Sunday, June 11, 2006

ArtWish

Art is silent music, stories without words. It speaks to us of lost civilizations and centuries we can never know. It allows us to express things that would otherwise never exist. It seizes that part of us that the world never knows -- the inner dreamer -- and makes us wonder.

It also looks very cool hanging in the livingroom.

I'm not a traditional artist by any means, but I can appreciate how much art focuses the inner dreamer. Before I began making quilts, and saving old ones, I felt very little personal connection to the past. Now I've become part of a long line of American women who expressed themselves while keeping their art functional and practical. It's the perfect art for me.

Wish #3: In comments to this post*, tell us about any art or artist who has particularly inspired you by midnight EST on Monday, June 12, 2006. I'll draw one name from everyone who participates and send you a $50.00 gift certificate to Art.com so you can go art shopping. I'll also send you a brand-new lap quilt made by me, and a signed copy of my novel Dark Need, that other thing I do when I'm not quilting. Wish open to everyone on the planet, even if you've had wishes fulfilled here at PBW before.

[*Note: Same problems with Blogger, so if you try to post a comment and find you can't, e-mail your artwish to me at LynnViehl@aol.com; same time cut-off as above.]

47 comments:

  1. Anonymous11:37 AM

    Hm, I'm a digital artist, and have very modern tastes in artists...(NOT modern art, just modern artists) and the great thing is that you can keep getting new pieces of art:) And they have websites.

    A few of my favorties:
    blackeri.deviantart.com
    furiae.com OR enayla.deviantart.com
    noah-kh.deviantart.com
    nykolai.deviantart.com

    Unfortunately, none of these people are me...I won't embarass myself by putting up my link next to theirs :)

    Long time lurker here, I love this blog! Thank you so much, PBW! My mom quilts too, and I *sort of* quilt. Heh. Very, very badly.

    Thanks again,

    Becky

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  2. My maternal grandmother has inspired me the most for her artwork. When I was a child, she dabbled in oils. I have an early still life -- frankly not a very good one, but grandma painted it. In recent years, she switched to water colors, and I have several framed originals of hers which I am proud to display in my home. I also have a few color copies I've framed -- she has copied originals and used them as greeting cards. She has grown as an artist over the last nearly fifty years, and I have recently been inspired to try my hand at painting because of the growth I've witnessed in her work.

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  3. Anonymous12:11 PM

    Hmmm...Like becky I'm a digital artist and I love all the ones she mentioned, but I also really love the classic oil painters. I'm going to go with John William Waterhouse, his paintings are just so beautiful. I love the stories in them and the colours are just wonderful.

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  4. The first artist to leave an impression on me was my Aunt Rita. I loved her artwork and she made it look so easy. She painted still life and landscapes. Growing up I used to try and be like her but my work was not fit to be seen compared to hers. But she would never paint anything for anyone outside of her family. (Her kids and her mom.) I have no idea if any of her work has survived. She passed away twelve years ago.

    I’m partial to the old masters. Michelangelo. Some of the anime stuff is pretty neat also. They had an art exhibit up at my daughter’s school and wow. All work was done by the students. 6th, 7th and 8th graders. Amazing stuff.

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  5. I love John Singer Sargent, who painted Madame X, as well as a lot of paintings of other Society types. He painted women who looked beautiful and interesting, and when I used to think who I wanted to look like when I grew up, it was one of his women.

    I first saw his paintings at the Isabella Stewart Gardner museum in Boston, where I grew up. He painted Isabella, and her portrait there is awesome.

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  6. Anonymous1:01 PM

    The most inspirational to me is Matisse. He became reknown as a painter but arthritis left him unable to hold a brush. So, still needing to create, he made collages from colored paper which he cut with huge, long-bladed scissors. THEN he became FAMOUS. When people think of Matisse, it's the paper collages they think of, the swoops of paper cut with his twisted, arthritic hands. And that's pretty damn cool.

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  7. oooohhhhhh... okay, now this one I'm going to break down and enter, simply because I could happily spend a couple thousand at art.com and still find more.

    There are a couple of artists that I find very inspiring.

    Thomas Kinkade~ http://www.thomaskinkade.com
    ~I love his stuff.

    David Delamare
    http://www.daviddelamare.com
    ~does a lot of fantasy and fairies.

    But one artist that I have to say has definitely inspired a story is a reader. She has a gallery at renderosity and she'd sent me an email post and I started going to look thru her images and one day found one titled Sister Slayers. The image of one of the sisters, combined with the title, lit an idea and I ended up writing a book all from that one image.

    Her screen name thru renderosity.com is Jenai21.

    You have to be a member to view the images, but Jenai let me post a couple of her pieces on my website.

    http://www.shilohwalker.com/funstuff.htm

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  8. My favorite has to be Susan Seddon-Boulet. It's all very fantastical, very native-american inspired and is just beautiful. She does such a beautiful job of melding different pieces together: animal, people, etc.

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  9. William Hogarth

    "The Shrimp Girl"

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  10. We have a lovely painting in our living room by a local artist named Thomas Linker. Also, we have some beautiful stained glass made by friends of ours. They are hanging lamps and when the light is on they light up the room.

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  11. All the art by the artists in my office inspires me to be descriptive and communicate clearly with them so that their talent is used to its best. In a roundabout way, I believe this attention to clarity has also improved my writing.

    I've always loved Flaming June and Munch's Vampire.

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  12. I love the works of Anne Orr who tatted in the 1890s. Her patterns are still used today and the techniques she developed are amazing.

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  13. Anonymous2:51 PM

    I love Stephanie Pui-Min Law's works. They're fantastical and somehow so very orderly that I could stare for hours and not quite see anything.

    As for being inspired? I have a print from L.A. Williams called 'VALKYRIES' that inspired one of the novels that my agent is currently shopping. :) I tried to find a link of it online, but I can't find it as a working link. :/

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  14. Anonymous2:51 PM

    As for traditional art, I really love the colors and patterns of Gustav Klimt. But the artists who inspire me on a regular basis are the members of the Elfwood science fiction/fantasy art community. One of my favorites there is Ursula Vernon. She is amazing.

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  15. Anonymous3:42 PM

    My grandmother, Priscilla Morris, a professional painter in Tennessee. She paints a lot of natural scenes and uses watercolor and acrylic.

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  16. Art is very near and very dear to me. One artist that has truly tickled my fancy is Rodin, and though hes a scuplture,i am not as taken with anyone. When i was in college, my dorm was right down the street from the Rodin museum in Philadelphia and i would spend hours in the gardens there and just staring at the Gates of hell that graced the wall at the entrance. If you dont know, Rodin is the guy wo did the Thinker. He also did a fantastic sculpture called the Three shades and the perfect and moving The Kiss. But nothing is as fantastic as the Burghers of Calais.

    Stella

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  17. Anonymous5:01 PM

    When I was a little girl, I fell in love with a painting in my Masterpiece game. It was called "The Combat of Giaour and Hassan" by Eugene Delcroix. I'd never seen a painting that displayed so much life and movement before. I eventually did a little research into Delacroix's work, and found that I loved everything he painted. But "The Combat" remains my favorite.

    And yes, I ruined my game by sneaking the card out and keeping it on my nightstand so I could look at it all the time.

    Misty

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  18. My father-in-law was an artist and a H.S. art teacher. He left me a painting of his entitled "The Three Ladies." It's one of my favs.

    Otherwise, I love Leonardo da Vinci.

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  19. One of my favorite artists is Ciro Marcetti (who has a website of the same name). His artwork has magical and fantastical elements, and he even created a couple of tarot decks that have amazing color and artwork. I don't use tarot cards at all, but as soon as I saw his art I knew I just had to get a deck for myself.

    Looking through them inspires me in my writing -- the longer you look at his art, the more things jump out at you. They have so many subtle meanings and embedded symbols, and this sense of soul.

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  20. Anonymous8:00 PM

    As a polymer clay sculptor myself, most of my art influences are from other clayers. Favorites include the fabulous Katherine Dewey, whose fantasy art sculptures turn me as green as a leprechaun in envy, and Ria Van Son who got me hooked on dragons. And I love Declan's Finnian leprechauns and Musgrave's Pocket Dragons. Yep, collectible pop art type things and landscapes are my thing.
    I also love the warm, sweet childlike illustrations of Stephen Cosgrove's Serendipity series of kid books. They just make me smile.

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  21. I have always had a real affinity for Escher -- my sister gets me a nice coffee table book of his work every few years for my birthday!

    I'm very interested in quilting art, as well... I find myself drawn to shows displaying quilting showcases, etc, and can spend hours browsing quilt books.

    And, though I can't name names, I am always drawn to bright, not always 'true-to-life'-colored landscapes and animals... :)

    Anyway... just babbling now, I suppose!

    --bella

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  22. Yumiko Kayukawa: http://sweetyumiko.com

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  23. I like Shano from www.shano-studio.com Her work always makes me smile.

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  24. Anonymous9:36 PM

    Hi PBW,

    I love Alphonse Mucha, a Czech art nouveau artist of the 19th and 20th centuries. He painted a lot of pictures of Sarah Bernhardt in character, but he also painted about the nationalistic movement in Bohemia (Czech Republic, today). He has two series that I love, the Seasons, and the Arts. His paintings/posters are unabashedly romantic, and they keep me romantic when I need it most.

    Mei

    PS Here's a link to the museum devoted to him in Prague
    www.mucha.cz

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  25. Oh my just one?

    If I were to get into any other profession, I would have been an artist. Alas, I have hands that shake, thus I could never keep a steady brush to save my life.

    I see another one has already selected one of my favorites: Stephanie Pui-Mun Law

    Another favorite: Sarah Stone

    And for more of my favorite artists, you can check out the DuirWaigh Gallery. I recommend checking out A Knock at the Door. A free Flash movie that is just beautiful. (Get the tissue box out!!) For fantasy lovers only!

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  26. Anonymous10:48 PM

    I like Monet and Renoir and Mary Cassatt, but the artist who inspires me the most is this young guy on deviantART who goes by Aurory. He does simply amazing art, and journals a lot, very honestly. He obviously struggles with depression and self-doubt and it's so touching to see him bare his soul and take in encouragement and continue to put out these amazing works. I've learned a lot from him.

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  27. Anonymous11:00 PM

    Gustav Klimt's The Kiss made a big impression on me from way back when reading about art and artists during high school. It was so beautiful, and was nothing like the other pieces from different artists we were studying at the time.

    Little Lamb Lost

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  28. Anonymous2:21 AM

    Thanks, PBW, for all your generosity!

    One artist who inspired me? James O'Barr. His work ("The Crow") changed my life. The images in his graphic novel are burned into my memories, and still amaze me to this day.

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  29. Anonymous7:31 AM

    I've been a big fan of Ursula Vernon's art for a while, for her wit, originality, and sheer zaniness. She does a lot or anthropomorphic art, but is not limited to it. (Her writing's also pretty cool.)

    -her website:
    http://www.metalandmagic.com/

    -her blog:
    http://ursulav.livejournal.com/

    -her webcomic, featuring a wombat named Digger:
    http://www.graphicsmash.com/toc.php?name=digger

    Er, yes, I really like her stuff.

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  30. Anonymous7:33 AM

    -Micheal Whelan-

    I find his book cover art for Sci-Fi and Fantasy novels the best I've ever seen.

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  31. My niece is a beautiful photographer. Her photos really seem to capture the essence of people, and even if she's just taking pictures of a building, they turn out to be amazing! Some people just have that magic.

    She was one of a very few who were chosen from her portfolio to go to photography college in Montreal, but she decided to keep photography as a hobby and she is in child education now, which she loves as well :)

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  32. Georges de la Tour's painting of Mary Magdalen. (Which I discovered before the da Vinci Code debacle.)

    http://www.nga.gov/cgi-bin/pinfo?Object=54102+0+none

    Also, ever since I was a child, I've loved Sulamith Wulfing. Some things you never outgrow.

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  33. Anonymous9:06 AM

    William Morris. Not so much for his own art - though some of his fabrics are beautiful - but for anchoring and popularising the whole Pre-Raphaelite movement, and for the famous saying, "Have nothing in your homes that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful". Speaking as someone whose home is drowning in children's plastic rubbish, old papers, things I haven't read yet, and so forth, I often think of his advice and wish I were organised (and ruthless) enough to live by it...

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  34. My daughter has a knack for turning all of her school work into art work; doodles in margins, etc, and she thrives in real art classes! She could become my favorite, in time, but right now it's between Da Vinci and Sandro Botticelli. (Botticelli's models are much closer to my body type than today's standard.) I've always had a soft spot for the Renaissance masters.

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  35. Thomas Kincade and Georgia O'Keefe are the two artists that inspire me. They both create beautiful art.

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  36. Anonymous1:05 PM

    Hmm. Lots of people named here (Susan Seddon Boulet, Da Vinci (I adore the Virgin of the Rocks), Vermeer, etc.) but I'm going to name one not yet listed --
    Heather Bruton. She is a fantasy artist who does really lovely work and I've got one picture I commissioned from her of one of my characters that manages to lift me up every time I see it, just because it tells me that I *can* do it.

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  37. Anonymous1:57 PM

    Leonardo da Vinci. Amazing man.

    Pam

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  38. Anonymous2:09 PM

    Differnt stuff for different moods Monet's my favorite classical master. I find things like Water Lilies dreamy and soothing. Christian Riese Lassen does goergous seascapes and Phil Foglio is cartoonist who inspires laughter on a regular basis. Always important. -Gail L

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  39. Anonymous2:31 PM

    Wonderful, wonderful contest, PBW! My new living room, complete with fresh paint and new furniture is crying out for art work.

    My favorites...hmmm, right now I'm in a cowboy frame of mind so I am looking for a James O'Mara or a Chris Owen...

    Christyne

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  40. The artist that inspires me most is Michelle Verbeeck. My mother. She is a fiber artist who does stunning things in fabric that I couldn't do with a paint by number. If you'd like to check her out you can check out her website http://www.michelleverbeeck.com

    Her art inspires me because we talk, at length sometimes, about the meaning behind the pieces and why we are creating them. She helps me find the creative part of my mind even when I feel about as creative as a brick.

    She also inspires me because she allows me the time and space to pursue my writing. She pushes me foreward to be a better writer.

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  41. I have always loved Botticelli. Botticelli's work always leaves me with a feeling of awe. I have never checked out art.com. Thank you for introducing me to that amazing site. I love it! I found a print called Heaven of Angels by Catherine Andrews that I would love to own. It is so beautiful, and leaves me with no adequate words, just feeling. I love quilts too, by the way. I have one that my Great Grandmother made, and it is one of my most treasured possessions.

    Hugs, Zara

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  42. Nick Bantock. He's a writer and a collage artist. His books remind me how to be creative, why it's good to rip up old magazines and whatnot to make my own collages and that I don't have to be perfect to make it as a writer.

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  43. I try (not very successfully) to fit weaving into my life around the day job and the writing. Your comments, PBW, about quilting being an art that is functional and practical brought straight to mind the words of Soetsu Yanagi, a Japanese potter who wrote 'The Unknown Craftsman':

    The special quality of beauty in crafts is that it is a beauty of intimacy... The beauty of such objects is not so much of the noble, the huge or the lofty, as a beauty of the warm and familiar... People hang their pictures high upon the wall, but they place their objects for everyday use close to them, and take them in their hands.

    While I admire the work of many artists, and the represtentations of truths, emotions, dreams and fears that are embodied in their work (I'm thinking here, like Stella above, of works such as Rodin's 'The Kiss'), there is something very important about the everyday art - the quilts, blankets, sweaters we wrap our families in, the pottery mugs we wrap our hands around, the woodwork of tables and chairs on which we share meals with loved ones.

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  44. Anonymous8:59 PM

    I'm a fan of many of the old masters, Da Vinci and Goya being way up there on my list.
    I also love contemporary fantasy art and visit Adele Sessler's website Meadowhaven at least once a week. I love the anime/realism blended stlye that her artwork has. And then there's Ursula Vernon, who is amazingly funny and talented and has blown my mind with her unique visions in art and writing on more than one occasion. Her blog, Bark Like A Fish, Damnit! is just wonderful and a daily read for me.

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  45. I have a fondness for Matisse and Kandinsky--something about big bold blocks of color is very appealing to me. I also love the work of Ansel Adams, who took some of the most beautiful photos I've ever seen.

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  46. Anonymous1:59 AM

    Ooooh! I like art, but I'm kinda more drawn to the lap-quilt/Dark Need part of the deal. Can I just enter the drawing for those?

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