Valentine's Day is Coming

I think I've mentioned this but I'll say it again: I am not the fan of Valentine's Day. But my daughter will be on school vacation around that time and she has become aware of the significance of the holiday. And last year she had me convinced that Valentine's Day is best celebrated with children. They have the best perspectives on any life event. So I have downloaded loads of images to inspire me. I am thinking of hosting a Valentine's Day sleepover for Hazel. We'll see..

Faith Ringgold

"Faith Ringgold, painter, writer, speaker, mixed media sculptor and performance artist"

But what I love best by Ms. Ringgold are her quilts. So much story telling happening here.

Plaster Sculptures

 

 

Do you like plaster heads and busts? They are typically made these days with plastic molds, then taken out of the molds, distressed and smoothed. You can have your favourite sculpture reproduced by Holkham Sculpture Reproductions in the UK. The last two are from my living room. This last lady is not actually plaster, she's made from resin. But you can't tell it's not plaster, can you?

Dancer Spirit, Toned Body

In a state of delusion I went out and bought a bodysuit recently. It's the gray one above with the Malibu written across the front. I convinced myself if I owned one then I would work harder at the gym to cultivate a dancer's muscle tone (typed while eating pistachio ice cream sprinkled with hazelnuts and chocolate chips...).

 

It all started when I was watching the BBC (an allegiance I cannot seem to break despite my misgivings) and saw Edward Watson in a short news story mentioning his frustration at people talking about the colour of his hair instead of his brilliant dance form and skill. Then I started thinking I should join a dance class and that led to my thinking that I have not seen an Alvin Ailey show ever and I'd sooner that than to go to the Royal Opera House in London.

 

Anyhoo, before I knew it, I was thinking that the more plausible option of bringing me closer to an appreciation of dance art, etc. would be if I bought a leotard; but I couldn't find one I liked and then I found this bodysuit. And so here we are. Forget Misty Copeland. You see that dude in the black tutu? I want his legs.  How does one cultivate the spirit of a dancer (i.e. too zen to eat ice cream) and would that eventually lead to a dancer's body (i.e. that of a fluidly, smoothly-moving sculpted and carved Italian marble statue)?

So, what underpins a dancer's performance and their breathtaking abilities and discipline? Here are two books by Rick Guest which help  to visualise the demands on a dancer's physical and emotional being.

Pics: Roh.org.uk and Pinterest

Zimbabwean Artist Gresham Tapiwa

First Floor Gallery, Harare, Zimbabwe.

Mike Chapman The Artist

 

This last one recently sold at auction for 10,000 Pounds. It's like the minute you discover  nice, affordable art the one percenters  ---or maybe it's those London Hedge Fund jackasses-- swoop in and spoils the party for us bargain hunters. Mike Chapman also sculpts. See more Mike Chapman's work here.

The Things You Love

I am a bag lady? Are you a bag lady? You're a bag lady if you can't leave a Brocante shop with fewer than five tchotchkes. And that's why I love Deborah Buck. I love Deborah Buck of Buckhouse because she has a really good eye for putting tchotchkes to pretty use. I love that her vignettes inspire you to live with the things you love--the things you've acquired over time. This kind of home décor is great because nothing looks too contrived; and by using personally collected objects your home doesn't look like you copied it from a catalogue.

 

Buck seems to like arranging her vignettes with certain common threads: grouping similarly coloured objects together or objects of similar material; linking and creating themed imagery by grouping objects from the same culture/country/religion; mixing new or modern with older or shabbier objects; adding glamour to antique sculptures with the use of modern jewellery; giving her vignettes life with the use of flowers; and creating a background /setting using paintings or framed art.

 

I think I love her work because a single vignette can look like a cohesive work of art on its own--actually they each look like still life paintings. To take random objects and create cohesive still life/vignettes is quite inspiring. Very talented indeed.