Wednesday, November 30, 2011

The Road Not Taken

The Road Not Taken


Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

By Robert Frost




Robert Frost's poem could be the tale of every artists, the road less traveled. It is an uncommon choice to be an artist, but often it choses us and not vice versa. Many of you here the inner call, urging you on to paint to draw to create...you cannot drown it out of your head, it is there strong, persistent and at times demanding. When I taught young children there were some who could not help but draw. The classroom teachers would often punish them for drawing on their math or writing papers. I tried to explain to the teachers these children cannot help it, they must draw, it is an inner call. And those are the children who will perfect their skills by daily drawing and observation even without a teachers help. They will draw relentlessly with pencil in hand on any scrap of paper, anywhere they can, day after day, year after year. They are creators and they cannot help but to create. It the less worn grassy path they follow, and take the path less traveled because it is their path and they must take it, and we need for them to take it. For we need creators in this world or we would have bare walls, no music or dance, there would be no concerts, nor movies or plays. There would be no architects to design interesting buildings, nor interior decorators to make magic happen in our homes and businesses, and no illustrators for film and print....and no inventors to help us create new and better ways of doing things. We need people who are willing to take the road less traveled.

Today is Art Class Day/What to do!!!

Sometimes I feel a bit like Rodin's "Thinker" when I am going to class. I have been away on vacation and not thought about glass nor clay the whole time. So today sneaked up on me and I haven't planned ahead. I can't say that is unusual for me because I am not a planner that way, but I still feel the panic. I will sit down with all my different little bins of glass pieces and tubs of larger bits and stare a while, drink my coffee and start to let the ideas come. That is usually the process for me, move a piece here, connect another here, take it away try a different combo, until it seems right to me. I think every artist works differently, but that is common for me, as an intuitive artist, my ideas flow best that way. They just come. I trust the process and turn myself over to it. People often ask me what I am going to do, and I tell them honestly I don't know. People who are not artists find that hard to conceive, but is my process and usually works well. There are days nothing works and nothing comes together, but not often. I figure on those days I just wasn't meant to work and do something else. Glass and clay are new media for me and I enjoy the experimentation and exploration of the unknown. So we shall see what the day brings and I will share the results with you later. What will I do! Only the force knows...the artistic force that is!


The Thinker by Rodin

Tuesday, November 29, 2011

This is an awesome project that is architectural and art at the same time. Trailers stacked as if condos. Take a peak at thinking outside of the box and recycling in a creative way.

Monday, November 28, 2011

Recycling of trailers/signs/art studio's

Isn't this one just great?! Who had the idea to do this? Local creativity!!

This is a trailer that has been recycled in to an art studio.

Abandoned buildings as Art

Abandoned buildings as art installations-amazing work! This quite amazing. Click on the above highlighted area to see the article.

Trailer Art in Europe

European trailer art is very unique and creative. Take a look at these truck trailers and the amazing work a few artists started.

Aunt Lorine in Sepia or Antique tone?

I was visiting one of my favorite aunts in Mississippi and taking a journey back to childhood memories. Aunt Lorine and Uncle Dana were very special and I enjoyed many wonderful visits at their home as a child. Dana was one of my Father's brothers from a family of 12. The boys were hard working farm boys and loved to tease and play. We often gathered at Uncle Dana and Aunt Lorine's where all the brothers would play domino's and Aunt Lorine would cook wonderful Southern meals. My cousin Fran and I would play outside looking for lightning bugs until the night came on summer nights-just two little girls running barefoot. Uncle Dana is gone now and Aunt Lorine is a fighter, she is still going strong. She has over come tremendous illness just to be home again. The house has changed little since we were small when I walk back in, it is just like my memories of childhood: the checkered table cloth, linoleum floors, and furniture all the same. The domino room, where my Father and his brothers played is still there. I took these photo's of Aunt Lorine having a favorite meal of mine: peas, corn bread and sweet potato's. It is still my favorite of foods. I then took the photo and played around with the tone....I was looking at antiquing the colors or going for a complete sepia tone to give it an aged in the past look. Which do you think is more effective?



The Eyes Have It!



"Eyes are the Windows to Our Souls"

This famous quote has a mysterious origin, but one person that has been thought to have coined it is Leonardo Da Vinci. Many artists use they eye as a symbol, as do various cultures. The evil eye in the middle east protects you. The eyes on the temples of Katmandu are God watching over you. The hand in the middle of the palm can be found in the earliest of art going back to ancient Egyptian times as a symbol of protection against perceived evil.

I like to use eyes as a symbol in my work. I feel comfortable in the world of Surrealism and the use of symbology. I like the idea of concept, visual poetry and hidden subtle images triggering meaning. The photo below is a detail from my latest work for the Dali Museum Event, Liquid Desires. The name of the art work is "Wet Dreams". The work is now in the collection of an Orlando Physician and shares its space with a Chihuly! It is partly a reflection of what the eye sees, as Dali portrayed in several of his pieces.







In the detail of Alternate Universe you can see how I used eyes again as a symbol in my work. On the far left are the eyes of Galileo, in the center are the eyes of the Mona Lisa, and on the far right are the eyes of Einstein. The rusted metal strip with multiple transfers, glass and mirrors is as a sentence to a paragraph. The paragraph being the larger section of the art work.



Some eyes are so identifiable that they are iconic. When using popular icons one can not help but think of Andy Warhol and his Pop Art portraiture. Elvis peers out at you in the top photo while a young Leonardo looks out at us in the last photo.

Sunday, November 27, 2011

A Banner Day For Rabbit's Moon Studio!

Another Bench Mark Day for Rabbit's Moon Studio blog, we have now reached over 5,000 hits! Wow, that is great. Thank you loyal followers and new readers, we appreciate your support. Make sure you join the blog. It is the column on the right.

Welcome Slovenia!

Welcome Slovenia! It is great to have you with us.

Friday, November 25, 2011

Arts and Crafts of Western North Carolina

These pictures were taken in Asheville and Waynesville, North Carolina in the mountains of Western North Carolina. This area is known for its fine crafts. Originally crafts were essential to the early mountain settlers who were isolated by the rugged geography of the Blue Ridge Mountains. Clay was plentiful and accessible to make dishes, pots and jugs. Reeds and gourds from the local plants were used for baskets and other home uses. Hardwood could be carved into furniture and tools. The mountains gave to those who were creative enough to make use of her gifts. Life was hard, but these people were tough. They survived harsh winters, disease, and poverty.
To read more about the area and the history of the mountain people I recommend reading Cattaloochie by Wayne Davis. It is a book about the creation of the Smokey Mountain National Park. The families who had settled they land, lived there for generations, were displaced and forced off the land.
There is also a movie I would highly recommend by the name of Song Catcher which is about the discovery of original Elizabethan music in its most pure form brought over by the early settlers. The rugged topography of the mountains kept the culture of the mountain people isolated and unchanged for generations. In the early 1900's a female music professor came to the mountains to visit and rediscovered the untouched beauty of early English music. She set out to research and record the music she was hearing. The story is about the difficulty of gaining the trust of people who did not welcome outsiders Another interesting area to investigate is about the Cherokee Indians who once had their own nation in the Blue Ridge, Smokey mountain area.









Thursday, November 24, 2011

Thankful for the Simple Beauty of Life

Today is Thanksgiving in the United States

It is a day we often think of what we are thankful for.
I am especially thankful of the simple beauty of nature. I am thankful for my friends and family. I am thankful for art and being an artist. I am also very thankful for you and your readership of Rabbit Moon Studio's Blog! I wish you all a Happy Thanksgiving American style!

photograph by Elizabeth Gordon

Welcome El Salvador

Welcome El Salvador!!! It is so nice to have you join us! We look forward to learning more about artists of your area and culture.

Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Winter Shadows

I love this photo. We are in downtown Asheville at the end of a long shopping day. We stop to talk and decide whether to go to the movie or go home. Then we notice the shadows. Winter shadows cast long with great contrast which makes them unique for photographs. I also like the hint of a sign to the left with DC showing in red against the brick.
Looking at this photo you might think it was a man and a woman, but it is me with my new hat and jeans legs that seem to go on forever. Ann is wearing jeans too, but the shadow widened and stretched horizontally maligning her legs look like a skirt. It is just a great photo, two people in silhouette. It is a photo that seems to have a story....that makes it a stronger photograph for me. It intrigues and makes the mind want to know more.


A day of shopping in Asheville..new hat and a great restaurant

Asheville is very a very European city in many ways, for one it is walkable. To experience a great deal of the downtown is easily done, as in Europe there are street cafe's on every corner, shops and galleries. There are street entertainers playing banjo's, violins, or singing to every passerby. Asheville is a town of art, music, and crafts. Dogs and cats are with their owners in many shops. It is just a friendly town. Curate is a new tapas restaurant that is outstanding. I loved the pumpkin carving and thought you might also.



I love hats. I buy them, then don't wear them. I am never sure if they look good, and then I feel uneasy about them...then I buy another I may or may not wear.! This one is a San Francisco hat, as it is named here-a short brimmed hat with an attitude for women. My Father loved hats and wore them all the time. He would reshape them to fit his look, tilt it in a cocky way, looking in the mirror for just the right look. It was his art!

Even though it is Thanksgiving this week in America, all the shop owners are already decorating for Christmas. They don't want to miss a big money making holiday! It is nice to be out of the tropical weather for a while, to wear a jacket, a scarf and a hat. The chill in the air feels good and watching the fire place warming the house in the evenings all snuggled in from the cold feels wonderful also.
Tomorrow is the big day, Thanksgiving. It is when we thank the native americans for letting us have their country. Not really, we are thanking them for helping us (pilgrims) to survive in a new world. Mainly, now it is a day of family gatherings...with turkey, stuffing, cranberry relish, and pumpkin pie. Tonight my family arrives and we will all start preparing for tomorrows big meal. It will be my brother and his family. The house will be alive with seven people vying for the kitchen to do their dish. Wine and conversation will flow. Great smells will fill the house. Dog will play and be underfoot. It will be a wonderful day!

Tuesday, November 22, 2011

Barbara Hepworth on Art

I rarely draw what I see. I draw what I feel in my body.
Barbara Hepworth

My works are an imitation of my own past and present.
Barbara Hepworth

One must be entirely sensitive to the structure of the material that one is handling. One must yield to it in tiny details of execution, perhaps the handling of the surface or grain, and one must master it as a whole.
Barbara Hepworth


Monday, November 21, 2011

Rabbit's Moon studio: Christmas Cat/Asheville Jewelry Store Window

Rabbit's Moon studio: Christmas Cat/Asheville Jewelry Store Window: Asheville Artists and Shop Owners love their Cats and Dogs Asheville is very animal friendly. Many restaurants have outdoor areas where do...

Christmas Cat/Asheville Jewelry Store Window

Asheville Artists and Shop Owners love their Cats and Dogs


Asheville is very animal friendly. Many restaurants have outdoor areas where dogs are welcome to sit while their owners dine. Several of the art studios I went in had cats or dogs, as well as, many of the businesses. It is a wonderful town and being pet friendly makes it even more so. This store cat was lazing in the afternoon sun in the show window of a local jewelry shop.








Gallery Dog in Repose




Waynesville, North Carolina

Early Girl Eatery/Asheville, North Carolina

Early Girl Eatery

ART, FOOD, LOCAL FARMS, ORGANIC


When you put all those together you come up with Early Girl Eatery.
It is one of those special places where many magical things are all present that make it just wonderful. Asheville is a town of many great restaurants, all vying for the wide range of people who visit. There are tourist up for the fall leaves, families getting together for Thanksgiving, and the everyday business person wanting a great meal.
I had crusted mashed potato cakes with a creamy tomato gravy, thick bacon, and hot biscuits just out of the oven. I was trying to decide between that and fresh raspberry banana pancakes, a very difficult choice.

But of course for an artist, the ambiance is also wonderful. There are local potters work on the tables for salt, pepper and sugar. There are local artists work on every wall. It is a place where an artist feels at home. Asheville is full of so many talented artists that the table doodles hung in the hallway look like a gallery!

I highly recommend this restaurant and make sure it is on my list for every visit.
When you come to Asheville it is a place you don't want to miss, just like Malaprop's (a wonderful independent book store).



Georgia on My Mind/Southern Culture USA




Red Grooms/Installation



So this is the thought that began to formed in my mind as we were driving through Georgia...installation...Southern culture installation...
( Now if you are not familiar with the United States and the roads and regions then it needs a little explaining. First of all Georgia is a very long state and it takes a very long time to drive through on your way to somewhere else, so one's mind is bound to wander and take odd turns.) I began to think of the Southern culture and its images as an installation worthy of an art exhibition.
If you speak Southern the main nouns in your language are fried chicken, cornbread, greens, BBQ, boiled peanuts, and coke. That is just a start for there is also fat back, strap back molasses, and cracklings. Guns and baseball caps are important also if we are creating a scene...rocking chairs help, stuffed heads of deer and fowl...hence the importance of guns. Think old ford and chevy pickup trucks with gun racks on the back window...the installation is worthy of Red Grooms who does recreations of city scenes and people doing things with a sense of humor. I think the extremes of Southern culture would allow for a wonderful Grooms piece. See what you think?






























Now it may just be me, but I don't think it is normal to see a stuffed fox displayed with an ad for hot pizza nor a stuffed mounted deer head with cookie dough mix. But that is just the oddity of some parts of county Southern culture.














One of the things that amazed me is how many kinds of BBQ sauce one can find in Southern stores..not two or three, but a whole isle of bottle after bottle of sauce...tomato based, vinegar based, mustard based, and on and on.



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