Shiny Bits of Life » art

Large graffiti

Paul — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 19:47:31 +0000

My son is standing next to giant letters that someone sprayed on this construction site in a major city.

I can’t remember seeing graffiti that big before.

(You can click on the image to enlarge it.)

Anonymous photography

Paul — Fri, 09 Sep 2011 08:01:38 +0000

One thing I love about photography is that you can take photos and have them for a while.

We took a long trip this summer, and I’ve thoroughly enjoyed looking at the photos I took, over and over.

This family was in the Harrod’s Store in London. I will never know who they are. They will never know who I am. We will never meet. But I can wonder about what their lives might be like.

Graffiti good and bad

Paul — Fri, 29 Jul 2011 08:01:42 +0000

As I’ve said before, I love graffiti.

In Paris, I saw both the good and the bad. I think the left example is bad. A really picturesque neighborhood was hurt by that personal expression. (And interestingly, it was about six stories above street level, so very few people see it.)

The poster, however, had very creatively applied graffiti.

What are some examples of good and bad graffiti you’ve seen?

An early SUV

Paul — Wed, 02 Mar 2011 09:01:24 +0000

Digging through boxes last weekend, I came across this drawing from yours truly — circa a long time ago.

Yes, I did invent the idea of SUVs. (Sadly, the royalty payments are way behind.)

Go see some art

Paul — Fri, 18 Feb 2011 09:01:42 +0000

Art is a wonderful way to look at our world differently. I know if I had seen the actual head of this particular high school student, she would look different. But in difference is found beauty.

The weekend approacheth. Go out to see some art. It’s often free, if you look in the right places.

Hidden beauty inside

Paul — Wed, 09 Feb 2011 09:01:44 +0000

My daughter cut up an apple differently than usual.

I had never seen an apple in that way before.

The developing world converges

Paul — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 08:13:22 +0000

Jeepneys are the main way people get around in the Philippines. In East Africa, people ride in Matatus. I liked them so much I featured them a fair amount when I lived in Nairobi.

So I came across this photo of a Jeepney in a missionary magazine* — and I was struck by how the artwork was so similar to what could be found on Matatus in downtown Nairobi! It’s just amazing that the influences that shape how artists do their craft are similar, even 6,000 miles (9,500 km) apart!

Not only does matatu art reflect the latest trends in society, it always shows the cutting-edge of young artists’ creativity. (However, some matatu artists are better than others!) Often the several random sayings on one matatu provide a good laugh. One of my fantasies while living in Nairobi was to hire a photographer to take a million photos of matatus — and then I would create a coffee table book out of the best pix. Any angel investors out there willing to chip in?

* (Sorry, there was no credit given to the photographer, or I would have passed that on.)

Root woman

Paul — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 08:12:17 +0000

I had to share her with you. We went on a family hike yesterday near Boulder, Colorado. (That’s about an hour from our home.) I saw this little lady sitting by the edge of the trail. She was begging to be photographed. I obliged.

Art here

Paul — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 08:03:57 +0000

I was amazed when I saw Rachel doing this the other day — she was tracing the shadows with chalk on our porch. I never would have thought of doing that — but (I thought) it was very creative.

Advice that should be given

Paul — Thu, 08 Apr 2010 09:16:03 +0000

One of the most memorable moments of design school was when the lead professor (Frank Cheatham) said, “If you are here to learn to draw better horses, then you are in the wrong place.”

That always stuck with me. When we enter a learning experience with too strong an idea of what we want to get out of it, we will probably not learn very much.

Somehow I wanted to work that thought around to my next idea, but I couldn’t figure out how. Maybe it’s that the above advice should have been given a long time ago to a young person I know. They are in a program that is just not suited to them. They are so far down the road that it’s too late to do something else. They seem to be happy enough (though the course of study is quite a challenge), but no one has ever given that advice.

They are (proverbially) drawing a lot of horses. Hours and hours, days and days, spent drawing more horses.

I’m a bit ashamed that I did not have the courage to say something.

Would you have said something?

The horse painting — it’s copyright-free from Dover Publications. And the artist must have enjoyed creating it.