Tabatha A. YeattsAuthorART THURSDAY"If food and shelter give us life, the arts give us something to live for."
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Thursday, March 4, 2010 Feet, what do I need you for when I have wings to fly?
The Flight of Icarus
Flying at the Ann Arbor Art Fair
Clavichordium Blatta
Flying Book Arch/Going Through All These Books
Seyed Alavai explains his Flying Carpet this way: "This project consists of an aerial view of the Sacramento River that is woven into a carpet for the floor of a pedestrian bridge...A bridge is a connection between two destinations; it is not a destination in and of itself; it is neither here, nor there. In this way it is similar to an airplane, or a river connecting one place to another; here to there; a moment of flight frozen in mid air; a flowing river that takes us along with its current to another destination." Flying Carpet
This last one is made of stainless steel spoons and flatware.
~~~~~~~~~~ Links: *Flying Art: An International Exchange of Art Among Youth. Three schools or youth groups from around the world are involved in each flight in which they create artwork to share & discuss with their peers in different places. A human connection is made, leaving lasting impressions.
Thursday, February 25, 2010 We've got a broad theme today: Paintings of people. Three Musicians
Street to Mbari
Sir Charles, Alias Willie Harris
The Girl with a Coin (Girl of Galicia)
Two Women at a Window
La Famille Indigente
Links: I like others of Wm. Bouguereau's works, such as Arion on a Sea Horse, the Grape Picker, and The Nut Gatherers. Thursday, February 18, 2010 Ukrainian artist Kazimir Malevich (1878-1935) started the Suprematist art movement. Its name echoes racist groups, but it actually has nothing to do with that. He thought that the value of art was not that it could represent the real world, but that it could make you feel. He explained, "Under Suprematism I understand the supremacy of pure feeling in creative art." I am not posting his suprematist art, though, because the paintings below are the ones that evoked the most feeling in me: The Reaper on Red
The Knife Sharpener:
Three Women
The Woodcutter
Self-Portrait
Taking in the Rye
Links: Malevich (spelled Kasimir here) on Artcyclopedia.
Thursday, February 11, 2010 Mary Blair, who lived from 1911-1978, was an artistic director for Disney. Her work had fabulous shapes and color. Check it out: 
~~~~~~~~ Links: Designing the It's A Small World ride. Peko-chan put together a great archive of Blair's work. Mary Blair Tile Murals Mary Blair's illustrations in The Golden Book of Little Verses. The Art and Flair of Mary Blair by John Canemaker (book) at Barnes and Noble and Amazon. Thursday, February 4, 2010 Today, we have drawings by DaVinci! But first, check here for info about a tape sculpture contest. (Yes, that's making sculptures out of Scotch tape! You can vote for the winner.) I'll bet DaVinci could have made some amazing tape sculptures... Garment Study
By Leonardo DaVinci  This one has a great name. The Lady of the Dishevelled Hair (or La Scapigliata)
 Hands
 Leonardo develops an interesting vehicle for an early James Bond -- the scythe chariot:
 Maybe this is the guy who would go in the chariot:
 Five characters
 Links: Universal Leonardo has information about DaVinci's inventions , his view of the world, Leonardo's take on painting aerial perspective, an in-depth biography, and more.
Thursday, January 28, 2010 He had brought a large map representing the sea,
Back in November 2008, we took a look at globes and I said we'd look at maps some other week. This is some other week! Tourne Tourne Petit Moulin
Calendria
Eva Just Had to Move
Leo Belgicus, map of the Low Countries (1611)
Chasing the Dragon
The earth as a jester
All the Tea in China
Many links this week: Library of Congress Map Collection
Thursday, January 21, 2010 Rarely do we find men who willingly engage in hard, solid thinking. There is an almost universal quest for easy answers and half-baked solutions. Nothing pains some people more than having to think.
How do you make civil rights struggles come alive with just a hunk of metal or block of cement? Like this: Police Dog Attack
~~~~~~~~ Birmingham Alabama's Historical Preservation Authority commissioned striking sculptures to commemorate the civil rights marches of 1963. The sculptures are located in Kelly Ingram Park, which used to be off-limits to people of color, and is across the street from the Sixteenth Avenue Baptist Church, where four girls were killed by a Ku Klux Klan bomb in 1963. Powerful history makes for powerful sculptures. Children's March ("I ain't afraid of your jail")
Sculpture by James Drake ~~~~~~~~ Firehosing of Demonstrators
~~~~~~~~ The Foot Soldier
~~~~~~~~ Three Ministers Kneeling The statue was based on the Revs. N.H. Smith Jr., A.D. King and John T. Porter, who led a march in downtown Birmingham on Palm Sunday 1963 to support the Revs. Martin Luther King Jr., Fred Shuttlesworth and Ralph Abernathy, who had been jailed. ~~~~~~~~
Links: Birmingham Civil Rights Institute's Making Connections: A Curriculum Guide For Grades K-12.
Thursday, January 14, 2010 Our theme this week is fantastical eclectica... Jason deCaires Taylor's Underwater Sculpture Park would give me goosebumps in person. Can you imagine accidentally happening upon his sculptures? TamCC Project
Vicissitudes
The Gardener of Lost Hope
The Archive of Lost Dreams
Taylor is environmentally-sensitive with his work, and his site explains that the sculptures "highlight ecological processes whilst exploring the intricate relationships between modern art and the environment. By using sculptures to create artificial reefs, the artist’s interventions promote hope and recovery, and underline our need to understand and protect the natural world. The sculptures are sited in clear shallow waters to afford easy access by divers, snorkellers and those in glass-bottomed boats. Viewers are invited to discover the beauty of our underwater planet and to appreciate the processes of reef evolution." ~~~~~~~~
Andrew Davidhazy is an RIT professor of Imaging and Photographic Technology who posts a generous amount of photography information online. He also shows some of his own fascinating photos, like these high speed ones. In particular, I liked the frozen lemon exploding, water rebounding out of cup, and the candle flames seen in schlieren beam. But the sneeze was also striking, in an "Ewww!" kind of way. Candle Flames Seen in Schlieren Beam
~~~~~~~~ I like calendars that I can look at for a while and still see something new, which is why I have enjoyed calendars by these two artists:
This article by Hugh Hart shows Terry Gilliam's terrific storyboards for the movie The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus and discusses how they were used. I think my favorites are the Hot Air Balloon and the Monastery, but then there's also Tony's Crag and the Doctor's Wagon... ~~~~~~~~
Have you heard of The Lightning Field by Walter De Maria? This huge land sculpture was new to me, although it has been up since 1977. It is made up of 400 stainless steel poles situated in a one mile by one kilometer area in New Mexico. The location is remote and in the desert -- you can't just casually go see it. There's a cabin where you can stay (from May-Oct) when you are visiting it, and they expect you to take your time. The foundation that maintains the installation says: "The Lightning Field is intended to be experienced over an extended period of time. A full experience of The Lightning Field does not depend upon the occurrence of lightning, and visitors are encouraged to spend as much time as possible in the field, especially during sunset and sunrise." They ask that you not post photos, which I have honored. I found this article about a trip to see it very interesting: A Pilgrimage to The Lightning Field by Todd Gibson
Thursday, January 7, 2010 “You be careful. People in masks cannot be trusted.”
This week, we're wearing the mask... Alderwood mask of a woman of high rank, possibly Djiláquons
(They can tell she is "of high rank" because of her lip plug, called a labret.) Haida, around AD 1830, from British Columbia from the British Museum
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Trifaccia
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Japanese Goldfish Mask
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It's understandable that doctors would have wanted to avoid catching the plague from their patients. But frankly, if I saw someone coming at me wearing this, I'm not sure how well I would have reacted. (Then again, if I had the plague, maybe I wouldn't have cared.) Shelley Batts offers some info about plague doctor garb here. Plague Doctor
I like some other plague doctor masks, like this one and this one. ~~~~~~~~
Singing Spirit Mask
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Mende Bundu Society (Sowei) Mask From the Africa exhibit on the SJSU gallery site: "This twentieth century mask from the Sande Society in Sierra Leone was used for ceremonial purposes in the initiation of young girls entering adulthood."
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Links: Mr. Delahunt's Mask Making how-to page (using plaster bandages -- I would love to try working with those sometime.)
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