ABOUT A TELEPHONE BOOTH... 

September 6, 2015

Telephone booths have definitely become a thing of the past...even pay phones are few and far between, and there certainly have been a variety of them.

DIGITAL WHISPER online challenge group is nostalgic this week as they ask to see art with a telephone booth. I had fun with it...

That's it! I think today's sophistication in the area of electronics will make many things obsolete before long...the newspaper, the phone booth, the regular camera (that's not part of a phone...) and who knows what else. Stay tuned...

Please visit me next week and enjoy your days ahead.

Big Hugs,

abbyj 

ART and SOLE CALENDAR CHALLENGE...September 

SEPTEMBER 1, 2015  

I love the ballerinas painted and sculpted by Edgar Degas. They're whimsical, yet they're serious and somewhat moody pieces. This month's art in my yearly calendar is one by Degas, "Dancers in Rose."  I didn't make many changes because I love the piece!!

Darcy's ART and SOLE Calendar Challenge rules for this month are as follows:

1.) Keep part of the original picture 

2.)Technique- add lines using the edge of a ruler or credit card dipped in paint 

3.)Add- use a random word generator to pick 10 words and use these to make a sentence to add to your page

4.)Blog your calendar page

Enjoy your month ahead... hope to see you for my next posting.

Big Hugs,

abbyj  

ARTFUL READERS CLUB

"THE PRIMATES OF PARK AVENUE" 

by Wednesday Martin

AUGUST 28, 2015 

This is a book that's part memoir, part anthropological/sociological research... THE PRIMATES of PARK AVENUE is Wednesday Martin's look at what life is like for the uber-rich who live at Manhattan's most prestigious addresses. Definitely a chick-lit tome, this book deserves raves based on the concept alone! The idea of treating "the tribe" that roams the world's most exclusive zip code the same way she would a shrewdness of great apes...that's what a group of great apes is called... is brilliant!  The similarities of the two tribes are truly amazing! The author executes her idea with clear prose that's thought-provoking, poignant, informative and very funny. (Her non-fashion-forward friend's confusion over Birkin bags and Birkenstocks had me laughing out loud.) This is not an expose. Rather, it seems a fair, benign and accepting portrayal written with understanding and respect by an astute and witty observer (and participant.)  With a PhD is Sociology from Yale, Wednesday Martin did her profession proud!!  This was a most enjoyable read...

I had two different visions for the art part of this review, so I included both.

Thanks for stopping by. Perhaps you'll give this entertaining book a try...

Big Hugs,

abbyj

DIGITALMANIA, etc.

AUGUST 25, 2015 

Always a good art challenge on Flicker's challenge group, DIGITALMANIA, "still life" is the up coming theme. So many ideas, but definitely didn't want to do the typical fruit or veggie grouping. I created these two still life pieces instead...what do you think?

A pictorial ode to my love of music and dance...

This is in the study at an old convent where I stay when visiting Orvieto, Italy...the flower petals are from their beautiful garden.

Other online art groups were equally challenging... DIGITAL WHISPER's thoughts turned to "rust..." one of nature's way of aging some metals. I love passing by old farmhouses with rusty vehicles out in front...

SUNDAY POSTCARD  ART  requested the creation of something "fishy!" I called on Dr. Seuss for a little inspiration...

THE THREE MUSES issued a very unusual challenge. They posed the question "if you could have any super power, what would it be?" How would YOU answer that? Instead of thinking reality, I thought fantasy and wished I had the power to heal the world. This is my representation of that power...

Finally, TAKE A WORD  challenged artists to take a vintage photo and put it in a new, modern setting... the poor hippie chick with the spikey hair, is too cool to use an umbrella in the rain. Our vintage girl doesn't want to get wet!! Smart!

That's it for this posting...lots of art, but sooo much fun to create!! Please join me for my next posting. Thanks for stopping by...

Big Hugs,
abbyj 

MYTHOLOGICAL TAROT 

AUGUST 22, 2015 

 

A quickie piece of art for the online challenge blog,  COLLAGE OBSESSION. (A quickie posting...putting it together was anything but quick!!) Collage Obsession asked participating artists to create a tarot card based on a mythological being. I love the myth of Icarus who flew too close to the sun, melted his "wings" and fell from the sky. Here's poor Icarus...

I'll be back with another posting soon...please do check back!!

Thanks for stopping by,

Hugs,

abbyj

 

TRAIN TRACKS, TATTOOS and MAN 

AUGUST 22, 2015 

I've always had a love affair with anything involving trains... the tracks, the steam locomotives, freight trains, the Orient Express, less fancy sleeper trains and normal passenger trains... that lulling click-clack sound and gentle sway of the carriages. It's all part of a romance novel for me,  one of adventure and comfort, too. This week's theme at online art blog DIGITAL WHISPER just happens to be "railroad tracks."  My mind flashed to one of my favorite visual experiences with the subject...in Bangkok, Thailand, Maeklong Railway Market is set up along both sides of very narrow railroad tracks. The train chugs through the market spaces 8 times a day. The people must pull back their booth covers and often, their products, each time. The customers walk along the tracks to gain access to both sides of this market. It's very exciting and wonderful fun!! I wanted to share this with you...I only played with my photos, digitally, a bit.

Here's a good video showing how this works in real time...check it out by opening this link...it is truly AMAZING:

https://youtu.be/wJpR9n-L680 
SUNDAY POSTCARD ART's theme for the week is "tattoos." This is near and dear to my heart being a child of the 60's. I have a lovely thin vine with a couple of small flowers tattooed on my wrist (done within the last decade) and a matching  small flower on my ankle (from the 60's.) Here's the first woman tattoo artist, going back to the mid to late 1800's...Maud Stevens Wagner. She was a circus performer and learned the art of tattooing from her husband, also a circus performer! Here's Maud...

 Finally, TAKE A WORD simply asked to see "man!" That was easy and fun. I thought of boys and their toys...what's more fun than a motorcycle???

Thanks so much for stopping in. Please join me for the next posting. Enjoy your days ahead...

Big Hugs,
abbyj

THE THREE MUSES 

August 19, 2015 

Hi Dear Family and Friends,

This is the first summer in a decade that I haven't spent  part of my days in Africa...I'm missing it, but I was just there in January! Will return next year...soooo looking forward to visiting with extended family once again as well as making new friends.

When online art challenge group, THE THREE MUSES declared this week's theme for our creations to be "background with text,"  my thoughts turned to the Dark Continent.  I recalled a trip to Ethiopia where I spent a while with a tribe called the SURI. They are true artists...even the children...using natural elements for personal adornment: florals as well as minerals found in the ground to paint themselves and the things they make.  Here's the piece I created using my photo of a new friend...a chief's wife.

We spoke easily through a translator, despite her lip plate. Here are some more photos of these beautiful and interesting people...

Thank you for checking in. Hope you enjoyed a peek into the art of Ethiopia's Suri tribe. Please stop by for my next posting...

Hugs, abbyj 

PLAYING and FLORIDA 

August 16, 2015

Hot, hot days here in Central New York as in much of the country, but we're not used to it here. I'm ready for SNOW!! I know...crazy! Hope you're well and enjoying the season, wherever you are. We just returned from visiting with dear, long time friends...about 48 years of friendship- starting right here and continuing long distance. Pete and Martha live in Florida's panhandle, near Destin. We visited them with our daughter (their God-daughter) and our grandkids. I thought it was hot here...nothing compared to hot, humid Florida, but we had a wonderful visit with our friends and their family. Here are some photos...

(l to r) Michelle, Me and Lilly

Michael and Pete

Clark (4 years old) and Martha (Grandma)

Pete and me

Hunter (our 12 year old grandson)

Lilly, our 10 year old granddaughter

Lilly and her Mom, Michelle

Michelle and Michael tubing

 On to current art projects...Astrology is the theme for SUNDAY POSTCARD ART...here's a wizard of astrological matters...

TAKE A WORD wanted to see some glamorous women. To be a bit different, I went to the glamorous women who graced to noses of many of the U.S. airplanes involved in WWII... airplane nose art!

Finally, THE THREE MUSES challenged artists to create art with a "feathered friends" theme.

All fun themes to create...hope you enjoyed viewing them!

Big Hugs until my next posting,

abbyj

GRANDDAUGHTER ART 

August 14, 2015 

Meet Lilly, our 10 year old granddaughter. She's athletic, musical, artistic and a good student. Color us PROUD! Recently, on the plane coming home from Florida, we sat together and did some art. She wanted to learn how to use some of the art apps offered on her ipod and my iphone so we worked on some photos taken on our trip. She learned a difficult app, SUPERIMPOSE, so quickly it made my head spin. Here are some of her very first pieces...I can't wait to see what she's done since she's been home. She's already taught her Mom how to use the app!!

Keep it up, Lilly... this is a fun way to use your electronics in a more useful way than just playing games!!
Thanks for stopping by. I'll have a regular posting soon.

Big Hugs,
abbyj  

ART and SOLE's 

CALENDAR CHALLENGE  

AUGUST 1, 2015 

The last month of our summer... a very short season! But, we do have the most beautiful fall months coming up...Mother Nature's palette is always jaw-dropping!! For now, welcome to August!

My calendar piece this month, for ART and SOLE's Altered Calendar Challenge, is by American  painter, Frank Weston Benson (1862-1951.) He painted "The Silver Screen" in 1921.

In altering the calendar art, I kept part of the original picture...the table top. I built my graffiti and stamped (on watercolor paper) with an apple cutter, toilet paper tube (round and folded...) and I confess, some homemade cardboard cut out pieces, then transferred the paper to the wall behind the table. Finally, I added the silhouetted painter on the ladder. Voila!! The finished product!

Stay well and try to do what makes you happy!

See you for my next blog posting????

Big Hugs,

abbyj

 

ARTFUL READERS CLUB 

HALF OF A YELLOW SUN  

BY CHIMAMANDA NGOZI ADICHIE 

JULY 31, 2015

It's time again for my monthly book review for Art and Sole's ARTFUL READERS CLUB. For July, I'm reviewing "Half of a Yellow Sun" by Chimamanda Ngozi Adihie. 

The book gets its title from the flag of the short-lived, independent nation of Biafra. After 2 1/2 years of civil war to gain independence from Nigeria, millions of civilians died from fighting and from famine. Biafra existed from May 30, 1967 to January 15, 1970. It has since been reintegrated into the Nigerian nation.

HALF OF A YELLOW SUN is a story about the birth and life of Biafra. Before reading this book, I didn't know much about the small country... what I knew came from photojournalism- LIFE MAGAZINE pictures, primarily. Biafra was a synonym for starvation, hunger and misery. 

But the book isn't only about war... war with its horror is scenery for a story of love, loyalty, friendship, betrayal, forgiveness and fight for survival. It's a universal story placed in a particular historical context! It's a HUMAN story, bringing to life the different layers of Nigerian society, giving them back their African identity and heritage while telling how it was snatched away. War cuts across class, gender and race...the privileged Igbo woman (the second largest ethnic group, living in southeastern Nigeria,) the Igbo houseboy from the village, the white Englishman in love with Igbo art. Three primary voices for this story, three hearts broken by the grief of a war from which they were somewhat protected: Olanna by her family's wealth, Ugwu by the status and resources of his employers and Richard, by being a white foreigner. Yet, their hearts were all exposed and vulnerable...HUMAN!

I was totally unprepared for the force of this story about the birth of little-known Biafra...how the impact of the awful reality of these years would affect me, loving Africa as I do. The realization that this struggle has been repeated over and over throughout the "dark continent"...throughout the world... and continues to happen. It was searing, raw and unforgettable...a highly recommended read!

Thanks for stopping by. Please join me for my next regular posting.

Big Hugs,

abbyj