Botanicals in Art
Say you’re in a garden, a palette of greenery, petal colors, everything seems tamed and peaceful. Yet right next to you a vine pushes upward in …
Face It
If you can’t paint, don’t try selling us your paintings. I get impatient with the profound smudge, the swashbuckle of off-the-shelf colors, the — …
The Potency of Life Force
Trees in my yard are still piled round with snow from the year’s record snowfalls. A fruit tree first had snow piled well above where branches spread …
Gaea Art
Antaeus is the bloody human-killing giant from Greek mythology, son of Poseidon and Gaea, or of the Seas and the Earth. He was indefatigably strong as …
A Gorgeous Inaugural Silk Scarf
My new silk scarf came today and I’m one happy human. Glorious color, true to the image above. Swashbuckling size, a lovely hand (feel) to …
The Possible Beauty of Warthogs
You’ve heard of the elephant in the room. This post is about a warthog in the room. Ugly name, off-putting face, ignoble proportions — standing right here on the carpet. …
Questioning the Screw-Head In the Leg
Rijksmuseum Looking at this admirable security device from the 1600s I’m questioning why a screw-head on one leg, a rosette on the other? So I look …
Mighty Lak’ a Rose
A Francis Meilland rose It would be appropriate to levitate softly after sniffing a Francis Meilland hybrid tea rose. No bold gestures for this subtle bloom please. …
Arctic Wonders
The Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago Arctic Peoples display at The Field Museum Imagine walking through a museum exhibition of the Americas’ preEuropean cultures, …
Light in Chicago
Chicago hotel interior, upper floor Above is a detail of the historic building that houses my Chicago hotel. I’ve spent an afternoon admiring …
Out of Sight, With Minds and Reasons All Their Own
Fallow Deer on Housing Estate, by Jamie Hall. Winner of the 2013 British Wildlife Photography Award, Urban Wildlife sector. via independent.co.uk This …
Of Utopias and Turkeys
At the end of this post you’ll find reference to a MOOC (Massive Open Online Course) that starts September 17. Free, no mandatory tests. Think …
Feelingful: Laura Ford
Beast and Espalier Girl, by Laura Ford via shanathegrinch The Welsh artist Laura Ford creates works addressed to your core. These are not Yayoi Kusama’s …
Poem for Your Eyes 02
This is the second installment of my blog’s feature Poem for Your Eyes — images that make a certain sense together. The first version …
Xu Bing, the Real Thing
Xu Bing’s Phoenix is worth seeing with your own eyes. Mass has been instilled with grace, a legendary Chinese bird carries a message about China …
Computer-Assisted Fashionistas
Iris van Herpen fashion creation based on a high-speed camera photo of buckets of water tossed on a model In the high-wattage world of couture, outlandish …
Computationally Speaking
Three views of Fire Series [0352], computational origami by Erik Demaine and Martin Demaine via erikdemaine.org – Since the word computation harks …
Live and Learn: the Pratfall Method
A note from your blogger. I’ve recently become obsessed with trying to lay out some of the abstractions I’ve thought about for years. Can …
Too Darn Hot
This is not the post I meant to write. That one has succumbed temporarily to the infernal heat. To quote myself from elsewhere, Heat …
Nictating Language: Language That Winks
I have long believed that a rich vocabulary could be used as code to imbue a risque glow in everyday text. Nudge nudge. I’ve …