Impressionist Art, On An Autumn Day, In Sacramento

"When everything looks like a magical oil painting,

 you know you are in Autumn."

~Mehmet Murat ildan

Last weekend, while I was in Sacramento searching for public art, and early turning trees, I spotted a really interesting building, which was being torn down. The side of the building, with it's exposed brick and painting chipping away, kinda made me smile. Not because it was fun to see yet another beautiful old building die, and take with it a little more local history, but rather because the way the paint and bricks were coming off the building, it reminded me of Claude Monet's paintings of poplar trees in autumn. I don't know maybe you don't see it, but I sure do! I love Monet, Renoir and Manet, and I see their work in the deterioration of this cool old building. Do you see a grove of Poplar trees? And do they have bright orange and red leaves, some of which have fallen to the ground in little piles. And there are a few purple ones too? Or do you just see a wall of bricks that have overstayed their welcome? Oh well, it's probably just me, I always see the most unusual things in autumn!

Poplars on the Banks of  the River Epte In Autumn

By Claude Monet

Oil on Canvas 1891

Impressionistic Poplars In Autumn

Sacramento, California

September 28th 2019 
Impressionist Filter

#13 Leaf Of The Day

October 5th 2019

September 28th 2019

Stockton, California

Nikon

~Mood: Happy

~Me  :)

Photo By Request: Public Art (Art About Town)

"The aim of art is to represent not the outward appearance of things, but their inward significance."

~Aristotle 

This post is a not to our latest #PhotoByRequest subject "Public Art". A subject, which you know, I adore, which is why I chose it. Sacramento is full of public art of all kinds, and it is glorious! I can't wait to go back on vacation and spend a day just photographing the art, food, architecture, and trees. All 110,000 of them! But right now, it's all about the art. Of all the pieces I photographed, the Pop art by street artist, Norman Ayles, is my favorite. I will be doing another post soon about those pieces specifically! Those two pieces really spoke to me!

Art About Town: Sacramento

Murals

More on this piece in a different post to come at a later date.

Art About Town: Stockton

Murals and Sculpture
 
"I'm Not Surprised"

"Plant The Seed"

The Confucius Bicentennial Memorial

Art About Town: Castro Valley

Electrical Box Art

"Field Of Deer"

Autumn Leaf Of The Day...

#11 Leaf Of The Day

October 4th 2019

Sacramento, California 

Nikon

~Mood: Quiet
~Me  

Inspired By: Edvard Munch ( A Tale Of Two Screams)

"More than any time in history mankind faces a crossroads. One path leads to despair and utter hopelessness, the other to total extinction. Let us pray that we have the wisdom to choose correctly."

~Woody Allen

 

The other day, while in San Mateo, I spotted a face in a tree. At first I thought it would be a pretty good addition to my series "A Face In The Crowd." If you don't remember that series, it basically consists of faces I have seen in odd or unusual places. There are a few examples on my sidebar, under the My Photography section. Anyway, after I took the photo I had the strange feeling that I had seen this face before. It was definitely familiar beyond the general facial features. After studying it for a while I realized that, at least to me, the face in the tree bore somewhat of a resemblance to Edvard Munch's "The Scream."

Admittedly, The Scream has never really been one of my favorite paintings, however when I have come across it, it has always captured my imagination. Why was the man in the painting in so much turmoil? Had he just witnessed something dreadful? Where was he? What is directly behind him? Why is the sky orange? Is he transitioning between this life and the next? What could possibly bring about the kind of emotion being felt by the man in the painting? I have always wanted to know more!

And isn't that what art is all about?

YES! And it kind of tickled me when I realized the face I was seeing reminded me of  The Scream because it meant that I would probably spend a little while yesterday afternoon, doing some research into the Edvard Munch's masterpiece. And I did! I learned that there are actually 4 versions of The Scream, the original title for this series was Der Schrei der Natur. In his diary, Munch described his inspiration for the image...

"One evening I was walking along a path, the city was on one side and fjord below. I felt tired and ill. I stopped and looked out over the fjord... the sun was setting, and the clouds turning blood red. I sensed a scream passing through nature; it seemed to me that I heard the scream. I painted this picture, painted the clouds as actual blood. The color shrieked. This became The Scream."

E.M.
Nice 22 January 1892

"Whistler's Mother, Wood's American Gothic, Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa and Edvard Munch's The Scream have all achieved something that most paintings... regardless of their historical importance, beauty, or monetary value... have not: they communicate a specific meaning almost immediately to almost every viewer. These few works have successfully made the transition from the elite realm of the museum visitor to the enormous venue of popular culture."

~Martha Tedeschi (Author)

I came across many different theories as to why the figure in the painting seems to be in such despair. One such theory was that Munch was depicting, of all things, the despair of love. Yikes! I have gotten my heart stomped on once, or twice, but I don't think love has ever left me so devastated that this is how I viewed it! LOL. Of course, is there anything more fun than a broken heart? Hell, I heard on a documentary a while back that it is true, a broken heart can indeed actually kill you! Perhaps Edvard Munch knew a little about that, or maybe he was inspired not so much by the pain of romantic love, but rather by the pain of losing anyone you love.

Shrug.

I know I have often felt that love can be a much more painful emotion than hatred.

Shrug again.

 

Anyway, there is a lot to discover about The Scream, so I will save some details back in case you would like to spend a Saturday or Sunday learning about it for yourself. Personally, I can't think of a nicer way to spend a weekend day! Be it this work of art, or a different one you have been wanting to know more about.

So tell me...

What comes to mind when you view Edvard Munch's, The Scream?
Do you have a favorite artwork or artist that you would like to know more about? If so, who?
What is the last artwork you spent time researching?

Tell me what or who inspires you!

Mood: Curious

~Me :)

Reminder: Don't forget to join us tomorrow (Saturday) for our next Round Robin Challenge! This time around we will be tackling... "Threads." You can find out all about it here.

Far Off Laughter On Late Winter Afternoons

"The Earth Is Art, The Photographer Is Only A Witness."

~Yann Arthus-Bertrand, Earth from Above

God has been working overtime as an artist lately... at least in my little corner of the earth. I am continuing to enjoy the sight of a bounty of beautiful autumn leaves, falling to the earth alongside the the softest of pink blossoms. When I see a late winter afternoon produce this kind of color, and shadow, I can't help but imagine that late in the evening, long after the park is closed, there are all kinds of spirits and sprites throwing hilarious drunken parties. Ones where they spend their entire time drinking all kinds of lovely elixirs, and making fun of the mere mortals like myself who can't believe nature can be this beautiful! Nature is a strange and wonderful magical realm.

Here are the original photos with the Watercolor filter versions alongside. I am thinking of doing a series of paintings next autumn. We'll see.



 

 

Tell me, when you are out and it's just you and your camera, do you ever hear tiny far off laughter?

And then trip for no apparent reason?

Is it always clumsiness?

Or do more than leaves, blossoms and the occasional animal haunt the parks and woods?

Mood: Happy

~Me :)

NOTE: I am still fighting this cold, but I hope to have some new and exciting photos soon! Until then, I still have some photos from late February and early March that haven't been posted before.

Stay Tuned!

A Photo A Day For 6 Months: Day 140~ A Face In The Crowd

"Deep in the human unconscious is a pervasive need for a logical universe that makes sense. But the real universe is always one step beyond logic."

~Frank Herbert

 

Do you see what I see? Do you see that little woman with the red curly hair? When I looked at this lifeless little dahlia, I saw a little old grandma with reddish/brown hair. When I first showed this photo to Alan, he said he saw a Raggedy Ann doll. Alan gets the creeps from any kind of Raggedy Ann or Raggedy Andy dolls, so the dahlia really gave him the creeps.

I don't get the wiggins from Raggedy Ann or any random little grandmas with red hair, so I am not put off by it, but at the same time it's not like it's not weird that it so closely resembles a doll of some sort. Sometimes you can put such things down to the mind simply filling in details that your eyes can't focus on. And that can be good or bad.

When I was a little girl, a dear friend of my mother's showed up one afternoon with a surprise gift for me. It was a painting by Thomas Lawrence called, "Pinkie." It was a painting of young Sarah Goodin Barrett Moultin. She posed for the painting when she was about 11 years old, but unfortunately died a year or so later. Had she lived, she would have been the aunt of Elizabeth Barrett Browning.

The painting, and the story behind it makes for interesting reading. But long before I had heard of the details of Sarah's life and demise, I had to admit... I HATED THAT PAINTING WITH A GREAT PASSION! In fact, it scared the SHIT out of me. I was pleasant to the lady who gave it to me, but I would have nothing of it actually hanging in my room. KICKING AND SCREAMING as I recall. My mother finally gave in and put it my parents bedroom, but it didn't work out there either.

 One night, about two weeks or so after my mother hung the painting in their bedroom, my dad got up in the middle of the night, took the painting off the wall, and hung it in the spare bedroom where my brother stayed when he was commuting between San Francisco and Sacramento. It didn't work out well in that room. A few nights later. my brother, again in the middle of the night, got up and took the painting off the wall, and set it next to the sofa in the living room. No questions were asked. We all knew it was a spooky painting.

Everyone except my mother, who insisted we were all full of beans, and had watched one too many Creature Features movies. She took it upon herself to hang Pinkie in the living room, coincidentally on the wall opposite the large brass mirror. The mirror my dad could see from the desk in his office.

Once again, in the middle of the night, my dad got up, this time from his desk where he had been working, walked to the living room, took the painting off the wall, and turned it around and hung it backwards toward the wall it was hanging on. I just happened to be passing through the room when he did it, and felt a good bit of satisfaction at seeing others feeling uneasy. There is safety in numbers... right?

"Well, it's just that the eyes kinda follow you around" said dad. "Yep." Said I.

The next day the picture was moved to Mom's plant room, where it hung for about 20 years or so. About a month later another coincidence took place... mom stopped watering her plants before bed, and started watering them first thing after breakfast each day. We never talked about it, but I am pretty sure Pinkie had finally gotten to her to, but being the good natured, respectful daughter that I was I never said... I TOLD YOU SO!

:)

Is creepy in the eye of the beholder? Is one man's creepy another man's beautiful? Is creepy subjective? Had we watched too many episodes of Creature Features? Were the eyes in the picture following us around the room? Was it all just our imaginations? Was it all just the power of suggestion? Was it a haunted painting?

I'm thinking... ummm... yes! And we will leave it at that.

Now, tell me, do you see the face in the dahlia? If so, do you find it cute or spooky/creepy?


 

"In dreams you don't need to make any distinctions between things. Not at all. Boundaries don't exist. So, in dreams there are hardly ever collisions. Even if there are, they don't hurt. Reality is different. Reality bites. Reality, reality."

~Haruki Murakami, Sputnik Sweetheart

~Me :)

Today's link comes from JR.

JR
http://jrclinephotography.blogspot.com/2012/09/apadf6-137.html