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Archive for the ‘Serendipity’ Category

Wowser! That’s a LOT of Money!!!

Posted in Little Known Facts, Serendipity, tagged on November 15, 2017| Leave a Comment »

151017salvator“The rediscovered masterpiece, Salvator Mundi, by the Renaissance master Leonardo da Vinci sells for an historic $450,312,500, obliterating the previous world record for the most expensive work of art at auction.”  Read more here.

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Grasshopper Found in Van Gogh Painting

Posted in Little Known Facts, Serendipity, tagged , , on November 8, 2017| Leave a Comment »

VanGogh Olive TreesYIKES!!!  A grasshopper has been found in Van Gogh’s painting of the Olive Trees.  One of the things that painters who work outdoors (en Plein air) face is the elements….bugs, dirt, etc.  And it appears that Van Gogh dealt with them too.  Here is what he wrote to his brother, Theo, about it in 1885:  “But just go and sit outdoors, painting on the spot itself!” Vincent wrote. “Then all sorts of things like the following happen — I must have picked up a good hundred flies and more off the 4 canvases that you’ll be getting, not to mention dust and sand … when one carries a team of them across the heath and through hedgerows for a few hours, the odd branch or two scrapes across them….”    Read the entire article about the grasshopper discover here ….and see the grasshopper!

 

 

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Marlys’ Painting is Framed

Posted in Serendipity, tagged , , on November 6, 2017| Leave a Comment »

20171106_0607081686959471.jpgSeveral weeks ago I shared with you a post of painting out at Sander’s Ranch and while there  I was joined by a friend who painted me!  Read about that here.  20171106_0623081116911616.jpgI love the little watercolor painting and got it framed and up on the wall with other paintings that I have of artists at work.  I love that subject as you might imagine.  20171106_062207586775259.jpgOne of my favorites is this large painting by Wilson Webb of an artist in a class working on a new piece.  It was a sad day when we lost Wilson a few years ago.  I miss seeing his work.  But that is the beautiful thing about having original art in your living spaces.  They all have meaning and stories behind them.  I love that about art.

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Drive to Luckett’s

Posted in Landscape, Serendipity, Small Town Life, Travel, tagged , , on November 4, 2017| Leave a Comment »

20171104_1153341554298602.jpgI drove over to the Old Luckett’s Store for their Fall Festival this morning.  The drive was beautiful.  I like to take little backroads and see what I can see.  Today it was a beautiful view with these llamas in the field.  We live in a lovely part of the country.  And Luckett’s was fun too!

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Colors of Travel

Posted in Serendipity, Travel, Workshop/Retreat on October 27, 2017| Leave a Comment »


Yesterday we drove to Asheville for the Southeastern Animal and Fiber Festival. We’re going to learn new skills.  The colors weren’t as brilliant as I expected but still nice.   More on the festival tomorrow.

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Christine’s Inanna Project

Posted in Little Known Facts, Other Bloggers, Serendipity, tagged , , on October 20, 2017| Leave a Comment »

Last night I had the pleasure of attending a local Women’s Resource Center lecture featuring Christine Andreae, an artist and writer from our community, who gave a fascinating account of her Inanna Project.   It is amazing!  She shared her wonderful world of woodcut art  with us through a Facebook Live interview with Eka Kapiotis (you see them in the photo below) and Christine answered many questions concerning her process.  You can read about the project here.  And see each woodcut and explanation here.  Take a little time to look.  It’s extraordinary!

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Did You Know This About Van Gogh?

Posted in Little Known Facts, Serendipity, tagged on October 18, 2017| Leave a Comment »

The movie, Loving Vincent, that we saw on Monday at The Avalon reminded me of some things about Vincent Van Gogh.  Here are some of his famous paintings that the movie brought to life along with some interesting facts:

  1. Did you know that Van Gogh didn’t start painting until he was 27 years old?  Maybe that gives hope to all of us late bloomers out there.
  2. Did you know that he produced his most famous painting while in an asylum in Saint-Remy-de-Provence, France. He painted Starry Night while in this mental hospital.  (You can paint Starry Night with us on Friday.  Click here to register.)
  3. In just the ten years that he painted he produced about 900 oil paintings….some the most famous paintings in the world today.
  4. Van GOgh Red VineyardSome say none but other references say he sold just one painting in his lifetime.  It was called “The Red Vineyard”.
  5. His brother, Theo, supported him in his art providing supplies and encouragement was with Vincent when he died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. (Some sources say that he was shot by a village boy.) Theo reported that Vincent’s last words were  “the sadness will last forever.”

It’s hard to believe such a tortured soul produced so many beautiful works of art.  He painted flowers and landscapes like no other and mainly because he was so poor he couldn’t afford to pay models to sit for him.  We’re lucky he chose to paint.

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Loving Vincent

Posted in Little Known Facts, Serendipity, Travel, tagged , on October 17, 2017| Leave a Comment »

We have been following along with the group that created the film “Loving Vincent” for several years now and finally yesterday we SAW it!  It is an amazing film.  Many artists painted for several years to created the 65,000 painted frames that made up the film.  They painted 853 shots in the film.  They began by painting a scene on canvas and then continued to paint over it as each frame was shot in order to make the painting “move and come to life”.  WOW!

20171017_060008.jpgHere’s what their website says about the film:  “Loving Vincent is the world’s first fully painted film.  We painted over 65,000 frames on over 1,000 canvases. We shot the film with actors, and literally painted over it frame by frame. This is a very laborious and time-consuming process. It has taken us 4 years to develop the technique, and it took us over 2 years with a team of over 100 painters working at studios in the Polish cities of Gdansk and Wroclaw, and a studio in Athens to complete the film.
 
The reason we made the film is not because we want to be the first, or that we want to set any records, it is because we believe that you cannot truly tell Vincent’s story without his paintings, so we needed to bring his paintings to life.”

If you appreciate Van Gogh’s art you MUST go see the film.  Watching his paintings move…come to life is amazing.  For those in our area it is playing at The Avalon in DC, where we went yesterday to see it but it will be opening in Winchester at The Alamo on October 27th.  Go see it!  There is a lot of information on the production’s website.  Take a look.

(The photos above are an exterior shot of the Avalon Theatre on Connecticut Avenue in DC and the poster outside the door.  There is also a photo of the group from The Studio who went to see the film yesterday.  The final two photos are the ceiling inside the theatre at The Avalon and a shot of a advertising banner about Loving Vincent.)

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Traditions at Capon Springs

Posted in Serendipity, Small Town Life, Workshop/Retreat, tagged , , on October 6, 2017| Leave a Comment »

A few more photos from the trip to Capon Springs.  Here is the spring house.  The sign above the door says, “Capon Springs – called by local Indian tribes Cape-Cape-pe-pon (the healing waters) rises through 1600 feet of rock, the last 300 feet being sandstone-a natural filter.  The flow-100 gallons a minute – has been undiminished for centuries.  It’s origin unknown.” 

Wednesday night after Bingo they served a homemade pizza snack.  Yum.  It was made in their huge brick oven where they also make tons of bread which they serve at all meals.  Every morning at 8:30 the flag is raised in a ceremony and the National Anthem is sung proudly by all who attend.  Traditions are alive and well at Capon Springs.  It is such a beautiful place.

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Spinning at Capon Springs

Posted in Serendipity, Small Town Life, Travel, Workshop/Retreat, tagged , , on October 3, 2017| Leave a Comment »

Deb Spins 31We are still at Capon Springs teaching at the Artist Retreat.  But last night we had a special treat.  My good friend, Deborah Ray who is assisting me at the Retreat gave us an explanation and demonstration on spinning wool into yarn.

It was fascinating.  It helped us all understand the amount of labor that goes into making this beautiful yarn.  It’s worth every penny they ask for it! Thanks Deb.

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