Daily Art Fixx

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

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

Jean Hélion, 1904 – 1987

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Born in Normandy, France on April 21, 1904, Jean Hélion is recognized as one of the leading abstract painters in Europe during the 1930’s. Hélion moved to Paris in 1921 where he worked as an architectural apprentice until deciding to become a painter in 1925. He became a member of the Groupe Art Concret in 1929 and co-founded Abstraction Creation in 1931 – an international association of artists who advocated pure abstration.

Hélion moved to the United States (New York, and Virginia) in 1936 and continued his abstract work until 1939 when (much to his admirer’s disappointment) he began to paint in a figurative style.

Hélion returned to Paris in 1940 to serve with the Armed Forces.  During this time, he was taken prisoner and help captive until 1942 when he managed to escape.  He published a book on his WWII experiences called “They Shall Not Have Me” in 1943.

Hélion returned to America for a short period but then went back to Paris in 1946 where he continued his work painting scenes of everyday life.  When asked by a journalist about his abandonment of abstract art, he said the war was an influence on his return to figurative painting. And that “A man who has been locked up for a few years knows the value of reality”. ⑴

Jean Hélion made Paris his home until his death on October 27, 1987.  Today, his works can be seen at the MOMA and other galleries in the US, as well as the Tate Gallery in London and many Museums in France.

Sources: Wikipedia, New York Times 1981, 1989, Centre Pompidou

On-line Picasso Project

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Pablo Picasso is one of my favourite artists and I plan to do a more in-depth profile of him in a later post.  But if you’re a Picasso fan, the On-line Picasso Project is a website you shouldn’t miss.

The On-line Picasso Project is non-profit project that catalogues an amazingly large number of Picasso’s works and a timeline of the artist’s life. It was created in 1997 by Dr. Enrique Mallén from Sam Houston State University. The website contains over 16,000 catalogued artworks, over 6,000 notes, and thousands of commentaries, biographical entries, and archived news articles.

The interface allows the user to easily browse through images and files according to date.  Clicking on an image from the summary page will bring up a small window – a sort of mini web page that details the artwork being viewed. Clicking on the image in the mini page enlarges the work so the viewer can see the finer details.

You can literally spend hours on this site (I have), and the chronological organization of the project allows you to witness Picasso’s development as an artist over the course of his life. The sheer volume of his work is staggering and this database represents about only a third of his estimated 50,000 works. The Guinness Book of Records actually named Picasso as the most prolific painter in history. So set some time aside and check out the On-line Picasso Project, you won’t be disappointed.

Ken Wong: Illustration

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The Mock Turtle's Story © Ken WongOne of my favourite ways to find new and interesting things on the web is with StumbleUpon. Using either their website or toolbar, StumbleUpon lets you “discover and share great websites…matched to your personal preferences”.  I personally like the Stumble toolbar – you never know what you’re going to get and it might be something you may not have normally found through a search engine.

Today I StumbledUpon Australian illustrator Ken Wong.  Ken studied multimedia at the University of South Australia but says “I learned most of what I know about art from reading books and involving myself in online art communities. The internet is a great environment for digital artists to learn from each other and advance their skills.”(1)

Ken works as an art director for the computer game studio Spicy Horse in Shanghai.  His work has also appeared in the Spectrum and Exposé art annuals and a few other magazines. You can view more of Ken’s work and artistic process (from pencil sketch to finished Photoshop image), by visiting his website at Kenart.net.

Happy Birthday Da Vinci!

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One of the most famous artists of all time, Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci, was born on April 15, 1452 at Vinci in the region of Florence.  While he is perhaps most famous as a painter, Da Vinci was known to have an unyielding curiosity that persisted up until the end of his life in 1519.  Da Vinci was a polymath and  besides his career as an artist, he was also an inventor, mathematician, architect, musician,  engineer, botanist, writer, and an anatomist.(1)

At the age of 14, Da Vinci was apprenticed to successful artist Andrea di Cione (aka Verrocchio) where he learned a large variety of skills as well as drawing, painting, sculpting, and modeling. During his professional life, Da Vinci worked in Florence, Milan, Rome, and in 1516 – 1519 in France under the service of Francis I.  Leonardo Da Vinci died on May 2, 1519 at Clos Lucé in France.(1)

The Mona Lisa (La Gioconda , La Jaconde, 1503-1506) is a small painting (2’6” x 1’8”) that continues to be a source of fascination and debate.  The dark and wild landscape brought together with the serene beauty, smile and liveliness of the sitter creates a sense of mystery and an improbable merging of two opposing worlds.(2)

The Mona Lisa is on display at the Louvre and around 6 million people view the painting ever year. I saw her last summer while in Paris and have to admit my disappointment.  The huge crowd of visitors meant that one could only stop briefly to examine it, through a bullet-proof glass enclosure, from a distance as we were herded quickly through the line.  Next time, I’ll go in winter.

To view more paintings by Da Vinci check out the Web Gallery of Art.  The Notebooks of Leonardo Davinci can be downloaded free from Project Gutenberg.