Before I Die

There are many interesting and wonderful artists doing great things around this big world of ours.  I thought I would bring to your attention a few of them.  If you would like to add to the conversation you may email with names and projects you would like to see highlighted as well.


Candy Chang(click) is one of the artists I would like to introduce you to.  Candy, welcome to Rabbit's Moon Studio New Artist Series!  Not long after Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans and in particular the 9th ward of New Orleans Candy brought attention to the plight in one of her public art projects, "Before I Die".  She painted the front of one of the ruined homes with a black chalk board paint and invited people at will and on their own to fill in the blanks Before I die......the answers are fascinating and the interactive elements of this art project with a general public that become part of the art are amazing.  This one of many art projects that involve the viewer in a response that adds to a whole.  Sidewalk Psychiatry(click)  and I wish this was (click)are others.  I love art that involves others, that makes people think, that does good in a community. Candy Chang's work is certainly does that!  It is interesting and the concepts are fascinating.  You can have my velvet Elvis, I would rather have Candy Chang anyway!
Through the years I have met many people, kids and adults alike, friends and family members, acquaintances that just can not understand nor accept modern art.  As a person who has a major in art education in undergraduate and a Masters Degree with an additional breath of post graduate courses in the arts I find it most amazing when my educated friends have a hard time with any art that is not representational.  Art is so much more than copying or illustrating, and modern art deals more with the intellect and ideas than any form of art.  That discussion can be for another post... I think I will do a series on isms, from a book called ISIMS which helps everyone to understand the different movements in art and why they happened and why they were important.  This is one of those projects, one of those pieces of art that goes beyond a nice painting of a flower, or a seascape...it is a concept...conceptual art.  It interacts with people, this is almost communal art is a way for it involves the viewers to participate in the making of the art project.  

A Public Art Project by Candy Chang in New Orleans, Louisiana 

Quote on The Importance of Art and Artist by Maya Angelou

Maya Angelou: That’s true. I do believe that art is as important to the human psyche and physical body as air is, as oxygen, as water. And alas, because it’s not something we can quantify reliably, we tend to think art is a luxury.

Art is not a luxury. The artist is so necessary in our lives. The artist explains to us, or at least asks the questions which must be asked. And when there’s a question asked, there’s an answer somewhere. I don’t believe a question can be asked which doesn’t have an answer somewhere in the universe. That’s what the artist is supposed to do, to liberate us from our ignorance.
from an interview by Shambala Magazine of Maya Angelou

Maya Angelou                              From Google Image

A NOD TO A PASSING ARTIST

THANK YOU MAURICE SENDACK  FOR ALL THE WONDERFUL ART YOU BROUGHT TO US THROUGH THE YEARS!


As an art teacher I read many a Maurice Sendack Book to children over the years.  The children loved his work and the support of children's fears and doubts.  I think he helped many a child in so many ways.  His art was rich and mysterious, it drew children it.  Sendack gave a great gift that will go on living long after this day we all have to say good bye.  

Where the Wild Things Are/Maurice Sendack                   from google image

JUST THOUGHT YOU WOULD LIKE TO SEE WHAT I SAW FIRST THING THIS MORNING! And (this is just the start of the day!)
HELLO WORLD IT IS SO NICE TO SEE YOU!

FROM GOOGLE IMAGE

DID YOU KNOW THERE ARE OVER 7,000 DIFFERENT LANGUAGES SPOKEN ON EARTH?!  AMAZING ISN'T IT? And isn't it nice we can visit in arts sake right here? Now I will look up Thank you in different languages!

Pageviews by Countries United States 94 Russia 17 South Africa 14 France 9 United Kingdom 9 Brazil 6 Greece 6 Canada 5 Mexico 5 Spain 4

Photo by Ann Suggs

Growth is an erratic forward movement: two steps forward, one step back. Remember that and be very gentle with yourself.
Julia Cameron

New Orleans Art Web Sites

This is for your added information for research if you are traveling virtually or planning if you are literally planning a trip to New Orleans and Louisiana.  The blog will go on the road back to New Orleans in three weeks.  We will then look more in depth at galleries, the New Orleans Museum of Art, Outsider art and the culture and architecture of the area.  I also plan a trip to meet with Sean StarWars in Mississippi and visit his gallery to learn more about The Outsider Print Makers.  I think we can also look more in depth at some Mississippi artist by the name of Walter Anderson and the potter George Ohr( one is located in Biloxi and the other in Ocean Springs, Mississippi(a small art colony of the Gulf Coast).
You may wonder why I am concentrating on that area more right now and it is due the need to be physically present for family illness.  It however gives us the chance to take Rabbit's Moon Studio on the road and expand our knowledge in a more in depth way of an area and its artists.  I hope you enjoy this journey with me.

New Orleans French Quarter Antique Shop          photo by Elizabeth Gordon

If at any time you are interested in doing a guest column for Rabbit's Moon Blog please contact me at rabbits5@aol.com.  We would be pleased to have other contributions and artists view points.  Being from one culture and set of circumstances I can only view things a certain way,  art, galleries and culture are experience so differently all over the world.  You can open that window for us, by you contribution of opinion and knowledge!

On Becoming An Artist....facing fear

This is a page discussion from one of Julia Cameron's books on what blocks people creatively.  You may think this does or does not relate to you or you may have a different belief system about how the universe works, but there is so much truth to what Julia says about being a perfectionist, setting ourselves up to fail, and the ways we keep ourselves from achieving that I think you will find it valuable to read no matter what you belief system may be.  

"People that are blocked Creatively, ususally tend to be perfectionists (ah-hem I know this very well). There is no room for perfectionism in Creativity. The minute the judging mind is involved, the Creative flow has stopped. Because now you are second guessing yourself or thinking it is too different or weird aka authentic, beautiful, inspiring. Creativity and Freedom go hand in hand. To allow our Creativity, it requires us to face fear so we can liberate ourselves. Especially facing fear of the unknown. Living a Creative Life where you are following your Bliss, forces you (in an oh-so loving way of course) to embrace the unknown.

It’s simple to follow a path that has already been carved out by society, your parents, you-in the past, friends, etc and to play it “safe and small” in Life, but it takes a hell of a lot to not have a set goal or plan and trust that everything will flow. It takes courage to follow your heart. What our mind shows us as images of the goal may not really be the goal. When you are living Creatively you are in tune with the moment. Picking up on signs, feelings, gut instincts. Trusting in what Source brings you. Not allowing obstacles to stop you out of fear, but passing through them by dissolving them with your Love/forgiveness. It takes courage to let go of your dependency on “others” and their approvals and to only seek your heart’s approval. This may seem like a scary life-style, but this is what we all yearn for. The reward of taking these risks are soo worth it. Freedom to LIVE. To have freedom, certainty must be let go of. ”In order to discover new lands, one must be willing to lose sight of the shore for a very long time.” ~Andre Gide This allows us to flow like Water and blow like the Wind. This flowing becomes the certainty we seek. Our security is now in what is real and not anything that can die or be lost.

Asheville, North Carolina        Young Artist taking Risk
      photo by Elizabeth Gordon

This is when you take risks and realize that the biggest risk is to never live your Life. To never LIVE. To live someone else’s Life. To never live authentically. Because deep down inside, you know you are not this fearful person. You know that this “security” you think you have in material things will all be gone after the body passes, but Liberation stays with you even after the body passes. So the risks don’t have to be huge, but you can start living your Life Creatively right NOW by staying grounded in the NOW and allowing yourself to be guided to do whatever it is your heart desires. We can use this guidance for everything in Life. Even the simplest things like when to take a shower or now. Easy: Do what you feel regardless of what the mind tells you. Allow the Universal Will."  quotes by Julia Cameron, The Artist's Way

Keith Haring's Birthday

Drawing is still basically the same as it has been since prehistoric times. It brings together man and the world. It lives through magic.
Keith Haring

                         Happy Birthday Keith! 

                    KEITH WOULD HAVE BEEN 54 TODAY IF HE HAD NOT LOST HIS LIFE TO HIV/AIDS

ALEXANDER CALDER, AN ARTIST TO LOVE

ALEXANDER CALDER(CLICK)

FROM GOOGLE IMAGE

His friends knew him as Sandy.  He  had the playful mind of a child even after becoming an adult. I guess he is one person who fit Picasso's saying  that every child is an artist, the trick is to continue to be creative like a child when one is grown.  Calder had no problem with staying youthful in his creative spirit and mind.  I have always found him an interesting artist from the first moment I heard of his circus sculptures, Cirque Calder.  Click on arrow below for video of Cirque Calder/The Paris Years(you tube)

Cirque Calder  from google image

Of course I knew of Calder from my college art history classes when we viewed slides of his giant colorful mobiles.  When you memorize a hundred artists a week for a test...you learn to identify a Calder or  a Monet, but I was not taught as much as I had hoped.  I wanted to know so much more...how artist related, why they painted, what they chose what they painted, their life stories and how they connected to the times they lived in.  When I hear of students who were taught in that manner, I am so envious.  I have tried to make it up though the years by  researching more myself.  Many times when I was teaching I introduced artists to young children just so I could learn more with them .  As so it was with Sandy Calder. We made mobiles with the kids and we also learned about the life of this amazing artist.

from google image

from google image

Both of his parents were artists and from a very young age he was given his own workshop to create what ever he wanted.  He parents did not judge, they encouraged. His Father was a well know sculptor who often traveled to set up installations, so Calder lived many places as a child. His Grandfather was a sculptor from Scotland who immigrated to America.  His Mother was a portrait painter trained at the Sorbonne and his wife was an artist as well. 

He went on to study engineering and getting a degree.  But the arts called and he went back to sculpting and creating wire sculptures.  I think some of the most interesting times were the Paris years when he created his circus miniature wire sculptures.  They  actually moved and he put on performances for many dinner parties for artist friends.  He lived in Paris during a time that many American artist did.  They were all drawn to the energy and excitement of what was then known as the art capital of the world.  


If you watch Woody Allen's Midnight in Paris you get a feel for the times and the energy of what it was like for so many artists, poets and intellectuals in Paris at the time.  They met in cafes, bistros and studios to talk over ideas and art theories of the day with much vigor and wine!  It was a magical time!
You might want to check out the Alexander Calder Foundation.(click)

What is a Print?(click)

The Wave by Hiroshige                                      from google image

This link is an interactive link that explains all forms of printmaking.  It is simple, highly visual and instructive.  If you want to understand the differences in different types of print making this will be a useful link.  Printmaking is an ancient art in many cultures from the intricate and elegant Japanese Woodblocks of Hiroshige to those of the skilled craftsmanship of Durer.

Toulouse Latrec  Print  from google image

Printmakers today are revitalizing the art with new found passion and innovative approaches.  Old rules are being broken and new ones being formed.  Printing on bedsheets, mixed media and ever changing subject matter.  A old media is being reborn.  Take a past look at the Outlaw Printmakers...Sean Star Wars, Tom Huck and Dennis McNett.  Look way into the past with Durer, Toulouse, and others...follow the evolution of print making into the present.  

Sean StarWars        Mountain Dew Themed Art from google image

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Oldenburg  Sculpture                                                                              from google image

"Picasso had a saying. He said, 'Good artists copy, 


great artists steal.’ And we have always been 


shameless about stealing great ideas and I think part 


of what made the Macintosh great was that the people 


working on it were musicians and poets and artists and 


zoologists and historians who also happened to be the 


best computer scientists in the world."


Quote by Steve Jobs 

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World Art Communities     from google image

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An Art Experience based news post daily from a practicing artist, an artist and educator with a masters degree in art education, an experienced art educator of 37 years, an art advocate who lobbied on state and national levels and a lover of world cultures and peoples.  There will be additional saving and discounts to all who are members, as well as a few surprises.  So become a member today of a blog that is growing in leaps and bounds.  

Welcome Honduras! It is so nice to have you join us!  We look forward to learning about Honduran artists and culture.  It is just one big global art world out there, and it so nice we can all connect!

John Kotula                                                                                                                                              Honduran Artist
 from google image