La Petite Jardiniere

This is what we are about: We plant the seeds that one day will grow. We water seeds already planted, knowing that they hold future promise." | Archbishop Oscar Romero
Gardening Daniel Ridgway Knight (American-born French genre painter, 1839-1924) la petite jardiniere

John Everett Millaise

This is Millais's first important religious subject, showing a scene from the boyhood of Christ. When it was exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1850 it was given no title, but accompanied by a biblical quotation: 'And one shall say unto him, What are those wounds in thine hands? Then he shall answer, Those with which I was wounded in the house of my friends.' (Zech. 13:6)

Christian symbolism figures prominently in the picture. The carpenter's triangle on the wall, above Christ's head, symbolises the Holy Trinity. The wood and nails prefigure the crucifixion, as does the blood on the young Christ's hand, which he has cut on a nail, and which drips onto his foot. The young St John is shown fetching a bowl of water with which to bathe the wound. This clearly identifies him as the Baptist, and the image is extended by the white dove perched on the ladder, symbol of the Holy Spirit, which descended from Heaven at the baptism of Christ.

Following the Pre-Raphaelite credo of truth to nature, Millais painted the scene in meticulous detail and based the setting on a real carpenter's shop in Oxford Street. The sheep in the background, intended to represent the Christian flock, were drawn from two sheep's heads obtained from a local butcher. He avoided using professional models, and relied instead on friends and family. Joseph's head was a portrait of Millais's own father, but the body was based on a real carpenter, with his rough hands, sinewy arms and prominent veins. The Virgin Mary was his sister-in-law Mary Hodgkinson, who also appears in Millais's Isabella (1848-9, Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool); John the Baptist was posed by a young adopted cousin, Edwin Everett; and Nöel Humphreys, the son of an artist friend, sat for the young Christ.

The public reaction to the picture was one of horror and Millais was viciously attacked by the press. The Times described the painting as 'revolting' and objected to the way in which the artist had dared to depict the Holy Family as ordinary, lowly people in a humble carpenter's shop 'with no conceivable omission of misery, of dirt, of even disease, all finished with the same loathsome minuteness'. Charles Dickens was one of the most vehement critics, describing the young Christ as 'a hideous, wry-necked, blubbering, red-headed boy, in a bed gown' (Household Words, 15 June 1850).

A Midsummer Night's Dream

The first time I watched the 1935 version of "A Midsummer Night's Dream" with Anita Louise as Queen Tatania, Victor Jory as Oberon the King of the Faeries, Mickey Rooney plays the mischevious Puck, and a whole host of other characters, it was pure delight and enchantment. It was such a beautiful production - so dreamlike. The dialogue was musical and lovely to hear. Of course, I didn't really understand the story line, but then, I did not care. I wanted this world that was created on the screen. It took me away from the mundane and sometimes harsh world around me.

Queen Tatania (aka Anita Louise) was so beautiful. I wanted to look like her - to be her.

She was portrayed more like an angel than anything else.

“If we shadows have offended,
Know but this and all is mended.
That you have but slumbered here,
While these visions did appear,
And this weak and idle theme,
No more yielding, but a dream.”

Here are some excerpts:
In his multi-volume history of the Third Reich, historian Richard Evans writes that "the Nazis regarded the churches as the strongest and toughest reservoirs of ideological opposition to the principles they believed in." Once Hitler and the Nazis came to power, they launched a ruthless drive to subdue and weaken the Christian churches in Germany. Evans points out that after 1937 the policies of Hitler's government became increasingly anti-religious.

The Nazis stopped celebrating Christmas, and the Hitler Youth recited a prayer thanking the Fuhrer rather than God for their blessings. Clergy regarded as "troublemakers" were ordered not to preach, hundreds of them were imprisoned, and many were simply murdered. Churches were under constant Gestapo surveillance. The Nazis closed religious schools, forced Christian organizations to disband, dismissed civil servants who were practicing Christians, confiscated church property, and censored religious newspapers. Poor Sam Harris cannot explain how an ideology that Hitler and his associates perceived as a repudiation of Christianity can be portrayed as a "culmination" of Christianity.

The Stag at eve had drunk his fill.....

The Stag Hunt
Sir Walter Scott (1771–1832)

From “The Lady of the Lake,” Canto I.

The stag at eve had drunk his fill,
Where danced the moon on Monan's rill,...

Then, as the headmost foes appeared,
With one brave bound the copse he cleared,
And, stretching forward free and far,
Sought the wild heaths of Uam-Var...

A moment listened to the cry,
That thickened as the chase drew nigh;
Then, as the headmost foes appeared,
With one brave bound the copse he cleared,...

For jaded now, and spent with toil,
Embossed with foam, and dark with soil,
While every gasp with sobs he drew,
The laboring stag strained full in view...

The wily quarry shunned the shock,
And turned him from the opposing rock;
Then, dashing down a darksome glen,
Soon lost to hound and Hunter's ken,
In the deep Trosachs' wildest nook
His solitary refuge took.

Bending Sticks: The Sculpture of Patrick Dougherty

This man's sculptures touch me in a deeply profound way....I cannot explain it, but I love it.

Watercolor of fishing boats

This week I've been working on a watercolor after van Gogh, "Fishing boats on the beach at Saintes-Maries", and it has been very difficult. I love van Gogh's work and this particular little watercolor of the fishing boats is wonderful. I've always wanted to try it and found out that it was challenging. I had to break the field into threes and then make a graph on clear plastic placing it over the original watercolor ( I mean a copy of the original). It was the only way I could confidently draw the scene. I will include my drawing and then my watercolor. I plan to copy a few more van gogh's -- starry night and the cafe scene are favorites of mine. I don't trace, but just looking at the picture and then drawing it is challenging enough.
Here is the drawing I did first:

The Chained Goldfinch

Fabritius is generally considered Rembrandt's most gifted pupil and a painter of outstanding originality and distinction, but he died tragically young in the explosion of the Delft gunpowder magazine, leaving only a tiny body of work. Of all Rembrandt's pupils, Fabritius was the only one to develop his own artistic style. Fabritius' portraits feature delicately lit subjects against light-colored, textured backgrounds. He became interested in the technical aspects of painting. He used cool color harmonies to create shape in a luminous style of painting.
This very small painting on a panel measuring 13"x 9" is of a chained golfinch and one of only a handful of paintings to survive down the ages. Against a luminous, whitewashed wall—a hallmark of the Delft school but here marked by crumbling plasterwork and patches of scumbled, slate-blue priming—Fabritius paints to scale a common goldfinch tethered by a delicate metal chain. The artist's name and the date at the lower edge appear not painted but incised into the same blue-gray ground, and the color is repeated in the square feedbox at center, in cast shadows, in underpainting on the circular wooden rungs, and in the bird's soft down. The composition is elegant in its spare simplicity: Only the goldfinch and its shadow offset the subtle balance of hard edges and swagging curves that create its perfect symmetry.

The slope of the box, the slanted shade, and the steep angle at which we see the bird suggest that Fabritius intended his small painting to be hung high and viewed at a slight distance, the vantage point at which its captured illusion of a tiny creature peering down from its perch is most convincing. The painter draws us near, however, with the dazzling virtuosity of his brushwork. Strokes of paint remain perceptible on the surface and range from veils of thin pigment and soft swirls of darkened reds to crusted threads of glistening white impasto.

Apparently, the goldfinch was a favorite pet in Dutch homes and is often seen depicted in Dutch paintings. The goldfinch had also figured in countless devotional images as a symbol of death and resurrection, its small spot of red plumage an allusion to Christ's passion.
http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052748704483004575524242638692182

Art is not what you see.....

Edgar Degas said, "Art is not what you see, but what you make others see." Just came across this wonderfully talented artist, Anne-France Fulgence. Her work is beautiful; it's poetry.

A F Fulgence - Between Light and Shadow

Anne-France Fulgence, artist

Clouds

I don't know what it is about clouds, but I find them so fascinating. They are at once seemingly substantial and yet ephemeral. They are so beautiful -- I want to paint this pic of clouds. Will post if it comes out well.

Little Dutch shoes

I don't know what it is about little wooden dutch shoes, but I love them. I plan to paint this pair on canvas:

The Cherry

This is my second attempt at painting with acrylics. I was so frustrated with the first painting because my brushes were awful -- bought new brushes and they work great! The process was really fun and I'm basically happy with the painting. I'll continue to hone my skills and work with acrylics as much as I can so I know what I'm doing instead of just making happy accidents.

The Apple

After a wonderful few days of vacation with our friends in their timeshare, I'm back home inspired to paint again. It's been years -- literally-- since I picked up my paint brushes. I was lost -- how do I begin? The first thing I did was go to Joanne's and buy a pack of canvases already primed, acrylics, cheap paintbrushes, and other supplies. $81.00 later, and I'm ready to start a painting. I can't remember how I found this guy -- Will Kemp -- but, I went to his website and started reading and watching his videos on painting. He is a truly talented young artist and his style resonates with me. The first project to paint: the apple. Here is my rendition following Will Kemp's instructions. I'm happy to start painting again and will post more work as I finish it.

Anne Hathaway sings, I Dreamed a Dream

The Madonna of the Dry Tree

Petrus Christus, Madonna of the Dry Tree, c. 1465
Oil on oak (5 3/4" x 4 7/8")
Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid
There are so many interesting aspects to this tiny painting, symbolism abounds. The Tree of Knowledge, withered and dry after Adam and Eve ate of its fruit, comes to life through the Virgin. The Virgin, herself the miraculous product of the barren Anne, in turn gives birth via the Immaculate Conception. The dry tree presages the crown of thorns, representing Christ’s sacrifice for man’s redemption. Another fascinating element of this painting are the 15 golden ‘A’s that hang from the thorns of the tree. These represent Ave Maria, the Hail Mary prayer of the rosary. Ave is the reverse of Eva, or Eve—a reminder that Eve’s fall is redeemed through Mary, the new Eve, who is not only the mother of Christ but the intercessor for all mankind.

Mary’s cloak is wonderfully depicted in all details of folds, showing the technical skill of painting of Petrus Christus. The folds also give a lively impression to an otherwise fixed image that was also rare in pictures of the Virgin of those times. The baby Jesus enhances the liveliness further since he seems to struggle out of Mary’s arms, wanting to go into the world on his own. Jesus is oblivious of the seriousness of the theme. Here too, Petrus Christus somewhat evolved tradition since he painted the Virgin holding Jesus in her right arm, with her left hand gently playing or holding Jesus’s toes. The face of the Virgin is dignified, aware of the mystery of her conception and of the importance of her son and unafraid. This is not a subdued Mary lost in sorrows, but a triumphant and confident mother who sees the dangers and the cruel menace but who chooses to ignore the fate because of her motherly love.
link: http://venetianred.net/2010/06/28/petrus-christus-the-madonna-of-the-dry-tree/;
http://www.theartofpainting.be/AOM-Virgin_of_the_dry_Tree.htm

Rabbit and sweetpea

There's just something about this rabbit that I love.
artist: C.C.Barton

The Creative Spirit

Just read this wonderful piece on repurposing our time and it is inspiring:
(and, I love her artwork)
Over the years I have spent thousands of hours drawing. God has been gracious in allowing me to use that time drawing, and I can’t call myself a genius. But the time invested is certainly a reason why drawing comes extra easy.

Ann Voscamp wrote a beautiful post, “How to Nurture Geniuses”, and I highly recommend that everyone read it!

“What would happen if every Christian used the 4 hours daily spent in front of the television a day (more than 126 hours a month!) or the near hour a day the average American surfs the internet and spent two of those hours developing their skill in a particular domain . . . and one hour more on the spiritual disciplines that lead into a deeper relationship with God, (prayer, memorization, Bible meditation, fasting) – only repurposing three hours a day from the five we spend on passive entertainment — and in one decade, our entire culture – and the world at large – would be entirely revolutionized. How are we being faithful stewards of our 10,000 hours?”

What would happen? Can you imagine? Head on over there and read it and be inspired!
http://www.abowlofmossandpebbles.com/

Tangled

The Snowman

MOSAICS

I love mosaics -- they are so beautiful and inspiring.