This remarkable orrery was built by Ken Toonz. I am amazed.
I am posting this today in honor of the blue moon, blood moon, lunar eclipse that I am sure we will not be able to see in Metropark Centralis, because snow.
Posts Tagged ‘art’
Where am I living?
January 29, 2018
“Raymond Isidore didn’t plan on becoming an artist—let alone a sculptor who would go on to cover nearly every surface of his small home with glittering mosaics. But after a fateful stroll in 1938, when a shiny piece of broken crockery caught his eye, Isidore devoted the majority of the remainder of his life on the outskirts of Chartres, France, to the creation of one of the world’s most unique homes—an ecstatic expression of the untrained artist’s bursting imagination.
Isidore was born into a humble family in Chartres in 1900, and as a young man landed a position as the caretaker of a local cemetery. By all accounts, he led a provincial life; he married a woman roughly 10 years his senior and bought a humble plot of land not far from the famed Chartres Cathedral. There, Isidore built what began as a simple cottage, but soon transformed into his masterwork, known as La Maison Picassiette, which still stands and is accessible to the public today.”
What am I knitting?
January 25, 2018
“Over the last four years, photographer Joseph Ford (previously) has collaborated with friend and knitter Nina Dodd to create a project that blends models into their environments rather than having them stand out. Each subject wears a custom hand-knit sweater by Dodd that transforms their torso, partially camouflaging their body into a highly textured wall, striped running track, or for one pooch—the leaves of dense shrub.
The series, Knitted Camouflage, also features a collaboration with French street artist Monsieur Chat who painted one of his trademark cats on the wall of a derelict factory for the photographer.”
I love this stuff.
Why are ceramic artists so good at dealing with failure?
January 10, 2018
photo: deightonceramics
“In mid-November, Jennie Jieun Lee was moving a life-size ceramic sculpture of a woman out of her studio. The piece, which had taken her a few months to create, was about to be photographed, ahead of its debut at a Miami art fair just weeks later. But Lee’s dolly hit a bump, and the ceramic figure toppled to the floor. It was shattered irreparably.
What exactly makes clay so volatile? Issues can arise at the earliest stages, from the moistness of the material to the way it’s kneaded and stored. If clay is too wet or too dry, it can collapse or crumble; if its parts are improperly attached, it can break; if it’s not “bone dry” when it’s fired, the piece may crack or explode in the kiln.
photo: deightonceramics
Glazing, too, is notoriously tricky; if the coating is too thick or too thin, the desired results are impossible. Plus, chemical reactions between clay and glaze can cause things like “shivering,” when a glaze cracks and flakes off a piece’s surface. And firing is a science all its own, which, when executed poorly, can also lead to cracks and explosions. Indeed, ceramists are not only challenged to achieve feats of dexterity and creativity, but also chemistry. Of course, even when a piece is complete, there’s ample danger of the fragile material breaking.”
Why do it at all?
“There is such thrill in opening a kiln door after a work has been fired,” Wedel explains. “There is so much hope and so much wonder. The material has the final say over who you are as an artist. It can be both humbling and humiliating, and not many artists are okay with that.”
I don’t typically take photos of my failures, but I do have my share of them. I follow The Potters Motto: Make another one; just make another one.
My recent firing – It was a good day
What (wat) is pretty cool?
December 20, 2017
The Samphran district of Thailand holds one of the most unusual Buddhist temples found in the country. The bright pink temple, called Wat Samphran, stands 17-stories high and is wrapped in a scaly green dragon. More here from Colossal.
How am I Dancing?
November 29, 2017
Here at Fancy Pants University we have a totally cool Hololab facility for teaching, visualizing and now . . . for performances.
What am I watching?
November 15, 2017
This video of the end credits from “Boxtrolls” came from Colossal
What am I baking?
November 6, 2017Creations are by Ukrainian architect, artist and pastry chef, Dinara Kasko. See more at her website.
What is tattoo Tuesday about?
October 31, 2017
Artist Pony Reinhardt of Portland-based Tenderfoot Studio produces wildly creative tattoos which she describes as a “cosmic cataclysm of the Ghastly Phantastic.” Images of the natural world mingle with stars and elements of sacred geometry in a style reminiscent of old etchings and woodblock prints. Reinhardt has also exhibited fine art at the Smithsonian National Gallery of Art and is a US Presidential Scholar of the Arts.
Gunsmoke and Knitting 