Posts Tagged ‘art’

What is tattoo Tuesday about?

April 15, 2014

The tattoo this week is about the lunar eclipse. A lunar eclipse is a fascinating sight. This time, however, I missed it because this is what I woke up to.

I hope the daffodils survive. I was at the beach on Sunday – brought a book and a lawn chair and sat in the sun – temps in the upper 70s at least. The temperature of the lake? That is another matter entirely. It won’t warm up until much later. Too often we go from winter directly into summer (and back again) here is the Connecticut Western Reserve.

I will try to catch another lunar eclipse later in the year. This information is from NASA:

For people in the United States, an extraordinary series of lunar eclipses is about to begin.

The action starts on April 15^th when the full Moon passes through the amber shadow of Earth, producing a midnight eclipse visible across North America. So begins a lunar eclipse tetrad—a series of 4 consecutive total eclipses occurring at approximately six month intervals. The total eclipse of April 15, 2014, will be followed by another on Oct. 8, 2014, and another on April 4, 2015, and another on Sept. 28 2015.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged art, astronomy, Connecticut Western Reserve, geeky science blogging, NASA, nature, science, space, spring, style, tattoo Tuesday, tattoos, weather | 2 Comments »

Where am I hanging out?

April 14, 2014

I was searching for something else entirely when I came across these photographs of the building of the Empire State Building. The post was about corporate negligence about safety issues. That aside, I think the photos are interesting and beautiful. These is something so lovely about fine grained, black and white photos with high contrast. These are attributed to sociologist and photographer, Lewis Wickes Hines.

Empire State Building Being Built in 1930

No such thing as OSHA back then! Amazingly, it is believed only 5 people died during the construction and one of them was hit by a truck. Interesting photos taken during construction of the Empire State Building.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged architecture, art, construction, Empire State Building, history, Lewis Wickes Hines, photography, travel | Leave a Comment »

What am I Lego loving?

April 10, 2014

“For a certain set of artists and thinkers, Legos are not mere child’s play, but objects of both abstract and formal perfection.”

When Bjarke Ingels, the visionary leader of the Danish architectural firm BIG, first heard about the competition to build the Lego House, a museum and activity center near the toy company’s headquarters in Billund, Denmark, he gathered his staff. “If there was one building that BIG was founded to build,” Ingels announced, “this is it.”

For Ingels, Lego proportions have a mystical perfection that “borders on the Da Vinci code.” Like most enthusiasts, Ingels refers to them as “bricks,” not “Legos”; he doesn’t see them as toys, but as tools for “systematic creativity.'”

Some LEGO history:

“When Ole Kirk Kristiansen founded Lego in 1932, the company made wooden toys, but after World War II, it switched to plastic. The Lego brick as we know it today was developed in the mid-1950s. From the start, it was a feat of classic Scandinavian design: clean, practical, reliable and somewhat revolutionary with its “clutch power,” which made it easy to snap and unsnap. Today, Lego enthusiasts marvel that those first Legos still fit perfectly with the current ones, and that six identical eight-studded bricks can be combined in more than 900 million ways. “The human condition is, sadly, divisive,” the British television host James May said on an episode of his show “Toy Stories,” on which he explored a full-size house he built entirely out of Lego bricks. “But there are simple spiritual experiences that unite all of humanity in unqualified communal joy: sex, the dance, foot massage — and to those I would add the simple sensation of pressing Lego bricks together.””

This article is from the New York Times; it goes on to talk more about artists who are attracted to and who use LEGOs in their work.

I don’t think I posted this video of James May’s Toy Story that shows how a battalion of volunteers built him a LEGO house. Here is a short clip of the results.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged architecture, art, James May, nature, style, whimsey | Leave a Comment »

What am I reading, er, eating on tattoo Tuesday?

April 8, 2014

Our lovely, local, independent bookstore sponsors an Edible Book Fair every April. Everyone is invited to submit a totally edible interpretation of a book. The entries are displayed, judged, and eaten. The set up and the voting takes a couple of hours. You can’t imagine how quickly the displays are devoured!

The book I chose was The Watermelon Seed by Greg Pizzoli which is the Recipient of the 2014 Theodor Seuss Geisel Award for the most distinguished beginning reader book.

I humbly announce that our entry (above) consisting of a fondant-covered red velvet cake watermelon with watermelon slice-shaped sugar cookies won the award for Most Appetizing. The prizes in the contest are, not a surprise, books! It is a lot of fun to see what people – kids and adults – come up with.

Edible Book Festivals have become a global event, read more here.

Tuesday would not be complete without tattoos:

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged art, baking, books, bookstore, cooking, Dr Seuss, Edible Book Festival, food, food art, holidays, tattoo Tuesday, tattoos, watermelon | 2 Comments »

What is tattoo Tuesday about?

April 1, 2014

A programmable tattoo system from Mood Ink. It let’s you change your tattoo to suit your mood or to match any occasion.

Buy it for $149.99 at Think Geek – or perhaps it is just for April Fools.

ref: I New Idea

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged art, entertainment, tattoo Tuesday, tattoos, whimsey | 2 Comments »

What am I sappycat blogging?

March 28, 2014

“If you’re an adult, especially a cat-loving adult, a more sophisticated hotcake might be in order. It doesn’t get any classier than these Japanese pancakes, which serve as a playground for sweet frolicking kitties. And if pancakes aren’t your breakfast style, check out the donuts!

The cats are so cute you just want to eat them up. And you can, because they are completely edible! Actually, sadly, you can’t eat them because these adorable confections are not for sale. They are made by a Japanese housewife named Caroline, who bakes them up every February 22 (Cat’s Day in Japan) for her family to enjoy.

So, unless you marry into Caroline’s family, you’ll just have to ooh and ah over these awe-inspiring photos. And could you really stomach eating such pure cuteness in the first place? It would be like lighting up your kitty swatting a ball of yarn candle.”

Thanks, Katie, for this reference reblogged from The Cat Channel

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged animals, art, baking, cats, cooking, food, food art, Friday, sappy cat blogging, whimsey | 4 Comments »

What am I looking at?

March 19, 2014

Food art at my local grocery store. They were giving samples of tangerines . . .

and they are delicious!

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged art, food, food art, tangerines | Leave a Comment »

What is tattoo Tuesday about?

February 25, 2014

February 24 was Winslow Homer’s 178th birthday. Homer is probably best known for his seascapes, but he started his career as a print maker. In 1861, he was sent to the front as an artist-correspondent recording the battles and conditions of the American Civil War.

He lived a good part of his life in New York City employed as a magazine illustrator, but his travels to the east coast of New England, the White Mountains of New Hampshire and eventually to Europe – Paris and the English seaside, influenced his work. He has been described as foreshadowing the abstract movement, but I think his work is most characterized by his mastery of air, water and weather.

A longer biography can be found here.

Homer eventually settled in Prouts Neck, Maine. Some of his most famous paintings come from his life and work in that area. Interestingly, his studio still exists and it has recently been restored:

On September 25, 2012 the Portland Museum of Art opened the Winslow Homer Studio to the public for the first time. One of the most significant locations in the history of American art, the Studio, located at Prouts Neck, Maine, is where the great American artist Winslow Homer (1836-1910) lived and painted many of his masterpieces from 1883 until his death.

Ref. Pine State Services (of all things)

It is tattoo Tuesday, but I thought that finding a tattoo related to Winslow Homer was a long-shot, but I was wrong:

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged American Civil War, art, birthday, Boys in a Meadow, history, Maine, Prouts Neck, tattoo Tuesday, tattoos, The Gulf Stream, Winslow Homer | 2 Comments »

What is tattoo Tuesday about?

February 18, 2014

On February 18, 1930, Clyde W. Tombaugh, an assistant at the Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona, discovered Pluto. For over seven decades, Pluto was considered the ninth planet of our solar system.

Now we know that is not the case.