20th Century Architecture

This house was built in 1893 by Frank Lloyd Wright for Walter H. Gale. It's one of the three "Boot-Leg" houses because Wright designed them while he was still working for Adler & Sullivan and his contract prohibited him from taking outside commissions. This was the first of the houses completed after he left the firm.

I think this house is beautiful. I have a thing for round rooms and wall to wall windows. I can only imagine the upper room of the rounded part of the house being the perfect room for a studio plenty of light and space. And the veranda makes it all the more perfect even though it's in the Queen Anne style and technically I prefer Victorian architecture.

Italian Renaissance Drawings

I don't know if this is really it but this drawing looks so much like the wedding gift given to Danielle by Da Vinci at the end of the movie Ever After. By my standards that movie is one of the best alternative Cinderella stories ever so I had to pick this drawing. Of course, the movie is fictional so it's not like I really know the orgins of the sketch but I still love it.

The skill level of Da Vinci is so immense I'm not sure if I should be inspired or just quit because I'll never manage to be that amazing. His blending and shading is seamless and the way he's drawn her hair is almost minimalist in that he uses so few lines yet those lines speak to her having a full and untameable mane of hair. it's positively stunning.

My Favorite Movie

I'm really torn on this one too, which is why it took me so long to get around to writing this. I had to find time to watch my top two and decide. I've gotta say I'm gunna go with Fight Club--at least for today--Dirty Dancing was the other option.

I like Fight Club just because it's one of those movies where when you watch it the first time, no matter how carefully you do, you still know you missed something. And it's enough of something that you have to watch it again just to find out. It deals so much with the tricks of the mind that it makes you wonder, at least a little, about your own sanity. Which is fine cause as long as you're sane enough to think about it you'll be ok. It's when you know you're crazy or when you're positive that it's not even a possibility that you should get checked out.

My Second Favourite Artist

My second favourite artist I talked about for a little bit in the last post. Her name is Joey Richardson and she's a wood lathe artist. I got to meet her when I went to SOFA last fall. I saw quite a few of her pieces including the one above. She has incredible technical skill and amazing precision as well as the ability to weave the stories of her life experiences in to her work.

When we spoke at the expo she had approached me, my mom, and sister because I was pointing out to them the the delicacy of her work. The negitive spaces are not just places where the wood has been removed, she cuts actual figures in to them (the most common for her seem to be hearts, roses and other flowers, horses, and butterflies). She overheard what I'd been saying and came over to ask about my art because she's noted over time that the only people who really notice the figures are other artists.

The photo at the top of this post is of a piece called Incitatus. If you examine it closely you can see horses, a varity of flowers, and small birds.

My Favourite Artist

For me, deciding a favourite anything is hard. Not because I am indecisive, although I can be, but because my tastes are so varied. It becomes especially difficult when it comes to art. I love all that is art. I am art. That may seem like a strange statement but I have grown up drawing, painting, and woodworking, and in the past three to four years I've added photography (including it's digital editing), jewelry making, and ceramics to my repertoire. And I can't even pick my favourite out of those.

So, after hours of mild contemplation I chose Linda Ravenscroft as my favourite artist. Her Tiger's Eye print is on the left. Joey Richardson, a wood lathe artist, is a close second, so for good measure I put a picture of her Purple Mist. (It is, decidedly, my favourite piece of hers, since I met her last year at the SOFA Expo in Chicago and had the opportunity to discuss the piece with her.)

I admire Richardson because her skill is in a form of art that I would not dare try, for fear of disappointing myself to an extreme. But I favour Ravenscroft because her work has similarities to some of mine, and because of her mastery of colour (when ever I add colour to something I feel as though I ruin it.) I like her backgrounds, sometimes she uses them to give her image a place and other times she just plays with line, shapes, and textures that are complimentary to the foreground ant draw the eye there. Her pieces are filled with curving lines giving the illusion of grace to the character. The attention to detail is impeccable and shown in every area of light and dark adding depth and believability. The characters, themselves, are usually some sort of Fae, which makes sense with her being a fantasy artist. They are my typical subject of choice as well. Drawing things that exist only in the mind gives such freedom to create and express. Which, I imagine, is why so many artists are drawn to them.