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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JOIN RABBIT'S MOON BLOG NOW FOR PERKS LATER!!!
for members......surprises on the way for loyal followers!  




*All highlighted words lead you to links with more information.

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 

Another Bench Mark hit today!  We have reached 17,000 visits since starting in August 2011!!!  We are the little blog that could.  Join Rabbit's Moon Studio Blog Now And Become Apart of a Growing Art Community World Wide!

World Art Communities     from google image

Reading is fun, but joining adds more benefits and shows your support to a world community of art.  
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

THROWING POTS CAN BE ADDICTIVE!

THE DAY APRIL THREW POTS

AND POTS 

 AND MORE POTS

 UNTIL THE CLAY

 WAS ALL GONE!

APRIL LOVES TO THROW AND  BOY CAN SHE THROW!  

WHEN SHE GETS A HOLD OF CLAY SHE IS A CENTERING FOOL!

THERE IS NOTHING QUITE LIKE MAKING POTS ONCE YOU GET THE HANG OF CENTERING CLAY. 

 IT IS LIKE MAGIC, AND THEN YOU CAN CENTER FOR EVER AGAIN.  THEN YOU CAN THROW BIGGER AND BIGGER POTS.

Durer, an Influence on Outlaw Printmakers and All

ALBRECHT DURER(click for link)

Printer Unparalleled 

The Rhinoceros by Durer
 from google image

google image


These are two of my favorite Durer etchings and for completely different reasons.  The Rabbit or Hare has long been a favorite for its pure elegance in skill and representation of nature.  Besides I love rabbits!  Albrecht Durer is who I always think of if I think of the best example of excellence in etching and print making.  The Outlaw PrintMakers often give a nod to him as one of their main influences among others. 
The Rhinoceros is one of my favorite etching for its history,  scientific value, and lastly how our brains perceive things. I often used this print in teaching students about converting a written   description to a visual one.  It made for a very interesting lesson.  The story about Durer's Rhino print goes like this.....Rhino's had not been seen in Europe yet, a friend sent a letter with a description of a rhino and Durer makes a sketch based on the description in his friends letter.  The story varies a bit upon more research, but it not majorly. 

Sean Starwars' recommended we get to know the Hancock brothers.  Sean is taking us on a tour of Outlaw printmaking.  He is our docent..so lets take a look at these amazing brothers out of Texas.

Texas Hexes by Charles and John Hancock
from google image

Dirty Printmakers of America

Gansta Look of the Hancock Brothers  from google image

Charles and John Hancock are known as the Amazing Hancock Brothers (click) in some art circles.  Woodcuts, silkscreen prints and mixed media are their media.  They work together on mixed media prints and its difficult to identify the processes at times.  They use plastic, metal flashing, mattress covers and all kinds of recycled materials to print on.

Amazing Hancock Brothers Mixed Media Printmaking
from google image

  There is a bit of a bad boy quality to their work, they love to push things to a bit of a naughty edge. There prints are filled with Sumo Japanese wrestlers, clowns, and pits, livestock and other subjects.  They are from Texas, and figure that can get away with what ever they want...just cause!!  They are also half Mexican and half Chinese, which adds to the mystery and fun.  I think you will find there work fun and interesting if not a bit kinky.  Theirs is a world of circus mirrors that warp subjects in strange and fascinating ways. A place where our Mardi Gras selves can celebrate and party all we want without societies propriety, we can just let loose out loud as we frolic through their world of art! 

Here's looking at your Kid! This Week in Review

Movie Still from Cassablanca                                  from google image

Ricks famous lines in Cassablanca...."Here's looking at you kid!"  And "Play it again Sam." What a classic, I can never watch if enough.  Nor do I ever get tired of seeing where all of you are that visit ever week.  It is so exciting to watch country after country check in to Rabbit's Moon.  And as always we are not only excited but thankful so many people across this big world, love art and support art in their little piece of this planet!  So let's see who checked in this week!

United Kingdom
India
Spain
Russia
Canada
Germany
France 
Australia
Iran
Argentina
Sweden
Finland
Belgium
Turkey
Singapore
Japan
Serbia
Ukraine 
Ireland
Netherlands
United States

POST NOTE:  if you know you visited and your country did not appear in the list, it is because the app that counts durning the week will not list visits of smaller samples.  I try to catch them on that day and write them down, but sometimes I miss someone and I am sorry if that happens.  You are all important to us!

Quote by Picasso

“The chief enemy of creativity is good sense.”

Portrait    from google image

― Pablo Picasso

Outrageous, fun, wild art...it is Dennis McNett!

After our visit with Sean Starwars' we learned about the movement of the Outlaw Printmakers.  That research has led to a discovery of more artists and a new network of artists.  Sean has recommended more artists in this area for you to be aware of  and I will present them one at a time.  We will start first with Dennis McNett of Wolfbat studio.  


The Art of Dennis McNett(click)

Viking Parades of Dennis McNett  from google image

Dennis is in the same vein and style of the Outlaw printers.  His lines are bold and come right at you with a force not to be denied.  There is a raw fun with these printers.  Dennis does installations about skateboarders and Vikings that are so engaging.  They are just totally different than what the staid art of the status quo has been.  They wake you up and say...things can be different, things can be fun...art can be a parade, a circus....and this takes me to Andy Calder and circus mini sculptures he made in Paris intertaining other artists and friends with.  Calders circus was different than the art of the time and pure fun, that is what I see in this vein of printers and Dennis McNett.  There are clickable links above for you to learn more about Dennis. I highly encourage you to do so.  I think this is a movement we should all pay attention to...the energy, the creativity and the courage to form a new path are all the elements that make a group into a movement and form a new style in the art world.  

Blogger has changed its format and settings.  It may cause some delay in our post.  So sorry.


GRRR!!!

The Art Critic

The critic has to educate the public; the artist has to educate the critic.
Oscar Wilde

Raul Hausmann The Art Critic From google image

Quote by Beverly Sills on Art

ART IS THE SIGNATURE OF CIVILIZATIONS

Beverly Sills

Welcome Tanzania!!!!

Wow a new country to us!!!!  Welcome to Rabbit's Moon Studio, we so look forward to getting to know Tanzania and its arts and culture better.  It is so nice to have you.
  
We Like:                                                                     


Tanzanian Artist            Peter Ray Mwahsa             

from google image

Another Bench Mark Met for Rabbits Moon!!!! We are Celebrating!

" I THINK I CAN, I THINK I CAN, I THINK I CAN" 

Our bench marks come faster because so many people are reading around the world daily now!  From Bahrain, to the United Arab Emirates to Belgium to Sinapore to China to Russia, to Austrailia to Turkeye to Germany, to England and so many more...ah and yes The United States!

Book by Walter Piper     image from google image

Children round the world are read different versions of this story and I was no exception.  I remember the story well, and asking my Mother to read it over and over again.  Of course it is about persistence and not giving up...just trying...but children don't know that they think it is a good story and love to yell the lines out over and over, "I THINK I CAN, I THINK I CAN, I THINK I CAN... I KNOW I CAN, I KNOW I CAN, I KNOW I CAN"

NOW GO PUT YOUR I THINK I CAN'S TO WORK AND TURN THEM INTO I KNOW I CAN!!!Thanks once again for your loyalty and support readers, it is you who are making this little blog go around the world!

Suleiman the Magnificent

Suleiman The Magnificent(click for link)

by Titan            from google image
Titan did four portraits of Suleiman 

Researching the post for Reza Abbasi became fascinating for me as I realized he had painted miniatures for the Ottoman Empire.  Walking the grounds of the Topkapi, gazing at their massive collection of treasures and  having with winter winds whip across the Bosphorus chilling me to the bone...came alive again in my memories.  Turkish tea in Tulip glasses and walking the  ancient city of Istanbul will always place high among my favorite travels.  The absolute magnificence of the Blue Mosque and the Haiga Sophia, each within site of the other.  The Spice Market and the Grand Bazzar all linger in my mind almost as time travel to another era.  One walks with ghosts of a thousand years.  Standing in the court yard of the Topkapi Palace I can almost feel the presence of Suleiman himself, his long robes flowing, his angular face, and the leader of the largest empire in the world...The Law Giver.  

Tugra of Suleiman the Magnificent

He was a man of art, poetry, architecture and tolerance who built a city where there were mosques, churches and synagogues. He was a man of uncommon vision at a time when it would have been easier to be less so.  I found myself enamored with this man who loved learning, who could do battle, but write tender poetry to his wife Roxana.  A man who would send ships to Spain to save hundreds of Jewish people from the horrible times of the Inquisition.  An enigma of a man and a leader, but so fascinating.  I thought you might like to know more about the times and the art., so here are some links for you.  
The Age of Suleiman The Magnificent
The Art of the Turkish Miniature


The sense of a perspective is so interesting during this time.  It is a simple perspective that is  raised  so that depth is achieved by drawing the background higher in the art work.  The hand and body positions are stylized and stilted.  The colors are bright and bold.  As I told you in an earlier post getting to hold one of these albums in my hands was an awesome moment in my life.  You can read and read about something, but when you hold it in your hands, you feel it, then it is no longer a story or a myth....it is history alive...it really happened!  It is the same feeling I got at Ephesus, the ancient Greco/Roman city, when I put my hands down in the ruts of the marble road and felt the chariot tracks....before that this was just something in a Hollywood movie or a dusty history book, then it became real and it touched my life forever.

Minatures done for Military Campaign album

post script/spelling 
As I enter the name Suleiman in the computer, it wants to correct me to Suleilman...if anyone want to email me an tell me the correct spelling I am would be happy to know.

Reza Abrassi, Iranian/Persian Artist of Minatures

I so often concentrate on Western centered art and artists I often forget to focus on Middle Eastern Art and Artists.  The time I spent living in Turkey opened my eyes to so many different areas and styles of art than those I had studied in college or been exposed to in my own country.  I especially fell in love with miniature paintings and illuminations in journals and albums.   I had many wonderful visits to the Tokapi Palace Museum in Istanbul.  I wandered the grounds and viewed the large collection in absolute awe.  I was studying Islamic and Turkish Folk arts at the time.  I had applied to see Suleiman The Magnificent's journals, but thought it was not going to happen because I was at the end of my two year stay.  And wouldn't you know the last few weeks it was ok'd.   I had to rush about getting all the stamps and signatures I needed, but happen it did!  I got to hold those precious journals in my own two hands. It will always be one of my major life events!  As I was researching Iranian Artist I ran across Reza Abbsasi.  His work reminded me much of the style I had seen in Sueliman's journals.  This one was captivating because it is of a portrait of the artist painting.  The blues in the turban are striking, as well as the bright red in his robe.  The left leg angle and body positioning is also interesting.  Reza was one of the few miniature artists of his time that signed his work, dated it and often put interesting side comments.  His work is also known by the gold background and oft single figure.  There is a museum named in his honor, the Reza Abbasi Museum.  

Reza Abbasi

Additional Information on Printmakers

For those of you interested in printmaking I thought you might like this link that will connect you with printmakers around the country and in other areas.  The site is listed below and clickable.
http://www.monoprints.com/info/organizations.html

Printmakers                     photo from google image

Izmir, Turkey

Merhaba Izmir, Turkiye
It is so nice to have you visit.  I lived in Izmir for two years and enjoyed it so very much.  I still remember looking at the homes on the hillsides light up like a million stars and eating calamari along the bay!  

Izmir

Welcome Kenya!

KENYA

Naomi Wajlku                photo from google image

Our list of new countries is growing this week.  We welcome you and invite you to join Rabbit's Moon studio blog.  We have a growing membership and would love to add Kenya.  We are so glad to have you visit and join our readers world wide.  We look forward to learning more about Kenyan Art and Culture. 


post script: I love Naomi's description that went with her painting,"Kenyan women have many burdens to carry, yet we walk  tall".

A FEW MORE VISITORS FOR THIS WEEKS TOTAL...SO NICE TO SEE YOU!

Taken in Delores Hildalgo Mexico, a town of ceramics

For our weeks visitors I would like to add Thailand, Czech Republic and Hong Kong.  Thank you all for making it an amazing week.  

Around the World We Go...What did this week bring!?

Imagine  The World Full of Art, I Can!

Cool Bus Stop by Dennis Oppenheim   Ventura, California    from google image

These are the countries that visited Rabbit's Moon Studio this week.  We so appreciate you!


Azerbiajan
Iran
United States
United Kingdom
France
Germany
Spain
Argentina
Australia
France
Italy
India
Mauritius
Singapore
Canada
Russia
Serbia
Ukraine
Columbia
Ireland

Land Art by Andrew Rodgers      Chile 

Post note
If you know you have visited this week and you do not see your country listed, it is because the app counter totals largest numbers of visits at the end of the week and then I lose the visits from countries who have smaller numbers.  So sorry if that happens, I want to acknowledge everyone who visits!  You are all important to me.


Make a Difference today, Use your Art for Good!
Help a person, a community or the World.  Being an Artist makes you a powerful person, you can imagine, you can create...you can make a difference!

Quote by Picasso

Pablo Picasso   Self Portrait   from google image

Painting is just another way of keeping a diary
Pablo Picasso

Welcome Azerbaijan !!!

from google image/Art of Azerbaijan Museum

Welcome it is so nice to keep adding new countries to our readers list.  We look forward to learning more about Azerbaijan and its arts and culture!!!

WE DID IT!!!! WE BROKE OUR ONE DAY RECORD!!!

Thank you all so much!!!  We broke another record!  It has just been wonderful to see this little blog grow so much with your support.  It is so gratifying to look everyday at people signing in from Asia to the Middle East to Europe and Australia. 

  Celebration by  Keith Mallet (CLICK) 

We are Heading Towards A One Day Record!!!!

I will announce at the end to the day if we break our one day readership numbers.  I get so excited when I see this happen.  Thank you all for contributing.  You are wonderful.  What a great world we have out there, if we can just unite people in the arts!!