Month: May 2022

Thoughts About Art From an Artist and Painter

What is art? It is one of those topics that maybe we all will never come totally in agreement with. There are always pieces of art that defy the imagination and capture your heart, and sometimes there is art where we stand back and look and wonder what it is all about.

Art is individual, as individual as each one of us. But the reality is whatever an artist produces is art but it just comes down to whether the masses accept it or reject it.

Art to me is very personal, and each piece is unique not only in its look but in the feel it represents on the canvas.

When I paint I try to capture the feeling of the moment. I paint with my hands and hardly ever use a brush as I feel the need to work as quickly as I can to produce the feelings that I want to express. So I work with speed capturing the moment at that time.

With the combination of feelings and fantasy I cover the canvas. I try not to make or follow any rules or allow restrictions as anything is allowed on the canvas.

The first layer is the beginning of the creation and as I add textures and shapes the pictures develop a life of their own.

Art to me is capturing the mood, the feelings of the moment, and transferring it onto the canvas. By working this way the pictures have their own individuality and expression, and everyone begins to see something different in each picture. The more you look into the canvas the more you can begin to see come out to you. That to me is art, so that the person looking onto the painting can use their own imagination when they see the painting, just like the artist did on its creation.…

Art Galleries of the World

Galleries are for the display of art works. Obviously in this case art means only visual forms like paintings, sculptures, installations, furniture, textiles, and decorative pieces. Among all, painting has the maximum variety. There are oil colors, water colors, pastels, sketches, drawings, collages and prints as different media. Again the bases may vary from canvas, glass, metal plates and draperies.

Cave of Altamira in Spain is the prehistoric gallery. The Magdelenean paintings with charcoal, ochre and hematite on the wall of the cave are considered to be the oldest paintings on the globe. Only Machu-pichu of Peru is analogous to cave of Altamira. This is the architectural marvel constructed by the Inkas in between fifteenth century and sixteenth century AD.

Globally the galleries now are either housed inside museums or they are constructed separately with a motto of business and its propagation for profit and also for other non-profit purposes of publicity. Sometimes such places are often owned by congregations of artists and/ or co-operatives. The galleries in museums are nearly three hundred in number. They are spread over the six continents. Europe houses most of them. Then there North America (US and Canada) comes, followed by Asia, Latin America, Oceania and Africa. But these are the places of conservation of historic artifacts. The contemporary ones chiefly encourage the work by contemporary painters and sculptors.

The galleries within museums are the hub of preservation and propagation of relic of past days. The places housing present day artifacts not only displays and conserves them but also propagates the ideals, aspirations and ambitions of painters and sculptors involved in creating them. There are more than twenty such places all over the world. Africa and Oceania has none. Most of them have been flocked in North America. Following stands together Asia and Europe. While there are eight exhibition and sale hub of contemporary artifacts in North America, Asia and Europe house five each. Latin America follows with two such centers.…

Indian Sketch – Arts That Depict Artist’s State of Mind

When it comes to the most admired form of Indian art that has occupied its distinct value in the global arena then the name of Indian sketch art and sketch painting would come first. Sketch art is the hasty drawing that is made in the initial stage and kept for further use or showcase. The sketch painting basically serves as an outline for future works. According to the experts, sketch painting is an informal composition, where in majority of the cases, the artists do not give the final touch. Here, in this article we will discuss about the Indian sketch art and will explore different aspects of this form of art.

According the records, India has its relation with sketch art for over centuries. The Indian artists prepare their sketches through different ways, by using different types of materials. The sketch paintings are usually made of pencil, charcoal, wax crayons, pen and clay. By using clay beautiful artworks can be made and a large number of Indian artists have the mastery in preparing beautiful sketches using clay.

The experts say that the sketch art is the form of art that gives the artists immense scope to express themselves in literally any way they want. The sketch painting gives an insight into the hearts of the artists and the artworks clearly depict the state of mind of the artists. It is a fact that while preparing a sketch artwork the painters do not use any eraser. Sometimes the artists use erasers to smudge lines or in order to soften those.

The sketch paints are made on notebooks or sketch pads. While preparing a sketch the artists give special attention on the shading and blending parts, because these are two important parts of the sketch paintings. All the painters keep in mind that shading should be done by keeping the effects of light and shade in mind.

Every sketch painter should keep in mind that beauty of a painting will depend on the right selection of copper paper and the media. The weight of the sketch paper and its tooth determine whether a sketch paper can be used for multi-purpose manner or not. All these factors determine the price of an artwork.

In the present time purchasing an elegant Indian sketch painting is not at all a matter of concern for the art lovers. The internet medium has made it convenient as well as affordable.…

Evolution of Installations

Evolution of Installations Installation art is a genre of contemporary art. It flourished in the 1970s.

Opinions on Root

A group links this form to the works of earlier champions such as Marcel Duchamp’s readymade and to Kurt Schwitters’ Merz art objects.

Another group opines that it roots in the conceptual trends of the 1960s.

This genre in Japan is an earlier phenomenon pampered by the Gutai group since 1954 and that inspired American pioneers in the same form like Allan Kaprow and Carsten Holler.

But all this shows drastic shift from conventional sculptures.

Installation as a name of specific form did not occur until1969. It was not recognized as a discrete category before the mid-twentieth century. Allan Kaprow called the form as “Environment” in 1958 to tell about his altered indoor spaces; later on it was described as “project art” and “temporary art.” Basically, installation/environmental art appeals to the spectator’s entire visual experience, in contrast to the appeal of framed points of foci suspended from a “neutral” wall or showcasing discrete objects on different pedestals. Thus it fixes dimensional constants only on space and time.

Richard Wagner, first in 1849, consciously addressed all the senses of observers’ viewing experience in totality in his work Gesamtkunstwerk including all major forms music, poetry and painting. The critics of millennium have observed that the works of this genre created during the 1980s and 1990s typically consist of complex architectural settings, environmental sites and extensive use of everyday objects in ordinary contexts. As soon as video came in 1965, a coexisting string of installations evolved through exploiting new and ever-changing technologies gradually incorporating multimedia and virtual reality environments.

From the 1980s, several institutions, like Mattress Factory, Pittsburgh and the Museum of Installation, London, began focusing on this form to be treated as separate discipline.…

Take a Trip to France’s World Renowned Museums

France have some of the most spectacular museums in the world. Lets take a closer look at these.

At the top of the list, it has to be the Musee de Louvre. This lovely museum, is situated in Paris’s first arrondissement of the largest palace in the world. Here you will find beautiful pieces of artwork from the Mona Lisa by da Vinci to the beautiful Venus de Milo statue. When entering the Louvre, you can pick up a free information brochure and map at the information desk.

The Musee d’Orsay is located in the seventh arrondissement and contains the largest collection of Impressionist masterpieces that is exhibited across three floors. This neoclassical Gare d’Orsay train station was transformed into a fantastic museum which focuses on art from the year 1848 to 1914. Here you will find works from Manet to Monet and even from van Gogh to Renoir.

The third museum that also houses some of the world’s most treasured artworks and situated in Paris is the Centre Georges Pompidou. This spectacular museum has been open since 1966 and contains one of the world’s best collections of modern art.

In the coastal resort of Beaulieu you will find Villa Kerylos which is situated between Nice and Monaco. This villa is a replica of an ancient Greek home and was built and designed by an archaeologist by the name of Theodore Reinach. This home is filled with riches from the old world from frescoes to mosaics and much more. It also has a special gallery which contains antiquities such as copies of the Discus Thrower and the Venus de Milo.

The Musee Picasso is situated in Antibes which can be found on the French Riviera. In the autumn of 1946, Picasso came to work and live in the Chateau Grimaldi which was back then an art museum. Once Picasso died, the museum was renamed in honor of him. During his stay in Antibes, he donated more than one hundred and eighty one pieces of artwork which ranged from paintings to sculptures and ceramics.

Lastly, Foundation Maeght. Foundation Maeght is situated in St-Paul-de-Vence which is one of the most delightful Riviera hill towns and home to a wide variety of artists. This avante-garde building houses some of the greatest pieces of modern art in the world and contains permanent collections of Matisse, Chagall, Bonnard and even Calder, just to name a few.…

The Milwaukee Art Museum, Getting it Off the Ground

When Santiago Calatrava first was awarded the competition to build the Milwaukee Art Museum, beating out such luminaries as Arato Isozaki and Fumihiko Maki, the thought of such an exciting building did not exist.

There were already sections of the MAM extant, built by Eero Saarinen and David Kahler. But it was evident that by the late 1980s there would need to be some sort of a drastic change if the museum was to provide an effective ongoing service to its patrons and visitors.

The museum directors at least had the vision to see that sweeping changes would be necessary, but it is highly unlikely that they could even begin to imagine what Santiago Calatrava might have had in store for them.

One of the earlier problems before any of the construction got underway was the budget. Like many such projects, the estimated cost grew rapidly due to the ever expanding vision which Mr. Calatrava had for the building.

Starting out at a relatively modest $8 to $10 million dollars, it soon became evident that the final design would cost more – a lot more. Rapidly the price elevated to $35 million, drawing loud concerns from the directors. This was not to be the end of the cost increases, however, with the final bill leaping into the stratosphere at $75 million.

While all this may sound somewhat extravagant, it is not in the least unusual in the rarefied world of exquisite structures such as this. Rarely does any sort of major building come in at the original intended budget. And the MAM certainly proves that point in spades!

However, get off the ground it did, in large part due to Mr. Calatrava’s not inconsiderable charm at getting the moneyed gentry to open up their purses.

Has the cost been worth it? You only need look at the wildly spectacular results in terms of visitors to the museum since it has been open. The original projections were completely blown out of the water right from day one. The museum has been an outstanding success. Not only due to Santiago Calatrava – although he must take much of the credit – but to a long list of people who made sure that the museum did, in fact, get off the ground in the first place.…

Art Museum and Galleries Available at Washington DC

Washington DC is one of the biggest cities in the United States of America. It is also a home to many museums. This makes it very rich in terms of heritage. One of the most crucial museums that are available in this city is the International Spy Museum. This is a museum that serves as an exhibition centre for things and ways used by the intelligence personnel to arrest criminals. This is a good centre for the local people to learn how the intelligence of their state works. It is also a good place for the students who wish to venture into the intelligence arena. It will equip them with a base for building their career. These students will have access to the materials used by the intelligence agents. The material contained here are past and modern. It is a good place to learn how intelligence has improved.

Another museum you can check on is the National Air and Space Museum. It will show you the art of space exploration. The museum contains the models and pictures of many aircraft that were used long time ago. These pictures have been designed in a very creative manner. This museum is a center that will show you artistic designs of modern aircraft like the F-16. This centre has the model of the first space craft that landed on moon. Other arts in this museum are spaceships and submarines.

Another art museum that is found in Washington DC is the Bead Museum. This is a small museum that is located within this city. It is used to exhibit some of the best world class gems and jewelry. This museum was named after beads because some of the best beads collections of the world are found here. This museum houses both past and recent day jewelry. It is a museum that was constructed to nurture the talent and safeguard the work of artisans who have been in this industry for so long with the aim of providing the best jewelry to people.

The National Museum of African art is another museum that you can visit when in Washington DC. This is a museum that has a collection of African art which includes jewelry, baskets and dolls. There is also the American Art Museum that contains some of the world’s renowned collection of paintings. This is the place you will see the work of some of the world’s well known artists.…

How To Choose A Painting

We cannot image the modern world without art. It plays a continual, though often unnoticed role as decoration, and a more important one in the realization of our conceptions, creative ideas, and spiritual experiences. It’s a profitable business for some people, and others find it necessary to the peace of their soul. It means something different to everyone, and all of us have our preferences as to particular works.

Choosing a picture can be very difficult – large or small, dark or light, which genre, do you prefer figurative or abstract, do you value more a famous artist or an unknown amateur? So how do you make your choice? The most important thing is to listen to yourself, get to know yourself: your tastes, preferences, outlook on life. When you are selecting the picture it is not necessary to be guided by the preferences of others, which can be deceptive, for only you know what you need.

But there are important practical considerations, depending on where you want to put it and what you want it for. Thus, when choosing a picture, you need to evaluate it for colors, size, appearance and your inner emotional reaction to it as a work of art.

Let’s start with color. This needs to chime well with the location you are intending the artwork for, but also bear in mind that color and light patterns have a significant impact on mood, which will transmit to anyone looking at the work. For example, very dark colors sometimes oppress and suppress people; very bright and challenging colors sometimes irritate and can make someone nervous; while dull colors can induce feelings of sadness. Choose a picture in the colors which are pleasant to your eye, which you can enjoy for hours without feeling fatigue and irritation.

The size is also significant. “Big” does not automatically mean “good.” Bear in mind the size of the room, the place you want to put it, and the impression you want it to give.

And lastly, the most important thing. This should be your picture! You have to feel its soul. Pick the subject, fabrics and genre in accordance with your personal preferences. Are you a romantic at heart? Then consider a quiet pastoral composition, or perhaps classic portraits or a simple abstraction. Are you an active person who cannot imagine life without constant motion? Then perhaps you should choose a dynamic composition. If you are creative and modern, then maybe surreal and impressionistic works are for you.

Get to know yourself and you can never go wrong in choosing the correct picture. Just never stop, learn new aspects of your multifaceted personality and don’t be afraid to experiment!…

Seattle, Washington – For the Love of Coffee and Music

Though famous for its love of coffee, Seattle does not end on it alone. Seattle was named Emerald City with a rich culture which perfectly defines what it has become today. With an estimated population of 602,000 as of 2009, it had been ranked as one of the most literate cities with the highest percentage of college graduates in the State.

Seattle was settled by the Indian tribes: Duwamps and New York Alki. The city’s present name was taken from the name of a chief of one of the two tribes, Sealth. Moving on to the timeline, Seattle has experienced sudden development and downfall a number of times. Their development was caused by the demand of their lumber industry and Klondike Gold Rush. These developments however preceded their downfall which included the Panic of 1893, a period of Depression and the World War.

With their rich culture and heritage, Seattle impressed the world with their performing arts. Among the famous ones include the Seattle Symphony Orchestra which existed for about a century. Other well acclaimed performing arts were the Seattle Opera, Seattle Youth Symphony Orchestra and Pacific Northwest Ballet. The city also holds several festivals of chamber music arranged by the Seattle Chamber Music Society. Seattle’s music society gave birth gave birth to what is known as the Seattle sound or popularly known as grunge which is a new genre classified under alternative rock. Seattle had been the home of outstanding artists around the world including Jimi Hendrix and Nirvana.

In accordance to their excellence in music, Seattle holds a series of festivals that showcase their talents. They have the Bumbershoot which exhibits their excellence in music and arts, Seattle Hemp fest which is attended annually by about a 100,000 people, and the must-see Bite of Seattle – a gay festival which is also one of the largest in the State. Seattle has a number of Museums and Galleries including Longhouse Museum, Seattle Metropolitan Police Museum, Henry Art Gallery, Seattle Art Museum and Frye Art Museum which is for free. From these places, one will see bits and pieces of Seattle’s history, and their excellence in the field of Arts.

You may also want to visit a list of famous landmarks found in Seattle. Some places on the list are the Space Needle, Columbia Center, Smith Tower, the first Starbucks and Seattle Central Library.

Seattle has well developed health and transportation systems consisting of a network of buses for the convenience of the people. They are now, however, trying to break away from automobiles and plan a shift to mass transit.

These facts prove that despite Seattle’s downfalls, there are still evident periods of development that is clearly seen nowadays.…

Best Art Museums in Canada to Visit

Canada is a country rich with culture and art. Its various museums display a wide variety of spectacular art pieces, sculptures, glassworks and more. Art binds people across nations and the artistic expressions of Canada are no less. Canada boasts of great museums for the art lovers.

Started in 1880, National Gallery of Canada is a great place to start your discovery of Canadian art. This museum holds many beautiful collections of historic as well as contemporary art pieces which give its visitors a more unique sense of the true identity and beauty of Canada. It’s located in Ottawa and is one of the best art museums in Canada. The Glenbow Museum in Calgary follows close behind with its museums, library and rich archives which all together create a beautiful ‘Western Canadian’ experience for its visitors. It has over a million artefacts and boasts to be one of the largest art museums in Canada. It has a lot of variety in its exhibits and not just showcases the art pieces which define Canada but also displays some beautiful art pieces from around the globe.

Musee de la Civilisation is a large museum which houses a 18th century house couple with rowboats. Stone wharfs and offers many such traditional themes for the visitors. Located in Quebec City, it’s a must visit for those interested in unorthodox themes and art. The Art Gallery of Nova Scotia is located both in Yarmouth as well as Halifax and offers historic works of art in relation to Nova Scotia and other multi-cultural art pieces. Another large museum to look forward to in Canada is located in Toronto and is called the Art Gallery of Ontario. It boasts of having over 79,000 pieces of artworks which includes historic art pieces, contemporary art and even photographs worth seeing.

A few other famous art museums are Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto and the Winnipeg Art Gallery.…