Household Art

Finally getting some of the art back on the walls.
The photo--click to really emBIGGERate--is of a window shade that I found at a winery in Amador County, California. The desk is Carlos' , from eons past, while the Bible is mine--yes, mine--and is an old family Bible. The statue on the right is called Twisted Kitty, and is made of wrought iron. i found her in a furniture store in the Mission District of San Francisco.

This is one of the many pieces of Asian-inspired art we have in the house; there's something about these things that Carlos and I both love. It sits high on the wall in the sunroom, and you can only see it when you enter the room, so it's kind of a pleasant surprise.

My mother used to do something called Tole painting, which is a type of folk art. She learned to do this from her sister, and my mom spent years painting anything and everything. This is one of the few wall-art pieces of hers that I have and it sits in the kitchen where I can see it, and smile, every day.

And, of course, this is an example of living art. The most beautiful cat in the world, Tuxedo.

Calling All Gays....Or Straight People With Taste....or Gay or Straight People With An Opinion

So, I've repainted the living room from it's Country Bumpkin Chic, to something a little more modern and, well, me! I have one long Chocolate-y Gray wall that will soon be home to some watercolors we have, but I am in a dilemma as to which grouping.
So, what do you think? [click 'em, they emBIGGERate]


Grouping 1:
The Native American watercolor, as well as the two to the right, are being re-matted with simple white mats.

Grouping Two:
The same tow, at the right, will be re-matted in this grouping too.

Whichever is selected, the Crocus watercolor, or the Native American watercolor, the other will be placed on another wall of the living room.

Coke Goes Green

A couple of weeks back, I showed y'all some green art. As in environmentally green art. A rendition of a Van Gogh classic 'painted' with plants and flowers on the side of a museum in London. See that post HERE. Now, however, I have some new green art for you, though this time it is art of the commercial variety. Coca-Cola, in conjunction with the World Wildlife Federation [WWF], unveiled a new billboard in the Philippines that is actually good for the environment.

The 60 x 60 square foot "living" billboard in Manila is made up of thousands of Fukien tea plants surrounding the iconic curvy shape of a silver Coke bottle. The project, with the CO2-eating plants was created in conjunction with Coca-Cola Philippines’ Live Positively sustainability program.

Pots made from recycled bottles contain the 3,600 trees, which live off a mixture of organic fertilizers, and although the plants are in the first stages of growth, they are expected to grow quickly, completely taking over the billboard surface, absorbing a total of 46,800 pounds of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

Now that's green art.
And why can't we have that here?

source

Art Wednesday: Van Gogh Gogh's Green

Vincent Van Gogh painted 'A Wheatfield, with Cypresses' in September 1889, while in the St-Rémy mental asylum, near Arles, where he was a patient from May 1889 until May 1890. He made a promise to his brother that, while hospitalized, he would send 'twelve size 30 canvases' and it seems likely that 'A Wheatfield, with Cypresses' was one of them.

Now, it has become the first living painting in London's Trafalgar Square, and maybe the first living painting anywhere. Á Wheatfield with Cypresses' has been turned into a green living vertical wall, and is being used as a way to get people into the National Gallery to see the real thing.

The living painting has been constructed by a horticulture and design company which specialises in green walls and roofs. They used over 8,000 plants of 25 different varieties. In order to recreate the strong bands of colour in the painting, plants were selected to match the tones. They were then hand-planted into a modular system according to a numbered drawing. The 640 modules were grown vertically at a nursery, ready for installation.
It took 3 days to install the wall which will remain there throughout the summer and autumn, until the end of October. Given the range of plants; some flowering now, some later, it will be interesting to watch how it grows and changes over the coming seasons.
The painting was "brought to life" as part of the Gallery's long-term plan to reduce its carbon footprint. It's all part of the National Gallery's plan to go green.
Green art.
It's a good thing.
 
via treehugger

The Bad Paintings Must Die!

It's been quite the week for wackos, and the week isn't even half over.
That teacher that posted pictures of a seven-year-old on her Facebook page so she could make fun of her [HERE].
Those parents who beat up a crossing guard who was stopping their son from beating up another child [HERE].
The Wisconsin Congressman who says it's hard to live on $175,000 a year [HERE].

And now this:

Susan Burns, 53, of Alexandria, Virginia, has been charged with attempted second-degree theft and destruction of property after she attacked a Gauguin--not the person, but a painting--last Friday at the National Gallery.

Ms Burns approached the painting stealthily, then grabbed the frame, pulling the bottom edge off the wall, causing two screws to fall to the floor; when the painting wouldn't come off the wall, she began banging her fists against it. Luckily, the painting is safe behind a plastic shield, so she did no actual damage to the piece.

The Gauguin in question, "Two Tahitian Women"--which depicts two women standing next to each other, one with both breasts exposed and the other with one breast showing--is valued at an estimated $80 million. And while it was not damaged during the attempted attack, it was removed from viewing over the weekend so it could recover from the trauma.

Burns offered this excuse for her attack on art: "I feel that Gauguin is evil. He has nudity and is bad for the children. He has two women in the painting and it's very homosexual. I was trying to remove it. I think it should be burned."

She was taken in for a psychiatric evaluation after saying: "I am from the American CIA and I have a radio in my head. I am going to kill you."

No one knows if she was talking to authorities when she made that threat, or to a Picasso in the corner.

Her lawyer, Sharon Weathers, has wisely declined to comment.
 
source