Patrick McDonnell painting blog

2012-01-26T12:52:00.000-08:00

Hi folks, have updated my web page and soon will redo my blog, so hang in there: http://www.patrickmcdonnell.com/

Bernard Safran, Time painter used Maroger medium

2009-03-31T14:24:00.000-07:00

His web site: Bernard Safran Website: Biography

Students of Siegfried Hahn

2009-02-21T06:22:00.000-08:00

Mr Siegfried Hahn and Howard Wexler taught many young artists (I was lucky to be one of them).

Some of them have gone on to become professional artists in their own right. Here are a few of them and their web sites:

Brian Biedul

http://biedul.com/index.html

Carol Allison

http://www.carolallisonart.com/

Dan Griggs

http://www.thescreamonline.com/art/art2-4/griggs/

golden statues of today's icons

2009-01-19T09:20:00.000-08:00

Oprah and Kate Moss statues

2009-01-19T07:56:00.000-08:00

Two icons of different physical dimensions have been immortalized in gold statues. Oprah and Kate Moss have joined Paris Hilton and Britney Spears as the subject of Daniel Edwards sculptures. Our canons of beauty have exploded, so that Greek Golden Rule porportions no longer hold true. I wonder what the subjects think of their statutes?

"Controversial American sculptor Daniel Edwards latest work 'The Oprah Sarcophagus', is a very full-figured sculpture of Oprah Winfrey - and that's where the likeness begins and ends."

http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/showbiz/article-23434889-details/TV+chat+queen+Oprah+gets+a+less+than+flattering+tubby+bronze+statue+cast+in+her+honour/article.do

Entropa sculpture shocks EU

2009-01-18T05:19:00.000-08:00

Art can either please or shock people, or at least modern art can.

We tend to forget that such masters as Michelangelo had his artwork censored - another artist was hired to put drapes and fig leafs on nude men and women in his Vatican frescoes. The revolving 'presidency' of the EU this year has been given to the Czech republic, despite the fact their president has shown a very anti European attitude. Therefore it isn't surprising that a Czech artist, who created a piece of artwork called Entropa, seems to echo his president's prejudices.

The unveiling of a large sculpture of EU countries created by Czech David Cerny, entitled ironically enough 'Entropa', representing the 27 countries of the United Europe has stirred controversy. Bulgaria is represented as Turkish toilettes. Germany is shown as an animated autobahn network in the shape of a Nazi swastika. Netherlands is drowned in water with a few Muslim minarets poking up.

The play on words of Entropy and Entropa is actually very funny.

See and read more on this art controversy at the following sites:

The BBC report:http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7827762.stm

Wikipedia:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Entropa

Time magazine quote

2009-01-16T21:10:00.001-08:00

"Is that a pimple on her butt? It's hard to imagine why Flemish Renaissance artist Peter Paul Rubens would paint a blemish on the backside of one of the fleshy lovelies meant to represent beauty, charm and good cheer, but there's no denying that single red brushstroke in the midst of his central figure's creamy skin. At least not now that the painter's 1638 masterpiece The Three Graces is available in ultra-high definition on Google Earth."

Google earth discovers pimple on Ruben's nude!

2009-01-16T21:07:00.000-08:00

Google Earth sample

2009-01-16T20:52:00.000-08:00

GOOGLE EARTH TAKES ON THE PRADO

2009-01-16T20:42:00.000-08:00

Google earth, a software that enables you to look up any place, or address, in the world, and then see it from an aerial view (and sometimes even from the ground) has started to scan art work in Madrid's Prado museum. The detail is amazing, as Time reports that "resolution so fine — 14,000 megapixels — that not only individual brushstrokes but even the seams in the canvas and cracks in the varnish are visible." Such paintings as Hieronymus Bosch's Garden of Earthly Delights and The Family of Felipe IV, or Las Meninas by Velázquez can be seen with Google earth.

Get the software here:
http://www.google.com/intl/en/landing/prado/
or
http://maps.google.co.uk/maps/mpl?moduleurl=http://pradomuseum.googlecode.com/svn/trunk/themasterpieces.xml&utm_campaign=en_GB&utm_medium=lp&utm_source=en_GB-lp-emea-gb-gns-mp&utm_term=prado

Time article here:
http://www.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,1871656,00.html

Andrew Wyeth died today, Friday 16 2009

2009-01-16T20:20:00.000-08:00

An artist hero of mine died today. If public popularity counted in the art world, he would be hailed as one of America's if not the world's greatest artists. But the art world is fickle, always running after the latest 'new thing'. So while his paintings sell for millions, the art critics turn their nose up at his work. Not that it matters. Many great artists have endured the test of time (Rembrandt, Van Gogh to name a couple) and time will tell if Andrew will as well. I remember finding his painting "Christina's World' in a dark corner of the new MOMA, as if they were embarrassed to show it along side all the modern stuff. In a Time magazine obituary, they write:

"Even when Wyeth is admitted into the canon, he's held a bit at arm's length. The Museum of Modern Art in New York City owns his most famous canvas, Christina's World, which it acquired in 1948, soon after it was painted, for just $1,800. But while the picture is always on display at MoMA, it's consigned to what you might call an anteroom on the margins of the more respectably modern galleries, a salon des refuses that it shares with Edward Hopper's House by the Railroad. Seeing Christina splayed across her field of grass, gazing toward that house on the horizon, it's easy to imagine that it's the citadel of MoMA she's looking at so poignantly, the place she still has not entirely entered, even if she is inside."

http://www.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,1872404,00.html?imw=Y

Here is to you, Andrew, may you continue painting where ever you are, and the critics be damned....

Yoga and Painting

2008-12-03T10:08:00.000-08:00

Painting or computing for long periods can put strain on the back. Here is a possible way to prevent strain. If you have constant back problems, you should consult a medical professional.

Just sitting immobile for a long time can cause a 'crik' in the back from not using your muscles and tendons. One solution my yoga teacher has suggested is rolling up a small bath towel into a roll, and placing this directly behind my back parallel to my spine. I actually have a pillow that was supposed to help the back, it was sewn into two parts, with a space between the cushions - it was the worst thing I could have used. There are also lumber support pillows I have used, Now I fold the two pillows together and put them behind my back like the towel. It gives support and I can roll my back to the left and right to stretch.