Drooling over the Eastside Millennium Art Fest - Part 1

I was totally blown away by all the talent at the Millennium Art Fest this year.
I noticed some tents up on my way to work this morning, and decided to investigate on my lunch break - and I definitely wish I had more than a hour to meander throughout the various exhibits.
If I'm going to start wishing though, I might as well wish for a thousand - hell - MILLION dollar shopping spree for me and my friends at the fest.
A girl can dream.


These earrings by Annmarie Siegel are made from pieces of disassembled pocked watches. Think of all the hidden meaning! And her work is not just for the ladies. I almost wish I was a guy just so I could wear the cuff links feature on her site. Worth a look!


Upgrade from your pet rock to your pet copper and stone sculpture. These cuties by Janet & Stacy have way more personality.


Look at all that color!! But these portraits by Cathee A. Clausen are so lifelike (unfortunately her web page appears to be under construction for now).
Indeed.


Notice the wide bracelet/band in this photo? THAT's what has my heart among these pieces. So hardcore. It's called a Lucky Band and is made by Andremi Designs . It's hand-tooled leather with wire inserts so you can bend and mold it as you please (perfect for my stubborn anorexic wrists). The various bands in this collection feature stones like serpentine, obsidian, sodalite, and aragonite.

Part 2 coming up later...!

Marcel's Art: Opus palladianum

You're looking at the only one of Marcel's paintings with this mosaic-like quality (although I would like him to pursue it further - so far that has not happened).

People have seem many different images in the geometric patterns of Robot Hump Mountain - so I think it's best if I just let Marcel hint at the theme he was illustrating and let you come to your own conclusions. Here it is in a poem, straight from Marcel to you:

"The petals of the sun curl as their last drop of moisture is obliterated,
by the very heat they live to create, this heat of friction,
of massive stony protrusions moving, rubbing, living.
And as the leaves attempt to cradle the other, more intrude upon their space, leaving no room for privacy, no room for being!"

**As for the painting's title, I'd like to think that there's a clue in there as well. But that's not how I see it, and if you know Marcel, you know it's equally likely that it's just a trick to throw you off.

"Take that. I owe you nothing anymore."

Salvador Dalí claim that's what he said to his father as he handed him a condom full of his own sperm. He had just been thrown out of his home and told never to return.

Weird.

I doubt this is true. Who carries around used condoms in their pockets, thinking that surely "THIS would be the day I need one of these on hand"?

Then again, Dalí was no ordinary man. He was imaginative and capable enough to come up with this zinger of a comeback on the spot, and strange enough to have the necessary supplies. The eccentric guy believed he was the reincarnation of his dead brother and underwent an exorcism later in life (and I'm not saying these two are necessarily related), and that's just the beginning.

He was born 105 years ago this week. If you don't feel like reading his entire autobiography, which I'm sure is fascinating, check out this collection of images to satisfy your daily requirement for the bizarre.

I really like the explosion coming out of his mouth (they should use this in anti-smoking ads somehow), am very confused by the levitating dwarf, and LOVE the one where he's shown kicking at a woman's body whose limbs are flying off, as if in zero gravity. I've seen this happen in a number of his paintings, but never before had I imagined a catalyst other than spontaneous combustion. Plus, it seems so adorably childish: like a little brother impishly toppling his sister's just-finished tower of building blocks. Or it's misogynistic, if you think he looks angry and is kicking that poor woman into pieces.

Nice.

"You are quiet, I will be, too"

Ten years of research by German historians has cast a shadow of doubt on the long accepted story of Vincent Van Gogh cutting off his own ear. Apparently, fellow artist Gauguin chopped it off! Read the story here.

I'm not sure what's more dramatic: Van Gogh meticulously removing his own ear with a little razor as he begins his descent into madness - OR - his friend, whether purposefully or not, slicing off his ear while they were bickering, then cowardly running away and inventing the story of Van Gogh's self-mutilation. Van Gogh didn't sell out his buddy, who would have probably gone to jail. But he was left lonelier (and more bitter?) than ever and on his way to his later suicide.

For now everyone still agrees that he wrapped the severed ear in cloth and gave it to a prostitute.

Well, at least we still have that.

More sketches

Why is that fish smoking a cigarette? Any ideas?

Nibblers

Random drawings Marcel whipped up while bored at work:





Hmmm, the things I scribble while bored on the phone at work are nothing like this...

I'm always particularly drawn to a good wing rendering. Have you looked at the real wings of a big bird up close before? They're magnificent. I've got an African Gray around that likes to mimic body movements - if it's feeling friendly. If I stretch out my arms over my head, it'll show off its impressive wings in return, stretching them out wide, one side at a time. Seeing the mechanics and details of these instruments of flight up close has made a lasting impression on me. If you don't know what I'm talking about, check out this example (scroll down through the photos when you get there):

Colorado Red-Tailed Hawk

Most of the drawings I come upon that include winged humans lack the impressive quality real wings of flight have. Mainly, it has to do with the fact that they aren't believable: (Setting aside the fact that humans/humanoids don't have wings) they are usually much too small and frail looking (especially on the fairies) and are almost always barely attached to the back - so that even if they do look big and strong enough to take flight, they would break off under the pressure of trying to lift a body up with them. Marcel's drawing shows wings firmly attached, and each is about as long as the body - er, skeleton - is tall. Admittedly, they are in tatters, putting into question their actual ability to lift off....but hey, it IS a skeleton, it's supposed to be falling apart and is already animated by some kind of magic in itself. You may say this is what gives all the fairies and other puny-winged creatures the ability to fly as well, and I can't argue with that logic. But if you're going to add wings, don't just sprinkle them on. They're WINGS - they give the ability to FLY! They should look impressive (not just cute) - I mean, unless you were going for the impotent look.

Marcel's Art: SEAHORSE

Finally!
Thanks to Picture4Ever we have some professional shots of Marcel's artwork available (instead of relying on the ones I took, seen in the slideshow below, plagued with discoloration and glare). Over the next few weeks we'll explore each particular painting, up close and personal.
First up: Seahorse Bowl
In a previous post I mentioned that Marcel doesn't aim to infuse his paintings with a lot of his personal feelings.
Yet emotions do have a way of leaking through, sometimes in the most obvius way.
Check out the painting above - does that look like a red fist in the center of the abstract creation?
It is.
There's so much to say about this particular technique. Fisting, as I believe it is called, originated in the 1960s, when soluble artist quality acrylic paints became commercially available. Since then, the technique has evolved to include a number of paint application processes that use any portion of the body in leiu of a paintbrush or another tool. The most popular method in recent times, by far, is full body application.
What do you think of how the technique was used here?
- It's honest (the painting, not what I just wrote).
- It's raw.
- It's organic.
Frustrated artist indeed.
The original Seahorse Bowl is now available for purchase on Ebay!!! Please search for a Malinowski original :)