Cassatt's Charm and Power Young Lady in a Loge* Gazing Right, 1878-9 This painting, originally owned by Paul Gaugin, sold at auction for $7.4 million in 2022. “Mlle Cassatt has as much charm, but she has more power” than the other female artists of our time. -Paul Gauguin Mary Cassatt was an American painter and printmaker, who boldly rebelled against the expectations set for her as a woman in the 19th century and traveled to Europe to find her independence as a professional artist. She made...
11 days ago • 5 min read
Artemesia the Survivor Thriver Self Portrait as the Allegory of Painting, 1638-39, Royal Collection Trust See This week we will dive into the life and work of Artemesia Gentileschi, the Revolutionary Baroque Master. Overcoming obstacles, like many modern women, Gentileschi was a powerhouse in the artworld and the world world. Using her paintings to portray women as strong and self-reliant, Artemisia's legacy reminds us that art can be a powerful tool for voice, vision, and victory over...
18 days ago • 5 min read
O'Keeffe: Teaching Us to See Georgia O'Keeffe's "Blue and Green Music, 1919-1920" demonstrates how early 20th-century artists (Kandinski, Klee) used music as inspiration for visual expression. O'Keeffe believed that, like music, visual art could communicate emotions without needing representational subjects. In this particular piece, she used flowing, wave-like forms to create a visual parallel to musical rhythms and harmonies, while also reflecting patterns she observed in nature. As we...
25 days ago • 6 min read
Discover & Wonder: How Lauren YS Stirs Culture, Identity, and Noodles Into Public Art San Juan, Puerto Rico Lauren's work is influenced by dreams, mythology, death, comics, love, sex, psychedelia, animation and their Asian-American heritage. This half-humanoid, half-centipede character visually encapsulates the feeling of liminality and owning the uneasy, mix that is many people. See Larger scale is actually easier to freehand because there is more room for error. It's a whole body...
about 1 month ago • 4 min read
Circle Seeker's San Juan Sitting on our balcony in Ocean Park last week in San Juan, I noticed I was surrounded by circles. See Look at the San Juan I saw last week through circles found around town. The circle theme that started one morning continued through different parts of San Juan and gave an interesting focus that somehow captured the diversity and flavor of this amazing city. Say What impressions do these images give you about San Juan? As a visitor, part of the way you access a place...
about 1 month ago • 1 min read
Just jump in, you might have fun along the way Seth Casteel's photo "Otto" is part of his show "Underwater Dogs" Through the lens of an underwater camera, Seth Casteel transformed everyday pet photography into an art form that captures pure wonder. His groundbreaking series reveals dogs in their most joyful moments – suspended in water, faces contorted in glee, creating images that blur the line between portrait and performance art. See You know how I'm always encouraging you to look at the...
about 2 months ago • 3 min read
A Rose is a Rose is a Rose by JUDiTH+ROLFE 37” x 36” x 1.25” | 940 x 914 x 32 mm This large unmounted rose is handcrafted from individual strips of paper in shades of yellow, coral, peach and pink. (judithandrolfe.com) Detail See Daphne of JUDiTH+ROLFE has a wide range of paper art. Let's look at examples from Collaborations to Abstract works. I fell in love with her precision and range from organic to geometric. I chose my favorite work from each category on her site. These works will make...
about 2 months ago • 4 min read
Playing with the Environment Toy Totem by Tanya Gravening Toy Totem is 9 feet tall, constructed from plastic toys, plant holders, styrofoam and a xmas tree stand. Art can spark both thoughts and feelings, while science mainly relies on understanding facts. Art about plastic pollution adds a visual and emotional layer to scientific facts, encouraging conversations that raise environmental awareness. See Gravening's Monuments of Trash Art Project (MoTAP) work intended to raise awareness of...
2 months ago • 5 min read
Timeless Patterns of Change John Edmark-Strobe Animated Blooms Blooms are 3-D printed sculptures that come to life when spun under a strobe light. Unlike a 3D zoetrope, which animates small sequential changes, a bloom animates as a single, cohesive sculpture. This animation effect is achieved through progressive rotations of the golden ratio, which is the same ratio found in nature's spiral patterns, such as those in pine cones and sunflowers. See John Edmark is a designer, engineer,...
2 months ago • 3 min read
