vince’s ear

Allow me to present the magnificent and awesome Philadelphia Museum of Art. Besides being my favorite museum and a great tourist attraction of Pennsylvania, this museum houses one of the largest and most important collections of art in the United States. The current main building, built in 1919, commands the skyline at the end of the Benjamin Franklin Parkway, with the Rodin Museum a little further up close to city hall, and the new Perelman Building on Pennsylvania and Fairmount Avenues.

Founded in 1876, the P.M.A. holds about 15 to 20 special exhibitions a year which attract close to a million people annually. Some of the largest being the Paul Cezanne show in 1996, bringing in 548,000 people and the Salvador Dali exhibition in 2005, which attracted 370,000 museum goers. Both of which I had the pleasure of viewing.

The Collections

The Philadelphia Museum of Art contains close to a quarter of a million art objects with rotating viewing status in 12 main sections or wings. It boasts the most important Thomas Eakins collection in the world and the largest and most important Auguste Rodin collection outside of Paris. Some of the attractions of the Art Museum include a Japanese Tea House, with several rooms, a recreation of an abbey from the Middle Ages, a Burgundian Church, a Buddhist Temple, an English drawing room by Robert Adam, and many more recreations of other times which include their art and artifacts.

Arms and Armor

The Carl Otto Kretzschmar (not Otto Kretschmer the U-Boat ace) von Kienbusch Collection holds many pieces of European arms and armor on view. This huge collection shows relics spanning centuries of armored warfare and includes equine armor and armor for small children.

Here are some other pictures of the arms and armor collection. Click on the thumbnails for larger images.

From Bosch To van Gogh

Currently [12/07]on view in the European Art 1100-1500 is a special exhibit involving the Dutch masters Hieronymus Bosch and the Brueghel family. I couldn’t take pictures of a special exhibit but if you do an image search of these artists I promise you won’t be disappointed. Just don’t look at the Bosch paintings before you go to bed, you might get nightmares.

Some of the most beautiful paintings on view are in the European Art 1850-1900 section. Here you’ll find many notable Impressionistic works to include Paul Cezanne, Pierre-August Renoir, Georges-Pierre Seurat, and Claude Monet. Some of my favorite van Gogh’s are on view, notably his “Rain” painting and one of his “Sunflowers.” You’ll also find some Edouard Manet masterpieces my favorite being the “Kearsarge sinking the Alabama.” I talk a little about that here about halfway through the post. (all the paintings in that post were either from the Philadelphia Museum of Art or the Brandywine River Museum).

Below is the Resnick Rotunda with a fountain in the middle, which connects the European Art 1850-1900 section to the Modern and Contemporary Art section. Some noteworthy paintings on view here are Claude Monet’s “Japanese Bridge,” Vincent van Gogh’s “Sunflower,” both of which you can see in the picture and Manet’s “Le Bon Boch.”

The first gallery picture above under the heading “The Collections” shows the European Art 1500-1850 wing. Here are some other shots of the European Art sections, including some sculptures from the 1500-1850 rooms:

Art And Artifacts of The East

A visit to the museum would not be complete without seeing the Tea House. Here you have a perfectly recreated Japanese Tea House setting, complete with gardens and pathways exactly as you would see it in the Far East. This exhibition is loaded with information about Japanese customs and even shows a video on how the Japanese made the tea following tradition.

Other rooms lead you to Indian art, Chinese artifacts, and a Buddhist temple. Due to the sensitivity of the artworks they are cased in extremely low light making it impossible to capture with camera. The objects include ancient Chinese snuff bottles, statues, and icons of India, and other Asian countries.

Thomas Eakins and American Art

Thomas Eakins has been hailed as the father of American painting. His paintings and sculptures included Philadelphia high society, athletes and sports, and some local landscapes. His artwork also included a lot of nudes which unfortunately got him into a lot of trouble, seeing that people in the late nineteenth century were a bit prudish. I recommend reading up about him, you can read an article here.

His masterpiece “The Gross Clinic” sold in November of 2006 for $68 million and will rotate between the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts and the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Here are some shots of his paintings in the Eakins section of American Art. The painting on the left is the “Agnew Clinic,” another huge surgery painting.

Some other works in the American Art section include Winslow Homer paintings, some Andy Warhol art, 18th century furniture and all kinds of glass artifacts and cutlery. The museum is also noted for its large collection of Pennsylvania German antiques.

Modern and Contemporary Art

Depending on my mood this can be my favorite section of the museum. It shows art of the twentieth century to today from all over the world. Some great artists shown here are Jasper Johns, Pablo Picasso, Marcel Duchamp, Joan Miro, and Constantin Brancusi. Oh and don’t forget Cy Twombly.

There is always a video playing in the little theater room which shows some modern film which range from documentaries to stop film animation. This section of the museum has I think the most frequent special exhibition rotations and is a very exciting gallery to see.

The Great Stair Hall

In the very middle of the museum leading from the first to second floors is the humongous Great Stair Hall. Many performances are put on ranging from performing arts such as ballet to chamber music, with the people either sitting at tables in front or on the stairs themselves. This shot below just shows the top of the stairs with the huge statue of Diana on the back wall. The giant Alexander Calder mobile is visible in the foreground.

This is where the hub of activity is at the Art After 5 events. This happens every Friday night after 5, when the museum would normally close on the weekdays. Theres a bar where you can order your choice of liquor and a decent selection of wines. You can sit at the tables and order from the Museum Restaurant menu. Some form of entertainment commences such as a jazz band playing or a film might play. The first time I went was near Halloween so the film Nosferatu was playing on the big screen, with a live band playing for background music. The best part is you get to look at all the art a little drunk!

Here is the jazz band between sets, and a wide shot of the Hall from above:

The Perelman Building

If you’re going to visit the Art Museum, don’t forget to stop by the new Perelman Building right across the street on Fairmount Avenue. It’s the museums latest addition in 80 years and will showcase many of the more popular modern art items from the permanent collection. It’s full of sculpture and has a library on the second floor open on weekdays to the public.

In the galleries there you will find some Picasso and Lipchitz sculptures, photography, textiles, drawings, prints, furniture and more. You can see some shots below, click on the thumbnails for larger viewing.

Well I certainly hope you found this article informative and amusing. If this is true, leave a note in the comments box.

Maybe I’ll run into you at the museum one of these days, I hope to see you there.

Until then…

See also First Friday

Technorati Tags: art, museum, Philadelphia, Philadelphia Museum of Art, galleries, Eakins

This is the second post in a series documenting my photo-journalist efforts to capture every statue and sculpture in and around the city of Philadelphia on my SLR camera. You can read the first post here: Sculpture and Statuary in Philadelphia Part 1 , and I highly recommend checking out the new shots, as well as the ones from the first expedition at my Philadelphia Statues photo gallery.

Attempting to shoot every statue in the city is quite a challenge, but an exhilarating one. It’s a lot of fun being a tourist in your own city because I guarantee most city dwellers would find all kinds of new and exiting artifacts all over their town if they just went and looked. As I have said before, if you have any suggestions on what I can take pictures of, especially around Philly, let me know in the comments. I hope you enjoy this post and the photos. I plan on making many more from my ongoing excursions downtown, and as a travel companion I hope you enjoy the trip as well.

Founders, Statesmen, and Ghosts?

I especially had a lot of fun with this one, as there is a bit of a story behind it (as is I’m sure of all these statues). The statue is of the founder of my state, William Penn, hence Pennsylvania, or “Penn’s Woods.” In this statue he holds the land charter given to him by Charles II in 1681 to repay a debt owed to his father, Admiral Penn. This is the largest land charter in history. William Penn is a prominent figure in U.S. history, contributing to the uniting of the colonies to become the United States, and his Pennsylvania frames of government would inspire the democratic principles of the United States Constitution.

The statue above rests in the garden of the Pennsylvania Hospital. But some folks may argue against my choosing of the word “rests” as there is quite a legend behind this particular monument. The monument itself had strange beginnings as it was found by mistake by Penn’s grandson in London and bought for a negligible price. It was later donated to the hospital where it has remained since.

Legend has it that the old statue steps down from its pedestal every night and wanders the garden. Could this strange specter be the ghost of old Willie Penn haunting the garden? Could the statue be restless and wander for a nightly stroll? Some stories have it that every New Years Eve, the Penn statue comes to life and walks the Earth.

You know where I’ll be late New Years Eve this year. OK, maybe not, but it still makes for an interesting story. Now this next fellow of Philadelphia prominence I recognized a block away. I talked about him a little here about half way through the post. It is none other than my favorite surgeon, Dr. Samuel Gross depicted in Thomas Eakins’ “The Gross Clinic.”

“The Gross Clinic” was almost bought by the Walton family of Walmart for $68 million but was thankfully overbid by the Philadelphia Museum of Art, Wachovia, Pew Charitable Trust and many other public and private donors. The painting shows Samuel Gross, scalpel in hand, conducting surgery on a boy in a classroom at Thomas Jefferson University. The painting at first received little praise but has since been recognized as Eakins’ masterpiece.

Throughout the city you find statues of many statesmen from throughout U.S. history. Here are Commodore John Barry, George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, and Robert Morris.

The Philadelphia Museum of Art

In the first post I showed a whole bunch of statues from around the Philadelphia Museum of Art and in and around the Rodin Museum. In this post I will emphasize some of the statues from the collection inside the art museum. Unfortunately there are just too many to include so I’ll show below some of my favorites. Be sure to check out the gallery to see some of the many sculptures found in the permanent collection, once again too many to include. I hope to include more in subsequent posts.

Why not start off with a head of our dear old Ben Franklin. Now this jolly fellow had so much to do with Philadelphia and the founding of our country that I won’t even go into it, but direct you to this article if you’re interested.

Click the thumbnail for larger version. It was funny as I took this picture a man came up with his daughter and asked her “who’s that?” She then of course replied Benjamin Franklin! She also added that the bust off to the left in this picture is his wife. I got a good laugh from that. He sits here in the American collection of the museum.

These next couple of shots are just a few of the sculpture pictures I took that were in the early American and European collections. The rest you can find in the Sculptures Gallery, as will the rest of the more modern ones which I will show you here after these next few pictures.

By the way the last Rodin sculpture above was difficult to shoot because I couldn’t get in front of it. The reason was because it was After 5 at the museum on Friday night and the place was swarming with people, and this one being near the bar made it next to impossible to stand in one spot to take a picture. I’ll explain Friday after 5 in a later post about the museum itself.

And for the viewer with more modern tastes, these shots are from the American collections and Modern and Contemporary Art collections. I’ll start it with one of Duchamp’s most famous works of art, his “Fountain.” I talk a little about it here.

The Perelman Building

Speaking of modern art, I’ll go ahead and plug the newest addition to the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Ruth and Raymond G Perelman building. The museum’s only addition in 80 years, it houses many examples of modern art and textiles, to include a nice collection of sculptures. I’ll go further into detail about this nice new building across the street from the main building when I do my post about the Philadelphia Museum of Art. First check out some of the sculptures you’ll find there. This first one is by one of my favorite sculptors Jacques Lipchitz. I could do a whole post about him.

Well this concludes my second post involving the statues and sculptures around the city of Philadelphia but certainly not the ongoing adventure of taking their pictures. There is too much to include in a single post which is why this is broken down across several articles.

Once again I must encourage you to check out the galleries to the right of your screen to see the others, they’re all worth viewing. Furthermore no matter where you live in the world I highly recommend a visit to the city of Brotherly Love, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to at least see the Art Museum. Take a tourist trip around the city to see the many landmarks and historical spots around downtown, you can arrange a tourist trip complete with bus rides and guided tours. Or you can do what I do and just walk around, you’re bound to find something.

I’d say you can’t throw a rock without hitting a historical monument, but I wouldn’t recommend throwing rocks at the statues. You might anger William Penn…

Sculpture and Statuary in Philadelphia Part 1

Technorati Tags: sculpture, Philadelphia, Philadelphia Museum of Art, statues, statuary, historical, monuments

Ladies and gentlemen, allow me to introduce you to the wonderful world of the puppetry of Noah. You will find the new Puppets Gallery to your right, which I highly recommend browsing. Its actually a collection of his puppets, dolls, marionettes, masks, and I think a few sculptures got in there too. You’ll also find I updated the Sculpture Gallery with a few of Noah’s older classic sculptures most of which were inspired by H.P. Lovecraft stories. They’re very creative works.

An Unusual Gas Station Attendant

The beauty of these puppets and dolls are that most of them were creatively put together with only materials found at a gas station. So you have these dolls or marionettes that came from the simplest everyday items. If something else was added to help make them it was considered cheating.

The marionette above was made to be Noah’s surrogate attendant so he could sleep in the back. Just kidding, but he did position it behind the counter so people coming in to pay for gas would see this unusual attendant wearing a uniform and watching the counter. It would be interesting to find out the strings were there to operate it from elsewhere in the shop, collect money, etc. I don’t think the puppet would pump their gas though.

Paper Clips, Masking Tape, and Coffee

As I said only the bear essentials went into the creation of these puppets, so if it wasn’t found around the convenience store it wasn’t used. The clothes were made from rags or other fabrics found around the store and sometimes soaked in coffee to stain them brown. If you look at their faces some of them were constructed with a paper clip frame and covered in masking tape. Sometimes these faces were covered in “puppet skin,” which hardens and makes a decent skin. I think the actual recipe is classified.

Some of the interesting ones are the little dolls. These little things seem to come from all walks of life ranging from everyday Joe to pirate. There’s even a bondage fetishist! These things wear little clothes sometimes soaked in coffee and whatnot and sometimes colored with markers.

The wire structures inside the heads are pretty intricate with moving mechanisms controlling the eyes and jaw.

Workspaces

There are pros and cons to working on puppets at a gas station. For starters with not much to do as far as workload you may as well spend your time constructively, and getting paid to make art is not a bad gig at all so I think we can call that a pro. A con would be that although it forces creativity to use only found materials, being constricted to use what you see around you may not produce the results you want every time. So aside from the Shell puppets, more complicated puppets can be conceived in the “workshop.”

The workshop wasn’t used entirely for puppets but was initially meant for it, as you can see in this picture. The whole workshop was the rest of Noah’s attic and was the place where many a good artwork was created. It is in the workshop where I made my only sculptures, in the middle on a little sculpture table with a drawer to include all the necessary tools.

So there you have but a glimpse into his puppets but you can see the rest here. Don’t forget to check out the sculptures too.

If you appreciate Noah’s puppets or his methods, let him know by leaving a comment. Until next time, take it easy.

Technorati Tags: puppets

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, who needs TV when you can stare at and interact with a painting? You’ll find that viewing a painting can give you far more entertainment, not to mention an interactive experience. A lot of times I think people can get bored with art because they’re just not looking at the right artwork.

In this post I’ll share some paintings I think are pretty interesting. Everybody has their favorite painting or styles, and opinions on art. I hope to hear from you about yours.

Henri Rousseau : A Step Into A Dream…

Henri Rousseau was a self-taught French painter of the late 19th century, who painted in what is known as a “Naive” or “Primitive” way. I absolutely love Henri Rousseau’s paintings. His style seems to prelude surrealism, for its dreamy often child-like quality.

I had the pleasure of seeing the above painting, “The Dream” in New York at the Museum of Modern Art. Its absolutely huge. He was noted for his many jungle paintings, he himself having gone on many safaris. You really can’t just walk by this humongous canvas or you’d be missing out on a great deal. Spend the time to check out all that’s going on here. You may be surprised at all the different creatures that pop up each time you look at it. See the strange figure in the middle with the flute?

The next one here is at The Philadelphia Museum of Art, called “the Merry Jesters.” It’s currently [12/07] not on view, but when it was I used to like to ask whoever I was with to count how many baboons they see. Few get it right the first glance! Sit back and look, how many do you see?

If you counted five, guess again. Zoomed in? Cheater. The real quiz would be to figure out what these “merry jesters” are doing. Are they drumming on a Coke bottle? Sometimes it’s not so easy to interpret dreams.

Oops: How Do You Look At That Painting?!

Each of the following famous paintings have been hung incorrectly by a gallery or museum. Are they right-side up here?

The paintings below are incorrectly positioned. Click on them for the correct view.

Dinner, or…

A bowl of veggies, or…

These are some paintings of Giuseppe Arcimboldo who was way ahead of his time (he lived in the 16th century), but more on him later.

Putting Themselves In Their Masterpieces

There’s a narcissist in every painter I believe. You have to have a large ego, thinking you will become immortal through your paintings, painting your likeness for all to see and admire. There’s very little modesty there.

The following are some paintings you may enjoy. Can you spot the artist’s own likeness in the compositions?

This is “the Martyrdom of Saint Mathew,” by Michelangelo Merisi da Carvaggio

Give Up?

And how about this one, another by Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio…

Yep, that’s him, pretty grotesque. Caravaggio was on the run from the law for the last few years of his life for killing a tennis opponent. His desperation and despair showed more and more the later in the chronology of his works. Here he is clearly showing his fear of decapitation, a recurrent theme (head of Medusa, etc.). But then again, these are deep-rooted fears shared by all men, in the depths of the sub-conscious: the position of the sword is no accident.

This comparison shows the wise choice of Derek Jarman’s casting of Nigel Terry for the lead role in Caravaggio (1986)

This is Rembrandt’s “The Militia Company of Captain Frans Banning Cocq.” Click on the image. Which one of these characters is the Dutch Master’s own likeness. Did he paint himself into this picture?

Give up?

James Ensor was a famous Belgian Painter who painted all kinds of morbid mask paintings. Here are just a couple of examples of his genius, including himself in his works.

Here he painted himself far into the future as he was sure to look.

Listen to the They Might Be Giants song, “Meet James Ensor” at this vox.com page.

He Only Sold One Painting In His Entire Life?

Which of the following paintings by Vincent van Gogh was the only one to have been sold during his lifetime?

“Starry Night”

“Cafe Terrace at Night”

“The Red Vineyard”

“Sunflowers”

You probably guessed “Starry Night” didn’t you? If you did you are absolutely wrong. “The Red Vineyard” is the only painting Vincent van Gogh sold during his lifetime. In 1990 the van Gogh painting, “Portrait of Dr. Gachet” sold for $129.7 Million (1997 numbers), making it the 4th most expensive painting.

Who Is The Most Important?

It seems in every professional painter’s career there comes a time to paint the group portraits of a distinguished group of ladies and/or gentlemen. Now this group may have a leader of some sorts, but many times the sitters are among equals. How then, must a painter choose a composition which doesn’t favor any one particular person. Simple psychology tells us that we, as viewers, look at the painting and recognize emphasis immediately and so on. How then, was Frans Hals to paint the “Regents of Saint Elizabeth’s Hospital?”

Now I’m no professional art historian, and I haven’t read anything about this subject but I’ll take a shot at it. Stand back and look at the whole painting, what ideas come to you?

First as we view a painting we (in the West), instinctively look at a painting from left to right, because that’s the way we read. Hence the importance of “stage left,” which is occupied here by the jolly fellow on the left side of the table. So we see him first, he occupies a very important part of the painting.

Then we see a gentleman standing. At first it seems there is no real emphasis on this character but then again he commands the highest presence in the portrait, so this carries some weight.

To his left is a man holding a book (does he keep the books, or is this an otherwise intellectual compliment?) looking at the man on the other side of the table. The man holding the book is in a very prominent part of the painting: the exact center!

I’ll skip to the man at the far right, whose countenance shows a considerable degree of emphasis. The artist has chosen this regent to have a very bright face, which leads the viewer’s eye to look at him. Also notice where at the table he is sitting. This man sits at the head of the table.

Finally note the only man on the viewer’s side of the table with his back turned. Notice again the emphasis of the white on his collar: this is brightest spot in the whole visual field. His collar also seems to point up to the man’s face in a bright triangle. His face is also bright, and with the collar hold the central focal point of the painting. Another note is there is a pen very close to his hand, a symbol of authority. There is also some psychological points of interest here. He is the only sitter to seem to look away, with all others looking toward him, suggesting he does not seek the approval of his fellows, as the three on the left clearly look to him.

So we have stage left, the highest person, exact center, head of the table with an emphasized face, and a gentleman suggesting authority with the brightest point in the painting. In my own humble opinion I’d have to say that the man with his back turned is the highest “rank” with the others his subordinate, the most immediate being the head of the table.

But its not obvious. One thing Hals has done here is to be sure not to insult anyone, giving each sitter a very important space and presence in the visual field, as I have outlined, leaving no man to be an inferior. Even the gentleman with his back turned, makes no effort to command the highest rank, which could possibly give us an insight into his leadership. But then again, each of these men may possibly be equals. What do you think?

Well I hope maybe you had a little fun here and realized theres all kinds of interesting trivia about art we can learn. You learn something new everyday and I hope maybe you could share some tidbits of info or trivia. If you have anything to contribute, or would like to give your theories on the Hals painting or others, leave a comment.

Until then, take care.

Technorati Tags: art, artist, painting

Have Fun With Art, Part 2

A while back I stumbled upon a website with a 16 question quiz entitled “Art or crap.” This funny little quiz shows 16 images which you must decide are either, well, the title pretty much explains that. You are scored as you go and beware, you may feel a little foolish. In fact the exercise seems to add to the argument that much of modern art really is foolish and requires very little skill, to say the least. A blue canvas is only a blue canvas whether it is on a museum wall or not. While they may call it priceless, I may say it isn’t even worth the price of the materials.

Kitsch Art

But is one person’s trash another’s treasure? I suppose beauty is in the eye of the beholder. You must ask yourself what you, as an observer, consider art to be. Can you stare into a blank canvas and see beauty? Is this what the artist intended, did the artist intend for you to do anything?

We must think of extremes here. Does a few crayon scribbles on a canvas splattered with paint rate the same respect as a well thought out painting which took years to make? Obviously not, but I suppose its all about the artists intentions.

We must not forget “Art” can be a pretty broad term. Not everything can be lumped into one giant group. Consider the little Christmas statues that somebody designed and are mass produced, or the statues of religious icons sold commercially. It takes some skill in coming up with these little trinkets and sometimes people have to paint them by hand. Examples such as these can be labeled as “kitsch.” Here the term applies to commercially produced items, which in reference to the art world can be considered lower quality. The basic formula is the repetition used to mass produce.

This unfortunate label can be attached to artists who have basically saturated the market with a basic model for their work. Artists such as Thomas Kinkade have used and abused their style to the point where the value lessens which each new addition. He has copied his own style time and again, failing to come up with anything new and has become too commercial.

Another aspect of kitsch art can be a subject of some controversy. This is the idea that artwork can carry the stigma of kitsch if it has become too pretentious to the point where it seems to try too hard. The photo-realism of William Adolphe Bouguereau leaves no mystery about its subjects and almost insults the intelligence of the viewer by making every grain of sand visible. It’s a shame so many believe this, because his paintings obviously took a tremendous amount of skill.

You have these little crafts you can get at a Christmas Bazaar and anything you can buy that is mass-produced, whether its hand-painted or not. Kitsch can be anything considered to be tasteless or inferior. These items are on the low end of the totem pole.

If you wanted to put levels to art you may say that such kitsch artists and commercially driven producers would be at the bottom. Next you may find graphic artists, then illustrators, animators, and then fine artists with the exact order being debatable. These ideals seem to have been the norm in the art world. And speaking of the norm and the status quo, what if you wanted to break away from all that?

The Dada Movement

Here we have a movement based on defying conventionalism and values. Pioneers such as Marcel Duchamp (see one of his readymades at the top, and his “Mona Lisa With a Moustache” below) strove to break free from the art world and produce their own chaotic “anti-art.”

The funny thing about rebellious anti-art movements is that they always end up getting assimilated into the system. The Dadaists did not consider their works to be art, but of course its all considered art today. Some say this was the prelude to abstract expressionism.

Marcel Duchamp was also famous for taking a urinal, writing the fictional name R. Mutt on the side of it, calling it “Fountain,” and putting it in a museum. It was this type of “found art” that made him noteworthy, and his practices would certainly be emulated. A point of interest here is that he was a trailblazer and the first to do this type of thing. Anybody who takes a wheel and screws it into a stool these days is not an artist and their work is, well, kitschy.

Minimalism

Dadaism as a movement did not last very long and after several years came big movements such as surrealism with Rene Magritte and his mysteries. Magritte would paint a picture of a pipe and write underneath it “This is not a pipe.” It didn’t matter to him whether or not people understood his pictures. Perhaps he was making a statement on art in general.

Eventually came abstract expressionism with its emotionally charged realism-defying principles. Artwork didn’t have to be about any specific subject at all. It had to do with expressing yourself with basic human feeling. So instead of painting a landscape of a city, one might draw a few lines and splatter a whole bunch of paint on it.

Minimalism can be considered a reaction to this. If art is going toward the direction of leaving actual representative form behind, we may as well predict where art can lead us. Throughout art history of the 19th and 20th centuries you had a pattern of subtraction as far as visual arts went. Why not just skip ahead and make art nothing.

And that is what the minimalists seemed to do. If a number be assigned to their art it was certainly zero. Art in its most primitive form is essentially nothing, a blank canvas, a black square. In contrast to the abstract expressionists, the minimalists did not consider their art to be expression at all. It simply was what it was: plain cold geometric forms. A blue canvas was simply a blue canvas.

Art of the Future

While the minimalists certainly had a strong message, it is impossible to predict the art of the future. Is the art world patterned with endless subtraction? After a blank canvas is there anything left to subtract?

Art is much more complex than this, of course, and there are all kinds of schools of thought on the subject. All I can say is art is what you make of it. If you want it to be art, it is what you think it is. If you are an art dealer and some crazy artist is charging a million dollars for a pile of junk and you want to put it in a museum, more power to you.

Perhaps art gets bored with itself and the art market must constantly change. As with anything there are fads and fashions and whats hip today is forgotten tomorrow. As artists I think we can follow Warhol’s prediction that in the future everybody has fifteen minutes of fame.

So be optimistic. Paint, sculpt, splatter, tear, create, destroy and call it “priceless” while you’re at it.

But is it art? You tell me.

Technorati Tags: art, abstract, expressionism, minimalism, dada, dadaists, kitsch

I remember going into my art class in high school thinking, “well isn’t this great? Here I am taking this art class, it’ll be an easy A and give me a chance to find my creative genius while I’m at it.” Boy was I wrong. Could it have been that I wasn’t that interested in art to begin with? I thought I knew plenty about artists and art history, was I artistically illiterate? The answers to these questions are both no. My expectations for the class were unrealistic for a high school elective. The class wasn’t that hard but was filled with endless boring history, unexciting projects, and Georgia O’Keefe. If anything I walked away from the whole experience knowing that if you want to get better at art, don’t waste your time with academics.

Now I know there are plenty of art students out there getting fancy degrees who would disagree with me. If art school is working out well for them, fine. Just remember I never had nor will have plans of making art my career. I was just interested in learning more ways to express myself through art. Therein lies the problem with art classes and academic curriculum in general: if it won’t allow you the freedom to find your own style it is a waste of time and money.

Art at a young age

When we grew up almost every one of us undoubtedly has picked up a crayon or pencil at some point and started drawing. Even the most artistically inept of us played with art at a young age. We begin as infants to grasp objects and wonder what we can do with them, and as toddlers we are given those thick wax crayons and some paper. Some psychologists say at that early stage we are mainly discovering texture and enjoy the way the crayon feels scribbling over the paper (and walls and anything else!). Eventually we discover we can recreate what we see.

What we as parents must remember to do is not to push the child but let him or her discover their talent naturally. Their art will progress as they begin to understand their surroundings better. They will eventually discover 3d and perspective. But not at first. In the beginning they create what they see as reality. They’re not stupid because they draw the figure inside a box to simulate a person in a house. In reality a person would truly be surrounded by walls, a floor, and a ceiling. This is much like ancient societies such as the Egyptians saw it.

One of the worst things to do is give them coloring books, or as they grow older paint by numbers books. There’s no real expression there. If you do, at least allow them to color outside the lines and draw what they want in the book. Unfortunately as we get older we are told to stay in the lines with all aspects of life so we end up, among other things, rule followers by design. Our 3rd grade Thanksgiving project is to copy your hand and draw a beak at the thumb and feet under the palm. I assume the purpose of this is to have turkeys taped to the hallways instead of the blobs the children might otherwise come up with. But the blob would have been their creation, not literally cookie cutter art. At that age students know what a turkey looks like. And sure it will be difficult to draw, but learning and developing are about the little hardships. Give the kids room. Encourage their creative expression, however it may look to you, at all costs. Picasso said, “All children are artists, the problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up.”

A developing artist

People can discover art at any age or period in their life. One of my favorite examples of this is Wassily Kandinsky who didn’t even begin painting until his 40s, after he had decided to retire from a lucrative career as an attorney. Here is a successful career man coming out of the blue with his artistry (and beautiful I might add : he is one of the few abstract expressionists I actually like, but that is another story). Many, like Vincent van Gogh spent much of their lives attempting and failing before they turn to art. Some kids go to school for one thing such as business and realize their talent and switch gears to be a professional artist. At any point you can discover your creative genius.

I, for one, have always been interested in art and strive to get better the more I practice it. The drawback to the art classes I’ve taken is the fact that I was being spoon fed things I had no interest in. I don’t care about drawing a picture of my sneaker. I absolutely don’t want to draw a flower or some ridiculous thing, or memorize useless facts about artists I have no interest in. Come quiz time, all exams should be hands-on and not include paper work involving questions about dates. Art isn’t about exact dates.

Art history in itself can be pretty dry if you’re not into the artists or styles. I can remember my mom recently noticing how much I am into art history and remembering how much I hated it in 9th grade art class. It never occurred to me, but now I don’t even see it as “art history.” I just enjoy reading books about the art periods and people who inspire me. And that is exactly what you should do, find out who and what inspires you.

I’m learning of new artists all the time. As an avid museum goer, there is an endless opportunity to discover new artists and more art, with an infinite amount of resources at my disposal. If you want to learn more or to find your art, get out there. Pick up the Inquirer and find out what exhibitions are in your area. Go and see what interests you. As I’ve said before, most people have been spoon fed art that bores them so they have little interest in art in general. Bring a small notepad and a pencil, when you see a painting or sculpture that strikes you, write the artists name down and look them up later.

A transformation

If you take away with you one piece of advice here, think Nike. Just do it! Learn about it, take in as much as you can and practice, practice, practice. You never know until you try, don’t put yourself down, and absolutely do not listen to any negative criticism. There is a difference between being constructive and just putting someone down. People will appreciate your art and the effort you put into it. Experiment with different styles, emulate some famous or contemporary artists, and try to perfect your technique.

As I’ve said in another post I recommend copying some of your favorite famous paintings. This is not paint by numbers mind you, don’t worry about getting it just perfect. In fact, paint the picture in your way, in the style of your choice. When van Gogh painted Millet’s “sower” he wasn’t trying to copy exactly, and he came up with all kinds of interesting sowers, painted in his expressive Impressionistic way. You can do this as a color exercise as well, attempting to match the colors in the painting. Don’t be afraid of stealing style from others who have forged the way. Remember the famous line, “I can see so far because I have stood on the shoulders of giants.”

Eventually you’ll start seeing the world through painter’s eyes. As you advance and get to know your palette, ask yourself what hues you actually see and how you would mix them. Instead of just a blue car does it look like a cobalt, ultramarine, cerulean, Prussian, or phthalo blue? You’ll look at your dog and say he has burnt sienna eyes with patches of Naples yellow mixed with a little yellow ochre, and deep red in his fur, with a sheen of a little chromatic black mixed with Titanium White. You’ll never again look at a fox and think he’s just “red.”

Paint whatever you feel like painting, just do it as often as possible. Don’t ever do anything that bores you no matter what you think the benefit is. You’ll amass a collection, but don’t paint for quantity.

Before you know it you’re showing your work to everybody you meet. You’ll look at any painting and say it looks like a Homer, or Waterhouse, or has the style of Klimt or Schiele. And some day someone will see a painting and say “that looks like a [YOUR NAME HERE].”

Exercises

• Gather as much info as you can. Read articles, books, art blogs, and newsletters
• Get out there. Go to sculpture gardens, galleries, and museums that are a stone’s throw away from you that you never realized. If you live in a big city area like Philadelphia you can never get bored with exhibits and galleries. By the time you have seen them all, there will be new work shown at the first places you’ve gone.
• Try different things, eventually you’ll find your niche, until then and even after the fact, do as much as you can. Make it a challenge: if you paint, sculpt and vise-versa.
• Read “Art and Visual Perception” by Rudolf Arnheim. It is a must read for anybody serious about getting into the visual arts. It is a half art, half psychology volume on how people perceive things in art. You will walk away with priceless knowledge on how to make exactly what it is you want to express.
• Look at the world with a palette in your mind.
• More advanced students will tackle the “Painting-a-day” exercise where every single day you paint a small canvas. This forces you to come up with new and exciting subjects and will do wonders on your skill level. Just look up any painting-a- day blog or website and go back a year and compare with their current work.
• Just do it!

So go out there and find yourself but be sure to share what you find. Contribute to the arts, create beautiful works and encourage others to follow suit. Until next time, take it easy.
Leave a comment if this is helpful, I look forward to hearing from you.

Technorati Tags: art, painting, learning, academic, art school

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See also How To Paint , How to Paint: Composition,and Outsider Art

They say imitation is the highest form of flattery. One common thing about many budding artists is their desire to emulate those who have gone before them, who have succeeded and mastered their art, or have gone down in history. This is also true for the masters themselves. If you study the works of many great painters you see their own versions of a famous or contemporary artist’s work. Vincent van Gogh had his Jean-Francois Millet, who in turn had his Honore Daumier.

These painters act as silent mentors, teaching from the grave through their immortal styles and art. It’s a very good idea for novice painters to study famous paintings and attempt to copy them. The result is usually different from the original, with a style belonging to the “Student.” You are left with your own versions, learning your own style and techniques along the way.

Even if you think can’t paint, I highly recommend trying to copy a famous painting. It’s a very rewarding activity, and challenging. If you have to you can lightly sketch a little grid on the canvas and make a grid on a photo you want to copy. This has been done before by some of the greatest painters that ever lived.I tend to do this copying exercise primarily as a practice. It’s only been a few years on and off since I started seriously painting (Being a “Sunday painter” hasn’t helped this much, but what can I do when I just don’t find the time?) so I am stilled considered a beginner, or novice at best. The main idea is obtain more skill and to challenge yourself, so each subsequent reproduction is most often more difficult than the last. I might pick a painting that’s harder to depict, that has more subjects in it, or maybe has different textures and colors I’m not used to.

Take the example above. This is my version of the Winslow Homer masterpiece, “Breezing Up.” I chose this canvas for one because I like the painting a lot (you have to be interested in what you paint), and two because I would have had to paint it on a larger canvas than I was used to, and lastly it contained two things I wasn’t well-practiced with: sky and ocean. I like this painting because it looks as if its a snapshot right out of reality, the catboat being off-center and pointing off-canvas. It’s so realistic you can feel the breeze and smell the sea air as you gaze. My favorite Homers have the main subject looking away, not showing the facial expression, making you wonder what they’re thinking like the boy in the back of the boat.

The same might even be said about the below example, “The Foxhunt” with the fox about to be attacked by the crows, once again looking away. It gives it a certain psychological mystery. This painting was executed in one sitting and was a lot of fun to do. It was fun mixing and painting all the colors of the fox. This one was painted in the same weekend as “Breezing Up” and also contains a little bit of ocean.

I plan on doing many more Homer replicas for my own benefit. When I first started painting I looked to my favorite artist Vincent van Gogh to supply me with practice exercises. I chose these so early because his expressionistic style made it easy for a painter just starting out with the vivid brush strokes and colors. In fact the copy of “The Bedroom” was the second painting I completed after coming back from a several year hiatus starting while I was in high school. It’s a tiny canvas, 5″ x 7″, which at the time was a good size to start out with.

Click on the thumbnails for larger versions:

When you get better at being able to reproduce what you see, it gets to be a lot of fun choosing stuff you want to paint. Sometimes I just like the painting and would like a copy of it on my wall. I promised myself I would never buy an art poster, painting, print, or reproduction. I would simply copy it myself.

The example below is one I really loved and had to have. Every time I look at it still to this day makes me happy. It is called “The Laughing Cavalier” by seventeenth century Dutch painter Frans Hals. Currently [12/07] there is a special exhibit at the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art on Dutch painters. The Met already has a decent Hals collection and I hope there’s plenty of the artist’s canvases on view when I get to see it. You just can’t help but get in a better mood after looking at a bunch of Hals paintings.

I wasn’t the best at painting backgrounds at this time, but hey that’s the purpose of doing this, to get better. One fundamental rule about backgrounds which I broke here is to paint the back first. That way when your subject is painted on top it looks as if he/she is indeed in the foreground. Here it looks like the background was painted on and was very thinly and sloppily applied. You live, you learn and I know for a fact my background skills have come leaps and bounds since this time, which was painted several years ago.

There have been two religious paintings I’ve done for family members. One of them, Leonardo’s “Last Supper” unfortunately I do not have an image of. The other resides at my family’s house with an image below. It is a replica of the Raphael Sanzio painting “Madonna of the Chair.” I like it because it shows Mary in plain clothes looking like a simple young mother holding a baby, who is barely deified save the thin halo showing above his head.

So I also have here some others I have copied. Here is “Girls With Pearl Earring” by Vermeer, which I think on the whole turned out very well except for the mouth and nose area. Included is a fun little copy of the Jethro Tull album art for “Aqualung.” I also have a 16″ x 20″ replica of the Goya painting “Saturn Devouring One of His Sons.” This is actually a study for a future painting with the same theme, very grotesque. Below is an unfinished portrait of my landlord posing as King Henry VIII the English Tudor monarch.

And finally below is a whimsical self-portrait as Bacchus, as originally painted by one of my favorite artists Michelangelo Merisi de Caravaggio. Bacchus is known to some as the patron of painters. It was a bold move for Caravaggio to paint his likeness as Bacchus and it is a bold move for me to do so also. This concludes my post about my replicas but I’m sure after I have made some more I will post them. As any aspiring artist I am always trying to learn, and every painting is practice. Until then, take care.

To view all my paintings, be sure to visit the Paintings Gallery.

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When I look at a painting, the artist speaks to me. I can picture the painter at work at his easel, making the brushstrokes, mixing the paint and pigments. I see the blank parts of the canvas and the colors and I can almost imagine what they are thinking, and I listen carefully. Whatever the picture is, its elements are telling a story, conveying a feeling, offering a sensation of the mind, or giving a message, sometimes seeming to reveal a secret, a chance to look into the artist’s mind. Much like a writer is vulnerable, and bleeds onto the pages, the painter bleeds himself onto his canvas.

I look at the paintings from two perspectives. First the spectator- I stand back and view, taking it in and noticing how and which way the work catches my eye, its aesthetics. I catch a mood, a layman’s feeling from the piece. Next I play the role of amateur artist, studying it, observing the technique- up close, the brushstrokes, the detail, I always pay attention to which colors were used- which colors straight from the tube mixed to form the palettes. Then I step back again, note the arrangement of objects, the composition, the balance, number of figures, etc. Of course this is done almost sub-consciously. You can’t measure a painting’s worth concretely like that, you have to feel the painting, catch the vibe from it. You can’t see into the artist’s soul by computing a pictorial space as you would solve a math equation.

Not only is enjoying a painting a leap into a mind, but it is a bound into another time. The paint on a board of wood, applied in 1150 AD, has collected the dust of centuries and is as real now in front of your face as it was to its creator, who himself has been dust for centuries. Not just the artists who executed these works but the subjects, too, give us a glimpse of another age. You look at the Duke of Urbino, posing stately in royal garb, and you may wonder what was he thinking, or the peasants portrayed by Jean-Francois Millet in their daily plight, who really were these people?

Let us not be confined to human subjects and portraits to our examination of another era’s questions. When you look at an open landscape, you know that the tiny farmhand in the distance of some American landscapes has long since died and you will too long before the actual land in the picture will change. Or on the other hand look how different the land changed since the painting was done, but feel how insignificant people are in the beauty and immensity of nature.

You can sometimes react to a painting much the same way you would of a real life situation. You can look at either Cazin’s or Millet’s “Solitude” and feel yourself walking in a moonless wintry forestscape, hearing the eerie silence, the crunch of the snow under your feet, feel the cold on your face. In reality you bundle up your shirt as you get a chill standing in the gallery room. A painting can put a smile on your face, bring a tear to your eye, or light a fire in your belly.

Paintings can raise questions, provoke concern or bring an air of mystery. I don’t speak entirely of the Surrealists, or the Abstractionists, indeed a Realist can do the same perhaps even more powerfully. Consider Andrew Wyeth’s maypole painting. Who were these strange and peculiar people? We know some of them, but who were the others, namely the German soldier? Why do the footprints not make a perfect circle in the snow, or why are the shadows not consistent throughout?

Sometimes paintings don’t have to be this mysterious to raise a question. When I look at an excellent painting in the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Feast of Saint John, by Jules Breton, I feel a sense of mystery. You can see that these peasants celebrate the longest days of summer and dance around bonfires on the Feast Day, and as you look you can almost smell the fire. You may wonder who they were, and what they believed in and what they were going to do.

Sometimes a painting really draws you in. Having some knowledge and interest in the U.S. Civil War, I have a particular affection for this next one. Growing up, being fascinated by the war and looking at illustrated histories of it, there was always a specialness to the naval battle scenes. I could spend hours looking at the pictures and playing the scene in my head, famous scenes such as the Monitor and the Merrimack, and see the smoke, hear the distant resounding shots of the guns, the splashes of the missed shells, the crackle of the grapeshot, and the orders of the officers on both sides, sometimes within earshot as a maniacal maneuver such as a pointblank broadside goes under way. Such excitement!

The painting is by Edouard Manet, the impressionist who did a lot of marine scenes, leading to such exhibits as “Manet and the Sea” at the PMA. The painting depicts a sea battle off the coast of Cherbourg, France, in 1864 in which a Confederate Sloop of War, the CSS Alabama was sunk by the USS Kearsarge, a Federal Sloop of War dispatched to rendezvous with the enemy ship to stop the havoc she had been causing to commercial trade to and from Europe. Manet did the work quickly, responding to the current event after hearing or reading about it just as it happened.

As you look at the painting, which depicts the scene from a bit of a distance, it keeps the viewer at neutrality to the sides (with a slight slant sympathizing towards the sinking Confederates). It shows the Deerhound, a private yacht, in the foreground rescuing survivors from the water. In the distance the Alabama sinks steadily by her stern with plumes of smoke emitting as a result of the direct hit to her engines scored by the Kearsarge. The story has it that five of the 100 Union shots fired were after the Southern vessel struck its colors. The painting further shows the Union ship, almost covered from view firing a volley at the doomed floor-bound Alabama. The primary color in the masterpiece is of course that of the ocean, which is vivid viridian green and blue, and you can make out the civilians on the yacht, in their hats and sailor clothes attempting to rescue what looks to be two sailors clinging to a piece of wreckage.

There’s nothing like a good painting that you can just watch for an hour. In this category I might plug Thomas Eakin’s masterpiece and Philadelphia’s prize “The Gross Clinic” which will be in Philadelphia for a little while. Besides simply admiring the painting and being glad its here to stay, there really is a lot going on in the painting. It’s a huge canvas which takes a whole wall to itself, and shows an almost photographic scene unfolding.

Professor Samuel Gross stands in the middle of the beam of sun coming from the skylight teaching his famous bone marrow operation to a group of Jefferson students. (And might I add that there’s never been a better forehead painted in the history of art. It shines in the light! I think my hair will recede that far by the time I’m 30, though I don’t think I’ll grow Gross’s sideburns). Scalpel in hand, he instructs while he and assistants perform the leg operation, with the boy’s mother cringing behind. The detail is superb, from the looks on their faces to the little drops of blood on the one assistant’s cuff.

Portrait of Thomas Eakins

Another favorite artist of mine has you watching the canvas for long periods of time almost expecting surprises. Henri Rousseau is one to leave you in awe, not just from the greatness of his work, but from the mystery he brings to the table. He’s what you may call a surrealist, maybe a symbolist, but one thing is for sure, you can’t call him ordinary. As a self-taught artist, he has a style all to his own.

Probably my favorite painting in the whole Philadelphia Art Museum would have to be Rousseau’s “Carnival Evening.” Another chilly winter scene but this time its very mystifying. While his paintings may not be perplexing as a Dali landscape, Rousseau would give you just enough elements to leave you a little bewildered. “Carnival Evening” shows a forest, middle of winter, completely bare trees at night with a bright full moon above. Only thing is, the forest is strangely in darkness. A couple stand in the center on their way to the carnival, dressed in costumes, the man smoking a cigarette, both seeming to be illuminated from within, not from the moon. Off to the left is a cottage (?) with a mask or face on it, and an unexplained street lamp looms nearby.

The painting after this is in an opposite setting, in a thick jungle. It’s entitled “The Merry Jesters” and it shows an almost “cartoony” setup of baboons with strange beady eyes with what little musical instruments. Click on the thumbnail for a larger image. How many baboons do you count?

Technorati Tags: art, painting, museum, gallery

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This is the first post in a series regarding my photographic efforts to capture all the statues and sculptures throughout the city of Philadelphia, which boasts the largest amount of statues in a single city in the world. The photos in this first expedition were taken in April, 2006 and were part of a collection of 122 shots, all of which are in the gallery named Philadelphia Statues on the sidebar. The next post in the series will center around our outing in the Laurel Hill Cemetery in Philly and will include some of its beautiful monuments and statues.

The Museums

My adventure started on a warm and sunny spring morning near the Philadelphia Art Museum. My route was to shoot some of the works around the museum, make my way up Kelly Drive through Fairmount Park and back again, continue past the museum, and proceed up the Benjamin Franklin Parkway.

The first in this showing will be the Jacques Lipchitz masterpiece, “Prometheus Strangling the Vulture” which stands in front of the east entrance of the museum on top of the famous Rocky Steps. ( The Rocky Statue is currently [12/07] on view at the foot of the east entrance steps.) Lipchitz exhibited at the Philly Art Museum in 1949 at the 3rd Sculpture International, and his sculptures pepper the city streets. Another prominent example of his artistry is at the Columbia University in Manhattan, “Bellerophon Taming Pegasus.”

Many of Lipchitz’s sculptures revolved around a mythological theme, as do most of the ones around around the Rocky Steps. The next one is a good example.

I’ll have to find out the name of this one and update this, but it is one of my favorites. The following is the huge statue in the small park across the circle from the east entrance generally depicting Native American symbols and a prominent historical figure (perhaps George Washington) atop a stead. It is truly an amazing spectacle.

In one of the subsequent posts I will devote the entire session to the genius Auguste Rodin. He was a nineteenth century French artist whose works, like Lipchitz’s, also focused on some mythology. If you are ever in Philadelphia to see the Art Museum on some Sunday afternoon, don’t skip the Rodin Museum located near the main building on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway. Housed here is the largest collection of Rodins outside Paris. Its a very decent collection including one of the many versions of “The Burghers of Calais,” and the “Age of Bronze.” In the front of the Museum is the “Gates of Hell” and the famous “The Thinker.”

“The Burghers of Calias”

“The Gates of Hell”

“The Thinker”

Some other decent works under the Museums heading could have come from the recently opened Perelman Building. The Perelman Building is the museums latest gallery and marks the only addition in 80 years. It houses many modern art pieces including sculpture and textiles. Admission is free until 2008.

The Warriors

Too many to display in a single post are the numerous military statues you will find all over the city. They include war heroes, prominent generals, and history makers spanning the centuries. It is interesting to note the symbolism involved with these soldiers. Next time you see a statue of a soldier on horseback notice the feet of the stallion. If both front feet are in the air the subject died in battle, one foot signifies the subject died from wounds received in battle, and both feet mean the rider died of natural causes. The first here is U.S. Grant, the important Civil War general and final commander of the Union Army, whose ride here calmly keeps both front feet firm, as we know he later became President.

The next several here I can’t recall who they are but you and I can both tell if they died in battle, from wounds inflicted in battle, or continued to live after the war.

Each apparently died from wounds received in battle.

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Fairmount and Love Parks

There are some great sculptures all around Fairmount Park up Kelly Drive and along the way to Love Park. The angel here is just one example in Fairmount Park along the Skuykill River. Love Park was created by Philadelphia city planner Edmund Bacon, the father of Kevin Bacon. The Love Statue was created by Robert Indiana.

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Three Generations of Calders

Some of the most influential sculptors of Philadelphia have to be Alexander Calder, his father Alexander Sterling Calder, and his father Alexander Milnes Calder. If you stand in the balcony over the Great Stair Hall you see a huge Alexander Calder mobile over the steps. Turn around and look out the window to observe further down the Parkway the huge fountain about halfway to City Hall, this was the work of ALexander Sterling Calder. Off in the distance you can see atop the City Hall, the statue of William Penn, sculpted by none other than the eldest Alexander Milnes Calder.

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Some Other Great Sculptures

. .

Sculpture and Statuary in Philadelphia, Part 2

Feast your eyes on the sculptures of Noah and Dan. While we are no Michelangelos (yet), I think they show some imagination and skill. Most were made in the “workshop,” an area in Noah’s attic with decent workspace and tools. You can see more shots of these and others in the Sculpture Gallery.

The image above is the first sculpture I ever made. If there are two words to describe most of my art it would have to be “naked people.” I don’t really know why, probably because they’re easy to paint and even easier to sculpt. Most of the figures tend to be bald for the same reason.

This one was very fun to make and took maybe an hour or so to complete. Its made from Stonex clay, as is most of the models on this post. I’ve used Sculpey in the past but I find for my purposes Stonex to be easier. Its easy to sculpt even with minimal tools and dries on its own with no need for an oven or kiln. One drawback of the Stonex is that it is very brittle and will crack. As you get better you learn some techniques on how to prevent cracks and pieces falling off, such as including a wire armature.

These two are my own personal favorite. They’re both my work and depict a skull (probably my most detailed sculpture) and a squatting girl. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to show much detail with my camera and it is very hard to see the girl very well. I’m proud of the girl because it was executed with only a steak knife, as it was the only instrument available at the time.

This sarcophagus isn’t one of my best but seems to be pretty popular. You can open it up to reveal a compartment, and that’s melted solder metal in the blade.

What makes it interesting is its utility. You can actually use it for a small container if you chose to. You could also sculpt or include a skeleton inside. Overall the sword is the best part. We’ve made many molds and melted metal to make faces and such.

Alright it’s time to add some color. These next images feature some of Noah’s work. He generally likes to paint his models, mostly with enamel paints. His pieces tend to be surreal in nature.

They’re almost morbidly cartoony. Here we have a crazy blue face, a green monster or demon and a skull, Noah’s finest sculpture. The skull is painted in bone white enamel paint.

Up next we have perhaps one of our largest examples, the blue man, and one of my favorites the flesh wound. Both are Noah’s art.

Here are some more of Noah’s examples, note some of the different mediums including molded plastic and metal.

The skull in that last one is mine. I love how the metal molds look. This was accomplished by first making a face or head and then imprinting this into some more Stonex to make a cast. A portable frying pan and a pot were used to melt solder which was then poured quickly into the mold. The clear faces are cast resin.

These next are some more examples of my stuff. A hunched over figure:

>And a figure with a pole, sort of like St. Michael killing the serpent, or some other warrior slaying somebody or something.

I accept the way it came out, but as always the final product looks nothing like the image I had in my mind. The legs contain two paper clips which were then nailed to the board for support. I considered using one of the metal faces as a mask for this one but never got around to it. Perhaps a future version will have such a feature.

These headless figures, resembling a Venus de Milo are Noah’s creation.

Here is Noah’s masterpiece the Ugly Lamp! Believe it or not this is an actual working lamp. Its been described by Noah as Kermit the Frog in a microwave.

And finally, the piece de resistance, the model of the James Ensor painting “Scandalized Masks.” This was a lot of fun but it never got completed. We had a chair and table for the man but they were destroyed, and we never got around to making the hat and hair for the woman. The man had hands and a bottle, both of which are missing. I’ve included a reference photo.

So there you have it, a nice little showcase of our sculpture. There will be much more coming out, the “workshop” is still very much in use.

Future posts about sculpture include a visit to the Rodin Museum in Philadelphia and a photography expedition around the city searching for as much statuary as I can find.

Until then, take it easy!