What is the Thread of Arts in Everyday Life?

[fuzzyfelt]

I hadn't realized Robert Rauschenberg had died.
http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/art/2008/05/mourning_robert_rauschenberg.html

His was a nice sentiment-bridging the gap between life and art.

 

[fuzzyfelt]

edit, to act in the gap between the two.

 

[rewebster]

http://drawn.ca/?s=mccay

If you haven't heard of Winsor McCay, he worked about a hundred years ago.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winsor_McCay

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6230905

A really funny and imaginative guy---he published his comics in newspapers, and are often framed when they are found.

 

[rewebster]

http://dir.salon.com/story/books/review/2005/12/03/mccay/

notice he incorporated the 'art nouveau' legs in the (above) last couple boxes

http://bobjinx.blogspot.com/2007/08/illustrator-animator-or-comic-artist.html

There's a lot of stuff on McCay and Little Nemo (one of his main characters)--

http://www.mrbrklyn.com/

 

[rewebster]

http://www.no4thwall.com/comics/2004-09-26.gif

http://www.no4thwall.com/?m=200409


Different times for comic strips---example of 'today's comic strips'

 

[rewebster]

http://www.feldmangallery.com/pages/exhgroup/exh1984.html

http://www.tendreams.org/tooker.htm
(click on those images to enlarge)



I like George Tooker's work---



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Tooker

 

[rewebster]

http://www.edwardhopper.info/i/Nighthawks.jpg
http://www.edwardhopper.info/Nighthawks.html


http://members.aol.com/ondinemonet/images/automat%20edward%20hopper.jpg
http://ingoodspirit.blogspot.com/2007/08/joseph-cornell-and-edward-hopper_09.html


Edward Hopper had a different style and was just a few years earlier.

http://www.interesting.com/artist/Hopper/gallery.html

http://images.google.com/images?q=edward+hopper&ndsp=20&um=1&hl=en&start=0&sa=N

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Hopper

 

[fuzzyfelt]

You are doing a great job with this thread rewebster!

I thought I might link some of the artists mentioned with the first painting in the thread and look at other Monas, starting with Duchamp’s pencil on reproduction, ‘L.H.O.O.Q.’ and moving through Rauschenberg’s Pneumonia Lisa’, but found there was already a link to some of these, although not including Nick Walker’s ‘Moona Lisa’, allowing an observation of whether or not the French pronunciation of Duchamp’s title was correct . Sorry if it is offensive.
http://www.aiwaz.net/panopticon/mona-lisa-as-modern-lisa/gc234p0


(Also, sorry to be such a bore and edit that point about Rauschenberg. I was trying to remember what else I had read about it, and got thoroughly confused. The article I linked to seemed to be talking more about the nice sentiment of bridging a gap between life and art by including more accessible subjects, etc., but also it has been said that it is important that he actually says ‘working between the gap’ because it is not only affirming autonomy in [institutional] art, but also showing he felt that there were testable boundaries, rather than particularly bridging them.)

 

[rewebster]

I was looking for a certain 'something' on ebay, and this came up in one search (the searches on ebay can be strange now that that changed the way they're handled).

dated 1825? (this one ended up selling for right at $1500)

Young women (girls aged about 8-12 years old about) to show one of their skills to be picked for marriage in a couple years

http://www.pilgrimhall.org/images/stsampl.JPG
The first American-made sampler --- by Loara Standish.
http://www.pilgrimhall.org/samplers2.htm


http://www.greencastlemuseum.org/Special_Exhibits/samplers.htm
"Primarily made by young, unmarried women, decorated towels were not practice pieces as were samplers, but were display pieces that were made to add beauty to a home."


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sampler_(needlework )

http://images.google.com/images?um=1&hl=en&q=sampler&btnG=Search+Images

 

[moe darklight]

Well, I just started a blog today because I was bored (see signature), and I have some of my drawings on it... I'll keep adding more later cause I have like a million.

I have the full-size version of my avatar in there too

 

[rewebster]

 

[rewebster]

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/d/dd/The_Persistence_of_Memory.jpg/300px-
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Persistence_of_Memory

http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/art/dali460.jpg
http://images.google.com/imgres?img...2Salvador+Dali%22+clothed+car&um=1&hl=en&sa=G

http://www.photographymuseum.com/classicphotoposters3.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salvador_Dalí

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/8/81/Dali_women_skull.jpg
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philippe_Halsman

http://z.about.com/d/cleveland/1/0/e/5/-/-/softcma.jpg
http://cleveland.about.com/od/artmuseumsandgalleries1/ig/Barcelona-/Soft-Construction---Dali.--1F.htm

http://images.google.com/imgres?img...es?q=%22Salvador+Dali%22++car&um=1&hl=en&sa=G

http://images.google.com/images?um=1&hl=en&q="Salvador+Dali"+&btnG=Search+Images

 

[Andre]

I used to airbrush it the past:

One of the few remaining:

 

[lisab]

Very cool, Andre...the white highlights in the gold fur give it a 3-D look!

 

[Andre]

Thanks Lisa, actually, that's a bit of a trick. I used to scetch to outline on the cardboard first, then paint on a few layers of water based primer on top until the outlines are barely visible anymore. This allows for better cutting out and removal of the masking films but it also allows for scratching in the white lines very easily.

I think I may resume that hobby when I retire next year.

 

[rewebster]

I used to airbrush it the past:

One of the few remaining:

snatched up by admirers?

 

[Andre]

I'm a weak person. If they hit "pleeeease" the right way, I'm lost. Why? There are dozens hours of work in those things.

 

[baywax]

Nice Andre, very challenging work you were doing. Technicals of airbrushing plus the anatomy and understanding of the animal. Robert Bateman is living near here and his work has blossomed well over the years. Check out his portraits of the worlds endangered animals etc...

http://www.swoyersart.com/robert_bateman.htm

My artistic career started with trying to draw a telephone at age 3. My brother inspired me as he was able to draw all the cartoon characters without breaking a sweat.

After my graduation from Fine Arts and the Sciences I was hired to illustrate for the medical, chemistry, physics and engineering departments of the U of BC. Then I was absconded by the Regional Health Authority to illustrate the research papers and patient information for 4 cancer clinics, administration and Health Ministry of the province.

At one time I had 120 medical departments coming to me for everything that made their grants look good to clarifying patient procedure. One of my series is a collection of drawings depicting how to make love with a colostomy bag in the way. My ground breaking stuff was the work I did with researchers and a private Stem Cell Tech. company, later on.

I proved to myself that art was a very practical tool in the world of science. I modeled my goals on Frank Netter http://www.netterimages.com/ who pioneered much of modern medical illustration. Before him only a few artists really paid attention to details like those found in medicine. da Vinci was one of them.

More about me. I'll try to get my more artsy stuff up from my collection but, like your's, they sell and have sold or you end up giving them away. Much of the medical work is now owned by the clients but I have some I can share here as well. Thank you!

 

[lisab]

Nice Andre, very challenging work you were doing. Technicals of airbrushing plus the anatomy and understanding of the animal. Robert Bateman is living near here and his work has blossomed well over the years. Check out his portraits of the worlds endangered animals etc...

http://www.swoyersart.com/robert_bateman.htm

My artistic career started with trying to draw a telephone at age 3. My brother inspired me as he was able to draw all the cartoon characters without breaking a sweat.

After my graduation from Fine Arts and the Sciences I was hired to illustrate for the medical, chemistry, physics and engineering departments of the U of BC. Then I was absconded by the Regional Health Authority to illustrate the research papers and patient information for 4 cancer clinics, administration and Health Ministry of the province.

At one time I had 120 medical departments coming to me for everything that made their grants look good to clarifying patient procedure. One of my series is a collection of drawings depicting how to make love with a colostomy bag in the way. My ground breaking stuff was the work I did with researchers and a private Stem Cell Tech. company, later on.

I proved to myself that art was a very practical tool in the world of science. I modeled my goals on Frank Netter http://www.netterimages.com/ who pioneered much of modern medical illustration. Before him only a few artists really paid attention to details like those found in medicine. da Vinci was one of them.

More about me. I'll try to get my more artsy stuff up from my collection but, like your's, they sell and have sold or you end up giving them away. Much of the medical work is now owned by the clients but I have some I can share here as well. Thank you!

That's soooo damn cool!

Does doing scientific art all day get in the way of your outside-of-work art?

 

[Andre]

Thanks BW, let me introduce three splendid Dutch wildlife artists, I all know personally, the http://home.hetnet.nl/~alad/index2.html:

http://home.hetnet.nl/~alad/rec-animals/4.jpg

And Remie Bakker, who modelled the saber-toothed cat replica:

and coauthored the book about that I translated. BTW The prints of the English version are ready now and should be distributed in the next week.

 

[baywax]

That's soooo damn cool!

Does doing scientific art all day get in the way of your outside-of-work art?

Thanks lisab... my style was realism to surrealism to begin with, like the Daliesque stuff, anyway so my medical work only enhanced the realism in my paintings... for instance, I spent about 3 years painting bodies flying through the air after a nuclear blast. They're all in various stages of destruction so you get lots of views into the anatomy there. Silent bodies over Saskatchewan after the nuke holocaust etc... I'm pretty sure these one's are gone/sold after the years. When I joined the Archaeology Society because of my overwhelming need to know about the past I was also recruited to illustrate artifacts as best I could so, that lent itself to my overall use and respect for realism.

Since all of this I'm getting into Jackson Polack and Abstract Expressionism as a reverse reaction to realism... but, you have to remember that paint is real too!

 

[baywax]

Thanks BW, let me introduce three splendid Dutch wildlife artists, I all know personally, the http://home.hetnet.nl/~alad/index2.html:

http://home.hetnet.nl/~alad/rec-animals/4.jpg

And Remie Bakker, who modelled the saber-toothed cat replica:

and coauthored the book about that I translated. BTW The prints of the English version are ready now and should be distributed in the next week.

Beats Bateman all to hell! Thanks Andre!

 

[rewebster]

those are good--I like the juxtaposition with the toga guy and the indian (?) elephant---


and that started me thinking about Sci-fi art, and artists like Frazetta (he did some Tarzan's)

-----------------

I've also thought is was interesting the way 'scientists' often describe 'something' as beautiful as a 'painting' and/or some painting in particular.

 

[Andre]

those are good--I like the juxtaposition with the toga guy and the indian (?) elephant---

Mammuthus meridionalis, the ancestral (southerly) mammoth that lived about 3.5 Ma- 1 Ma ago, evolving into the Steppe mammoth, Mammuthus trogontherii as well as the several American species, Mammuthus Columbi etc. Although Dick Mol has a point that all were just variations of the same species, Mammuthus meridionalis as the only difference between the forms are the number of enamel plates in the molars.

Anyway, all three artists are specialized in reviving extinct animals in two or three dimensions based on the fossil record and biologic morphology or what's it called.

It's great fun to watch them at work.

 

[baywax]

Mammuthus meridionalis, the ancestral (southerly) mammoth that lived about 3.5 Ma- 1 Ma ago, evolving into the Steppe mammoth, Mammuthus trogontherii as well as the several American species, Mammuthus Columbi etc. Although Dick Mol has a point that all were just variations of the same species, Mammuthus meridionalis as the only difference between the forms are the number of enamel plates in the molars.

Anyway, all three artists are specialized in reviving extinct animals in two or three dimensions based on the fossil record and biologic morphology or what's it called.

It's great fun to watch them at work.

Very excellent work. And in the name of science!

Its funny how what people perceive as beret wearing, chain smoking, beatnik artists actually contribute widely to the popularization and visualization of the sciences. Not to mention how the work helps raise the cash to do the research. Its a good blend as far as I can see. I wonder when we'll all be burned at the stake. da Vinci did a good job of avoiding that. It had to do with his connections in the merchant circles and his value to the churches as an illustrator of their stories, I think.

But, da Vinci lamented about the transient nature of life and art when he said

"And the lily grew beautifully beside the river and the waters of the river rose up and washed the lily away." (paraphrased).

 

[rewebster]

http://www.monticello.org/gallery/jefferson/trumbull.jpg
http://www.monticello.org/gallery/jefferson/trumbull.html

"Jean Fouquet, self portrait (1450). The earliest portrait miniature, and possibly the earliest formal self-portrait.[1]"

by way of http://artroots.com/art/art18_index.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portrait_miniature

"Portrait miniatures began to flourish in 16th century Europe and the art was practiced during the 17th century and 18th century. They were especially valuable in introducing people to each other over distances; a nobleman proposing the marriage of his daughter might send a courier with her portrait to visit potential suitors. Soldiers and sailors might carry miniatures of their loved ones while traveling, or a wife might keep one of her husband while he was away."

Most miniatures were about 2 inches to 5 inches in width and were the most popular before photography (before the 1840's). They continued for some time due to their continued admiration even into the 1920's.

http://www.equinoxantiques.com/inventory/RT1110005-md.jpg
http://www.equinoxantiques.com/detail/RT1110005

http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&q="miniature portrait"&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wi

 

[baywax]

=rewebster;1740400]

Most miniatures were about 2 inches to 5 inches in width and were the most popular before photography (before the 1840's). They continued for some time due to their continued admiration even into the 1920's.

These are incredible rewebster. Do you collect or paint this sort of stuff?

Here are some of my more recent undertakings. And some old digital drawing.

The closeup is of the Trump Tower on Miami Beach, Aqualina. The hole in the ceiling is for a gigantic chandelier that came later. The area was the foyer and became a formal dining area. The design was a tough one and needed major digital manipulation before producing the metalic floral/nouveau painted panels.

The diagram showing the telomeres in relation to a chromosome and the make-up of a chromosome is from some work that led up to stem cell research and treatments.

You can see we had an advantage over the painters who did or do ceilings with scaffolding.

 

[baywax]

Here's two more shots from projects that happened over the last 3 years.

There is a composite of the chinoiserie (chinese style gold leaf and powder decorative applications on faux sagging linen and red lacquer) which was finally finished and installed at Bishop's Gate in London UK. And there's the private library ceiling in Dallas representing the four corners of the Earth with literary figures from throughout the ages.

This is all fun stuff that takes forever to figure out.

 

[baywax]

The fireplace alone cost $20,000. It is an originally handcarved wooden frame in a style depicting chinese lifestyles by French artists from the turn of the century. It was stripped of paint that happened during the 30s and guilded with 23.990 carat gold leaf, like the rest of the room.

 

[rewebster]

baywax---nice genes, there----when people 'think' about DNA or any of those small 'things' people tend to think of artist's rendering without thinking that 'some' artist had to create the imagined view due to the inability to photograph something that small with 'some' sense of what they are looking at (to be able to visualize it)--often those renderings are what most people then tend to think of when they do think of something like 'DNA'. --like the bubbling surface or the spaghetti in that 'Brian Greene's' PBS special.----nice work.

you're not doing those anymore?

I can't see the fireplace yet---so you're doing specialized construction and restoration?

yes--I've had some miniatures, and do still have some ---two that could be 'something', in that, they could (with a lot of could there) be so good, they would make the news if they did turn out to be 'correct/right' (that's art talk for 'not reproductions or fakes'). I've some small icons too that one dealer thought could be 16th to 18th century. But, no, I never got into painting that small. I've known a couple people that did collect them. There was a renewed interest back in the 1920's about miniatures, many books during that time and repro's were made then that tend to confuse beginners (those go for $40-150 depending on the skill level).

 

[baywax]

baywax---nice genes, there----when people 'think' about DNA or any of those small 'things' people tend to think of artist's rendering without thinking that 'some' artist had to create the imagined view due to the inability to photograph something that small with 'some' sense of what they are looking at (to be able to visualize it)--often those renderings are what most people then tend to think of when they do think of something like 'DNA'. --like the bubbling surface or the spaghetti in that 'Brian Greene's' PBS special.----nice work.

you're not doing those anymore?

I can't see the fireplace yet---so you're doing specialized construction and restoration?

yes--I've had some miniatures, and do still have some ---two that could be 'something', in that, they could (with a lot of could there) be so good, they would make the news if they did turn out to be 'correct/right' (that's art talk for 'not reproductions or fakes'). I've some small icons too that one dealer thought could be 16th to 18th century. But, no, I never got into painting that small. I've known a couple people that did collect them. There was a renewed interest back in the 1920's about miniatures, many books during that time and repro's were made then that tend to confuse beginners (those go for $40-150 depending on the skill level).

Thanks rewbrewster... er... webster...(getting close to Kilkenny time)

Try sending photos to Antique Road Show... they may want to help you identify your artifacts.

I haven't done biomed stuff for quite a while now. I've changed horses a few times since. That drawing is from so long ago that stem cells were barely a pipe dream in terms of treatment.

The last of it was the work I did with Stemcell Techologies, my drawings are all over their product info. I tried to find the most interesting ones to do with cell separation using anti-bodies attached to iron colloids that are then "pulled out" by external magnets. This was promising for collection of specific cell types and also for separating infected T-cells.

The drawing you saw is from research that only made it into face cream... anti-telomerase was going to inhibit the way cancer tends to preserve the telomeres from shortening. That's why a cancer cell can be called an immortal cell... because in never loses information for the next division. The problems here were complex because any treatment might act to hasten other cells to degenerate. I loved working on this kind of stuff though... the possibilities are endless with regard to diminishing cancer ailments and deaths.

During the time of those decorative finishes and murals we were considered artisans who applied our skill to, ideally, finished construction. It is never finished. The Aquilina was hit by two hurricanes during construction and once after our art was on the ceiling. It made for double the money but tended to wear away at the fun...

You can always double click or click on the pending thumbs to see the attachments.

Thank you very much... there's more in store... thanks for putting a thread like this up!

 

[rewebster]

I like both the room and the 'ceiling'-----you DO have a fun job plus traveling---my, my---are the figures 'figural' (3-D) or painted?----(isn't it amazing how jobs/careers hinge so much with the previous job/career/commissions? ---bio-med to ceilings) what's next?

I've shown the pair of miniatures to several dealers, etc. and they've told me they should be seen by someone like from the Hague area, or the Rijksmuseum specifically. I think, from what I've seen and segments from the Roadshow, they'd have a 'estimate' but still would recommend 'further research'.

 

[baywax]

I like both the room and the 'ceiling'-----you DO have a fun job plus traveling---my, my---are the figures 'figural' (3-D) or painted?----(isn't it amazing how jobs/careers hinge so much with the previous job/career/commissions? ---bio-med to ceilings) what's next?

I've shown the pair of miniatures to several dealers, etc. and they've told me they should be seen by someone like from the Hague area, or the Rijksmuseum specifically. I think, from what I've seen and segments from the Roadshow, they'd have a 'estimate' but still would recommend 'further research'.

The ceiling is done in casine pigments which is a milk-based paint. Then they're sealed in with an oil based glaze. Don't ask me what happened during the glazing.

The figures are all from history and literature. The maps are all of Italian cities and in the centre is Italy in whole.

The 1000 sq ft ceiling doesn't actually go into a vault, that's an illusion to lift the whole thing up. We not only sweated over the composition of this one... even after planning it all out.. you know its never what you plan for... but we also sweated a lot because its Dallas. For Eskimos like us it was very hot. Just love Texan Hospitality!

That's good you have some leads for verifying your guesses about the miniatures. They are lovely and I've always wanted to try doing tiny paintings. You see them in many collections from the Group of Seven etc.. (Canadian). I'm pretty used to doing big, broad strokes for the time being. It almost reminds me of Scratch Board drawings because of the tiny strokes.

 

[baywax]

Here's some examples of what I was doing before and during biomedical illustrations.

Both of these are etchings on copper and then run through hand fed rolling presses on to rag paper. You can imagine how long people stayed after I asked them to "come up and see my etchings".

I thought Andre would like the mastodon etching. This was titled "two extinctions" and depicts the mastodon skeleton dancing on piano ivories.

PS. these are lousy, blurry photos of them.

PPS. the pigeon was found behind a wall an old church in Montreal, mummified.

 

[baywax]

And here are the cartoons for a large painting that is in New York. These were part of a series about nuclear holocaust. And strangely peaceful. edit, a fresco actually.