| Baking bread splits in places and those cracks, while not intended in the baker’s art, catch our eye and serve to stir our appetite.~ Marcus Aurelius |
Founding father and our second president, John Adams, was one of those people whose racing mind gave him little rest. He was always doing, doing, doing and more dangerously, always thinking, thinking, thinking. It was only later in life that he was able to slow down a little. He finally began to achieve the mental breakthroughs he had craved for so long. And when he did, things began to change.
In 1819, in the morning after a horrific March storm, Adams was hit with an epiphany. Despite the fact that the storm had ruined his farm’s harvest, all he could see was beauty. He could see it in the utterly ordinary and plain winter landscape:
The icicles on every sprig glowed in all the luster of diamonds. Every tree was a chandelier of cut glass. I have seen a Queen of France with eighteen millions of livres of diamonds upon her person and I declare that all the charms of her face and figure added to all the glitter of her jewels did not make an impression on me equal to that presented by every shrub. The whole world was glittering with precious stones.
Beautiful, isn’t it?
- This week’s artist – Heinrich Kley – I recently stumbled across this video tour of a Heinrich Kley sketchbook. Kley influenced Disney and thus is one of the major influences on animated art! Keep in mind that these are done with a dip pen of some sort. He created a lot of color work and worked as a commercial illustrator, predominately painting factories and workers. One thing that stands out to me is how Kley repeated characters and motifs – working on an illustration over and over until it’s mastered. Learn a bit more about Kley here!
- If you want to get out, the City (along with BID and Local First) are creating Friday Durango Grit Gatherings as a way to help support local downtown businesses during the winter months. The first Grit Gathering is this Friday. The city will be creating two areas for people to gather in Downtown, in a socially distanced and masked-up manner. From 4 to 7 pm, the City will block off 9th and 10th Streets between Main Ave and Narrow Gauge. This area will have tables and chairs, entertainment, heaters and lighting. The public will be invited and encouraged to shop at Downtown businesses and to order take out to eat in the event areas. Grit Gatherings are currently scheduled to run until March 12th.
- It’s commonly thought that collage started in 1912, but there’s a 400 year history.
- Why art matters during a pandemic. I discovered some new-to-me Durango art and was pleasantly surprised to see the Town Plaza mural that I helped with.
- DecoArt has released a free online learning resource – Art for Everyone. These will cover a variety of art concepts and subjects, from the anatomy of a brush to advanced design composition – covering a wide variety of topics in 4 categories: Art Basics, Beyond Basics, Art Wellness, and Creative Kids.
- Want to make art your career? It can be a difficult journey (after all, you’re starting a new business!) One of the artists/art coaches that I follow is Alyson Stanfield. She has a free How To Price Your Art Guide that I think you will find helpful.
- The 7th annual (1st virtual) Unchain my heART show starts tomorrow (Thursday).
- This video shows how to paint a sunset.
- Ever wonder how a Picasso would look on your wall? Or a Boccioni sculpture would look in your back yard? Now you can find out with the Met’s Instagram AR.
- Saturday would have been Ansel Adams 119th birthday.
- Ansel might not have photographed underwater, but these underwater photo contest winners are still stunning!
- How do you decide what to paint/draw? Here’s one artist’s answer (and more in the image.)
- Here’s a short guide to breaking the rules of art.
- Yarn and other fiber arts can be harder to work with without the proper notions. We try to have a little of everything on hand, from embroidery to knitting needles. If you’re looking for something, swing by and see what we have on hand.
I didn’t want to be shoveling 18″ of snow, or the 3′ berm at the end of the driveway. I don’t prefer driving at half of the speed limit on the way to the grocery store. Because of those things, however, I get the opportunity to observe the beauty of nature, to notice the snow-covered world in which I live. The marvelling mind doesn’t leave room for anguish, despair, or discontent. Beauty surrounds us. As artists, part of our job is to notice, to share what we see with others, to marvel and call attention to that which delights us. As always, the world needs your art!
Cheers!
Matthew & the Art Supply House crew
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