Twin Ports Art in December

Shop local. Xmas ideas galore: Art on the Planet, Superior

Less than one month to 2021. 17 days to the first day of winter. Hope you are all staying active with creative projects during this period of social hibernation. As Bob Dylan once sang, "It gets discouraging at times but I think I'll make it by the saving grace that's over me."

For starters, big shout out again to Esther Piszczek for keeping us in touch with the local arts scene. No one is happy that there have been so few art openings or receptions this year. Duluth welcomed a new director to the Tweed, Dr. Anja Chávez, and it seems like the next day we were in lockdown. According to their website our governor has requested that the Tweed remain closed till Spring. Definitely a disappointment. You can go to the Tweed website and see some of what you are missing.

Rather than get too repetitive here I am just going to send you to the Twin Ports Art Blog and briefly talk about something else. There is still plenty to do this month. Unfortunately it's nearly all virtual. 

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New Topic

What is it about faces that so fascinates us?  I've been drawing faces since pre-school. Why? I don't know. In part it is a fascination with how much expressiveness can be generated with a minimal quantity of detail. I'm sure that's part of it.

It's interesting how many different cartoon characters there are, each distinct, generally drawn with minimal detail, but full of a variety of expressions. Compare Dilbert to Dennis the Menace to Beetle Bailey or Mandrake the Magician. It's endless. 

My sketchbooks are filled with little drawings of faces, funny animals and designs. Sometimes I like to repeat a design until it morphs into some other design. (If you want to learn new designs, you might consider checking out Esther Pizczek's Zentangle classes.) 

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Photo: Gary Firstenberg

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Speaking of faces, at the grocery store someone asked me today, "Is that you, Jack?" These masks have done more than hidden our smiles. They've concealed our identities. That was the first time this has happened, though not the first time I myself wanted to ask... "Is that you?"

One more thing about masks. Please don't do this:

 

I took four fotos of masks in parking lots this past week, not quite enough for a Wordless Wednesday blog post. Perhaps if this were in an art gallery someone might call it art. I'm calling it an object lesson in what not to do with your used masks. 

Meantime, life goes on. 

One more time, visit the

Twin Ports Art Blog

for all the latest Twin Ports art news.

And if you are an artist looking for highest quality scanning and giclee reproductions of your work, be sure to contact CPL Imaging. You will NOT be disappointed.