Sketching is good for the soul

SketchBlog

Sketching in Nature

Liz Steel

Urban Sketchers

CrackSkullBob
(look at the cool widget on the right side of his site)

Rebecca Venn

Stephen Gardner

Indexed

Freekhand

SeaHeff

Laurelines

The Seattle Sketcher

Mattias Inks

Even when they're not your sketches.

Thanks all for the lift tonight!

e

(Hat Tip to SketchBlog for putting me on to so many great artists. Be sure to visit their sites or blogs!)

Speaking of yarn art...see nature's version

See Spiders That Decorate Their Own Webs, on The Ark in Space. [If you or your kids love animals, you'll love this site. Don't miss the Cats are evil post. :-]

Now that is the original yarn bombing!

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Photo by CharlesLam

About the power of art

John Constable, The Hay Wain

Brain scans reveal works of art can give you as much pleasure as being in love.

I like that.

Professor Semir Zeki, chair in neuroaesthetics at University College London talks about the results of a recent study, as reported here:

What we found is when you look at art – whether it is a landscape, a still life, an abstract or a portrait – there is strong activity in that part of the brain related to pleasure.

We put people in a scanner and showed them a series of paintings every ten seconds. We then measured the change in blood flow in one part of the brain.

The reaction was immediate. What we found was the increase in blood flow was in proportion to how much the painting was liked.

The blood flow increased for a beautiful painting just as it increases when you look at somebody you love. It tells us art induces a feel good sensation direct to the brain.

Zeki’s study confirms what arts educators have always known, that beautiful images generate pleasure and a sense of well being.

That's an invitation to visit a nearby art museum or to seek out an art exhibit, or maybe just stop and smell the roses.

e

Professor Zeki's other musings.
What is neuroesthetics?

Urban knitting, yarn bombing is street art

My fascination with urban art continues...I have this mix of emotions, though.

I love it! Something that drives an artist to create beauty, where all can enjoy, in their own way, with their own medium.

I hate it! It's graffiti. It will become old and shabby. Someone will have to clean it up.


Inoffensive, pleasant, free, art, cool, beautiful, fun, cozy, grandma, handmade, benign, adorable.

Guerilla, a huge waste, yarn bombing, vandalism, littering, time-wasting.

"A global phenomenon."

"The street is the extension of the art gallery."

"A moment in pop culture."

"Retro handcrafted cheeriness."

Toyota hired Magda Sayeg to knit a Prius a Christmas sweater last year for a promotional video. [Must-see video]

"Captain hook" dresses this L.A. bear over and over.

But why?

Why dress a bear, a tree, a pole, a pothole?

Some want to add a feminine touch to the world, some love the unseen interaction with people; "it puts a smile on faces", softens our man-made world with woman-made stuff, makes a statement.

Why not!!!!

Watch for June 11 - International Yarn Bombing Day

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References and photo credits:
Graffitti's cozy, feminine side, NY Times
Urban knitting article, by Deputy Dog
Julianna Santacruz Herrara's Flickr stream
Urban knitting Flickr group
Yarnbombing
Magda Sayeg
Wool love-functional fiber art blog
Twilight taggers , a how-to blog
Crochet Vandals Do Graffiti...Like Your Grandma NPR article and video

I See

Yesterday I spent the afternoon at the Philadelphia Magic Gardens, a grotto or a labyrinth or a dream world or something, of color, shine, reflection, texture, pattern. The sun was out, the temperature just right, a beautiful day.

 

Every square inch inside and out is covered with bits of tile, pottery, china, glass bottles, South American figurines, mirrors and bicycle wheels held together with colored grout.  

I've seen some of Isaiah Zagar's mosaic murals around the city, like this one I snapped in last September, on 4th and Gaskill. (Go to the Street View of this Google map and turn around 90 degrees. The full murals are on the Northwest corner, on the wall of a parking lot.)

The magic of the Gardens flowing out into the community. He's done over a 100 walls in Philadelphia.

 I'm a big mural fan, as many of you know, but these mosaics are my new fascination.

It's something that photography doesn't do justice to...the reflection of a thousand tiny mirrors...

 ...the constant need to stand back...

...and then walk up very close to see the detail...

 

...and stand back...

...and up close.

The gritty grout in vibrant colors.

The faces...

...and body parts...

...and animals...

...and words of wisdom, "Art is the Center of the World"...

...the solution...

... as well as fine china!

Private inner workings of the mind, made evident.

Seeing the world from a different perspective.

He said, "...my whole career, [I've been] trying to make a total encyclopedic vision that has no parameters and no end. My work is marked by events and is a mirror of the mind that is building and falling apart, having a logic but close to chaos, refusing to stay still for the camera, and giving one a sense of heaven and hell simultaneously."

 He's asking us...Do you understand? Do you see?  Can you see the world as I do for a moment?

Yes, Isaiah, I see. Thanks for sharing yourself with me today.

 e
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If you have visitors from out of town, definitely take them for a cheesesteak at Jim's and then to see the Magic Gardens (11th and South St.). Admission, $5. Inspiration, conversation, imagination, priceless.


Isaiah Zagar
Phillymagicgardens.org
YouTube shorts
Absolutely Isaiah,  article
Mosaic Art Source blog

Mosaic artists work on Flickr:
Institute of Mosaic Art
Megan Cain Mosaics
Junk Mail Mosaics
Ancient Mosaics