Daily Art Fixx

visual arts blog, painting, drawing, sculpture, illustration and more!

Burst of Red – Poras Chaudhary

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I’m so grateful to have StumbledUpon the photographs of Poras Chaudhary.  The image below is called “Burst of Red” and was taken at the Hindu religious festival Holi (Festival of Colours).  The festival marks the onset of spring and the main day is celebrated with people throwing coloured powder and water at each other.

Born in Northern India, Poras Chaudhary is a freelance photojournalist and documentary photographer. Incredibly, his interest in photography only began in 2005 when he came across the work of Magnum photographers.  Chaudhary is completely self-taught and is best known for his color work and unique compositions.  In his short career, he has already received several awards including Digital Camera Magazine’s ‘Photographer of the Year’ award in 2006, National Geographic Traveler’s photo contest Merit Award winner in 2008 as well as being a Runner Up in the Epson Color Imaging Contest 2008.

To view more of Chaudhary’s incredible images visit his webpage at PorasChaudhary.com or see his work on Deviant Art.

The Colours of Timothy Orikri

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Detroit On My Mind © Timothy Orikri

Detroit On My Mind © Timothy Orikri

One of the benefits of belonging to various networking websites is that you come across individuals that probably wouldn’t cross your path otherwise.  Such was the case when I discovered the art of Timothy Orikri while perusing a forum in a LinkedIn art group.

Orikri was born in southern Nigeria and came to the U.S. in 1995.  He settled first in St. Louis and then Michigan.  Working in a variety of mediums including watercolour, acrylic, oils, and often utilising found objects, Orikri’s paintings are packed with vibrant colours with strong forms and lines.  His paintings exude a peaceful and positive energy that draw you in and then keep you there to explore the finer details.

The son of a Baptist minister, his father wanted him to follow in his footsteps.  Orikri chose instead to “preach with his brush”,  dedicating much of his time to volunteering, community outreach projects, and mentoring young aspiring artists.  His goal is to teach and inspire understanding, hope, and possibility.

From 2004-2006, Orikri collaborated with over 100 children of different races, religions, and abilities in the production of a multimedia mural entitled, “Pyramid of Peace.”   By bringing together children of diverse backgrounds, he wanted to break the divisive stereotypes children often learn, encouraging instead their unique talents that they can each use to make their community and the world a better place.

Orikri’s current project, “Compassion Through Art & Life”, is a collaborative project that allows participants an opportunity to portray their desire for peace and the need for compassion. Completed works will be donated to various veterans’ hospitals.

To learn more about Timothy Orikri’s inspiring work and community service, visit his website at TimothyOrikri.com.

 

May Day: Diego Rivera

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Happy May 1st everyone!  Around the world, countries are celebrating what is often referred to as May Day.  The celebration is rooted in the Pagan observance of the “cross-quarter day”, when the Northern Hemisphere falls halfway between the spring equinox and summer solstice.  Over time, the Pagan holiday lost much of its original meaning, though many nations continue to celebrate May Day with parades, festivals, rallies, and basket giving.

May 1st is also a day that many countries celebrate International Workers’ Day, or Labour Day, in observance of the social and economic achievements of the labour movement. The colourful image below is a 1956 painting by Mexican artist Diego Rivera.  May Day Procession in Moscow is an optimistic painting depicting a rally during the Cold War .

Considered a social realist, Rivera was interested in the social problems and hardships of everyday life.  For this reason, Rivera felt a connection to the Communist movement in Russia and the state of the working class. His interest in communism also grew during a visit to Europe after meeting his first wife, Russian Angelina Beloff.

In 1922, Rivera joined the Mexican Communist Party and was active in the founding of the Revolutionary Union of Technical Workers, Painters, and Sculptors. Russian Leon Trotsky, after his expulsion from the Russian Communist Party, lived at the home of Rivera, and later at the home of Rivera’s wife, artist Frida Kahlo.

The Communist Movement continued to be a major source of artistic motivation and inspiration for Rivera. In 1933, he was commissioned to paint a mural for the RCA building of Rockefeller Center.  The mural was never completed, however, because it included a portrait of Lenin which he refused to remove.

For more information about Rivera, visit DiegoRivera.com.

May Day Procession in Moscow, 1956 - Diego Rivera

May Day Procession in Moscow, 1956 - Diego Rivera

Sources: DiegoRivera.org, Wikipedia, DiegoRivera.com

Glass Sculptor: Dale Chihuly

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Dale Chihuly - Sea Blue and Green Tower

Today I stumbled upon the fantastical glass sculptures of Dale Chihuly. Chihuly was born in Tacoma Washington on September 20, 1941. He holds a Master of Science in sculpture from the University of Wisconsin-Madison as well as a Master of Fine Arts at the Rhode Island School of Design. In 1968, he studied glass in Venice on a Fulbright Fellowship and in 1971 founded the Pilchuck Glass School near Stanwood, Washington.

After an auto accident in 1976 that blinded him in one eye, and then a body surfing mishap  in 1979 where he dislocated his shoulder, Chihuly could no longer hold a glass blowing pipe and hired others to help realize his creations. In a 2006 interview with the Seatle Post Intelligencer he explains – “Once I stepped back, I liked the view,” allowing the artist to see the sculpture from more angles and anticipate problems faster. Chihuly views himself as “more choreographer than dancer, more supervisor than participant, more director than actor.”

The sculpture above is called Sea Blue and Green Tower. It stands 15 x 8 x 7’ and was on exhibit at the San Francisco Legion of Honor Museum in 2008. With so many of Chihuly’s works on display in museums and galleries around the world, and frequent exhibitions, I’m bound to bump into one sooner or later. I just hope it’s sooner. To learn more, visit his website at Chihuly.com.

Sources:DaleChihuly.com, Wikipedia, Seattle PI

Micro-Sculptor – Willard Wigan

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Sometimes I look at a work of art and am in awe of the skill, time, and patience it must have taken to create.  When I came across Wilard Wigan’s micro-sculpture, I (who can’t see small type on a page even with my glasses) was baffled and amazed.

Born in 1957 in Birmingham, Willard Wigan has dyslexia and learning difficulties. As a boy, he was often ridiculed by teachers and classmates, making him feel worthless and small.  It was this feeling of smallness that led Wigan to micro-miniatures. At the age of five, he was fascinated with ants and sculpted houses, furniture and even clothing for them. Thus began the career of the self-taught artist.

Wigan’s work has evolved to a level that has people in the artistic and scientific worlds talking. Using a tiny surgical blade, Wigan carves figures from fragments of gold and grains of sand which are later painted with the hair of a dead fly.  His completed sculptures typically sit on the head of a pin, the tip of an eyelash, or within the eye of a needle and can only be viewed with a microscope.

To create his works Willard must enter a meditative state where he slows his pulse to keep his hands steady and then sculpts between heartbeats.  The vibration caused by external noise, or even his own breath can cause a piece of work to be damaged or destroyed.  Wigan admits once, after painstaking hours of work, to inhaling one of the characters from his Alice in Wonderland piece.

Willard’s art has been collected by the likes of Prince Charles, Elton John, and Mike Tyson, among others. In May 2007, Wigan’s 70 piece collection was purchased by tennis player David Lloyd for an undisclosed amount. Lloyd has insured the works for over eleven million pounds. Willard has also been asked to speak at the July 2009 TED.com world conference.

For more information, visit Willard-Wigan.com, or a google search will provide thousands of links to articles and videos about this amazingly intricate work.

Sources: WillardWigan.com, Wikipedia

Sunday Afternoon… Georges Seurat

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It’s my day off again, so I am humbly stealing the comments of a Princeton student for today’s image – enjoy!

“On a trip to the Art Institute of Chicago while playing hooky for a day, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off’s Cameron Frye stands perplexed in front of the massive painting, tilting his head from side to side. He recognizes the celebrity woman with the umbrella and monkey on a leash painted exactly one century earlier, but as the camera zooms in closer, we see what Cameron finds so intriguing about George Seurat’s Sunday Afternoon on La Grande Jatte (1884-1885). He notices a subtlety in the painting he couldn’t take away from printed versions of this painting that he would have undoubtedly seen in his art history curriculum—that is, if he ever went to class. Standing just inches away, he realizes that the millions of dots strategically placed on the canvas seamlessly create a larger image, defining Seurat’s hallmark pointillist technique.”  (Exerpt from S. Sherman – Princeton 2008)

Spring – Armand Guillaumin

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Impressionist painter (Jean-Baptiste) Armand Guillaumin was born on February 16, 1841 in Paris, France.  Guillaumin studied at the Academie Suisse in 1861 where he formed life-long friendships with Cezanne and Pissarro. Guillaumin exhibited at the Salon des Refusés in 1863 and later became a friend of Vincent van Gogh, meeting him through his brother Theo, who sold some of his works.

Guillaumin had no private income and had to perform menial work to support his vocation. In 1891, he won in the National Lottery, which enabled him to concentrate on his painting and to travel throughout France and to Holland.

Guillaumin is remembered for his landscapes of Paris, the Creuse département, and Les Adrets-de-l’Estérel in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur region of France.  He never achieved the fame of his contemporaries,  however, critics agree that he and select others (Monet, Pissaro, and Morisot) represent true classic impressionism.

Armand Guillaumin died on June 26, 1927 in Orly, Val-de-Marne just south of Paris. His works can be seen at major museums around the world. To view his complete works visit the Armand Guillaumin Virtual Gallery.

Sources: Impressioniste.net, Wikipedia, ArmandGuillaumin.org, getty.edu

The Art of Recycling – Part II

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Most retail stores, I’ve found, rely heavily on the use of plastic bags.  While supermarkets seem to be heading in the direction of cloth bags and bins, the rest of the retail world seems to be lagging behind.  As a result, it’s easy for me to end up with bags full of other plastic bags taking up awkward and valuable space in my kitchen cabinet.

So, in my continuing quest to find ways to be creative with things that would otherwise be trash, I scanned the internet to see what I might do with these bags.  I found my answer on the Etsy website and the result is the photo you see below – a messenger bag made completely from old plastic bags that have been fused together to form a very strong and waterproof fabric.

The process of fusing the bags together was fairly simple and the resulting bag looks like old worn leather.  I don’t know it this can be considered art but it’s definitely crafty and I had a lot of fun making it. To try this project yourself, see the tutorial at ETSY-LABS.

Messenger Bag - Wendy Campbell

Messenger Bag - Wendy Campbell