The Art Of Travel And The Art Of Writing

In Alain de Botton’s engaging book, The Art of Travel, he distinguishes between the anticipation and recollection of travel versus the reality of actually traveling.

When we anticipate, we study travel brochures and create in our imagination all sorts of exotic adventures, lying ahead of us. Once really there, we photograph the Eiffel Tower with our friends or family, their arms slung over one another’s shoulders and grinning into the camera. That forms the recollection, the moments we choose to remember.

Magically gone from memory are the delayed flight, the lousy food and the hotel room overlooking the alley, where the garbage collectors banged tins at 5am. But, if we otherwise enjoy ourselves, we select those ‘good moments’ and photograph them to construct a different reality from the real reality.

De Botton’s next idea is fascinating. He says that’s exactly what the artist does. Whether writing a novel, painting a picture or scoring a symphony, the artist imagines the outline of the work [anticipates the delights of the trip] then selects that which is felt to have artistic value [forgets the garbage men and includes friends at the Eiffel Tower]. Just as the traveler now has a fine and satisfying memory of the trip, the artist has a wonderful novel, painting or musical score. The artist has created art through imagination, selection, rejection and combination of artistic elements resulting in something new. The happy traveler has created a wonderful trip.

Then he tells of a man who had a very peculiar experience. After feasting his eyes upon paintings by Jan Steen and Rembrandt, this traveler anticipated beauty, joviality and simplicity in Holland. Many paintings of laughing, carousing cavaliers had fixed this image in his mind, along with quaint houses and canals. But on a trip to Amsterdam and Haarlem, he was strangely disappointed.

No, according to De Botton, the paintings had not lied. Certainly, there were a number of jovial people and pretty maids pouring milk, but the images of them were diluted in this traveler’s mind, by all the other ordinary, boring things he saw. Such commonplace items simply did not fit his mental picture. Thus, reality did not compare to an afternoon of viewing the works of Rembrandt in a gallery. And why not? Because Rembrandt and Steen had, by selecting and combining elements, captured the essence of the beauty of Holland, thereby intensifying it.

This is exactly what a writer or any artist tries to do and as a traveler, you may do much the same thing

When writing about a day in your protagonist’s life, you don’t start with what he had for breakfast or that his car wouldn’t start unless it’s germane to the plot or his character. You compress. You select and embellish. You toss out. All the details of your story must combine to intensify real life in order to create something interesting and of artistic merit. When I started writing the first novel in the Osgoode Trilogy, Conduct in Question, I had to learn it wasn’t necessary to build the whole city with lengthy descriptions of setting and character, before Harry Jenkins [the protagonist lawyer] could do anything. But many nineteenth century novelists did write numerous pages with glowing descriptions of the Scottish moors or a county hamlet. And that was necessary because, with the difficulty of travel, a reader might well need help in picturing the setting. But today, with the ease of travel, the surfeit of film, web and television images, no reader needs more than the briefest description. Just write walking down Fifth Avenue and the reader immediately gets the picture.

In a novel, usually only the most meaningful, coherent thoughts are included, unless you are James Joyce, the brilliant stream of consciousness writer. And so, you as the writer can order your protagonists thoughts so as to make complete and utter sense apparently the first time. In the Osgoode Trilogy, the protagonist, Harry Jenkins, does lots of thinking and analyzing [the novels are mysteries, after all]. But his coherence of thought is only produced after much editing and revising. Not much like real life, you say?

Same for dialogue. Interesting characters in books speak better and much more on point than people really do, partly because the writer is able to take back words. In real life, we often wish in retrospect, if only I had said this or that to set him straight. No problem for the writer. Hit the delete button and let him say something truly sharp and incisive.

And so, after comparing what the traveler and the writer do, what can we conclude? I quote De Botton in the Art of Travel.

The anticipatory and artistic imaginations omit and compress, they cut away the periods of boredom and direct our attention to critical moments and, without either lying or embellishing, thus lend to life vividness and a coherence that it may lack in the distracting woolliness of the present.

And so therein lies the difference between Art and Life! And so, the similarity between the traveler and writer.

Art Created By Creative Brush Strokes

Most people that have a desire to create art for their home viewing pleasure will take art classes so that they can master the various brush strokes. There are many brush strokes that a painter uses to create a desired effect on a canvas and the art that is created by these brush strokes can be priceless over a period of time if the artist becomes famous.

Most aspiring artists will learn to use color sparingly on some parts of the brush if they want to achieve the texture of certain brush strokes. Some brush strokes will require the painter to bend the paint brush bristles slightly to allow the art to emerge by following curves that eventually create flower petals and other exquisite accents in an art design within the painting.

The brush strokes can be applied to any type of surface and people will generally prefer to paint wood, paper or canvas. The art created on wood might be protected by a layering of lacquer that is gingerly applied using a paint brush that has a width of three or four inches and the painter will use brush strokes that are long and precise to ensure adequate coverage that is even throughout.

Some modern art work is created using brush techniques that are obscure and strange to other artists. Some artists prefer to create signs and names by using lettering that is crafted from the body forms of many animals. The brush strokes for each letter are not applied by paint brushes but are applied with oddly shaped pieces of foams.

Each letter of the alphabet is formed by brush strokes that come from various corners of the foam, and these corners are dotted on paper once and the foam is dipped again in the color and reapplied to the paper or any other medium that the artist wants to use. This brush stroke method that uses foam to achieve an art form is very effective and popular among tourists.

The Chinese have mastered the art of applying brush strokes to paper products. Instead of using paints to create art, the Chinese have used a various assortment of inks to create pieces of art that are cultural and exquisitely contrasted through the use of artful brush strokes that make the images vivid and enjoyable for viewing. This art application of brush strokes is part of the Chinese heritage that is create beauty that is timeless and treasured.

People can devise their own style of brush strokes to use on paintings and people will comprehend those strokes as a form of personal expression. Some people lather the brushes with paint to create bolder designs in their art work that are just as lovely as those paintings that would be found in an art gallery. Any painting that a child creates will become a treasure of their childhood and parents do not really care which brush stroke the child uses to create their artful images on paper.

Buying Jewish Paintings

I have a family that has commissioned me to find all of the Jewish paintings I can find. He has given me no budget constraints. I’m not sure why he doesn’t have guidelines set up for me to follow; he just wants to amass a collection quickly.

I found an oil on canvas that was a Jewish painting called Jewish meeting. The artist was Amparo Cruz Herrera. The artist is Spanish and this work exuded grace. I liked it a lot. I purchased it for eight thousand dollars. My benefactor was happy with the purchase.

My client made no distinction between Jewish paintings that were of a religious nature and those that were only painted by a Jewish person. I bought a rare Leon Bakst that was dated 1910. His subject was a person in an exotic costume. I’m not sure where my client plans to display it.

The next Jewish painting I found for him was a cityscape in oil of a deserted house in Veroia. This painting only cost six thousand dollars. Veroia is a Jewish neighborhood in northern Greece. I thought that this painting was a little bit unsettling.

I found another good Jewish painting for my client. The title of the painting was Juedisches Oesterreich Jewish Austria and was created by Frank Ettenberg in 2004. The person that sold me the painting said that the painting evoked a feeling of the artist’s state of being face to face with nationalism, his ethnic identity and an existential situation.

I found another Jewish painting I liked for four thousand dollars. The oil painting called Birds of Paradise was painted by Maurice Sterne. Sterne was a Jewish immigrant from Russia. He was the first person to have a retrospective at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. He exhibited 174 paintings, drawings and sculptures.

I found a Jewish painting of a cat that sold for thirty five hundred dollars. The artist of this work was Wettingfeld Zarojewski. I could not find any other work from this artist at all. My client really liked it. He is also a cat lover in addition to being a collector of Jewish art.

There was a wonderful Jewish painting of a woman seated. I fell in love with it on sight. The woman depicted looks so reflective and comfortable. I feel at ease just gazing at her.

I finally found a religiously significant Jewish painting for my client. The artist was Joan Landis and the title of the painting was Simhat Torah. This is the painting that was used by Pomegranate Publishing for their 2003 calendar and their greeting cards. I thought it was lovely.

I liked the Jewish painting by Joan Landis so much that I sought out more of her work. I purchased two paintings. One of the paintings was named Shabbat and the other one was Mikveh. I took the three that I purchased to my client and he fell in love with them. He asked me to find more of her work.

I found more work by Joan Landis and I purchased every one I came across. I found three more of the Jewish paintings on eBay at reasonable prices. I purchased Shavuot, Purim and Birth for three thousand dollars each. I felt like I got a bargain.

I liked the colors in the Jewish painting I bought called The Tailor Shop. This painting was created by Jacob Glushakow. He was an active member of the Jewish community in Baltimore. His parents were immigrants from Russia at the start of WW1. He has a painting that is still kept in the permanent collection of the Baltimore Museum of Art.

I was fortunate to find two Jacob Glushakow Jewish paintings on the same buying trip. The other painting I found was entitled Barn in Maryland. I liked it a lot and my client was very pleased with what I brought for him.

A Look At The History Of Airbrush Art

Airbrush art is a popular form of painting various designs on various types of surfaces. Everything from skin, clothing, canvas and automobiles are being used to show fantastic works of art using airbrushing. Motorcycles and building murals are also a target for an artist to show off their creativity with airbrush art.

The history of airbrush art is just as fascinating as the creative designs that artists are using airbrushing for. Experts believe that a primitive form of airbrush art was used by ancient civilizations. The method believed to be used in this primitive form of airbrush art was the use of a hollow bone in which to spray the paint out of by blowing through it. While this is a very primitive method compared to modern day forms of airbrushing, it does still work. Take a look at children’s airbrush art kits that require the child to blow through one end of tube to create the airbrushed art. Now ancient forms of airbrush art have bled over to modern day children’s crafts.

In 1893 the world seen a more modernized version of airbrushing when Charles Burdick patent the first airbrush device. This device would be used for retouching photographs until around the 1920.

During the 1930s airbrush increased when advertisement agencies jumped on the bandwagon to create advertisement of new products. Soon airbrushing would be used to paint Pin-Up girls on to the American planes during WWII. This is where airbrushing started showing up in the more modern world in the form of art.

In the 1940 Walt Disney would show the world a new use for airbrush art. Walt Disney would take airbrush art to the animated screen. The backgrounds for Walt Disney’s animated movies were created using airbrushing. Airbrushing allowed them to create shadows and lighting tricks to achieve a more realistic looking background. While even this seems primitive compared to what we can do with animated movies as well as for airbrush art, this method did pave the way for both the improvement on animation and airbrush art.

The 1960s brought us even closer to what we now know we can do with airbrushing. Airbrush art in the 1960s made its way into the music world. Album covers were done using airbrush art to create the whole hippy style images. The wild psychedelic artwork that was popular with that era were done thanks to the use of airbrushing. Tie dyed looks and large hippy flowers and even the peace signs were making their way onto vehicles during this era. Airbrushing the artwork on took a lot of time out of painting the vehicles over doing the designs by hand. Thus airbrush art was being experimented with on vehicles at this point.

The way we use airbrushing now to create art surly has come along way from the primitive methods used by our ancestors and even our parents. Now a days we can see airbrush art almost everywhere on almost every type of surface. The only limits now a days with airbrush art rests in the limits of the individual artist.

About The Artists Of Brücke

Ever heard of a political art group? Artists who use art, particularly painting, to influence or to move people to action? I have read of those in our history class before—it was quite boring then. I used to think of it as an exaggeration of a hero’s life. Until I read one of my favorite music artist’s biography. His father was a leader of Chicano artists, the “Los Four”. It’s a sort of a mural movement. But this is beside the point. My objective for writing this article is to bring more light into “die brücke”, a group of German expressionist artists, which marked the beginning of modern art in Germany.
Since the early part of twentieth century German Expressionism was very popular and it influenced most of the movements to oppose Impressionists.
Die Brücke, German words meaning “the bridge”, was founded in Dresden by architectural students lead by Ernst Ludwig Kirchner in 1905. Erich Heckel, Fritz Bleyl, Karl Schmidt-Rottluff gathered regularly in Kirchner’s studio. They were later joined by Emil Nolde and Max Pechstein.
The group was called “brücke” because the members have common interests and ideology. The bridge also symbolizes link, since one of their objective is to link to the future and to use art to change the society. Through art, they linked German history with their own cultural past. They despised academic traditions and strict constraints of the leading academies, realism and impressionism.
Although, most of the members of the Brücke were not trained artists, they were able to express their feelings and imaginations through harsh and orgiastic colors, particularly the black and white contrasts, distorted shapes and lines, exaggerated forms, and anti-illusionistic perspective. The subjects of their artwork include urban cabarets and dancehalls, mostly in the nudes.
Their art works were influenced by the vibrant and emotive works of Vincent van Gough, Paul Gauguin, Edvard Munch and the Fauves.
They promoted their works by conducting art exhibits and through innovative patron membership program. To ensure artistic autonomy, the members of the Brücke did not accept conventional gallery arrangement—they produced portfolios instead. The portfolio is a compilation of the art works of one of the members, but the cover was made by the other members of the group. They made seven portfolios, most were single-artist productions. These portfolios featured Brücke V, Bathers Throwing Reeds, Three Bathers at the Moritzburg Lakes, and Dancer with Raised Skirts

How To Buy Oil Paintings?

How To Buy Oil Paintings

I have a custom made oil painting displayed in my living room. I gaze upon it each day. It’s a portrait of a woman during sunset and half turned. Every single day I look at it and I am amazed as to what she might be thinking, sometimes I feel as though the painting has changed somehow. It gives new meaning every time I see it. Every person who has looked at it had a different interpretation of what the Painting suggested. It sparks the imagination. It triggers your emotion and makes you think. Such is the power of those glossy portraits created by the brilliant artists.

Oil Paintings give the visual appeal to your home or work place. Placed strategically this could mean a serene atmosphere at home or an inviting ambience to your office, which definitely makes your client at ease in your office. This could be the edge over the rest of your competitors.

Did you ever wonder how you could buy those high quality-stunning oil paintings? Most galleries present you with only a limited range of painting. Only the exclusive and famous artists have the opportunity to display the art in such places. The only place you could find work of art from both prominent as well as upcoming artist are real high quality websites.

At first even I was of the opinion that online purchase of such work of art may not be the best-suited method to get genuine high quality work. But when I heard about custom designs from well-known artists that could be offered right to your doorstep I was just thrilled. There is also a money back guarantee if there is any dissatisfaction towards the delivered material.

The online shops have a wide range of portraits, themes ranging from landscapes, still life, abstracts, cubism, religion, and much more. The list is endless. The Painting include real popular artist like van Gough, Jack Vettriano from early 19th century to the most recent celebrity artist. The catalog shows snapshots of the real work so you would know what to expect from the real McCoy.

They even have a Portrait Service. With Portrait Service the artist turns an old photograph, which has lost its graphic details into a real looking image of any size. With this we could keep our memories framed forever.

Custom paintings are made with just an idea that you have. It is amazing how artists could turn your vision into reality. They make a drafted version for your approval and in about a week the final Painting is ready and shipped to you.

The purchased painting is shipped home in sturdy tube containers for a small additional cost. Every care is taken to deliver the work of art safely to you. There is also choice for of Framing Service so you could portray the images in apt background. Even the range of frames available is displayed.

Well we always are worried that a transaction is not going to be safe over the Internet. It is just not so. With SSL technology you could make the transaction without having to fret over hackers taking away all your money. Agencies such as 2checkout bring about some of the safest payment methods.
The shopping carts provided are very user friendly. It is very easy to just keep adding your favorite picture and make the final purchase when you checkout.

Vincent Van Gogh

The Dutch painter Vincent van Gogh has produced some of the world’s most popular, most beloved and most expensive paintings. Despite his great success, he was also known as a tortured, lonely artist who many felt was mad or at least on the verge of insanity. It is a testament to his immense talent that today, a century after he has died, the world still remembers Vincent Van Gogh.

Of course, we have to acknowledge the fact that not everyone who remembers Van Gogh does so entirely because of his art. People also remember Van Gogh because of the story that has been immortalized in songs about how he cut off his ear and committed suicide because his genius was not recognized during his time. But the history books reveal that this may not exactly be the case. While it is true that Van Gogh had bouts of madness, it is also true that he his work was greatly praised by his fellow artists and radical art critics just before his death. It seems that the story has intertwined both myth and reality.

As an artist, Van Gogh was actually a late bloomer and he only spent about 10 years on his craft. Before becoming an artist, he was primarily an art dealer and a teacher in England as well as a preacher in Holland. At the outset, most of his work consisted of somber colors until he was influenced by Impressionism in Paris and his style quickly developed. In his 10 years as a painter, Van Gogh produced around 900 paintings and 1100 drawings. His most famous works were actually created during the last two years of his life. Records show that he was prolific during the last two months of his life, producing 90 paintings during that time.

Contrary to popular belief, Van Gogh did not become an overnight sensation immediately following his death. In fact, his post-mortem fame was gradual, but was spurred tirelessly by his widowed sister-in-law who was devoted to promoting his artworks. Eventually, memorial exhibitions were mounted in Van Gogh’s honor in Brussels, Paris, The Hague and Antwerp. This was soon followed by hugely successful retrospectives in Paris (1901 and 1905), Amsterdam (1905), Cologne (1912), New York City (1913) and Berlin (1914).

Buying Art on the Internet

Nowadays you don’t even have to leave your house if you want to see or buy artwork, because the best way of finding original and innovative art, and also classical art of course, is to perform a search on the Internet.

the Internet has changed the art market, because it can offer an extremely large number of options, and it introduces anyone to thousands of new artist and creations so it can be said that the Internet brings art at everyone’s fingertips.

This means that you can find and buy artwork from almost all over the world just with a few clicks. There are many good sites that are specialized is selling different types of artwork, and some of them also represent artists.At an online gallery you can browse all the artwork available, and buy whatever you desire to choose from the wide range of quality creations. Furthermore, some websites also offer the option of testing how a painting looks when it is placed on a wall that has the colour you desire, so that you can see how it fits in your home.

If you decide on buying artwork from an online store do not rush, first browse many categories until you find exactly what you desire, then find some informations about the site from where you wish to buy from, information that proves the site’s quality and credibility, and then you can buy the artwork you like. Payment is usually done through paypal or by credit card.

Some say that buying artwork is also an art, and that it has some steps that must be followed – defining, selecting, researching and buying.The art market is quite hard to understand for someone who is new, especially because of the low-value items that are sold as high-value ones, which may trick newcomers, but in fact buying artwork is just like buying any other thing – you have to search for the best deals. Do not forget that there are thousands of art dealers online so there also are fake products sold, too.

On the other hand, if you are an artist and you wish to submit your work to art galleries you can do that easily. Just find the virtual gallery that you want to submit to and contact the owners of the site. This is a great way of making yourself and your work known to many people.

In conclusion, the Internet is perfect for buying artwork, but you can also get fooled if you are not attentive, so try dealing with a serious art dealer.

Metal Art Tools

If you are a metal artist or want to become a metal artist you will need some tools. Not some simple hand tools like hammers and ratchets. You will probably need to invest some real money into things like welders and torches. Why you ask? Metal Art making is a bit more expensive then driftwood art.

Cutting Tools:

Plasma Cutters – These machines give you fine cuts in your metal. They are the newest generation of torches out there. You can spend anywhere from $500-$10,000.

Acetylene Torches – Also know as a “blow torch.” This has been one of the base tools for creating metal art for quite some time. One of the basic tools in your kit.

Band Saws – You don’t need a band saw, but they are handy. They give you more precision cuts if you are fabricating something critical. The are a bit more messy as they use cutting fluid.

Chop Saws – Quick and dirty saw that gets the job done. If tight tolerances aren’t needed then this saw is the quickest. It makes a mess as well, but it is a dry mess that sweeps up. It is a bit cleaner then the band saw.

Prep Tools

Grinders – It seems you are forever grinding when you are making metal art. There are all kinds of things you are trying to get rid of. Think of a grinder like a chisel if you were a stone sculptor.

Buffers – Some times to create shines and surface textures we use buffers in metal art. Think of polishing chrome.

Hand Chipping Tools – In the rough fabrication stage we use a lot of hand tools. Some of these we use to chip away slag. This slag could be left over from plasma cutting or welding. To make our metal art look good, we need to remove it.

Welders

MIG Welders – These welder are also know as Wire Feed welders as there is a spool of wire that you use to weld up your Metal Art. Most commonly used on mild steel.

TIG – This type of welding fuses two pieces together. You can also use a filler rod if needed. Most of the time you are just sealing up a seam. This seems to be more popular with Aluminum and stainless steel welding.

As you can see these are a few of the tools you might need when creating metal art. There are many others we didn’t describe, but these are some of the basics of metal artwork.

Art Work And Your Health

You have just been to the latest art exhibition and seen some of the paintings. How did you feel? Well, you might have sensed relaxation, or may be you must have enjoyed seeing the sight presented by strokes of paint. Whatever, be the reason, watching a creative mind’s creative construction finds a favor with everybody.

However, many of us are not aware that an artwork affects both the artist as well as the observer. Art produces a positive effect on the person. Art therapy is based on this presumption. Art specially works wonder on people suffering from mental diseases. According to experts, since art uses symbolisms and images to convey information, it helps people in giving way to pent-up emotions and feelings. This ultimately cures ailments such as depression etc. Experts also opine that when people themselves get involved in the creation of artwork, many of them tend to release their buried emotions via the paintings. This results in the unburdening of a long carried weight, which leads patients to a better frame of mind.

A report that appeared in New York Times states how art has been helping patients suffering from Alzheimer’s disease and dementia. According to the report, art engages parts of the brains that remain intact long after the patient starts suffering from dementia. The report also cites that these parts are concerned with the procedural memory which govern routine activities like walking, eating etc.

Artwork can also help one to deal with Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). The American Art Therapy Association states PTSD is an anxiety disorder that can develop after exposure to a terrifying event or series of events, such as combat, in which grave physical harm occurred or was threatened, causing feelings of intense fear, helplessness, or horror.

Art helps PSTD victims because it makes use of images and not languages. Many experts believe it is safer to access traumatic memories using images rather than languages. Once, this is done, the patient is encouraged to recreate the image of the traumatic events and this ultimately leads to healing and recovery.

Art also affects the health of the artists, however, in a negative manner. Strictly speaking, the blame should be put on the materials used by them. Take for instance paints. Many a times they contain hazardous chemicals. Hence, while working with various paints, once should take care to prevent personal exposure. Similarly, increasing the use of water-based paints is a good way of limiting exposure to solvent vapors.

Thus , art can have a positive effect on the health of its observer. However, an artist has to be careful while doing any artwork because negligence can adversely affect his health.