language, and they chose the most beautiful dialect they could find which was in 14th century Florence and which derived from the (you guessed it) "great" Florentine poet, Dante. Specifically, it was the language he used in Divine Comedy, the language of the people on the streets shaped in what he called "il dolce stil nuovo" ("sweet new style").
And therein, ensued another lesson (however brief) about Dante's Divine Comedy about which I previously knew nothing.
Labels: Art, The Absurd, Theology
Happy Birthday, Dad!
Today is the day that my dad was born and we will celebrate his birth this evening with a small family dinner and dessert (I sure hope there will be dessert...I may bake a cake, just to be sure).
For his birthday, I am really excited about giving him
this. The original photo had significance because it was taken on a special trip my dad took last Fall to the Gallatin River in Montana, where they filmed A River Runs Through It. I also loved the composition of the photo and thought it would be perfect for a painting. After seeing a similar painting of a fly fisherman on
Don's site, I inquired if it was still available. When he said it had been sold, I asked if he would consider doing a painting on commission and sent him the photo. I know it is difficult to do commission work because the artist never quite knows what the "patron" expects. My mom is a painter and frets every time she is asked to do a commission piece. But Don willingly took it on and the end result far exceeded my expectations! I think Dad is going to love it. He too is an artist (an architect and wood turner), so I know he will appreciate it.
Labels: Art, Family and friends
Mom Says I Have To Share
If I were a selfish person, I would not mention this. Instead I would bookmark
this site and keep it all to myself. Of course,
other people have already discovered it and in fact, led me to it, so I couldn't keep it my little secret for long. In the interest of playing fair and sharing a good thing, go visit
Idle Minutes and then to the Ebay links he provides, to see his beautiful artwork.
Don is a very generous person, and a most un-selfish artist. If you poke around on his site, you'll find some great paintings of animals, including
this one that Don painted for
Brian's family when they lost their beloved friend, Carla. It brought tears to my eyes to read the note that Carla sent to her family. When he offered folks a free painting in the form of a postcard, I sent him an email asking to be added to the list. He read my profile, learned that I liked the Blues and sent me
this.
I recently won two of Don's paintings (
Lamar Hills and
Grand Prismatic Spring). Unfortunately for Don, there wasn't a whole lot of competition, which is a shame (for him) because his work is worth a whole lot more than $4.95 (the minimum bid). From my perspective, I got two wonderful and
very affordable original watercolor paintings (free shipping even!). The paintings just arrived today and I was thrilled when I opened them! They are even more beautiful in real life (and his photos are
great). They are little
gems (2" x 3"). Their small size makes them very easy to fit into any decor (personally, I buy art that I love and then work the decor around it...one must never, ever, buy art to match the sofa, always the other way around, but the problem is I am running out of wall space, so these are perfect in that respect).
The least I can do is offer up a little free advertising, even if it does lead to a bidding war. I'm currently bidding on Granny's Place. Come on over! :-)
Labels: Art, Fellow Bloggers
Urban Suburban *
Saturday night was our annual fundraising event for an art gallery where I volunteer. The fundraiser was an art auction and cocktail party at the gallery, complete with entertainment (fire twirling, quixotic dancers, men dressed in drag as the Desperate Housewives, you know...your standard fare). The art gallery is housed in a nursing home. This made for an interesting evening. We were told we'd have to keep the fire twirling outside, for security reasons. *rolling eyes* And the music? Outside. Because the residents had to sleep. Ah, the indignities of old age. Bedtime at 8:30, when there's a party going on. How sad. But the real fun was sitting back (I was working the check-in and check-out table all evening) and watching the art patrons interacting with the residents (those who didn't want to go to bed yet) who strolled in and around the goings-on with varying degrees of clarity and mobility, some attached to oxygen tanks and some with tri-colored tubes dangling from their necks, temporarily detached from their life-sustaining IV tubes.
As I stood at the bar waiting to order my tonic water with a twist of lime, I asked the gentleman standing next to me if he was having a good time. In return, he scowled and grunted something like, "it's alright." He asked if it was a cash bar and I told him that no, it was an open bar, hoping that might cheer him up a bit. He ordered a screwdriver and puttered off to his room, reminding me of Tim Conway on the Carol Burnett show. I bid him a good evening, hoping that he might find a little something to be happy about.
Another gentleman came by with his walker and a copy of a death certificate for a relative. I suggested he might wait until morning to turn it into someone who works in the office. And then there was Marion, who was supposed to work the front door that had to remain locked, but kept wandering off and forgetting her duties, leaving guests standing outside the glass doors. And Anna, who took a liking to me and stood at the check-out desk asking questions and initiating small talk while I tried to quickly process art sales when the flood gates opened after the auction closed. Bless their hearts.
All of these residents were not-so-gentle reminders that, if we are blessed enough to live a long life, we can also look forward to the many indignities of old age. We can fight it all we want, staying healthy and active, both mentally and physically, for as long as possible, but the end of life is just never pretty. The philosophy of the gallery is that art has the power to overcome differences and celebrate our common humanity, and at the end of the evening, I felt we did just that.
* This was the name of our event...suggesting the integration of urban artists and patrons with the suburbs, in a very suburban venue.
Labels: Art
The Perfect Rainy Day
What fun! I joined up with a friend at a local coffee shop on Saturday morning, to admire her artwork on exhibit there and then to her home to work on an "art project" that she lined up for us while our husbands worked. It was a rainy Saturday and this was the perfect way to spend it. In addition to art supplies, she had lined up a full spread of crackers and soft Danish cheeses, olive tapenade, and nacho cheese Chex Mix (yes, yes, we know, that's part of the fun...we would serve tater tots with filet mignon if we thought the guests would understand that it's supposed to be a joke). We topped it off with a small bottle of iced wine (a very sweet white dessert wine that tastes like fruit cocktail syrup) and dark chocolate M&Ms. Mmmm...
I helped assemble the art materials on the dining table while she laid out the food fixin's:
"Art Class"
Still Life W/ Feather Boa, and Halloween Mask
Then we got right down to the business of art:
But First, a Glass of Wine
The Finished Products (mine, trying unsuccessfully to hang with some real art)
Labels: Art
The Deposition, continued
In which I answer Question #3 of the
Inquisition. John asked...
3) Describe a piece of art in your house and what it signifies for you.I think I would have to pick this piece, by Abigail Howe, an up and coming young artist from the Kansas City area. I found it at
this gallery a couple years ago. I was not planning to buy anything, but I fell in love with this painting immediately. This portrait moves me on several levels, not the least of which is its title, which basically sold the painting. I think most people have heard of
The Girl With Pearl Earring, which is a beautiful work by
Vermeer, but it is distinctly lacking in iconography, something for which Vermeer was well known. Ironic then (or not) that this was the painting about which a book and subsequently a movie was written. Of all of Vermeer's works, The Girl With Pearl Earring probably had the least story to tell. At least that's my opinion. That said, the title of this painting parodies Vermeer's Girl With Pearl Earring perfectly, substituting a basically worthless stainless steel earring for the semi-precious pearl, a hardened gaze for the demure, and a nude (but not exposed) figure for the fully clothed one.
But parody aside, I was initially struck by its beauty which did remind me of Vermeer before I even read the title....the colors, the use of light, the pose (I think the back and shoulder muscles are especially beautiful, be they on a man or woman), the brush strokes, the serious gaze, and the way the model seems unaffected or unimpressed with her own beauty.
What else can I say? I hope this artist enjoys a successful career. I know we enjoy this painting of a perfect stranger in our home's entryway.
Girl With Stainless Steel EarringAnd now, are there any volunteers out there who might be willing to be interviewed? Hmm?
Labels: Art, Fellow Bloggers, Quizzes and Memes
Blues Man
Today, in the mail, I received
this! I was shocked, frankly. When Don sent the postcard to Brian and Jennifer after they lost their dog, Carla, I cried. This postcard made me laugh a little. As Don mentions in his post, there is humor in the blues, surprising as that sounds, and I could not agree more with his sentiment that it is this ability to laugh when the world around you is crumbling shows guts and determination and frankly, the ability to "hand it over." Visit Don's site,
Idle Minutes. It's worth every minute. While I'm at it, I'm adding him to the blogroll.
And thanks, Don! :-)
Labels: Art, Music
Music, Art and A Soon to Be New Blogroll Addition
Last night was the Eric Clapton concert
I was so excited about. It was excellent! There was a lot more electric, a lot more of his old classics than I was expecting, but I enjoyed it (his sit down acoustic set was still my favorite part of the whole show). The fact that he closed with Cocaine bothered me. But Eric is a joy to watch, casual and meticulous at the same time, gentle but powerful. He sets the bar for guitarists the world over.
I was surprised to find out that Robert Cray opened for him. I'm not a big fan of Robert Cray, but had never seen him perform live. And now, I'm even less of a fan. Technically, I suppose he sings the blues, but it is very sterile and sounds as if the songs are cut for pop radio. There's just no emotion behind the songs, not even live. That is, until he plays with Eric Clapton. They only sang one encore song together (Crossroads), but that one song gave Robert Cray a little more, I don't know, street cred or something. And I don't mean to dis old white guys, but here's an observation from last night...one old white guy backed by a solid team of black guys is much better than one black guy backed by a bunch of old white guys (Cray's keyboardist was better suited for a career as a courtroom stenographer). Just callin' it as I see it, that's all.
Meanwhile, back on the blogging front...
Here is
a great article by a newly discovered (by me) blogger. John over at
Blog Meridian awarded
Hank a Thinking Blogger's Award and I went to check it out. As might be expected of an educator's choice in the thinking category, this post has it all: footnotes, and footnotes inside of footnotes, a bibliography, and fully cited references of all kinds, and a bit of art history, and something about naked women (which is what happens when you start talking about art history, let's face it). Plus it is just downright funny. Even if you don't like art, I think you might like to read about Hank's Blue Painting. It's worth the extra minutes to read the footnotes.
I also got a kick out of
this post, partly because I like sailing (or at least the
idea of sailing), but mostly because I like the word "insouciant," especially in this context.
Back to work...tick, tick, tick...
Labels: Art, Fellow Bloggers, Music
