The Evolution of Beauty

Denis Dutton explains a Darwinian theory of beauty.

Kimberly Brooks Creative Process

Still in my artist's malaise using all my arsenal of tactics to avoid getting to work. Miss Brooks here no doubt has a good point about needing to turn off the facebook/email.

Kimberly Brooks Creative Process

Inspiration From the North

 Canadian artist Kenojuak Ashevakin

I believe that every once in a while an artist, or anyone for that matter, needs to reassess why and what they are doing. One of my favorite methods of inspiring myself, is to seek out types of art that I love and start exploring. Canadian artist Kenojuak Ashevakin is inspiring me right now.

 Talelayu Opiitlu (Talelayu with Owl), by Kenojuak Ashevak, Stonecut, Stencil on paper, 1979

Winnipeg Art Gallery

Kenojuak Ashevakin is important to the print making tradition of Cape Dorset, Canada. Her work inspires me with it's fresh and lively interpretations of Inuit mythology. This reclining image of Taleelayuk, a female Inuit  sea spirit, with a great yellow-eyed owl seem to embody a friendly shamanic power. The artist began her life as a traditional arctic nomad learning how to inset designs onto animal skin clothing. She later transferred those skills to printmaking and has become one of Canada's most iconic artists. Her images have appeared on Canadian stamps and she has won national honors including Companion of the Order of Canada.

 My Birds, by Kenojuak Ashevak, Stonecut, Stencil on paper, 1975

Artist's block?

Artist's Block, John Whipple, Mixed media sculpture

Stuck? I know the feeling. Here is some advise for the artistically challenged...

Artist's Block

Design For Mankind - Dialogue Episode 5 from Design For Mankind on Vimeo.

Vivian Maier, Chicago's Reclusive Photographer

Vivian Maier 1926 - 2009

Chicago Tonight on Photographer Vivian Maier

Just days after her death at the age of 83 the photography of a reclusive Chicago nanny surfaced. Over 100,000 photographs and more still being processed reveal her to be one of the great talents of American photography in the 20th century.

Photograph by Vivian Maier 

posted from the blog, Vivian Maier - Her Discovered Work

New Year's Eve at Studio 54

Happy New Year!

New Year's Eve at Studio 54, Tod Papageorge, Gelatin silver print, 1978

American born (1940) photographer Tod Papageorge began his career in New York City in the 1960s as a street photographer. Winning both the Guggenheim and NEA fellowships twice his work is in the collections of the Museum of Modern Art and the Art Institute of Chicago. 

"This ridiculous-seeming activity of walking along the street and lifting up a little camera is so powerful, so complicated, and so resistant to being mastered. If I had a choice between doing that and sitting in an office somewhere... are you kidding?"  

...Tod Papageorge

 ARTINFO: Interview with Tod Papageorge