flickr friday avec art

Damaged Woods II, Robert Berlind

I couldn’t find much biographical information about Robert Berlind, but I was very surprised to find that he’s on Facebook!  How crazy is that?!  This artist is living in New York and creating amazing works of art that we get to see in his lifetime.  And he’s on Facebook!!  That just blows my mind…

You’re probably getting sick of the art photos.  We’re almost done — there’s only one more after this one.  Just don’t ask me what I’m going to use for photos after that because I have no idea…

Did you have a good Thanksgiving?  I did.  I had dinner and spent the afternoon at my brother’s house.  There were 13 people at the dinner table including the brand new baby who rudely slept through her first Thanksgiving. I guess when you’re as cute as she is, you can pretty much do whatever you want.  Anyway, dinner was excellent — one instance of roll tossing, lots of laughter, and tons of yummy food!  I had tollhouse pie for dessert — it’s like slightly cooked cookie dough in a pie crust — so good!

Now that Thanksgiving is over, Black Friday has descended with nary of ray of sunshine in sight.  That seems somehow appropriate, doesn’t it?  Meh.  Let’s look at some flickr favorites instead, shall we?

misty ladies – Another fog picture.  I know.  I’m a creature of habit.

still morning

black-capped chickadee – My favorite bird — they’re so cute and tiny and they say their name!  It’s also the Maine State Bird.

persimmons

These next three go together:  some books are to be tasted… and i’m of a fearsome mind… and untitled.  Can you tell I have a thing for book photos?  Fog and books, apparently — who knew?

Ok, two more:

throw your heart over the fence…

sweetness

Have a great weekend, friends — don’t throw too many elbows in the holiday shopping rush!

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say it with art: happy thanksgiving

What I wish for you this Thanksgiving and every day:

Love, Robert Indiana

Last year, I made a pretty exhaustive list of things for which I am thankful.  All those things, and even more, still apply, of course.  But this year I’ll keep it brief and just say that I’m thankful for Robert Indiana and his reminder that love is big and bright and bold and important.

Happy Thanksgiving, my little chickens!

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more art and thanksgiving

untitled, Jeremiah Kahn

This is another from the young people’s collection at the Farnsworth — isn’t it great?!  I like this one even better than the last one — it doesn’t use too many colors and the ones it does use are used well — it’s just very striking.  And it’s huuuge — probably four or five feet high by seven or eight feet wide.  Again, I don’t condone breaking the law and I hope this artist isn’t out randomly tagging in public, but if I did see this out in public as graffiti, I have to admit I’d be impressed.  Some graffiti artists are just criminals, but some really are artists.  Oh, which reminds me, I saw this great photo on a blog recently (can’t remember which blog) and I just thought it was amazing.  Also, I guess shadow graffiti is taking off as well.  And balloon graffiti — fun!  And graffiti which combines shadows and chalk.  Although, one such chalk/shadow artist made the New York Times (three years ago!) so it’s probably considered mainstream at this point.

Does anyone else find it completely mind-boggling that tomorrow is Thanksgiving?  Dude, it’s the end of November already — how did that happen?!  I don’t think anyone asked me if that was okay because I most certainly would not have agreed to that.  I’m having Thanksgiving dinner at my brother and sister-in-law’s house tomorrow — it has been about five years since I’ve spent a holiday (Thanksgiving or Christmas) with members of my family-of-origin, so I’m really looking forward to it!  My sister-in-law has a big family which will make for a raucous crowd and a fun time (plus there’s a new baby I can’t wait to meet) — I’m thinking it will be a nice reminder of the somewhat crowded and chaotic Thanksgivings of my childhood.

Oh, hey!  Just for fun, let’s do an informal poll: what’s your favorite part of the meal?  Mine is, without question (and almost anyone in my family can attest to this), mashed potatoes with gravy.  I like the turkey, too, but it’s really all about the potatoes and gravy for me.  Ok, your turn.

I’ll probably post tomorrow, but in case you don’t get back here, have a very happy Thanksgiving, friends!

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i forget, who am i?

Hello my name Is, Matthew Demers

This painting is from the young people’s collection at the Farnsworth — it’s my somewhat subtle way of admitting that I like graffiti.  Yes, it’s illegal.  No, I wouldn’t want it showing up on my own personal property.  Or public property.  Or anywhere it isn’t “supposed” to be, for that matter.  But I do appreciate it as a form of expression.  Graffiti: Public Art or Public Nuisance?  I don’t know, I don’t have any solutions.  I just like it is all.

Anyhoo…  This painting is about all I can manage today.  Its title seems somehow appropriate.  Do you ever have those days where your heart and brain are competing for dominance and the battle is so fierce that you hardly know your name anymore?  No?  That’s just me?  Huh.  I’ve said too much, haven’t I?  Ok, then.  Move along, people.  No gawking.  Nothing to see here…

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flickr friday

How sad is this?  It’s flickr friday and I don’t have a picture for this post.  I do have a pretty decent excuse, though.  It’s been a week of total insanity at work, to be quite honest, and I don’t think it will let up anytime soon.  Meh, it keeps me busy and out of trouble.  Mostly. 

Even though I’m too much of a slacker to have a picture today, we can still appreciate and enjoy other people’s pictures, right?  Yes, we can.  Let’s.

guirlande

into each life some rain must fall

sf lovebug

lost in fog

untitled

morning mist

Oookaaaaay, apparently I’m on a bit of a fog / mist kick these days…  How about something a little more colorful to perk things up in preparation for le weekend?!

morning has broken

untitled

Did I mention le weekend?  Yeah, I’m pretty happy about that.  Although I’m not quite sure why I’m so happy about it considering that I’ll probably spend a fairly sizeable chunk of said weekend sanding my kitchen walls…  It is a glamorous and exciting life I lead, let me tell you.  At least the weather is going to be coldcoldcold and blustery — good time to stay inside and sand.  And I keep reminding myself of how great the kitchen is going to look when it’s done — that helps.

Have a great weekend, friends — see you next week!

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art: better late than never

Maine Coast – Rockwell Kent

Today is all about charitable gift annuities and bequests and pooled income funds (oh, my), so I don’t really have time to write.  Instead, here’s another lovely selection from the Farnsworth Art Museum.  Just pretend that the artist wasn’t a somewhat anti-democracy communist-sympathizer.  At least he painted pretty pictures.

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again with the art… oh, and some news

Sorry for the glare.  (Can you see my reflection? )  The painting was behind glass in a room with a lot of daylight – photographing it was a bit of challenge.

tree study, Frederic Kellogg

This is another painting (actually, a study for a larger painting, I think) from the Farnsworth in Rockland.  In looking for some additional information about Frederic Kellogg, I discovered that I not only like this painting, I really like his work in general.  Check out these:  Birch and Island.  Absolutely gorgeous!  Most of his landscapes are beautiful without being too idyllic — Eagle Island is a good example.  And his other paintings (what should I call them — non-landscapes? scenes?) have sort of a pop-art aesthetic about them, which I love!  Here are two I really like:  Ridgeway Carry Out and One Way.

Are you surprised to hear that I like pop art?  People usually are, I’ve found.  Lichtenstein, of course, is one of my favorites.  Check out these:

Alka Seltzer
Live Ammo
Gullscape
Blam
We Rose Up Slowly

Aren’t those great?!  His work is just so interesting to me and he has such a great sense of humor and…well, I just like him.

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Ok, enough with the art and on to the news…

A little background first:  you may remember me mentioning that I sort of simultaneously hold two positions at the College right now — my original full-time position and another position on an interim basis for which I hope to eventually be hired permanently.  Each of these positions is in a different division of the same department.  The director of the division for my original position resigned and left the College at the end of June.  That’s the background; here’s the news:  yesterday, the director of the division for my interim position took an immediate “leave of absence.”  I think you know what I mean.  Seriously, people, my building is emptying out so fast, pretty soon it’s going to have an echo!  (Is it me?  Maybe I smell bad…)  For the immediate future, the vice president of the department is acting as the point-of-contact (for staff and constituents) for both divisions that have director vacancies.  Poor guy, as if he didn’t already have enough work to do…  Anyway, needless to say, this was pretty stunning news, especially first thing on a Monday morning.  But it is what it is and there’s much work to be done.  There are a number of issues which have to be dealt with immediately (let me tell you, I spent all day yesterday putting out fires) and several fairly large pending projects.  And in addition to the work, there’s the question of my job status:  am I going to be in limbo (doing two jobs, yikes!) indefinitely?  That’s a scary prospect…

So, yeah, things are a little crazy in my little corner of the world.  I’ll do the best I can, but please bear with me if my posting becomes a bit more sporadic.  That being said, I still have a few more “art” photographs on deck, so those will be coming along shortly…

What’s going on with you?  Please tell me your workplace is uneventful and fulfilling?  Your home life is happy and peaceful?  You’re good, all around, right?  C’mon people, I’m trying to live vicariously here… 

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flickr friday …and more art

Still no insanity.  Two days in a row — I’m on a roll!

Because it’s flickr friday, I thought it would be appropriate for today’s artwork selection to be a photograph:

white aspens – Eliot Porter (1901-1990)

Like the other works I’ve shared recently, this one is also from the Farnsworth Art Museum in Rockland.  This is the third “art” picture I’ve posted and, three being my favorite number and all, I figured this would be a good time to touch base with you about this photographic content – how do you feel about the art pictures?  Good, bad, indifferent?  Just checking.

Incidentally, every time I use the phrase “touch base” these days, I can hear my dear friend Matthew’s voice in my head saying, “Don’t touch my base.”  in his deadpan, mock-offended voice.  Don’t you love it when people call you out on some colloquialism that you use all the time and so you try to stop using it only to realize that you don’t know how to talk without it?  Yeah, I love that.  Thanks a lot, Matt.

Hey!  Let’s look at some Flickr favorites for this gray, rainy Friday:

untitled

farrington stream – In Maine!  I love the little pop of color from the leaves in the upper left corner.

quand le matin s’installe

produce in baskets – Red and green!  It’s been a while since I’ve featured a red/green photo…

farmhouse

the final forming of a person’s character… – So. So. True.  Contrary to popular belief, we’re not all victims of one thing or another.  We have freedom.  We have choices.

life’s always walking up to us and saying… – Whoa, that is a fantastic quote.  Note to self: don’t just back off and take its picture; take its picture and then take it by the hand.  Ok, yeah, that was a little corny.  But true, nevertheless.

And finally, in honor of Veterans Day this past Tuesday:  lest we forget.

It’s supposed to rain most of the weekend here on the coast of Maine…probably a good weekend to stay home and get some stuff done.  In other words, I have no plans.  None.  Enh, we can’t all be rock stars, now can we?  Have a great weekend, my little chickens!  See you next week…

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just art, no insanity

Unlike yesterday, today has been relatively quiet and unstressful.  (Yes, I am aware that unstressful is not a word.)  As I was saying, today has been unstressful — hallelujah.

So, art?  Yes, art:

Arauca – Juan Gomez

Again, the color isn’t quite right, but clicking on the title of the painting will take you to a better representation of it.

That’s it for me — feeling kind of quiet over here.  More art to come…  Have a great day, friends!

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miscellany monday*

*I know, I know — it’s Tuesday, but I called in sick yesterday, so it’s Monday for me.

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First things first:  Happy Veterans Day today to all those heroes out there.  Thank you for being willing to leave your lives, your families, your friends, everything behind in order to serve our country — you are appreciated even if no one tells you nearly often enough!  Thank you.  Really.  Thank you.

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Ok, now on to insanity and art — the two really do go hand-in-hand, don’t you think?

So, I call in sick one measly day (yesterday) and my work-life implodes.  No, not really, but it has been insanely hectic here at my office today…  Sheesh.  The whole campus is under-going an “upgrade” to Microsoft Office 2007 (from Office 2003), so there has been a flurry of crazy-making emails, a two-hour “training” session, and the obligatory conversion on each of our computers.  Conveniently (and by conveniently I mean inconveniently), I actually have two computers assigned to me at the moment — a desktop for my current position and a laptop for the position I’m doing on an interim basis which I hope will eventually be permanent — both of which had to be converted to Office 2007.  Did that makes sense?  Don’t feel bad if it didn’t — it’s confusing, even to me.  Aaaanyhoooo, all that to say I haven’t really had much time to pull together a post.

I did have time over the weekend, however, to do some editing in my huge backlog of photos.  This one is from a trip to the Farnsworth Art Museum and Wyeth Center in Rockland back in August:

An Island Harbor, ca. 1926 – Eric Hudson (1864-1932)

The color is off a bit (too yellow), but still, isn’t that lovely?  I’d love to be on that sailboat out in the cove right about now.  There will be quite a few more photos of artwork from the Farnsworth over the next couple weeks — per usual, I took a ton of photos that day.  I’ll try to include a bit of information and/or links about the artwork and artist whenever possible.  Enjoy!

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