Category: Art Links

I am pleased to introduce to you a wonderful author I became aware of through Twitter. The link included here will take you to one of Shawnacy Kiker’s writings that I was simply mesmerized by. It’s rather surreal, or magical, definitely outside the box, and there is an art connection. You will have to read it to see how. Note: It’s a short story, so will take a few minutes to read. Look it up when you have some relax time, and enjoy! I found it inspirational, and I’d be interested to hear what you think. Here’s the link (on my homepage blog if you are reading this in Facebook or elsewhere)… “That Time Edgar Okhovat Free Solo Climbed the North Face of Time”. 

I thought you might enjoy starting the new year with a tour of the Sistine Chapel. On this webpage (see link on Cheryl’s blog if you are reading this on Facebook or elsewhere) you can see Michelangelo’s amazing work in detail. Click and hold the left mouse button and drag in the direction that you would like to view. There are + and – buttons, or use the wheel on your mouse to zoom in and out. Caution: move around with the mouse a bit slowly at first – there is risk of a wee bit of motion sickness. A fresco is a painting done on wet plaster. After the plaster is dry, the painting is bonded to the wall. It was a popular method for painting large murals during the Renaissance. The Sistine Chaple also contains frescoes by other artists including Sandro Botticelli, and Pietro Perugino. The magnificent 12,000 square foot ceiling was painted by Michelangelo between 1508 and 1512. Let me know what you think of this virtual tour. 

This was a brave group. They had courage in how they approached painting, and many of them also had the courage to rough it in the Canadian wilderness in order to know their subject well. You may have guessed that I’m referring to our Canadian Group of Seven. Their first exhibit was in 1920, and the critics back then had lots of nasty things to say about the paintings. Their colours and shapes were just too wildly different in a time when people bought paintings of brown cows, on brown fields beside, yup, brown streams. Today, their paintings sell for millions. What I love is the way that even today, almost 100 years later, their work looks fresh and spontaneous as though it was painted yesterday. Here’s a link so you can see some of their work: the Canadian Group of Seven. Do you agree that it is exciting work, even today?