PHILADELPHIA ART 

February 11, 2016 

 

This is what our day here in Central New York  looks like...it's called "lake effect snow" and usually dumps more than several inches of snow!! It certainly is pretty...

As many times as I've been to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in my 73 years of life, I never realized what an art-rich city it is! Had a wonderful visit with my cousins just outside of the city and they were kind enough to take a day to show me the street art for which Philadelphia is famous. They patiently waited in the car or came with me as I documented some of them with my camera. You can see one of our first stops on the wall behind their car...

These extraordinary mosaic creations are made by an artist named ISAIAH ZAGAR and you can find out about this unique artist with this link... http://www.mosaicartnow.com/tag/isaiah-zagar/ He creates his installations using nontraditional materials such as folk art statues, found objects, bicycle wheels, colorful cut glass bottles, handmade tiles and thousands of glittering mirrors. His work can be found on more than 200 public walls throughout the city of Philadelphia as well as around the world. Here are some that I saw...

This is Isaiah Zagar today!

 
I've only seen art similar to this once before...on our recent trip to China. In a town called Tainjin, there was a place called THE PORCELAIN HOUSE. 

You can read about it if you go to this link...

http://www.odditycentral.com/pics/the-fragile-porcelain-house-of-tianjin.html 

Here are some photos I took of China's Porcelain House...

Created by a 54 year old porcelain collector from Tainjin, Zhang Lianzhi, he spent 4 years decorating an old house with hundreds of millions of ancient porcelain fragments and tons of natural crystals. Some of the porcelain pieces Zhang used date back to dynasties from AD618.

Additional street art my cousins showed me were wonderful creations. Here are some of those...

Special thanks to my cuzzies for a great weekend: good food, good talks, good shopping... and for proudly showing me their city's wonderful street art! I look forward to my next visit... 

Enjoy your weekend, dear ones...see you for my next posting?

Big Hugs,

abbyj

LOVE, the CIRCUS and a TIME MACHINE

February 2, 2016 

Greetings! Hope this posting finds you in a good mood and ready to share some art with me! The challenges are always fun... there were some good ones this week like this one from DEZINAWORLD15: "time machine." My time machine is unique because it comes with a TRANSPORTER BUTTON. This allows me to visit one of my most favorite eras, THE ROARING TWENTIES, with its fun fashions and it's share of danger and bad boys...and of course, the music! But, should I get into trouble (as I most likely would,) I hit the TRANSPORTER BUTTON and return to my life today- that's the best time EVER! Life is good.

DIGITAL WHISPER calls for some ships...I posted one piece for this challenge last time...here's a repost of that one, plus another...

MIX IT MONTHLY has participants creating pieces of art about the CIRCUS...

TRY IT ON TUESDAY is looking forward to Valentine's Day and asks artists to create around the theme of LOVE...

and last, but certainly not least, is DIGITALMANIA's challenge to create a piece inspired by the art of one Melinda Tidwell, who creates abstract collages using parts of books. This was really a challenge!! Here's one of hers...

and here's what she inspired in me...

That's it for this posting...hope you're having a good week. Join me for the next posting...please.

Big Hugs,
abbyj

GYPSIES, SHIPS, etc. 

JANUARY 30, 2016 

Hi Folks!

Hope your days have been enjoyable...making the best of what you've been given! :)

Fun challenges ahead... First, for THE THREE MUSES challenge blog, the subject is one of my most favorite... a subject that holds incredible fascination for me and about which I've done a great deal of research...GYPSIES!

DIGITAL WHISPER chose their subject to be SHIPS... always a topic that holds mystery and adventure...

Finally, TRY IT ON TUESDAY was interested in the magic of SILHOUETTES... 

That's it for this posting...short and sweet!  See you for my next???

Big Hugs,

abbyj 

...AND ONE MORE 

January 26, 2016 

Oops...forgot one! THE THREE MUSES' request for this week has something to do with doors... I did two...one is a gorgeous Art Nouveau door in a Paris neighborhood and the other is a typical door in Tunesia. One of my favorite things to photograph as my husband and I travel is doors...such an incredible variety... interesting, old, new, ancient, large, small. Then, there are the knockers on some...

Thanks for checking in again... See you next posting?

More hugs,

abbyj 

EARLY VALENTINE and MORE 

January 26, 2016 
  

Whew! Tough few days for winter snow storms on the East Coast!!! Some cities will be a while digging out from their record snowfalls. Not so unusual for Central New York, where we often have lake effect snowstorms with large accumulations of the fluffy white stuff. But, this latest storm missed us completely. Waiting for the next... :)

DIGITALMANIA has introduced us into an exciting new (to me) artist, DAVID ARMS. He's a painter who lives in Nashville. His imagination, attention to detail and ability to seemingly create “something out of nothing”  makes him an inspiration! Here are a few of David's pieces...

 and here are my pieces, inspired by David's art...

DEZINAWORLD15 has challenged artists to create an early Valentine piece of art... with pleasure!

Finally, DIGITAL WHISPER asked to see art about roller skates. I found a vintage photo of a man with prehistoric roller skates and had some fun with it....

Thanks so much for stopping by. Stay safe and warm until we "meet" again. Hope you'll stop by for my next posting...

Big Hugs,
abbyj

FUN and GAMES 

January 21, 2016 

Inspired by the snow...

Hi Dear Ones,

It's finally winter here in Central New York. It's beyond beautiful...school was cancelled for a couple of days and slopes for sledding, snowboarding and skiing are very busy! Rosy cheeks prevail! :)

I've played with some art challenges over the last few days...

For THE THREE MUSES, I tried to show what scares me in my life... PUBLIC SPEAKING has always been a fear (which is strange since I produced TV documentaries and conducted interviews on camera for the length of my career,)

and a more recent fear is thinking how many more years I'll be fit and able to do the kind of adventure travel that my husband and I love...aging is NOT for the weak of heart or limb!!

I think this piece of art also qualifies for TAKE A WORD's challenge for the use of an unusual frame.

 DEZINAWORLD15 is a new art challenge blog for me. They asked for a piece of art with wildflowers...a nice change from the white blanket I see outside.

SUNDAY POSTCARD ART was looking for the man in the moon...my man in the moon is on his way home!

The man in the moon is also appropriate for this week's DIGITALMANIA challenge where we were introduced to Irish surrealist, quirky artist, Jimmy Lawlor. Here are couple of his pieces...

and here are my pieces inspired by Lawlor...

That's it for now. Hope you have a restful and happy weekend coming up, ready and refreshed for the week that follows!!

Thanks for stopping by.
Big Hugs,
abbyj

  

VINTAGE ART and FIRE 

JANUARY 17, 2016 

It's a gray weekend with large snow-blanket patches scattered throughout the visible landscape. We surely could use a fresh carpet of snow...but this way, our squirrel visitors can find their food more easily!

SUNDAY POSTCARD ART's challenge group named "flames or fire" as its theme for the week... 

TAKE A WORD wanted to know what we think of when we think "art..."  Here are my thoughts...

I love the image of the little boy with the camera...a vintage image... to me, photography is art!

...and here's one more definition that I loved...it was online!

Finally, THE THREE MUSES requested the creation of a vintage collage...

Thank you for checking out this posting... hope to see you for the next!

Big Hugs,
abbyj