TIME TO CELEBRATE

August 13th is Left Hander’s Day!!! and since I’m part of this fascinating group – I think it is time to celebrate by sharing some fascinating facts about left handers. It is only fair, we are discriminated against the other 364 days of the year!

Left hander usually draw figures facing to the right.

Between 10-12% of the world’s population is left handed, and surprisingly this hasn’t changed over history.

Most artistic representations of the Devil show him as left-handed.

Left handers see better underwater.

Left handers excel in tennis, baseball, fencing and swimming.

One in four Apollo astronauts were left handed.

Four of the five original designed of the Macintosh were left-handed.

Research has show that more people with IQ’s over 140 are left handed. Scholars include Einstein, Isaac Newton, Charles Darwin and Benjamin Franklin.

On the other hand, the Boston Strangler, Jack the Ripper and Osama Bin Laden were left-handed.

The right hand is mentioned 100 positive times in the Bible, while the left hand is mentioned only negatively 25 times.

Lefties are higher at risk of schizophrenia and ADHD.

Lefties excel in language, math and music. A study of professional orchestras found a disproportionate number of left handed musicians.

Of the last seven US Presidents, 5 are left-handed. (Gerald Ford, Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, Barrack Obama)

Left handed artists include DaVinci, Michelangelo, Albrecht Durer, Escher, Paul Klee, Raphael to name a few.

Click here to listen to Lefty’s Lament.

SOME FUN FACTS AND TRIVIA ABOUT ARTISTS

I don’t know about you, but little facts and trivia about artists make them seem more human to me. Here are some of the more interesting things I have found.

DaVinci became a vegetarian for moral reasons. He even bought caged birds at outdoor markets and set them free.

Caravaggio murdered a man, fled Rome and eventually ended up in Malta, where he was knighted.

DAVID AND GOLIATH by Caravaggio. The head of Goliath is a self portrait.

The Pieta is the only work Michelangelo ever signed. While delivering it, he overheard someone say he couldn’t have done that – he was too young. He went back that night and signed it. He was 23.

The Pieta

Rembrandt filed for bankrupcy.

Picasso had his first artshow at age 13 – showing paintings in the back of an umbrella store. In his 90th year, he produced 200 paintings.

Duchamp deliberately accumulated dust to use in his artwork. He also perffected a system of winning at roulette and was on the French team at the International Chess Olympiads. He eventually married Matisse’s ex-wife.

Matisse’s painting LeBateau hung upside down for 46 days at the Museum of Modern Art in New York.

La Bateau by Matisee – hung correctly.

Paul Gaugin worked on the Panama Canal.

Rodin died of frostbite.

George Braque was the first living artist to be exhibited at The Louvre.

There is a silhouette or a self portrait of Dali in all his paintings.

It is said Da Vinci invented high heels.

Anything you want to add?

IT IS TIME TO GET ORGANIZED!!!!!!!!

As painful as it is to admit, I need help! My studio and my office at home are just out of control. So, I signed up to take a class from Alyson Stanfield, The Art Biz Coach. Organize Your Art Biz which started yesterday.

The first thing I am doing is making an assessment. I just keep pulling things out and I’m not putting anything up. Somewhere along the way, I lost the place where so much STUFF belongs! So – as embarassing as it is – here are some pictures of my studio today.

The top of my work table

This table is 4×8 feet. This is the first thing I’m going to do, clean this off and put everything on the top where it belongs. I don’t want to keep shuffling things around!

The next thing to do is organize my paper and collage material. Because the collage material has gotten so disorganized, it is piling up EVERYWHERE!!!! It was so organized at one time! Honestly!!!!

Here is a long shot of my studio. Trash trash trash. It is time to clean this out and up!!!!!!

Here is my shelf with gunpowder (yes, I do use gunpowder in my work). There is something symbolic about having these bottles, but I’m not going to give in and just blow the whole room up just yet!

Small steps – a little every day. I will post pictures when I feel I’ve made progress. And, then I’ll start on my desk!!!!!

HOW TO EXPLORE – MARCH BLOG CIRCLE

Outdoor Mural in Atlanta

This is part of a blogging circle consisting of women around the globe blogging today with the common theme of “how to”.

“In any field, find the strangest thing and then explore it.”
― John Archibald Wheeler

It was a perfect day to explore. When I took a walk in a different neighborhood, below is what I found.

Mural Art in Atlanta

Free Library in Atlanta

Kirkwood Mural

I have driven by this mural hundreds of times. I had never gotten out of my car and really looked at it. Called Native Waters, this mural is 343 feet long. The left side of the river shows rivers flowing to the Gulf of Mexico (the Chattahoochee, Flint and Apalachicola). On the right are the rivers flowing from Atlanta to the Atlantic Ocean (the Oconee, Ocmulgee and Altamaha). The center of the mural represents the communities of Lake Claire, Candler Park, Edgewood and Kirkwood, the nearby communities on the Eastern Subcontinental Divide (which runs east and west)- which is the site of the mural.

I never would have known this had I not gotten out of my car and walked under a railroad trestle.

This rabbit is found repeatedly in Atlanta on railroad trestles

Living Walls, Atlanta Georgia

Close up of mural in Atlanta

Close up of Atlanta mural

What did I learn? There is so much to see and so much to experience so close to home! And, don’t laugh, but it is important to keep a camera with you to record anything you might find when you either choose to travel a different route or choose to get out and walk in a different neighborhood.

What is close to you that you have been wanting to explore?

This is part of a blog circle, so click here to read my friend Amy Riddle’s blog about her time to blossom! (more…)

A VERY PRODUCTIVE WEEKEND

I have felt a little blocked lately. Maybe it is because my studio looked lik this!

Before

So, I rolled up my sleeves and went to work on it. When I was finished, it looked like this:

After

So, the inspiration came! After a day in my studio, I had accomplished the following.

A day’s Work

I worked on 4 large paintings, two are almost complete, and six small pieces. All in all, a Good Day! After this, I took a brisk walk and I found this on the side of the road – a nice weather beaten newspaper that will perfect for a collage someday.

collage material

What did you accomplish this weekend that you are proud of? By the way, when I finished working in my studio, I cleaned it up to start again.

THE ARTIST’S WAY – Recovering a Sense of Identity

I am working through the book, The Artist’s Way, A Spiritual Path to Creativity with a group of women around the globe, from Burma on to Australia, to Canada the US, over to Iceland, the UK and on to France. Because we are doing this together, it gives me a sense of accountability. We are doing a chapter a month, and this month is “Recovering a Sense of Identity”.

Every month there is a list of tasks to complete. I stopped when I saw the “Life Pie”exercise. It consists of drawing a circle and dividing it into six pieces. Label one spirituality, another exercise, and on to play, friends, romance/adventure and work. I really hestitated to do this because January and February have been unbelievable at work. Below is my “Life Pie” as it is today.

LIFE PIE 2/2013

You can see my life is NOT BALANCED at all right now. This was a call to make some changes to take care of myself more. I vow to exercise more, to play more, to spend more time with friends and famly. I started by exercising, giving myself a facial and taking a hot bath.

Another exercise is to list 10 changes you would make in your life – and then do two of them this week. Well, I can’t lose 10 pounds this week, but I can start with exercising. The other eight changes are:

get enough sleep
meditate
get rid of the clutter
paint more
organize
learn to relax
practice yoga
journal daily

Another is list your affirmations, so I took a minute to write several that mean something to me.

I am the queen of my life

I will do my best, and that is good enough

I am unique and wonderful

I am on an adventure with my life

I welcome the opportunities each day brings

I am open to new possibilities

I am thankful, grateful and appreciative

It is easy to let go of any an all stress with every breath I take

Another fun thing to do is come up with imaginary lives, things you want to do in your fantasy world. This week they are: (outside of being an artist, because that is an affirmation to add, I am an artist!)

A musician (I play the piano)

A yoga master

A tour guide (I have given historical tours of Atlanta)

A professor

A film director

There is something in me that chose all of those lives, and I vow to recognize that in me.

Sitting down and putting all of this in writing was cathartic to me. I realize I have to treat myself better. I am going to change my mindset away from getting stressed out because of what I need to do, and celebrate what I have accomplished, each and every day.

What affirmations would you add? What imaginary life would you choose?

MY DOG ATE MY BLOG

Ziggy and Joel

It’s hard to believe that cute little dog could do this to my notes. Ziggy literally ate my notes on my blog.

Those are notes I made after hearing a story on NPR about the new exhibit at the High Museum of Art here in Atlanta!! The exhibit is Frida & Diego, Passion, Politics and Painting, which I am looking forward to seeing. This is the only stop in the United States and apparently close to 25% of Frida’s paintings are on view.

I had looked up and found some interesting tidbits about the two of them that I was going to share – but alas, you see what happened to them.

So – back to the drawing board.

Lesson learned? Apparently Ziggy thinks anything on the bed belongs to him!

QUOTES TO LIVE BY

I have been posting my artwork on my facebook art page off an on for awhile. In fact, I’ve been doing it a little haphazardly. So, I have decided to keep a file of quotes I find inspiring, amusing, or just worth sharing. Here are some of my most recent posts.

This was something a yoga instructor said in class about paying attention to yourself and your body. I liked the thought.

I just decided to live by these words one day

What are some of your favorite quotes?

MY TANGLED ARTIST DATE

What is an artist date you ask? It is one of the two non-negotiable parts of working through the book The Artist Way by Julia Cameron. This is a twelve week program that is designed to recover your creativity. I am working through the book with over 60 women across the globe online, and we are working through a chapter a month instead of a chapter a week. There are two ongoing activities throughout the book, the morning pages, and the artist date. It is:

A commitment of time spent on yourself
A date with your inner artist

This week I took me and my little inner artist to an art workshop on The Art of Zentangle. What is it? It is an easy to learn, meditative way to draw what appears to be intricate repetitve patterns called Tangles. Their tagline is “anything is possible, one stroke at a time.”

workshop Tangle

I find this very very meditative and deliberate. After the workshop I took myself to lunch at my favorite Mexican restaurant and read the paper.

There was an article devoted to the new exhibit at the High Museum in Atlanta, Frida and Diego. This will definitely be an upcoming artist date for me! In fact, this is the ONLY American stop of this particular exhibit. I don’t think I have ever seen a painting by either of them in person!!!!

What would you do on an artist date?

LITTLE KNOWN STORIES ABOUT DA VINCI, MICHELANGELO, REMBRANDT AND MATISSE

I am a reader. I read every day. In fact, I begin every morning with reading. So I decided to start jotting things down whenever I found interesting, little known facts about well known artists.

LEONARDO DA VINCI’s father was a lawyer and he never married his mother. While he lived much of his childhood with his father, he had four step-mothers over the years. He was left-handed, But he was also a vegetarian, often buying birds in the market to set them free.

When a 23 year old Michelangelo delivered the Pieta, he overheard someone say they didn’t believe he (Michelangelo) had done the piece, he was much too young. Enraged, he left and returned with a chisel and carved out his name – making it the only statue he ever signed apparently. He once got back at a critic by painting him into a painting being smothered by a snake.

REMBRANDT left school at 13 to study art and had his own studio by age 17. In the famous painting The Night Watch, the models paid him to be in the painting. In fact, the people that paid the most were put in the front.

The Night Watch

MATISSE began every day by playing the violin for two hours. His wife Amelie supported him by opening a hat shop. She also raised a daughter of his by a previous girlfriend.

I think knowing a few little odd facts about artist’s make them more interesting and more human. What do you think?

Vickie Martin

Mixed Media Art