Category Archives: Art

Yes, your coffee break is late today:

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Weather in the Tries:
Tuesday night it will get down to 31F, and on Wednesday it will be windy, but the wind will blow in a high of 59F. Today is forecast to be partly cloudy, but the sun is shining, and I think partly cloudy is just fine. Over on the Dark Side of the state, we’d call this a cloudy day with sun breaks.

Yes, your coffee break is late today:
Thanks for noticing. I got busy with a quilt sandwich, then I had to go to a meeting with another Death Doula, and we (make that She, because she did all the work, I just came to help) presented to community people we are here, and what we can do. It went very well, and we’re going to do it monthly. Open discussion, not a hard and fast agenda.

What, some of you may be asking, is a quilt sandwich? Not to be eaten, for sure. It’s the quilt backing taped to a table or floor, then the batting, then the top fabric, the lots of pins to hold it all together. In this case, I had to get some pens that I could draw lines with but would either wash out, or iron out. I bought both kinds so I could play and see which I liked best. I opted to use the iron out ones (heat dissolvable) but in reading the directions, I did get a wee chuckle. If, after the lines have disappeared, if the quilt is stored at 32F temperatures or lower, they may return. The ink can be HAND WASHED out but not machine washed. For a small quilt, I can understand that, but hand washing a large quilt? I have one response: Bwahahahahahahaha!

The reason I needed ink instead of chalk, which I really like, is because I had to safety pin the layers together once the design was drawn and I didn’t want the chalk to be rubbed off while pinning or sewing. I tried to pin so they wouldn’t be in the way while quilting. I also try to pin so I can easily unpin as necessary while quilting. Today I plan on quilting the quilt, then I get to tie all the quilt threads and hide them in the quilt. That won’t all happen today. Then the edge needs to be sewn on and voila! I’ll have a house warming gift for a friend.

It’s a repeat of the Fibonacci quilt I made earlier. Hopefully it will quilt a bit neater than the other. No, I’m not a perfectionist, but I am astigmatic, and if I had the first quilt on my wall, I’d see all the wee mistrakes in it. One of the quilters I admire tremendously (because of the quote) said words to the effect of, “If you can’t see it by riding past it on a galloping horse, it’s fine.”

The Amish, who are expert quilters, put a mistrake in every quilt they make because they believe only God is perfect. So, yes, I see the mistrake in my wee quilt, but I never claimed to be perfect.

Photo of the Week:

from the desk of the brave dog:
oh, i am too happy puppy dancing to write anything this morning. the sun is out, the sun is out. the air is still a tad chilly, but the sun is out. this brave desert dog is soooo happy.

Quote of the Week:

“If January is the month of change,
February is the month of lasting change.
January is for dreamers…
February is for Doers.”
~ Marc Parent

Did the Dutch Masters Use Code for Porn?

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Years ago, when I was engaged to a gentleman with an art degree from the Chicago School of Art, I learned a lot of interesting things from him, but the one I remember was when we were looking at prints of the old Dutch Masters, and Tim said, “If there’s a dog in the painting, it’s pornography.”

What???

I’ve never been able to find anything on that topic, but I haven’t really searched all that hard, either. It’s too good a story to have it possibly ruined by actual facts. According to what Tim told me, if there was a dog in the painting, it was a lewd painting. The piano instructor really wasn’t instructing the girl how to play the piano, they were in a brothel and he was sizing her up. Such an innocent painting—a girl at the piano, her tutor beside her. But the dog throws it into a different light. Is he staring at her with a lecherous lilt in his eye? Hmmmmm….

Cats didn’t seem to show up as often in paintings as dogs. My theory is, cats could not be controlled by the men/painters, therefore were unworthy to be immortalized. Also, possibly due to the lack of trainability/controllability, cats at some time or other became associated with evil.

Rembrandt did, however, engrave the Holy Family with a Cat in 1654. I was going to swipe the drawing from the web but got to reading about the 5 small thumbnails drawings that accompany it, and decided to include the link, as it’s pretty interesting, and won’t take long for you to read. With the added benefit that I won’t go to jail for copyright infringement.

https://www.everypainterpaintshimself.com/article/rembrandts_holy_family_with_a_cat_1654

I have a pencil once owned by Shakespeare…

Thanks to the cat it’s so chewed up I can’t tell if it’s 2B or not 2B

Is art what it seems? What/Who makes art qualify as ART?

Several years ago, one of our presidents made a remark about not knowing much about art (true), but he knew the difference between Michelangelo and Mapplethorpe (not really). Actually, there was probably more commonality between the two artists than our then president realized. The primary difference being Mapplethorpe had the advantage of a camera. I’ve often wondered how Michelangelo would take to our modern art media should he come back for a visit. Maybe there is something to reincarnation? Maybe he did come back? Maybe Mapplethorpe was Michelangelo reincarnated?

Here is a link to Michelangelo’s David, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rw4w2A64hOA the video is under 2 minutes, if you don’t watch the ad.

And here is a link to Widewalls, and the copyrighted photograph by Robert Mapplethorpe of Dennis with Flowers, 1983. Same basic subject (nude males), different medium. 

https://www.widewalls.ch/magazine/10-nudes-by-robert-mapplethorpe/dennis-with-flowers-1983

Have a great week. Remember to laugh often and loud, sing a new song, dance like you’re four years old and wearing a Wonder Woman costume or Batman cape, and be sure to stop by again—same bat time, same bat channel. The coffee’s hot, the biscotti are homemade, and we always have time for a short break. Stay safe, stay healthy, and care for and love one another—because one another is all we’ve really got.

An epidemiologist, an ICU doctor, and a scientist all walk into a bar.

Just kidding, they know better.