a gift: something for HER

Beautiful things keep coming our way, literally.

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Sitting by our dining table, I look at the hand painted porcelain wall dish I was holding dearly.

I am amused.

It was that of my favourite Klimt painting.

I smile to myself.

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The Kiss.

I have not seen it in real life, though I know someone  who literally stood in front of it for as long as she could.  Staring.

It is not hard to imagine myself doing the same.

It is not unlike what I was doing there, while sitting by our dining table.  Staring.

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I don't remember where I first saw it.  A book?  Poster?  No idea.  But somehow, I never really forgot it.

Maybe I was even consciously trying to find it again.

Seeing reproductions allowed me to later figure out what it was called--and who's work it was.

Apps as we know them today were not available to me then.  Besides, it was not like I had a picture.

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Sitting.  Staring.

I was holding thoughtfulness realised.

from someone who listens and remembers

This was a gift from our dear friend, Gela.

I'm touched.  Really.

Associations.     

Selecting this, out of all things was a decision bore out of multiple conversations shared between us spread over what could have been years.

• My love for Klimt
• When I go to museums, I can't bear to buy a canvas print because I feel it is wrong
• Despite #2, I would love to look at something that reminds or represents specific art pieces
• I am excited to decorate our home, but don't want to rush buying things
• My husband and I choose, think and re-think every single thing that comes into our home very carefully because we have limited space and it should be filled with things we love

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Bull's eye.

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There is one other thing from Gela, I will reserve that blog entry for another day.

samson

I'm cutting my hair. This weekend.

And just when I was feeling overly excited, having booked my stylist who was initially lost, I came across a photo of this lovely painting.It is Hendy Edmon Cross' Hair.

And just to add fuel my my sudden flame of doubt. I saw my photo--literally out-of-bed hair looking like this.The person I'm with always tells me he loves my hair. Short. Long. Layered. Curled. Unwashed... I'm not sure. But I do know that he truly believes that as far as my hair goes, it would work out.

With this much support, your doubt tends to go away :)
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Saturday. It is.

showcase

I went to a good friend's chinese painting exhibit at the MICA Building. While I've always liked the facade, I didn't realise inside was as interesting too.There were more than a few scrolls on display and maybe two or three framed. My friend would explain answers to my stupid questions while going around painting after painting.I learned that as far as chinese paintings go, I enjoy looking at the elements rather that the composition of the entire painting.

Here is an image of the birds from one of my friend's paintings on exhibit. Among all the paintings on display, there were two elements that I liked most.
I thought this was brilliant. I like how a dab of orange made each image come to life.I thought this was awesome, from afar it looks like one ink blot that somewhat resembles a chick, but at closer inspection you'd see how each shape and curve was--very much, intended.

1980

The art scene around the time I was born.

the kiss

Surprisingly, what I liked most in the Tate Modern was a sculpture.

And while everyone else was shamelessly taking photos, I very guiltily took one--then another. Then I couldn't bear to take another. It felt like I was robbing the museum.

I am still uncomfortable over the fact that I took those photos. And as a result I am posting a museum produced photograph. It is interesting how my favorite painting and favorite sculpture are named the same :)

girl with dove

I think I have some new favorites, I don't want to do just one entry for all of them though, so I'd start with what caught my fancy the most first. It is surprising that while I liked a fair set from the thirty must see paintings in The National Gallery, the one I liked the most was not on that list. I could well imagine looking at this every day. I wanted to get a canvas print, but after seeing the real one, it would never be the same.

sunflowers

Today was an exciting day, and I want to write so much about this fabulous--over the top day. However, I think I should save all the other stuff for my next blog entries. Today's story is about seeing the actual painting. Ta-da!

Oetje Lamno

I saw an art exhibit today. There were three paintings that I liked, all from an Indonesian artist Oetje Lamno.This is Reaching the Kite, while this isn't my particular favorite, I can well imagine putting something like this in my hypothetical other room, a room with matte cream walls.This is True Love Bone. I hadn't really put a lot of thought into this one. I like the title though. Very much. It is unfortunate that you can't see the texture. This is Time Can Do So Much and is maybe the cleanest one in the series. I like how you see more and more details as you stare into it. The photo doesn't capture all the details, but I particularly like the hands on the clock--and the shadow of the twigs--and the pencil effect. Well, I liked the details. While there are many things going on, every bit seems to be in place. It has a whimsical feel devoid of chaos. I initially, couldn't make up my mind about the message or story. After looking more, my interpretation is that a boy falls asleep reading a book on life after finishing a lover's book. He then dreams about life--and love, as viewed and understood by a child. It is of innocent wonder. That is where the title comes in. Years from now, when he has experienced life--and love...it would be of a different picture.

sundate

I think I'm still exhausted (and full) from Sunday. And it's already Tuesday!

(Collage by ATT.)

Robert Adams

I was babbling about this photo over the weekend. Today seemed like the perfect time to post it. This is NOT his blog and he has NO INVOLVEMENT WITH teaching self inquiry. You can check out Artnet to see more photos.

Francesco Clemente

After watching Great Expectations again, I was compelled to look up the artist behind the imagery featured throughout the film.

I found that Francesco Clemente's official site is still under construction.

I was however, able to pull some images of his productions. Of those that I've seen (apart from those featured in the movie), I liked these two the most.

This is called Tale done in watercolor.
While the first work is interesting for me, I love this one below for a lot of reasons, maybe even for very personal reasons--that I'm not writing about. This is an oil on linen and it is called Something I Heard II.

diane arbus

I'm not sure if I wrote about seeing the movie FUR a while back but anyway, it is a tribute to the photographer Diane Arbus (March 14, 1923 – July 26, 1971). It featured a whimsical love story driven by passion iced with unconventional beauty. It is a fantasy portrayal of her life, what could have transpired that made her the artist that she was. As expected, there are a lot of hate--and love for the film. Nicole Kidman played the photographer opposite Robert Downey Jr.

I wasn't familiar with her work until I looked up her photos post-movie. I was inspired to post some photos for as I reread a poem written by an unpublished gifted individual, I felt a strong nagging to revisit her art.

the kiss

I went to some friends' house last week and I was happy to see some reproductions of Klimt's work. I was pointing at one and insisting that the painting is called women or girls, and my friend says it was the virgin. I didn't argue, no point.

I googled just now and found that it is in fact called The Girls (The Virgin). I think this qualifies as a tie. Hahahaha.

Anyway, the reason that I am writing an entry is that I almost forgot about The Kiss. (No, I was not kissing someone that day). I first saw it in a calendar and somehow, I didn't get the name of the artist--master or the painting. It was only when I saw the reproductions alongside each other that I made the connection (I know, "good work, genius", right?).

It was kind of cool how finally I know the name of a work that I liked which image almost got lost in my head through time.

"walking away"

My favorite photographer is Grace Niepes (Gerlie Lima being a close runner up).

Today, officially, I acquired my first (of dozens, I hope) Grace Niepes piece.

I wish I have a soft copy of the picture so that I could post it so that more people could appreciate.

Thanks Grace. I really love the picture. I remember the first time I saw it, we were supporting a mock implementation for Spain that weekend and from them on, I never got it out of my mind. You made my day.

I will sure be there on your gallery's opening!

Ono no Komachi

While watching tv at our little cottage almost alongside the beach, I find myself engrossed in the Discovery Channel feature. It was about a japanese poet, Ono no Komachi. While I read translated books by japanese writers such as Banana Yoshimoto and Haruki Murakami (who, by the way is one of my favorites), I am yet to explore the realm of ancient japanese poets, featuring takas. Takas are poems with 5 7 5 7 7 syllables per line. Of course, upon translation it is nearly impossible to keep the same number of syllables per line.

When I got home, I did some surfing and realized how truly extraordinary she is, not only is she gifted in prose, she is also quite a character, femme fetale if you may. It is quite hard to imagine considering her time.

(http://www.gotterdammerung.org/japan/literature/ono-no-komachi/)

Very little is known about this Japanese poetess, and most of it is legendary. She lived around 850 C.E. (b. 834?) during the Heian period. The story about her is that she was a woman of unparallelled beauty in her youth and enjoyed the attention of many suitors. She was, however, haughty and cruel, breaking many hearts. She was punished by living to an old age and dying as a destitute and ugly hag in loneliness. The legend is almost certainly false, but the passionate nature of her loves survives (minus the didactic ending) to this day. In fact, the town of Ogachi in Akita prefecture celebrates an annual Komachi Festival on the second Sunday of June (legend has it that she was born in the village of Ono in Ogachi). There is a shrine dedicated to her.

Could I just make this entry about me and add that my birthday, in some years (like 1988, 1994, 2005), fall on the second Sunday of June?

What especially captivated me was the legend about her supposed lover. It is like the story in the movie Cinema Paradiso.

(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ono_no_Komachi)
There are legends about Komachi in love. The most famous is a story about her relationship with Fukakusa no Shosho, a high-ranking courtier. Komachi promised that if he visited her continuously for a hundred nights, then she would become his lover. Fukakusa no Shosho visited her every night, but failed once towards the end. Despairing, he fell ill and subsequently died. When Komachi learned of his death she was overcome with sadness.

There was one particular taka I liked, however I failed to both memorize it and find it online. I, however found one, not quite as touching/disturbing, but I should say, as eloquent.

Heart! We will forget him!
You and I-- tonight!
You may forget the warmth he gave--I will forget the light!
When you have done, pray tell me
That I may straight begin!
Haste! lest while you're lagging

I remember him!

Here is an interesting site to visit http://www.temcauley.staff.shef.ac.uk/waka0809.shtml, it features some of her work, the translation alongside the original text.

More info at http://home.infionline.net/~ddisse/ono.html.

A video lecture on Japanese Poetry at http://www.gresham.ac.uk/event.asp?PageId=39&EventId=483.

The Holy Infants

I saw a very interesting feature in Discovery Channel today, it was about a painting bought by a art collector 38 years ago, The Holy Infants. He believed it to be by Leonardo Da Vinci, so he devoted his time to prove or disprove his theory. It took him 30 trips to Europe to trace the route the painting took from Da Vinci's workshop to the London auction house, and God knows how much to do various testing to the painting such as carbon dating, etc. It is really cool what we could do today due to the advancement of technology.

http://dsc.discovery.com/convergence/davinci/article/article.html

I really, really wish I had a better picture of the painting.

Oh and once upon a time it was owned by a highborn homosexual whose joy was to watching very young boys. That is really disturbing.