This online journal is a record of ideas, exploration and experimentation. By being honest in my successes and failures I hope to be credible in and contribute to an inquisitive artistic and intellectual community.
Timelessness and Temporality
June 25, 2024
The history of art unfolds as a rich tapestry woven between the timeless and the everyday, each thread revealing distinct facets of human creativity and cultural expression. Timeless art transcends temporal boundaries, striving to capture universal ideals and enduring truths. From the serene sculptures of ancient Greece depicting gods and heroes with idealized forms, to Renaissance paintings imbued with allegorical symbolism, these artworks speak to fundamental aspects of the human experience across generations. They offer insights into the aspirations, beliefs, and values that have resonated deeply throughout history, embodying beauty, virtue, and philosophical reflection that remain relevant across centuries.
Conversely, everyday art captures the mundane realities and specificities of daily life within their historical contexts. Genre painting during the Dutch Golden Age, for instance, meticulously depicted domestic scenes, tradespeople at work, and moments of leisure, offering glimpses into ordinary existence that resonate with authenticity and detail. Realism in the 19th century continued this tradition by focusing on the unembellished realities of contemporary society, portraying scenes of urban life, labor, and social issues with a stark honesty that challenged prevailing artistic conventions. Street art and graffiti in more recent times further extend this tradition, utilizing everyday materials and urban landscapes as canvases to reflect current societal concerns, local cultures, and personal expressions.
Yet, the dichotomy between timeless and everyday art is not static; it evolves alongside shifts in societal perspectives and artistic movements. Modern and contemporary art movements often blur these distinctions, blending elements of both timelessness and the everyday to create new forms of expression. Impressionism, for example, captured fleeting moments of everyday life with an emphasis on light and color, challenging traditional notions of subject matter worthy of artistic representation. Ultimately, the interplay between timeless and everyday art enriches our understanding of history, offering nuanced perspectives on the ideals and realities that shape human existence across different epochs and cultures.
Ideas on Assembling an En Plein Air Painting Kit.
March 25, 2024
Adrian Eisenhower 
I was looking around at various art sites and studying anatomy independently. I came across your site. Some great work you’ve got going there.
is there a way to get notifyed auto matic ly when you update your blog?????
I do not know off hand but I will look into it. Thank you for the encouraging words. Though not automatic, I have just uploaded a post. My best- Adrian
Stars
by Freya Manfred
What matters most? It’s a foolish question because I’m hanging on,
just like you. No, I’m past hanging on. It’s after midnight and I’m falling
toward four a.m., the best time for ghosts, terror, and lost hopes.
No one says anything of significance to me. I don’t care if the President’s
a two year old, and the Vice President’s four. I don’t care if you’re
cashing in your stocks or building homes for the homeless.
I was a caring person. I would make soup and grow you many flowers.
I would enter your world, my hands open to catch your tears,
my lips on your lips in case we both went deaf and blind.
But I don’t care about your birthday, or Christmas, or lover’s lane,
or even you, not as much as I pretend. Ah, I was about to say,
“I don’t care about the stars” — but I had to stop my pen.
Sometimes, out in the silent black Wisconsin countryside
I glance up and see everything that’s not on earth, glowing, pulsing,
each star so close to the next and yet so far away.
Oh, the stars. In lines and curves, with fainter, more mysterious
designs beyond, and again, beyond. The longer I look, the more I see,
and the more I see, the deeper the universe grows.
I have a long way to go, and I’m starting now —
out in the silent black Wisconsin countryside.
“Stars” by Freya Manfred, from Swimming with a Hundred Year Old Snapping Turtle. © Red Dragonfly Press, 2008. Reprinted with permission
This poem reminded me of the stars at the hot springs…
“The aging process has you firmly in its grasp if you never get the urge to throw a snowball.”
–Doug Larson
growing old is mandatory, growing up is optional