Record breaking art sale

About to break Canadian records for the most expensive piece of art work sold is this subtle work by Agnes Martin created in 1965. The piece is nearly two-metre-wide painting titled The Desert.

The record is currently held by 19th-century artist Paul Kane's Scene in the Northwest Portrait, a wintry view of a man and dog team in pioneer-era Canada that sold for nearly $5.1 million at a 2002 auction in Toronto.

But Martin's image — an extremely subtle grid of light grey pencil lines set against a soft beige background of acrylic paint — is expected to sell for between $4 million and $6 million next month in New York at a Sotheby's auction of contemporary art.

There is no need to adjust your monitors... 

you are seeing this correctly.

So I present the question again

Is this art?

What about these images posted below...

Snap shots or Art?

Would it make a difference to know that Ansel Adams took the photos... well, he did take one
the other is of my beautiful Mother In Law.

So are photographers artist? Any photographer? All photographers? Is a snap shot art?

Art For Thought

What defines weather or not a person is an artist? What differentiates an artist from a crafter? Must you use certain materials to be considered an artist? Must you draw or paint? If your medium is fabric are you an artist?

The Bluest Eye by Susan Brubaker Knapp in fabric

Famous designer Betsy Johnson

Does that mean that art cannot be made of things from a junk yard or garage sale?

Must your materials be only of high quality and cost you a lot of money?

Can you recycle and create art?

Image by: Julie West

Art sculpture by well known artist Jim D. Powers

As you can see this work is being displayed in an art gallery... does that make you an artist? Does it depend on where your art is displayed?

Does skill dictate art? Must you be able to create a likeness of the human form? A realistic landscape? Draw a only a straight line?

Is this art?

Is it art if it is hung in a certain place and viewed by a certain type of people?

NOW is it art?

The image of the woman's face was created by Divinci.

The three lines is called "Voice of Fire" created by Barnett Newma

Is this art? Does individuality and uniqueness dictate the titles of art or craft?

These are the artist of the above colourful painting...
Now that you know this does that make the painting more or less ART?


Is it only art if it is created by man like the second painting called Lavender Mist ~ Unknown artist.

Is one of these art and one craft? What defines Art? What makes an artist vs. a crafter?

The first photo of goldfish in blenders is by Marco Evaristti (born 1963 in Santiago, Chile), an artist who has lived in Denmark since the 1980s. After studying at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, Evaristti gained notoriety for a museum display entitled Helena in 2000 that featured ten functional blenders containing live goldfish. The display, at the Trapholt Art Museum in Kolding, Denmark, invited guests to turn on the blenders. This led to museum director Peter Meyer’s being charged with and, later, acquitted of animal cruelty.
The artist himself says that this that this was yet another project on the theme of beauty’s transience – the fine line between existence and nothingness


The second photo of colourful paper flowers delicately arranged and organized to represent meaning to the creator is of unknown origin.



What defines one or the other as art...



Must you be well known? Must you die to become an artist?

Thirty-four years have slipped by since Nick Drake passed from this earth on November 25, 1974. His life was full of mystery; Nick Drake has become the Emily Dickinson of our day, remaining in relative obscurity during his twenty-six years yet to be fully discovered after his death. Only performing a known nineteen times and recording three studio albums between 1969 to 1972, the mystery of Nick Drake’s life matches the compelling tones of his music.

Listen and See Nick Drake ~ Click here

Van Gogh was virtually unknown until his death. Did death define him as an artist or was he an artist all along?



I will be continuing this discussion through a succession of blog posts... your comments are welcome!

Art for thought... see you soon with more

Spring Is In The Air ~ a time for new beginnings

Today the sun is shining and the back yard is fresh with the smell of bursting lilac blossoms and our plum tree is filled with white glory. The contrasting white against the clear blue sky fills my heart with joy. I got a new hair cut with a fresh new colour today also to start this new season ~ and the world is bright and full of great promise.

Our beautiful plum tree "Katherine"

My gorgeous little pug Butch, me and my new hair cut  and my big Italian Greyhound Jonesy... under the plum tree enjoying the sunshine. We sure missed the summer sun; so happy it's on its way back!

From our home to yours we wish you a wonderful spring!

Dying for Mohair and Alpaca

Hello everyone:

Recently I purchased a bunch of white mohair and alpaca of all different styles and lengths. I decided to take the plunge tonight and try the Kool-aid dying. For those of you who have been on Desert Mountain Bears with Joanne Livingston you will have had a tutorial on Kool-aide already using water only, salt, no salt, vinegar etc. So I am not going to get into that.

However I did use the same recipe as Joanne so we could compare notes and see the differences. I agreed with liking the white backing and so used just water at 1 cup water to 1/2 tsp of Kool-aide. I also tried no name brand and had great results.

I began using 30 minutes as Joanne did in her tutorial and I used actual Kool-aid on white mohair:

This came out very vibrant and a nice bright pinkish orange.

Next I decided to play around with the time used to process the mohair. I started with 10 minutes using orange no name brand with the same water to kool-ade (no name) ratio.

The first set is alpaca and mohair at 10 minutes

next alpaca at 20 minutes

next alpaca at 30 minutes

I was using short alpaca against longer mohair and found the alpaca held the colour far stronger than the mohair. Also I did not find any difference between the 20 min. swatch and the 30 minute swatch.

This led to the next stage of tests... going with very little time in the solution. Don't forget too this is all done on very low heat on the stove in an old pot

I started with 3 minutes, then went to 5 minutes and lastly 8 minutes. I found the difference between the colour saturation to be significant enough that I would choose different times for different purposes even at this small amount of time difference. So here are the swatches from each of these times in alpaca and mohair and the 30 minute swatch on the left of the same kool-aid (Strawberry - Kiwi). 

I keep my mohair samples in a little journal with quick hand written notes... nothing fancy but it keeps them all together in one place. It is easy to flip through and fold the pages back as above to compare colours together etc. 

If you have ever thought of trying to dye your mohair yourself and have been worried, I hope this and Joanne's blog log help to get you over the hump. As a side note: another thing I really liked about this form of dying is that as the mohair simmers away in the pot the room is filled with the wonderful fragrance of the fruit scent that you are using. My whole house smells like Strawberry - Kiwi... Yummy!

Have fun and have a wonderful time experimenting with colour!

Draw your love...

With all the resent talk of dying on our blogs  and all the colours flying through our heads now that spring is in the air I have something wonderful to share...

Wanna put a smile on your face today?

Here's a great little video that just might do the trick...

Crayola

Bird Watching

Here are two more of the bears checking out the rainy weather today... or more likely watching the birdies. Just a sneak peak of two more for the show.

I will have some time this weekend to work together with Priscilla (my new Singer featherweight) on some more of the bears and I think I will get a real jump on things but one never can tell what unforeseen adventures might pop up in the meantime... Priscilla is a dream to work with and I am looking forward to spending this rainy afternoon with her and the bears to come.

I also have a little shopping to do today to get some nice threads and possibly some new ribbons and other adornments for the bears. Should be a really fun day and I will try to get some fun pictures for the photos.


Have a wonderful weekend everybody!

Hugs

HELP ... we need a name!!!

Well hello everyone:

Yesterday my Father In Law came home with a new little friend for my Mother In Law to" babysit" for two weeks... however they have now been offered to keep this new little friend and we are in need of a name.

She is a teeny tiny little 3 month old Yorkie and presently has a name  that just does not seem to suit her. I was wondering if you might help us in choosing a name in case we do indeed end up keeping her. WE meaning my Mother In Law and Father In Law - of course when needed we (my hubby and I) will babysit. I won't give you her current name so it does not lead you asray!

She is a little ball of fire this gal and is sweet as pie and super smart! She loves her cheese treats wrapped in duck meat and likes to sleep nice and close... on your neck to be precise. She is a tiny little girl with a big personality!

Thanks for any suggestions you have to offer!