Oct 29, 2012 | inspiration
Right now the trees outside are changing color and getting blown to bits by some sort of Frankenstorm while my classes keep getting canceled. So in honor of the trees that are giving their lives for me to have an extra long weekend, below you’ll find a collection of beautiful ones painted and photographed. I’ve spent a lot of time outdoors enjoying the change of seasons recently, and it really is such a beautiful time, minus all the flooding and torrential rain.
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| Image found on Tumblr here. |
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Expressions of Autumn – John Scanlan
found on Tumblr here. |
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Olive Trees, Vincent Van Gogh
found on Tumblr here. |
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Birger Sandzén, Creek at Moonrise, 1921
found on Tumblr here. |
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| Image found on Tumblr here. |
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Going Inland by Rick Stevens, pastel on paper, 2010
found here. |
Sep 1, 2012 | inspiration
It’s the back-to-school time of year, and for kids my age, back to school usually means away from home. To me, home is where your dog is or at the very least where most of your useful stuff takes up space. It’s a pain in the ass to haul all your things somewhere new every semester of college, but if you think about the grand number of times you’ll have to do it till you graduate, it’ll only make you depressed.
Each new dorm or apartment is an opportunity to recreate the space you spend the most time in (even if it’s only a few square feet), so this inspiration post is dedicated to everyone currently in transition.
May you settle with grace in a space that suits you.
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| Andrew Wyeth (1917 – 2009) – Ericksons Photo found on Tumblr here. |
This man sits patiently, hands delicately intertwined, and the expression on his face is one of near-surprise. As if he’s been looking out that same window for years and all of a sudden something’s different, someone’s arrived.
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by Belgian artist Henri de Braekeleer, 1877
Photo from Tumblr, found here. |
Although I couldn’t exactly tell if this was the man’s studio or his home, I imagine that as an artist the two places are pretty closely related. The objects in the painting remain somewhat still, but the floor and empty walls seem to shake and shimmer with the vibration of empty space.
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Henri Matisse, The Violinist at the Window, 1918
Photo found here via Tumblr. |
I love Matisse’s colored works. So many of his sketches could become masterpieces with just a little pigment. Here, the faceless violinist looks out the window as he practices. It looks like there may be a balcony indicated by the white railing beyond the windowpane, but he stays inside – almost as if he’s worried of losing the acoustics of his home, unwilling to share his sound outside.
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Daylight Raid from My Studio Window, Sir John Lavery, 1917
Photo found on Tumblr here. |
I’m not sure what he means by “Daylight Raid” since it seems remarkably peaceful outside the painted window, but my eye goes straight to the woman looking out of it. The funny thing about looking out windows with someone, is that you can’t both properly look out and look at each other at the same time, so here we’re left with the woman’s backside, half in shadow, as her shimmery dress falls on the couch she’s kneeling on. Perhaps those are planes and not birds in the sky, but I prefer the latter.
While searching for these selections, I found that most images featuring someone inside their home usually included a window or doorway somewhere, leading the eye out. I think that’s a good metaphor for the restlessness within all of us, and that sense of almost-relief you feel when there’s someplace new to move to.
Aug 13, 2012 | inspiration
Now that most forms of classical beauty have already been perfected, one of the best ways to create something aesthetically interesting is by surprising the viewer with something completely unexpected. Below you’ll find selections of art and photographs that manage to pull this off by trading in reality for something even better:
Works by Robert and Shana Parkeharrison found here:
Of the series she wrote, “Draped is about becoming the dwelling itself; experiencing the double edge of domesticity. The domestic interior of the home is a place of comfort but can also be camouflage for individual identity when the idealized decor becomes obsession, or indication of position or status.”
Living underwater, photo found
here:
Jul 25, 2012 | inspiration
Zoomed-out photographs of this great big world are ah-mazing. It kinda makes me wish I didn’t live in the city.
Below you’ll find a rainbow of scenic spaces, mostly found on tumblr, arranged by little ol’ me:
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| Flower Paradise at Hitachi Seaside Park, Japan. More pics here. |
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| ripples in Tuscany, Italy. found here. |
Jul 21, 2012 | inspiration
There’s so much to gain by comparing works with one another. Especially when they deviate only slightly. And whether it was intentional or just happenstance, it’s still interesting to see what came from two different artists with the same idea. Because no two pieces will ever be alike when they come from different hands.
Studies: Hisaji Hara’s photo studies of Balthus’ images of erotic innocence
In this series, Hara modelled his photos on paintings by the controversial 20th century artist, Balthus. But in this study of Balthus’ work, he dressed up his subjects in school uniforms to emphasize this transitional period between childhood and adulthood.
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Balthus, Katia reading (Katia Lisant), 1974, tempera on canvas, 180 x 210 cm
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Hisaji Hara, A Study of ‘Katia Reading’, 2009. Courtesy of Michael Hoppen Gallery,
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Balthus, The Room, c.1953, oil on canvas, 335 x 270.5 cm
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Hisaji Hara, A Study of ‘The Room’, 2009. Courtesy of Michael Hoppen Gallery
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Balthus, Portrait de Therese, 1939, Lithograph.
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Hisaji Hara, A Study of ‘Portrait of Therese’, 2009.
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Similars: Although the following works were made independently, they both show representations of a kind of drawn long-exposure, revealing multiple hand-on-head poses of worry.
Jul 7, 2012 | inspiration
You know those surrealist or even just plain weird pieces that take look normal till you look twice? Combining the expected and unexpected can be a great way to make a point, or just make things interesting. Here are a couple good ones. You may need to look awhile:)
Rafal Olbinski:
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| Ebb Tide (2007) |
Tumblr finds, found here:
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| “What is a Home?” |
