Wordless Wednesday: Florentine Inspirations

Every Picture Tells A Story 

Be sure to add Florence to your "Bucket List"

Throwback Thursday: Rivers

"All rivers run into the sea, and yet the sea is not full."
~Eccles. 1:7 

At one time rivers were the roads. Before the infrastructure of highways and byways, of rails and roads, the rivers were our transportation routes. In other words, geography played an important role in the generation of wealth.  

In Herman Hesse's novella Siddhartha, the river is a symbol. As he encountered the river in various stages of his life, its wisdom was revealed to him as it reflected his soul. 

At one time in my life, the word "rivers" meant Larry Rivers, an artist whose paintings made an impression on me when I was a young art student at Ohio University, Athens, which itself was located on a river--the Hocking.

Larry Rivers. (Creative Commons)

The best part about one's college experience is the vast sea of influences one gets exposed to. University libraries are just the ticket for getting that exposure. I lived in Scott Quad my first year at school which was possibly the closest you could get to the school's library without sleeping as a vagrant on the main green. Row upon row of large fat books filled with full color photos of art seemed to reach out to me. I explored, found that the number of artists I'd never heard of was countless, and so much of their work fascinating. In this manner I encountered painters and sculptors from all periods of history, favoring the moderns at the time.

To call Larry Rivers my favorite artist would be a misnomer, but for sure I identified with the originality and passion with which he created his work. As a young art student, I found inspiration when viewing his work. He had studied with Hans Hoffman but rejected abstract art, choosing instead an approach that gave viewers something to grapple with, figures and forms rather than fields of color or designs. 

A Ukrainian Jew born in the early twenties, he emerged as a successful painter of central influence in the 1950s New York circle with numerous shows and accolades. In the early 1960s Rivers lived in the Chelsea Hotel, the selfsame residence as many other notables like Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen, Janis Joplin, Dylan Thomas, Arthur C. Clarke and others. 

If nothing else he was exceedingly productive. Making art is what he did, and I liked the liberated sense with which he attacked his work. You can see examples of his work here.

Originally published April 2010.

Claude Angele Boni's Stuck Inside Of Mobile (with a rhapsody for Bob Dylan)

This is a follow up to my previous blog posts regarding the Dylan-inspired paintings and collages of Claude-Angèle Boni (which are linked at the bottom of this page.) I learned about Ms. Boni through Dylan archivest Bill Pagel. Ms. Boni wanted to donate. three of her pieces to his collection. 

To say the least, when I saw her work I was thoroughly impressed. 

I soon learned of this book which features full color glossy reproductions of her art and was able to acquire a copy for my own collection. The  the story of how she'd come to find inspiration through Bob's music and the artist himself is the story that accompanies these images.

The narrative, written in both English and French, was published in England in 1980 by Elizabeth Thomson. The English text could have been better edited, nevertheless, the caliber of the artwork more than makes up for this shortcoming.

For those unfamiliar with the tale, Ms. Boni had an opportunity to spend time with Bob for a drawing session. She drew his hands and feet, he drew her face. You can see the hand she drew below.

The last time she was interviewed was  by Guido Bieri for the magazine JUDAS, issue #13, April 2005, a noteworthy 20-page interview. She was also featured in an article by Alan Williams in the magazine ENDLESS ROAD, issue #6, September 1984. The pictures from the book here are pre-1980. 

I find her work to be remarkably Dali-esque, as you can see

when compared to Dali's Metamorphosis of Narcissus below.

Metamorphosis of Narcissus, Salvador Dali

Pencil drawing of Bob Dylan's hand, by Claude-Angele Boni

Related Links

French Artist Claude-Angèle Boni Explains Two Dylan-Inspired Treasures  

Fun With Collage: Claude-Angèle BONI's Lily, Rosemary and the Jack of Hearts, Versions 1 & 2

Claude-Angele BONI's It's Alright, Ma + Eden

Inspired by Saved! A Dylan-Themed Painting by Claude-Angele BONI

Throwback Thursday: Quitters Never Win, Winners Never Quit

"Quitters never win, and winners never quit."

That's the way it is. Without persistence, we are guaranteed to fail. The reverse, however, isn't necessarily true. Sometimes we persist, we finish the race, and yet we don't get the prize. This can be a hard nut to swallow.

I love the verse in Ecclesiastes that says, "The race is not to the swift or the battle to the strong... but time and chance happen to them all." (Eccles. 9:11) Why do I love this saying? Because it gives us a much needed reminder that things don't always work out. That's reality.

For example, there are no guarantees that if I say all the right things I will "close the deal" in business. Or get the job. Nor am I guaranteed to win the big race at the track meet if I prepare better this year than last. Nor am I guaranteed to become a famous novelist by writing lots of books. In all of these examples there are many factors outside of our control. Illness, strong competition, a car accident, even death - the list of things outside our control is limitless. As we all know, none of us is God. We are finite creatures with limited capabilities.

Nevertheless, there is one thing that is in our control. We can choose to give up, to quit, or we can choose to keep going. Those who quit pursuing their goals or dreams are certain never to reach them. Those who keep going, who persist, will find that the dream inspires and strengthens them.

Whether we reach our dreams or whether we don't, we can be an inspiration to others to pursue their own dreams. This is why we continue to the end. In this way we can finish the race with our heads held high.

A Talent to Watch: Artist Saydee Lanes

Trepanier Hall, home of the American Indian Community Housing Organization (AICHO) in Downtown Duluth, has become host to a number superb arts, poetry and music events this past few years. In early May they curated an exhibition of emerging artists which provided a glimpse into the work of a number of new faces in the local arts scene. One of these was Saydee Lanes, whom I recently interviewed for The Reader.

EN: How did you take up an interest in drawing?

Saydee Lanes: Well, I've been drawing since I was just a little kid. It began with just coloring in color books, then I became curious as to how the images I was coloring were created. So I started to draw what I had seen, mainly Disney characters. I would try to make my drawing look exactly like the characters. When I was 7 years old, you couldn't tell the difference between what I drew and the original image.

Around this time my father left, and was no longer in my life. As a kid the first I thought of why he did leave was because maybe I wasn't good enough at something. So I drew more and more. My mother had to get two jobs. She was hard working and had to support three kids on her own so she wasn't able to be around much. So I thought if I became an even better artist, she wouldn't have to work so hard. Naturally, I drew more and more. My father was an artist, and the closest thing I had to a dad was my uncle and grandfather. They both loved my drawings and art, so I figured the better I became at drawing the more love I had, and the more deserving I would be of it, and just maybe it would bring my dad back and fix everything.

EN: What kind of training have you had?

SL: I am self taught. When I was younger, just a little kid, my great grandmother would teach me how to draw and color. She would often point out details I would miss. Which helped me greatly, she loved my drawings no matter what I did but I always wanted to impress. She is also an artist, she paints but whatever she would create it was the most lovely. My uncle (the one who was a father to me) is a fine artist, he would critic every drawing I did. He would tell me techniques and how to improve or get to the look I wanted. He often would give me challenges, he would fined complicated photos to draw. Actually my Wrinkle Meat drawing was my biggest challenge he gave me. I was 16 years old and was mastering his techniques and creating my own. So he said if I could draw Wrinkle Meat exactly like the photo, then my skills would be truly impressive. And so I did. I never had any schooling other then the required for art. Everything I know and apply as a technique is either something I created on my own or was picked up from my uncle or watching another artist draw. All of my drawings are done by using a mechanical pencil, kneaded eraser, and blending tools (blending stump, Q-tips, and kleenex).

EN: Who have been your most significant influences?

SL: My uncle is also a cartoonist, so when I was learning realism he would teach me how to draw cartoons and make them graphic on the computer. So when I was 17-years-old a local author was seeking an illustrator in local high schools. My uncle encouraged me to apply for the job. Once I got the job my medium swapped from mechanical pencil to pen and computer. My uncle taught me how to draw a cartoon and color it and make it an illustration in the computer. I illustrated two published children's books by the time I graduated from high school. When I was completed with high school, my dream was to pursue illustrating and begin animation. I applied for a private art college in Minneapolis called MCAD. I was accepted and received a $40,000 scholarship for my portfolio, and $20,000 for my academic achievements. I was never able to attend.

With the way the economy has been I couldn't receive any student loans without having good credit or a co-signer with good credit. I had neither. I enlisted in the army so I could get more help to go to MCAD, but in the end I still did not have enough money. I pretty much gave up the dream of college. I worked very hard so I could go to my dream college and it was hard for me to get back up after being told by the bank it would be at least two or more years before I could go to the college I wanted. Today, I am still mostly self-taught, no college education. If I want to know something I go to the library, ask someone who knows the answer, or research it on the internet. I am illustrating the covers of three novels, and another children's book; the demand for my drawings has increased drastically and I am also a tattoo artist. I also work full time at another job. Everything is going better then I had hoped. One day I will attend college, it is still a dream of mine. But until then I am living, learning and doing the best I can to be the best. I do this because I was once told the outcome of things is based on 10% of what happened and 90% of how you react. I get out of bed every morning and strive for the best because I never allowed the thoughts of failure to occur, and I protect my passions. I always believed the living flames of our passion inside of us, is the birth place of our dreams.

EN: You mentioned your Vietnam vet grandfather as being an inspiration for some of the pieces. Which ones and why?

SL: The drawing of my grandfather in the Vietnam War I drew because I often felt his and the other veterans, and todays soldiers sacrifice is often forgotten. We show our forgetfulness when we quit on ourselves, when we show ungratefulness by littering on the beautiful ground people have worked hard to keep beneath us. When we feel as though we deserve more then what we have truly worked for. I drew my grandfather and the image from the war not only because I love my grandfather and appreciate his sacrifice but because it was the only way I could say how sometimes I feel.

EN: What does "Wrinkle Meat" mean? What's the story behind Three Century Man?

SL: The Wrinkle Meat drawing I did as a challenge to draw exactly what I had seen from my uncle. The story behind the man I drew was a bonus to the challenge. His name is John Smith. Wrinkle Meat was a nick name given to him because of the way he looked. It is said this man lived to be 138 years old. Others say he didn't live to be that old and he only looked to be so old because of a skin condition. I call the drawing the Three Century Man because he was born in the late 1700's and died in the early 1900's. If he did live to be 138 years old he lived through three centuries. Now whether this is true or not, I don't know. But I choose to believe he did live through three centuries. And I don't know every little thing about this man, but in my book, he is impressive and has earned a spot in my portfolio no matter what anybody else says or believes.

EN: One of the pieces featured peacock feathers. Can you explain the backstory on this one?

SL: The drawing with the being wearing the mask with the peacock feathers I call "Being Human." And what it represents is this. All of us belong to one tree of life. And this being wants to be part of it. In my head if a being did want feel as though it is apart of our tree of life it would wear that intricate and colorful mask. Now why this is, well I'll leave that up to my audience to decide....

EN: There was a small piece called Element. What prompted you to do this and what did you mean by saying something about "wearing what's inside"?

SL: The drawing I call Element... What it is, is a being wearing what she feels and is inside. She has a dress made of fire and water, because this is what I imagine to be the most common feeling we have and one of the most powerful of elements. She has a long wooden nose to represent what we, and she herself, often lie about. Most companies and people will claim to care about our environment but prove otherwise. She has a rose on her eye because she often likes to have rose-colored glasses on. Now why she wears a fish tail attached to a cracked porcelain cap is something I desire to leave up to the audience to find that missing puzzle piece. And for people to ask themselves, what would I look like if I wore what I feel and am inside?

The drawing of the being that looks like a crane and human I call "Beautiful Being". She was the first drawing of mine where I drew from my imagination. In high school I had an awesome art teacher who would always push me past what I thought I was capable of. I always drew what I saw exactly, and one day she looked at me and said "instead of drawing exactly what you see, I want you to draw something you never have seen before." So I did just that. And once I was done, I couldn't believe what I had drawn, this being I created was beautiful and breathtaking. Something I never thought I could draw actually. Her anatomy was perfect and if she was real it would work, she could actually be a real being. At this very moment I was hooked on drawing from my imagination, I wanted nothing but to draw my own beings from then on. I used my own physical characteristics for the creation of this being, and it made it even more fun because I can now see what I would look like if I weren't a human being and a different one instead. This drawing expanded my love for art because I realized I could create a world and beings nobody has ever seen before.

* * * *
EdNote: Look for more from Saydee Lanes in the years ahead. She's honed her skills and has plenty to say.

Meantime, art goes on all around you. Open your eyes.

How Important Is Inspiration?

Rilke spent a segment of his life developing an external poetic form that enabled him to write without being "dependent on inspiration." He developed the concept through friendship with the sculptor Rodin.
Journal note, April 10, 1997

If you do a Google search of "How Important Is Inspiration" you will all kinds of links to articles and blog expressions regarding the importance of inspiration. At the top of my search is a Harvard Business Review article on "Why Inspiration Matters." Next is a blog entry at The Meaning Experiment on "The Importance of Inspiration." And it goes on from there.

In reading these various articles one becomes aware of a certain kind of inspiration that is perhaps more related to passion. The kind of inspiration I'd like to briefly digress upon has to do with the notion of the Muse.

Nearly all of us who are artists or writers, or have participated in other creative endeavors, have had the delightful experience where it seems The Muse has alighted upon our shoulders and showered us with a moment of gilded creative light. Some artists, writers and poets can find themselves so enamored by this experience that any results that fail to come from their Muse feel slightly less significant and a mere exercise of technique. Hence, we can be deceived into feeling the only way to accomplish anything is to wait... wait for inspiration to magically draw near.

But poet Rainer Maria Rilke felt it an achievement to have been liberated from this dependency on something seemingly random and beyond our control.

Dorothea Brande, in her book Becoming a Writer, says the same. We cannot be dependent on a Muse. This kind of attitude toward the creative results in an imprisoning mindset of passive waiting. The posture is not one of initiative, but of passivity. From whence does the creative urge emerge? If within our power, then we must learn the processes that stir it, that stimulate, that revive its power.

To some extent it is not about what we do, but rather the energy with which we do it. On command. The energy resides within us. We do not have to wait for circumstances and stars to align. We can choose to pour ourselves out, on demand.

We have no control over the things that lie outside us. But we can control our thoughts and actions. Learn how to prime your pump, how to take charge of your creative powers. The world will be there to absorb the streams of creative life you bring.

Rosie the Riveter, R.I.P.

As usual, it has been a year of many significant passings. No "year in review" is complete without noting the persons who have touched us in one way or another. A the beginning of this week, as if to round out the year, Geraldine Hoff Doyle passed away in Michigan. Doyle is not a household name, but her image as "Rosie the Riveter" may be as ubiquitous as a Coca-Cola logo.

Doyle was 17 when the famous UPI photo was taken. She had been working at a metal pressing plant near Ann Arbor at the time. The U.S. government liked the image so much they used it as a recruiting tool to encourage women to join the workforce and support the war effort. Later it became a popular poster and has been reproduced endlessly, here seen as a metal sign on one of our kitchen cabinets.

During World War II millions of women moved into jobs at factories to produce, among other things, the weapons and ammunition that kept our boys equipped for the fight. But in the aftermath of the war this image probably helped serve as a reminder that "sometimes a woman is the man for the job" serving now as an inspiration for more than half a century.

Other memorable personages who have departed in 2010 include Hall of Fame pitcher Bob Feller, directors Blake Edwards and Irvin Kershner, actors Tony Curtis, Dennis Hopper, Fess Parker, Peter Graves and Leslie Nielson, Beaver's mom Barbara Billingsly, entertainers Lena Horne and Captain Beefheart, and novelist J.D. Salinger, author of Catcher in the Rye, whose Holden Caulfield proved to be an omen of sorts for the adolescent alienation that that would subsume the Sixties generation.

None of us is here on earth forever. Therefore, as you move into the new year, make the most of your days. May your 2011 be your best contribution yet.