… impressionism, by Federico Zandomeneghi (1841-1917)
In Bed, Federico Zandomeneghi. Image from Wikiart
The Art of …
Affinity
Art, Fun, & Nonsense.
… impressionism, by Federico Zandomeneghi (1841-1917)
In Bed, Federico Zandomeneghi. Image from Wikiart
… impressionism, by Mary Cassatt
Cassatt is an American artist best known for her portraits of mothers with their children. She was 15 when she began to seriously study art but became disappointed with her education in America and moved to Paris with her family. The Paris art scene was brimming with the new impressionistic style at that time, and Cassatt found that it suited her talents and sensibilities.
Summertime, 1894, Mary Cassatt. Image from Wikiart
Hekuni Cat, I don’t have your address. Please sent it to the Affinity address linked in the sidebar.
Some fun with Pokémon. the kids in school always love my Pokémon themed attire, be it the mask, the pencil case or the T-shirts.
©Giliell, all rights reserved
Umbreon and Espeon. I made matching earrings, just simple studs, but they do have a tendency to get lost in bed…
The next set will go out to a friend as a belated birthday present. We’ll meet in a park today to go for a walk. Distance and sunshine and fresh air…
©Giliell, all rights reserved
These are two brass rings separated by rhinestones. The top one has flowers in it, the bottom one gold leaf.
The next ones are fairly simple, but I do love them. All unicorny and shiny.
©Giliell, all rights reserved
And last but not least:
People, miracles do happen! As you may remember, my relationship with my mother is best described as “difficult”. To not put too fine a point to it, she was abusive. One of her tactics was to be never satisfied with what I did. I got an A-, best grade in class? Why isn’t it an A+? We were recently talking about the kids and she mentioned that while #1 was smart as me and also chaos incarnate like me, she wasn’t ambitious like me. I later thought “well, maybe that’s because you only loved me when I was the best”. This tactic extended to my hobbies. She’d never have a kind word or even praise, just a lot of non-constructive criticism.
Well, last week I gave my sister a set of Strawberry earrings and necklace and she asked me for a pair of earrings in brown with a bit of gold and when I gave them to her yesterday she actually liked them and thanked me and I was like “Lady, I don’t know who you are and what you did to my mum, but I really like you and you can stay.” Apparently an old dog can learn new tricks…
©Giliell, all rights reserved
… animation, by Walt Disney Productions. Music: Tocatta and Fugue in D minor by Bach, performed by The Philadelphia Orchestra, conducted by Leopold Stokowski, in pioneering Fantasound.
(I need a few unicorns and flying horses today)
… illustration, by Kay Nielson
This illustration is from The Book of Death, a series of drawings exhibited in London but never published in book form. Nielson went on to work for Disney Studios and was the art director for Fantasia, one of my favourite pieces of animation.
From The Book of Death, 1911, Kay Nielson
Avalus has a penchant for finding interesting things to photograph on his way to work. Here are a few colourful birds, and he says,
… a flock of birds I encountered on my way to work. Again, I have no idea what kind of bird they are.
©Avalus, all rights reserved
Well, Spring isn’t exactly here yet (we still have lots of snow), but it’s arrived in Germany, and Avalus is sharing and giving me hope.
©Avalus, all rights reserved
©Avalus, all rights reserved
©Avalus, all rights reserved
Japanese Woodblock prints, by Utagawa Kuniyoshi
Kuniyoshi is considered a master of ukiyo-e (woodblock prints), and his favourite subject was cats. He was obsessed with cats, and his studio was often overrun by them. He often portrayed them as well-loved characters from stories or as part of kabuki theatre. His art is inventive and often playful, and it quickly became popular and well respected, lifting him out of the poverty of his early life.
Amusements of the First Snowfall, 1852, Utagawa Kuniyoshi
I love cats and these wonderful creations by Anne, Cranky Cat Lady are glorious.
Photos of my Mystical Cats from Lyn Belisle’s Mystical Cat Shamans class. The faces are her work (she does lovely ceramics) but the rest is mine. Leafy girl is Thera, Protector of Wild Things, the turquoise cat is Bast, my Mewse. Because you know how much cats love to help with your work. Lots of vintage bits and pieces, handmade paper, and beads. They’re pretty big, about 14″ tall, and I’m going to have to move stuff around so I can hang them.
Thera, ©Anne, Cranky Cat Lady
Bast, ©Anne, Cranky Cat Lady
Jill Bearup is has made much more fun and informative video on the infamous boob armor than those made by doods (which were not always bad) and I really think it is worth watching if you are interested in that kind of thing.
…portraiture, by Alice Neel
Alice Neel suffered many tragedies in her life, including the loss of several of her children. She suffered a nervous breakdown, attempted suicide and was hospitalized for over a year. Her work is infused with emotional intensity and a fearless realism. There was some criticism of her work contemporarily because it did not hold with the ideals of how the feminine should be portrayed in art, but Neel is now considered one of America’s best portrait artists. The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City will be hosting an exhibition of Ms. Neel’s art from March 22 until August 1, 2021. Virtual Tours are available by request.
Mother and Child (Nancy and Olivia), 1967, Alice Need. Image from The New York Review
I am finishing the kitchen-knives sets, and one of the tools that I was still missing in my toolbox was a branding stamp that could be used for wood and leather. For leather, I have used an impromptu one made from wood stabilized with epoxy, but that cannot be used to brand wood of course. But when making that I have figured out a process that could be also applied to making one out of steel, so after a lot of procrastinating the task, today I have finally bitten the bullet and took the two hours it needed.
© Charly, all rights reserved. Click for full size
The handle is from an extremely old and out-of-shape potato peeler. Maybe even antique, but I know of no museum that would take it of my hands so I have recycled it. The screw is recycled from old furniture. The stamp itself is from tool steel, although I will not be hardening it.
I could not tap the hole in the stamp very deep and well without re-grinding and thus destroying the taps, because standard taps need to go through. Thus I could not cut very good threads in there, just two turns of half-assed ones. But that should not be a problem, a few dents for the thread to latch on to should suffice, friction should take care of the rest. It is not supposed to come apart, and if it comes apart, I will braze it.
© Charly, all rights reserved. Click for full size
The one advantage of having a logo consisting of only straight lines is that it made the job relatively easy. A bit of filing, a bit of grinding with an angle-grinder, and here we go. Up close there are some flaws and the width to height ratio is a tiny bit off, but that is just life. I have tossed one attempt due to flaws, but I think this one will do.
© Charly, all rights reserved. Click for full size
Wood branding is not an exact science, there will always be some irregularities. But with some practice, I should get crisp and nice logos that can be placed even in visible areas. Which is my intention.
© Charly, all rights reserved. Click for full size
And there is absolutely no doubt that on leather, the results are way, way better than those I got with my wood-carved impromptu stamp.
I may give it a go one more time to get the proportions better, but in the meantime, I am going to use this one. I doubt anyone will complain about it.
From Avalus,
A muddy, frozen puddle by the roadside.
Boring, one might say.
©Avalus, all rights reserved
But, what interesting patterns in the ice, indicating the shrinking liquid underneath.
Let’s look closer.
©Avalus, all rights reserved
Structures emerge between the layers!
Let’s look even closer.
©Avalus, all rights reserved
The ice sheet that seemed so uniform from afar is structured, almost like cathedral glass, from many tiny crystals of ice.
Everywhere, there is beauty in the universe.
(This was pretty much my thought process when I came by that frozen puddle. That, and my cold feet, reminding me of my poor choice of shoes I took for that walk :D)