Art

Moved some paintings around this weekend. I tried this one (signed by Keiko Tofuku) over the mantle before and thought it looked too Republican. For some reason, it looks better to me now. I don't know why.

Boo does photography

Boo took this photo with the iPad, edited it with Snapseed (cool free app) and emailed it to me. What a crazy world we live in. Remember when all we had was canvas, paint, and a stick with some horsehair?

She said something about Blue Bear being a girl, and I said, "What? Blue Bear is a girl now?" and she answered, "Of course! He's always been a girl." So that clears that up.

What I look like

As previously stated, Nea (age 7) has limb apraxia as well as apraxia of speech. She has worked very hard on her handwriting, which is pretty good now, although still larger than it should be. Work in progress, like much of her life. But she can zip up her jacket. We have no intention of teaching her how to tie her shoelaces any time soon. Hey, if Daniel Radcliff is still struggling with it at his advanced age, why tortune her?

Anyway, here's a picture she drew on her iPad yesterday. It's me. Her people have had a robotesque look for quite awhile. I like them. Check out my biceps! Whooo! I do wonder whether I should have my ears pinned back, though.

Walk through my garden

Creativity

Lots o' creativity around Chez Bluestem lately. I have photographic proof! First up, Nea's snowman. A fine fine snowman it is, too. Boo reports that no one else's in the kindergarten class looked like Nea's! I bet. You can even see the eyes, smile, scarf, and buttons if you look closely. I want to frame this one. She's not much into arts and crafts, unlike her big sister, so when you find a piece like this one in the backpack, it's time to celebrate.

Next up: Mittens by Oma. I know what you're thinking right now! Jealous, aren't you. Are they not gorgeous? And warm! Believe you me.

Lastly, N, as is typical, is working on a project that has immediately snowballed into a larger affair. Project entitled "Enlarge closet door opening to make wide closet more useable" (ECDOTMWCMU) is now "Enlarge closet door opening to make wide closet more useable after removing some other drywall and setting up some venting for the bathroom that will eventually be put in the basement" (ECDOTMWCMUARSODASUSVFTBTWEBPITB). He wanted me to see how it was coming, and so we were standing in the closet regarding this hole in the wall. As married couples are wont to do. He said, "I can't believe the crap plumbing job I was doing back then." I know you were thinking the same thing. Look at that pipe on the right. I mean, it's embarrassing. I can't believe I have to live in a house where that sort of ridiculous higglety pigglety is going on inside the walls. What must the neighbors be saying about us behind our backs.

But if you call it "creative plumbing" it's suddenly all ok again, isn't it. I'm guessing Project ECDOTMWCMUARSODASUSVFTBTWEBPITB will take us well into May at the current rate of progress.

The creative process

I recently spoke with someone that I hadn’t talked to in 12 years. She said, “You were always so creative. Are you still doing watercolors?” My response was “??!?” Watercolors? Really. Eventually I remembered that phase. I’ve also tried out any number of other pursuits. I’m not any good, but it’s fun anyway. Why, just today we did some shrinky dinks. A whole tableful of adults and kids. It’s a good stress reliever, focusing on something artistic. If you can call shrinky dinks art.

Anyway, so, when my niece Heidi was born, I started a quilt-embroidery-beaded sort of project, to be hung on a wall, theoretically. She just turned 3, and I finally pulled it together to finish the thing. Originally it was going to have a bunny, but I thought it might be good to wrap it up before she left for college. As anyone who has tried a new craft technique, it takes a certain leap of faith to complete the process. When the vision isn’t quite clear enough to continue. When failure seems inevitable. Here’s proof that you can pull back out of the inertia, even a couple years later.

Oh, yes, and you aren’t seeing double. I made two, since I thought it would be nice to keep one for ourselves, and making two didn’t seem like it would take too much longer than just one. Which it probably didn’t. It would have taken 3 years either way.

Photo of the Day

Peep on a Wire

Stolen from the Chicago Tribune peep photo contest page. Make a diorama with the kids and submit it today! Also, more funny peep photos to view there.

Hot hot art at the Art Institute of Chicago

So, the 3 Art Institute exhibitions I hobbled around were:

Becoming Edvard Munch: Influence, Anxiety, and Myth (February 14–April 26, 2009)
An especially nice exhibit because it shows Munch’s work with that of his contemporaries, making it easy to see how much artists of the period were working on the same or similar themes at the same time. (Cue music*)

Yousuf Karsh: Regarding Heroes (January 22–April 26, 2009)
For a guy who did photos that we instantly recognize, Yousuf probably needed a better agent or something. Neither N nor I knew his name going into the exhibit, and we both consider ourselves fairly knowledgeable photo buffs.

The Bill Peet Storybook Menagerie (August 23, 2008–May 24, 2009)
Another artist whose work was familiar but whose name didn’t ring a bell. We ended up buying two of his books (Bill Peet: An Autobiography and The Caboose Who Got Loose), and I left the exhibit with my usual depression regarding my lack of drawing talent.

Admission goes up in May, so make a point of going sooner. If you do want to see Munch, you might just as well get a membership. Special exhibits are expensive.

Wow, a little link-happy today, hmm, Bluestem?


*Plagiarize
Let no one else's work evade your eyes
Remember why the good Lord made your eyes
So don't shade your eyes
But plagiarize, plagiarize, plagiarize
Only be sure always to call it, please, "research"
-- Tom Lehrer

Photography, Part II: Inspiration and Resources

Flickr has some great ways to explore other people’s work. Here are some recent photos I enjoyed.

Also, are you into photography more from the historical perspective side? Check out the new Flickr Commons area. I warn you, it may be addictive. Ellis Island alone yields 89 wonderful results. Then there's lots of Library of Congress stuff.

I also enjoy arty blogs. Lots of great resources in the sidebar there, too.

Some other resources John recommended:

• www.strobist.blogspot.com
• www.robgalbraith.com
• www.prophotolife.com
• www.digitaljournalist.org
• www.diyphotography.net
• http://www.usa.canon.com/dlc/controller?act=HomePageAct (check out the article on Better Online Dating Portraits!)
• www.nikonusa.com/slrlearningcenter/index.php

Photography, Part I

I took advantage of a free library event last weekend. For adults, even! I have been a big fan of photography since high school. Love the basement of the Art Institute of Chicago. Love just about everything about photography. Take some decent shots myself, when I make the effort. With digital photography being so cheap, everyone can take better photos with a little applied knowledge.

So, presenting at the library was a Chicago Tribune staff photographer veteran (35 years, then laid off. The new American reality.) named John, who had some interesting tidbits. Here are some highlights.

Read the camera manual. I really need to do this for the fancy camera I received nearly a year ago.

Always carry your camera. I don’t, but Baywatch does, and I certainly enjoy his work, so seems like a solid tip to me. Baywatch also keeps a cute little tripod attached to his camera all the time. I have one now, too (Came with the camera! Bonus!), but haven’t actually used it yet.

Use different angles on your subject. Get low, go high, whatever. If you take boring photos – this is the number one hint for you!

For one National Geographic story, a photographer will generally take 14,000 shots. They use about 12. What does this mean to you? Take more photos! They are free until you start storing every single one back home. Then obviously the memory will eventually cost you.

The light at 4 pm is very flattering. My husband is always going on about this.

A recent photography book he recommends is The Moment It Clicks: Photography secrets from one of the world's top shooters (Voices That Matter). Apparently it’s full of good cheap solutions to taking better photos. John had a few tips along those lines, too.

• Create a lightbox with plain nylon ripstop fabric.
• Buy clamps at the Home Depot not the camera store.
• Go to Hobby Lobby, buy Mylar, and apply it to Gatorboard (whatever that is. Stronger than posterboard, I guess.) for a cheap light bouncing technique.

Granted, the first two are more for indoor studio-type work. But hey, aren't we all trying to take better photos for selling stuff on eBay and etsy and all?

There are only two differences between a cheap and an expensive digital camera. The speed with which the camera reacts when you want to take a photo, and the digital noise you get when shooting in low light conditions.

Next up: Inspiration and resources

Boo luves Nea

When the kids are bickering, it’s nice to reflect on the sweet things they do when no one is watching. Boo made this heart for Nea and posted it above her bed (using masking tape, as she has been taught. She’s a big wall-coverer in her artistic creations.)





Side one: I luve you










Side two: [Heart] Ernie [Heart]

Childhood photos with honest captions

Inspired by Baywatch's post.

I know it's completely the wrong holiday and all, but I've always loved this particular photo for the caption on the back, written in my grandfather's distinctive scrawl:

[Bluestem] trägt die Ostereier von denen sie später krank wurde. Ostern 1972

([Bluestem] carrying the Easter eggs from which she later became sick. Easter 1972)

There's something very blunt and direct in the Germanic psyche that cannot be overlooked. Some stereotypes exist for a reason.

Photo Quiz Answer

Well, I guess Tacoma, WA needs to work on ye olde tourist trade, as no one recognized my quiz photo from the other day. My other guess was that someone would figure out it was Dale Chihuly and some sort of civic building and google it, but it was a stretch. Anyway, the correct answer was “Union Station, in Tacoma, WA” – a place where N’s love of trains and my love of glass intersect. Actually, it was a train station, and now it’s a federal courthouse. Since 1992, they tell me.

So, yes, the second I heard Tacoma had a Museum of Glass, I was dead set on going. It was lovely. Glaaaasss. Then we walked over the Bridge of Glass to Union Station. The art museum is right there, too, but with the kids in tow, we took a pass. They had been so good – why ruin it?

Long story short: if you are in Seattle or thereabouts, take a day trip to Tacoma! On the way there, stop and see some tiny trees. I love tiny trees.

Boo the Artist

Today I would like to share with you the brilliance, the artistry, the genius that is Boo’s art. I know it's hard to believe she's only five.

You should be able to pick us out of a police line-up based on this piece (on the right). Note the homemade frame, too. That was Boo's design.
If you have ever met N, you will instantly realize the sheer perfection of this portrait (on the left).

Can you spot which is the Wassily Kandinsky and which is Boo's work in sparkle glue and marker? I know, take your time. The similiarity is quite breathtaking.

Chihuly at the Garfield Park Conservatory

Our only definite plan over the holidays is another visit to the Garfield Park Conservatory. I read in the Trib that another Dale Chihuly piece is on permanent display there now. The first time his work was exhibited there was probably my favorite art experience. See it here.




Or, if you are anti-art but pro-chocolate, check out the conservatory's Chocolate Fest. The next one will near Valentine's Day, as is traditional. The date doesn't seem to be posted on their site yet.

(Photo of Boo in 2005 at the conservatory.)