Creative Tuesdays - Ships

 Hi all at Creative Tuesdays!

This year has not been the year for blogging I'm afraid - but when I happened upon the CT blog after months, I noticed the theme - yay!!!!

If there's one thing I still have plenty of in the old sketch reservoirs, it's sketches of boats & ships of all sorts, from the huge painting project i FINALLY FINISHED sometime in June. People can look at it in the post below this one, in case it hasnt' been seen yet.

Another  issue for me has been being away from the house a lot and finding out that, unfortunately, not all my spiffy technology saves me while interacting with Blogger. Sigh...

In any event will y'all a great Tuesday and hope to see y'all soon! Happy summer.

PPF - Ocean painting - finally!!!

Hi everyone at Paint Party Friday!

As always so sorry to have been gone for so long  but I did want to share that finally I managed to finish the giant ocean painting I had been talking about for a full year!!! This is a picture of it.

I actually finished it like a month ago (or maybe it was only a week? hard to keep track!!) but for some reason once you lose the thread of blogging it's hard going back. In any event, here it is.

Some lovely painting people I have on FB and G+ may have already seen this, and the WIP process. The process was fun! I began weirdly not committing to technique, with some weird garish alizarin crimson and olive green in the ocean and somehow, using linseed oil, managed to turn it into an indirect painting, which is what I wanted from the getgo. The only real impasto parts are the waves/froth of the ocean and some in the details re. the castles and such. And it is a real place called Vina del Mar from Chile. A nice town to visit. Got to view lots of photos to reaquaint myself!

Here is a link of the WIP from a Facebook album for all so inclined - if you do stop by do say hello!

I'm happy to be back! I'm sorry to have less time for this nowadays but I will strive to visit as many as I can, and will always 100% guaranteed visit/comment back on everyone who here visits.

PFF - more boats!

Rio valdivia my version

Hi all at PPF! As they say, 'stop me if you've seen this one har har///'

I went through a many paintings painting phase a month or so ago and still have not shared them all with the lovely PPFers so, here it is!

This is modeled on a painting by a CHilean famous painter called Arturo Pacheco Altamirano. As you can see, the painting I did is basically an identical study of that one. Not sure why I felt the need to do it save I was looking for styles and I have ALWAYS loved his style most of all! It is so wonderful and speaks of long-lost landscapes.

I would def. say his was crisper and better, heaps better, but to be fair the one I did above is in a really small canvas and I sought to finish in record time - don't remember how long it took now, but less than 2 hours.

Rio valdivia Arturo Pacheco Altamirano

Hope everyone is having a great weekend! Fun to be back amongst the peoples again, even if only once in a blue moon. We are spending lots of time selling our wood relics, going to different fairs, etc. It takes a lot of time and energy but at least we sell something, LOL!

here is a facebook page of 'Marshall Arts', the pieces I make and sell with my husband Jim.

There today again! Wish me luck, all

(Connecting to Paint party Friday)

SS- Quick Sketch of Mountain Magnolia Inn

Hi all at Sunday Sketches!

On Saturday we are usually in the town of Hot Springs, NC, selling arts and crafts - we are in fact here today as well.

I like to go on walks around, and one of my favorite places is the Mountain Magnolia Inn.  Please visit this place!! Whether virtually only, or in person, it is definitely worth it!

Occasionally I like to sketch the Victorian mansion when I'm there, and Saturday was no exception. It was a quick sketch with ink on notebook - doesn't compare to the original building of course! Full of gables and balconies and all sorts of great things (photo taken with cell phone, hence poor quality). Am including the original so that folks can see below:

This image shows the opposite direction of where I was drawing.

Have a great day y'all!

Creative Tuesdays - Newborn

HI all at Creative Tuesday! It's good to be back after my generalized global blogging hiatus which, weirdly enough, coincided with my giving up coffee for all of Lent.

 Speaking of Lent (and the theme 'newborn'), I recently had a chance to see O Brother Where Art Thou for the 358th time and I recalled the great scene of the baptism happened and for some reason it completely reminded me of the theme 'newborn' - because, truly, for these religious occassions, one is said to be 'newly born'. I am really (I mean, really) not that religious at all but I have always been fascinated by the rituals, disciplines, and even beliefs that religious people have. I also lived in the deep SOuth for almost 10 years so this sort of thing is familiar to me.

 I actually really dig the concept of being 'born again'. Clean slate. Newly born. To have a chance to wash off all the slime, lies, trauma,distortions, prejudices, and general BS we all mentally/psychologically accumulate (no matter how 'good' we've been & no matter how 'functional' our families). What could be better! A concept not alone to charismatic Christian traditions, but Hindu/Buddhist notions of Karma/meditation have it as well - that you can wash your spirit clean.

Please excuse the ink pen & notebook paper - I was out all day selling arts but I did want to participate!
Hope all have a great week!

SS -

Hi all! For Sunday Sketches today, I'd like to share an oldie but goodie - I may have shared this with some people in the past but I don't remember plus, I would like everybody's honest opinion about this piece, because it sparked some controversy recently.

It is made with tempera and enviro tex on top.

So, if you care to participate, please let me know your impartial & sincere opinion! Some sample questions are:

1. Do you like this piece?

2. What feelings does it evoke?

3. Would you purchase this, for yourself or somebody else?

4. What opinion would you have of someone if you saw this hanging in their house?

Thanks for playing! and in any event have a great Sunday!

PPF - Canal Magdalena

Hi all at Paint party Friday! I am sharing a mini oil painting on Canal Magdalena, one of the many I worked on pre my big ocean painting. I really worked hard here to convey the true colours of the water and the somewhat stormy sky - or at least the mood, lacking that. It sure is hard catching the right tone, isn't it?

The place itself is a channel in the stormy cold South of Chile, near Puerto Williams and other such places. It was such a beautiful photo even though online I see nothing really about it, though apparently there's a rock band (from Chile) named after it! Who knew?

Have a great time!

ss - happy Easter!

happiness is coffee after 40 days without!

hello to all at Sunday Sketches and Happy Easter to all! I have taken a long blogging Sabbatical which coincided with the rather odd choice to take a 40 day coffee sabbatical -- I gave up coffee for Lent!!! Full disclosure: I grew up Catholic but am not particularly formally religious though I do love the doctrine & discipline which religious experiences grant. Hence, coffee.

 I've done this for the past 4 years - one year giving up cooked foods (IE going 'raw), the next year sweets, the year following cigarettes, and this year... coffee.

Weirdly, of all the things I've given up, coffee has been the worst! Re. foods, a lot in my diet is raw anyway, and re. sweets & smokes there;s always the sense that the stuff is no earthly good for you anyway (in fact, thanks to doing it last year I pretty much gave up cigaretes altogether!) But coffee, it just seemed so cruel and unusual and unesesary - and it really took its toll in weird ways, like losing all desire to blog.

Re the drawing for Sunday Sketches, this is one thing I did manage to accomplish - finish a drawing I had been owing people for ages now (LOL!!) still have to cut it up and mail it, though! It's the sort of drawing that coulda taken another 5 years to complete, so I finally decided to just give up the ghost & call it DONE.

Hope all are having a magnificent weekend!

PpF - Valparaiso

hi all at paint party friday! its good to be back. i took a global blogging sabbatical but now would like to get back with it. Generallywhen i get so overwhelmed that i lose the komentum or inclination to visit other bloggers, I take a break. then, when i get the desireto see what everyone else is up to, i log back in.

this piece is called Valparaiso which is the best place in the whole world. No exceptions. I would go onbut am postung from a keyboardless tablet which is kind of a pain ha ha! this painting is just a draft whichI may or may not improve Hope everybody is grear!

Creative Tuesdays - Voyage

Hi all at Creative Tuesday!

what better homage to Voyage than a wonderful ocean landscape sketch?

I am here continuing my studies for the large painting that it seems, at this time, will never actually be started, am having so much fun with the preliminaries!

This is a sketch I made of an oil painting by the British born painter THomas Somerscales who, by a weird twist of fate, spent virtually all of his career in little-known Chile, south America. As such, he is no doubt not nearly as famous as he probably deserves to be. Here is a wiki link in English, which says practically nothing. The Wiki entry in Spanish is more forthcoming.

The circumstance of Voyage is, of course, represented by the boats. As well, it is represented in the life of a British painter, through some random voyage, having come to inhabit and belong to as different a place as you can, if you're from England (probably). At least a handful of British artists and other sorts decided to migrate to Chile, though, so it can't have been that lonely.

original by Somerscales

Speaking of voyage, Chile is actually sort of rife with it. Heaps of people either coming and going - Chile has, bizarrely enough, the 3rd largest population of Croatians in the world - Chile also has a huge percentage of expat Greeks. Also a large collection of Palestinians, Armenians, Swiss, Italians, Hungarians, Russians, Spaniards, British, as well as any number of native Amerindians and travellers from other places. From the 1840s on, a large percentage of Germans went over, and this group has largely contributed to the cultural & ethnic genotype of what one might call Chilean society ever since. During WWII you get the curious phenomenom of Jews fleeing Hitler, and some 10 or 20 years later you get the phenomenom of ex Nazis fleeing a post Nurenberg Trial Europe. What a confused mishmash! I wonder if they all ever met in the streets of Valdivia and if so, what did they say to each other....

Same thing happened in Sweden and nearby countries. Elite CHileans fled the communist elected president Allende in 1970, and 3 years later, Allende's advocates fled when the wheels of history turned against them. What did a 'facho' anti Allende say to an Allende advocate whenever they happened to meet at the market somewhere in Östermalm?
Here, an art critic's rendition of Somerscales' contribution to ocean landscapes:

Nos instalan en alta mar. Ahí respiramos ráfagas de humedad salada, en tanto que consiguiéndose así el acorde cromático preciso con los azules intensos del abismo acuático. Están "Fuera de Valparaíso";"Homeward Bound", el gran lienzo del Congreso Nacional, etc. Para sus versiones de "El Estrecho de Magallanes" cambia la paleta: verdes y azulosos se contraponen a picachos nevados y a cielos henchidos de nubes lluviosas. Unos y otros rescates del mar nuestro, por supuesto, transmiten la circunstancia climática de latitudes diferentes.

a rough translation would be:

The best moments of Somerscales take us to the high seas. There we breathe bursts of salty moisture, insomuch as the winds blow up voluminous quantities of orange, managing thus the correct chromatic precision with the intense blues of the aquatic abyss. There are "Outside Valparaiso", "Homeward Bound", the great canvas at the National Congress, etc. For his version of "THe Strait of Magellan' he changes his pallete: greens and blues are counterpoint to snowy peaks and skies swollen with rain-soaked clouds. One or another rendition of our ocean, of course, transmit the climactic circumstance of different latitudes.
I really like Somerscales work in general, from what I've seen. Doesn't have quite the scope of Turner (but then, who does) but he does make some magnificent, dramatic seascapes.
Hope all y'all having a good one!

ppf - studies of oceans and waterways various

Hi all at PPF!

Here I am continuing on beachy themes, all which I have mostly developed already on charcoal. THe one here is a beach in the northern town of Iquique in Chile - an interesting place way up north, near Peru, and very near one of the dryest deserts in the world, the Atacama. It's oil on some crazy oil painting paper I got for Xmas which seems to work out OK though is somewhat drying.

This one is the oil painting rendition of a sketch I had already composed in charcoal, and which I had posted for Creative Tuesdays and can be seen - in terms of info on the piece and the town it represents - here. BTW, Creative Tuesdays is a greatly fun blogging co-op! Biweekly challenges/prompts are given and we are then prompted to channel all our ideas into a common theme. Visit here for more. The piece is done on oils on a gessoed wood panel, reministent of my last year's painting project.

Hope all are having a great weekend! Will strive to look at everyone by end of Sunday.

Sunday Sketches - Last Fiverr piece

Hi all at Sunday Sketches!!

This is the last installment on the Fiverr Sherlock Holmes story. As seen, an elderly woman on a bed is supposed to be lying on a bed sleeping while an empty bottle of wine lies at her side. The doctor and our spying friends look on, puzzled.

These were all completely done at the 'client's' behest and, as stated earlier, I do not know fully the whole story behind it all. All I DO know is that, after this, I am taking that gig down. It gets a bit too much to handle after a while!

I want to know if anyone had any New Year's Resolution? I don't know if I officially had one, but I have been becoming fitter, All really since Jan 13th vs Jan 1st - all just in time for that Saturn Venus transit as it turns out! Doing it by exercising once a day for a 1/2 hour, looking at Jillian Michaels videos on YouTube.  Ha ha, I never though I would resort to that but the weather does not allow for long walks. And it's been neat I mean, I had never managed to do real bloody push-ups in my life--- till right now!! Got to count for something..... have also given up most carbs, something which has been easy - except for right this second. For some reason. We'll see how it goes.....

Hope all are well!

Creative Tuesday - Lighthouse

Hi all at Creative Tuesdays! Nice to be back!

It's always hard for me to calibrate everything between one year and the next, which is why I'm so pleased that this week's theme is in alignment with my current project!

This is a sketch of Viña del Mar, one of the most famous and popular balnearios in Chile. It is home to a fairly popular international Latin American music festival we all like to make fun of, a casino, and a couple of castles and lighthouses.

Yes, I used to hang out a lot there back in the day, but if I remember correctly, all people ever did was gripe about how "all those Argentines" came up over the mountains to take over all the good stuff. Ungrateful beneficiaries of a tourist economy, I say! What would Walt Disney say!?!

Anyway below the tall tree is a place called Wolff Castle with its lighthouse which is some sort of museum, and somewhere beyond that is the aformentioned Casino where, it is said, ruined gamblers would on occasion take their lives by casting themselves into the surf.

Lately I like to listen to Magical Mystery Tour whenever working (for whatever reason) so I leave everyone with this great little Busby Berkeley inspired number:

have a great week y'all!

Sunday Sketches - Fiverr Holmes piece

Hello all at Sunday Sketches!

THis is another of the fiverr installment pieces - another piece for the Sherlock Holmes.

It's not exactly a collaboration - an author contacted me via the site fiverr to see if I would do these few illustrations for her book which I assume she's going to self-publish. I have been asked to do 5 in total, and this is the 3rd.

As can be seen here, the indefatigable friends are wandering through a cemetery, and see a mausoleum with the statue of a fellow with an outstretched arm on top.

While making this I had a chance to view a fun old movie by the Beatles - you can see the whole thing elsewhere but meanwhile, here's  a segment -

Hope all are having a great Sunday!

PPF - painting binge

Greetings PPFers!

I undertook the 4 above oil paintings within less than 48 hours. That's almost 3 times my painting level during my Epic Painting Project of last year!

They are all the ocean, as can be seen, very specifically, the same wave, as seen here (last image on page). What I was seeking was to see how the colours showed up, regarding choice. 

So the bottom one is made with only blues, the one above that adds greens, the one above that adds yellows to blues and greens, and the last one adds purple, oranges, yellow, greens and blues. This last one is probably the weakest - but that's why I do this now, so as not to get stuck with some ugly-ass thing when the time comes to do it for reals. (this is still referring to a painting commission I received almost 6 months ago... wow!)

hope all have a groovy day!

Sunday Sketches - Fiverr, Holmes playing Violin

Hi everyone at Sunday Sketches!!

This week I wanted to share one of my Fiverr pieces. Every once in a while the gig is dormant, but every once in a while I will still get them in.

These are apparently to go towards a book about Sherlock Holmes - have already done 2 and possibly will do more.

As can be seen, this scene shows a standard view of Sherlock playing the violin while his sidekick Watson reads a paper nearby.

Speaking of which, does anyone know the relationship or deal with Watson and Holmes? How did they get to be friends? What do they do aside from solve random mysteries? What's the back story there? I have never actually read any of the books - maybe I will someday.

have a great weekend!

Firmoo: New Glasses... Free Glasses! For you and me!

Got new glasses today.

 That in itself might not be worth writing about, but I got them for free! And you can too!

 The old opinion that glasses are only necessities for people with vision problems has already gone. Glasses are increasingly becoming a fad and must-have accessories for celebs and fashionistas. Everyday we can spot millions of non prescription glasses wearers and we are constantly fascinated by many noted film stars’ signature non prescription glasses.They instantly upgrade your look of modern,sexy, vintage or geek by wearing different styles of frames.

OF course, some of us actually need the bloody things, so as to, well, see. That's where I come in on the issue. And so I was very excited when I was approached by a member of the Firmoo online glasses merchant regarding their First Pair Free Program.

I can't even begin to describe how timely this offer was for me! As a noble member of that class known as 'starving artist', even the expense of a pair of glasses is one that I will scrutinize out of existence. Thus, I had been wearing the same pair of semi-broken glasses from 6 years ago after my most recent pair went bust. All I had to do was unearth an old prescription and, presto, free glasses!

Firmoo is an online glasses company, where you can fill in the details of your prescription (if you have one) and get a brand new pair of glasses in the mail. Anyone who wears glasses knows that a decent pair, once you include the prescription cost, can run up above $100. Not so with the various existing online merchants, where, if you already have a prescription, you can get a decent pair for $20. Firmoo is no exception. One can find a very serviceable and fun pair of glasses for what amounts to chump change!

Their selection is quite vast, and I really like the intuitive, easy way the frames are organized - by size, shape, and materials. Also, a little photo uploader exists which allows one to 'try before you try', so as to make sure that the frames look good on your face.

Now a little something from their mission statement:

"Our Aim - Vision & Fashion the Frugal Way

• Vision - An ideal pair of prescription glasses as a half medical tool to correct vision should be made up of a quality frame and lenses with accurate prescription. We promise all our eyeglasses frames are of high quality. Besides, all eyewear provided by us goes through strict inspection by our experienced opticians before shipping to ensure the accuracy of lens prescription. That's why we keep the lowest return and exchange rate among all online optical stores worldwide.

• Fashion - We offer classic and fashion glasses frames for you to choose from. All of these frames which are quite popular in the world are elaborately picked by our staff from thousands of frames in the market.

• Frugal way - Our prescription eyeglasses are inexpensive even though with high quality, therefore, everyone can afford it.

Any hot glasses/sunglasses/goggles frames you want can be found on Firmoo, and all are available for both prescription lenses and non-prescription lenses. Are you desperate to have a new look? Now here is the chance, Firmoo has launched a First Pair Free Program to people  worldwide. You will absolutely fall in love with the excellent quality, affordable prices, fashionable designs, fast delivery and the good service after trying them with paying shipping only! You even can get a refund/exchange if you are not satisfied with them. It's totally Risk free, so why not have a try? 

Click here (http://www.firmoo.com/free-glasses.html) to get your free glasses now!"

I have had mine for about a week, and I am very pleased with them! The link for the pair I got was here. Yes - a $40 pair of glasses for free! I always had wanted to get a pair of somewhat larger and rounder ones, but I had never dared. I got stuck in the tiny-glasses rut a while ago, and had not been presented with the opportunity to try something radically new, and at no cost!

I love the way I can see very easily from every angle (instead of only having vision concentrated in the very front of my face like with the smaller glasses). I like how they look, too, which is a double plus! They are fun and look like I want them too.

The quality seems good.  I'm not a huge connoiseur of glasses mechanics, but these seem well-made. I have in the past put on glasses that feel like they are made out of paper, or that will begin sliding off your face after just a few days. Not so these!


Though I can't guarantee they're klutz-proof, I can see they will last a very long time, with a reasonable caring attitude towards them.

I have purchased online glasses through other merchants, and sadly have found them somewhat lacking in this department. These, however, seem solid & safe.

When I first put them on, I find that I'm having a bit of trouble with the prescription part in the left eye - it doesn't feel quite right- but I attribute that to the fact that I was wearing very old glasses for a good 12 months, in addition to having used a converted contact lenses prescription to get these. So, word to the wise -- if you do this, please make sure you have a 100% correct prescription!

So, go on then! If you really need a new pair, or if you've always wanted a snazzy pair of faux glasses or sunglasses just for the heck of it, now's your chance! For only shipping cost you will be well on your way to a new look. Remember, the  First Pair is Free.

PFF - Updates on previous piece

Hi all at paint party friday!

Here it is, then, the 2nd Friday in January. Hope the new year is being great for everyone!

Just wished to do a quick update on the woodpieces I posted last week. Our process here is that I do the drawings (as shown last week) and that Jim does all the colouring/painting - and that's what you see here.

Can't wait to start on my painting project for reals! Feels like I've been working on these wooden relics and set aside painting for a while.

some very exciting news for anyone who likes to work with illustrator/photoshop, or would like to but hasn't been able to afford it:

Adobe is giving away free downloads of the entire Creative Suite, version CS2.

Amazing but true! Illustrator, Photoshop, InDesign, all for absolutely free. It's an old version, but it's one I still have on another machine (a mac) which I purchased in 2005 for like $700 (and that was the student version, LOL). I was excited to find this link through a friend who hangs out in Linked In forums. Now I have the creative suite on my PC as well as my Mac :D

I downloaded it - the Photoshop seems absolutely fine, the Illustrator makes my screen look odd but otherwise seems to work. Would be interested in knowing if others do download it, and what their experiences are.

No idea how long Adobe will feel generous for, but here's the link: http://www.adobe.com/downloads/cs2_downloads/index.html

have a great week and thanks for stopping by!

Paint Party Friday - Ponder Panel Wood Burning Drawings

this pic shows only 1/2 the length of the piece of wood

Hi all at PPF!!! Sorry to miss everyone last week - had to diagnose a broken chainsaw (long story...) Hope all had a good holiday, mine was stupendous!!!! Firstly, it is near my birthday so I received a double dose of gifts and greetings :D

Among these are things I have been really wanting, like a food Dehydrator and a Wheatgrass Juicer !! But for sure the most exciting one has been a new smartphone!! THe main reason I am so excited about this is that I can now take pictures and upload them to google all the time! It was always a big problem for me to find the space to take and upload photos with Jim's professional camera, and this generally meant I could or would not participate in these things, but now, though the image quality may be questionable, I can basically guarantee I can join up every single week. Funny how a small technology upgrade can make one's life so much better!

All the images posted are from one of the ponder panels we make - I have drawn all the illustrations on this piece of wood with a woodburning tool. A great thing we have had from  Colwood for a good 2 years but finally it broke - so a Xmas gift to ourselves was a new one ($80!)

In any event, the theme is varied and, due to the size of the wood piece, I had lots of room to do lots of different sorts of illustrations. The text that runs along the wood is about the dialectics between ruler and ruled, us v them - hence, some battle scenes and signs of nature encroaching on so called human progress.

Speaking of nature, this is my new favourite animal, the liger!! I find it incredibly cute and huge. Apparently a hybrid between a male lion and a female tiger, it somehow experiences unbounded growth due to weird genetic mishap. Our friend can grow to weight 900lbs and stand at 5 feet while on all fours!!!

here's the liger:

More images of my artwork below. Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful new years!!!

Creative Tuesdays - Holiday Songs

Hello fine CT folks!

So... holiday songs it is, eh?
I must admit I am not a huge advocate of holiday songs, I have tended in life to favour Hitchens' opinion regarding the "tinny, maddening, repetitive ululations" that permeate the atmosphere this time of year though, like with most things, I have become more jolly and tolerant with age, even about that.



So saying, there are not a lot of holiday songs I can either conjure up in their entirety nor express anything about, though while I was looking at this riddle the absurd song 'Grandma got run over by a reindeer' came to mind. If I'm ever going to advocate for a holiday song, it would have to be one to so gleefully NOT take itself - or the season - seriously.



Meanwhile, I learned a few things about reindeers:

The reindeer is actually another name for the caribou, as it is known in the US. It is a species of deer native to Arctic and Subarctic regions. This includes both resident and migratory populations.


Reindeer have specialized noses featuring nasal turbinate bones that dramatically increase the surface area within the nostrils. Incoming cold air is warmed by the animal's body heat before entering the lungs, and water is condensed from the expired air and captured before the deer's breath is exhaled, used to moisten dry incoming air and possibly absorbed into the blood through the mucous membranes.

Reindeer hooves adapt to the season: in the summer, when the tundra is soft and wet, the footpads become sponge-like and provide extra traction. In the winter, the pads shrink and tighten, exposing the rim of the hoof, which cuts into the ice and crusted snow to keep it from slipping. This also enables them to dig down (an activity known as "cratering")^[19][20] through the snow to their favorite food, a lichen known as reindeer moss. The knees of many species of reindeer are adapted to produce a clicking sound as they walk.^{[21] This is why they are such successful winter animals!}
 

Balla, Giacomo Dynamism of a Dog on a Leash 1912 Oil on canvas 35 3/8 x 43 1/4 (89.9 x 109.9)

Balla, Giacomo
Dynamism of a Dog on a Leash
1912
Oil on canvas
35 3/8 x 43 1/4 (89.9 x 109.9)

As far as the piece itself, before I finally read the words of the song, I had decided on a narrative where Grandma was walking across the frozen tundra to hand Santa some cookies and milk in a glass. The reindeer, seeing Grandma approach, reacts in a fit of pique, attacks grandma, and causes the carnage of cookies & milk.




I grew inspired by contemplating the dizzying portrayals of motion of the Futurists in general, and Balla's 'Dynamism of a Dog on a Leash' (1912) in particular.

Marcel Duchamp. Nude Descending a Staircase, No. 2 1912. Oil on canvas. 57 7/8" x 35 1/8"

Thanks to new technological advances in photography and the cultural/moral landscape of the 'modern era' (abstract art, etc), a certain group of artists set about creating an accepted visual language of motion in art. Duchamp's "Nude Descending a Staircase" is a good first example of that style - a painting which bended the minds of many incredulous and impressionable witnesses at the 1913 New York Armory show.


According to Tom Lubbock, upon discussing the above painting,  Balla's painting is particularly striking because:

Their legs have multiple positions, indicating brisk walking. They should be tripping along the pavement. Their bodies, on the other hand, have only one position in the picture, so their bodies are not advancing accordingly. If they're moving at all, it's much slower than the speed at which their feet would seem to be carrying them.

It's an awkward sense of movement that results. The lady's bunch of hard heels, scrumming under her skirts, promises a general trip-up. (An apparently unnecessary group of four kick out in front). The dog, meanwhile, gives the impression of frantic scampering. Its legs thrash beneath a body that makes no progress at all.

In my silly sketch I managed to also show the pathos of the attack, the fall, and the descent of the milk jug and glass, to its final conclusion. Yet the bodies are mostly stationary, albeit holding dynamic, awkward poses that portray a narrative of subjugation and domination - beast against (wo)man.



Hope all have had great holidays!