Agapi Studios 1111

New Work ... Nice Day

2011-10-31T08:14:00.000-07:00

I feel like going into a rendition of Robert Frost's Poem The Road Not Taken .... "and being one traveler, long I stood And I looked Down One as far as I could to where it bent in the undergrowth;

Just in case you've never had the pleasure of reading this poem, I've included it for you.

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,

And sorry I could not travel both

And be one traveler, long I stood

And looked down one as far as I could

To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,

And having perhaps the better claim,

Because it was grassy and wanted wear;

Though as for that the passing there

Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay

In leaves no step had trodden black.

Oh, I kept the first for another day!

Yet knowing how way leads on to way,

I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh

Somewhere ages and ages hence:

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference.

Weighing In on Photography .. Taking Pictures is a Privilege Not a Right.

2011-10-27T06:47:00.000-07:00

Everything photography lately has left me a little agitated at the thought of such little concern about the practice of taking pictures of everything in site.

I had to think what was it about the plethora of photographers that was leaving me so disturbed.

Taking photographs is a privilege not a right.

I have been blessed perhaps to be in a number of places that to me were so sacred and the moment so profound that to stop and take a picture of it was just plain sacrilegious.

Perhaps there is the focal point, the grading of the light, the density, saturation and all that important stuff ... but what about the moment and the majesty.

I have walked through worlds that don't require photographs and the pictures I took are simply the ones in my own minds eye. They are the greatest treasures.

One Direction

2011-10-25T06:20:00.000-07:00

So I finally finished this piece which was more difficult than I thought it was going to be. I was thinking that the piece would end up going in one direction and then it simply took a completely different one.

I was a little unhappy about it and then I realized that like life, art work moves in somewhat of a Heavenly Way.

The essence of a art work is the most important attribute to me. It indicates my own awareness with the symbolic world and an attunement to it.

I have always left the final analysis up to the purchaser unless otherwise requested because it is not just artwork for me but also for the observer.

In The Works ….. How it’s done

2011-10-12T17:38:00.001-07:00

More Circles ....

2011-10-11T07:09:00.000-07:00

Circles ....

2011-10-10T07:49:00.000-07:00

I created a series of work, probably 30 pieces, that resembled one another. This had been the first time I attempted to create work with the same theme over and over again.

I was pretty wrung out from the repetitiveness of the the underlining theme. Still the familiarity allowed me to get at some other qualities that I had never worked with before.

These are just 4 of the 35 pieces I managed to finish in about 4 or 5 months.

Sometimes just keeping the background color consistent throughout was difficult. It meant I had to wash the paper the same exact way each and every time, down to and including the shadows in the work from blending the browns and pinks.

I enjoy looking at them when they are grouped together, sometimes I feel it's a bit overwhelming and then I look at it and think it's pretty fun and dramatic. It's very much unlike anything I had ever done and I guess upon completion of my goal, I felt it was successful.

New Work .... Nice Day

2011-10-08T10:12:00.000-07:00

This work is done on 140lb hot press archival paper and I've included a couple of perspectives for you.

It seems difficult to show the scope of the piece with a single picture so I've change the exposure of the photograph to show you different aspects of it's voice.

My Art work is created to move and change with the light and the observer.

Playing with HDR photography

2011-10-03T08:05:00.000-07:00

Mind you, in terms of increments ... I am just an amateur with HDR photography.

Honestly, I didn't know what HDR was until I starting seeing some beautiful work done by people on Google Plus.

I spent some valuable time listening to a "Hangout" with Trey Ratcliff and learned so much so fast that I thought it would be great to see what this photo filtering would do for my work.

With HDR

Without HDR ..

For me the usefulness comes in the ability of HDR to show the painting from the perspective of full light. It's very difficult to capture this when I am photographing the work in my studio because it requires the elimination of shadows. i.e. less shadows = less light.

The richness of the piece is better expressed in HDR when the observer has not actually seen the work him or herself. HDR exposes the brightest essence of the work without the uses of natural sunlight.

My art is made to work with the days light and the days night. Different aspects come out and are intended to come out at different times of the complete day.

So the HDR works as a platform for presentation with my work. This would be a plus for a Jury Slide or a blog, or social networking. What it can't show is also important. Conveying the nuances of artwork on the Web is difficult. It is a medium which is meant to be scene with the naked eye. It is never as vivid in a picture as it will be in person.

What do you think?

Should It Be Better?

2011-09-30T10:25:00.001-07:00

There are so many scrumptious post on google + plus that it is mind boggling to try and compete with those who’s visual professionalism is quite apparent.

Mine is always a bit like the French Cabin on the hillside, not quite swept, weeds not pulled; a cup of coffee sitting on a bench with the paint chipping off of it.

I have worked with this medium, Caren D’ache for over 25 years. I studied in London at the Tate Gallery and had the fortune of viewing the most famous art during the back backing journey’s across the European continent. So much incredible that it has taken many years to appreciate the glory of it all.

My vision at this point in my life is a master’s hand approach. I don’t feel I need the razzle dazzle to pitch my work.

I Paint With Pigments that look like Crayons

2011-09-29T07:51:00.001-07:00

NeocolorsII by Caren D’ache

I begin painting by choosing a bright white sheet of Archival Paper that is Hot Press which is smooth to the eye and touch unlike cold press which has bumps or texture on the surface.

The 140 pound paper weight provides enough thickness for the needed layers to begin the basic structure of the piece.

If the paper is too thin, it simply won’t absorb the pigments correctly.

Playing with the foreground and surface color adds dimension and saturation to the surface which means that the colors that come forward are a different hue then the ones that recede

I often use black and white as a sort of yin and yang struggle in my work seeking to balance the play between dark and light.

Each swirl and arc is a process of painstaking baby steps.

To understand that it has been and that it has arrived is the very nature of the creating artist.

It is not a stagnant moment from one completed piece to the next. It is

a continuous conversation.

Clowning Around …

2011-09-28T06:29:00.001-07:00

the ancient purpose of humor and what we can learn from it today.

325 × 350 - Clown Kachina with Watermelon by Hopi Neil David

In an Ancient World still alive today in Arizona, you too may find yourself rounding the corner of a Hopi Mesa Top and bumping into a person with black and white stripes and possibly all the joy in the world.

I might be lost and it will be my character that gets me found or possibly loster.

How you interact with the sacred clowns is as vital a question today as it has been as long as humans have been together.

The Sacred Clowns exist to gently nudge you towards being a better person. They exist to tease those who are being … well …. a little bad.

The journey with the embodiment of this spirit is a journey of love and humor and correcting problems that are causing a lack of harmony. They do not fool you or harm you unless you are doing the same.

The point is to gentle nourish your spirit so you begin to see the humor or point of the teasing and learn to correct your actions.

Having been in contact with this way of teaching, is to understand the true point of humor … to lovingly teach your friend, mate, or family member.

Clown Kachina by Hopi Neil David

Oh Yeas ……

News From The Couch ... Black Unicorn ...

2011-09-20T13:10:00.000-07:00

This is turning out to be quite the project and I think after a great journey last night and much nail biting ... I might have possibly gotten the work going in the right direction. Shhhh don't tell my creativity that ... the whole thing might just crash and burn. O the perils and woes of creativity. That's the news from the Couch ... How's your day going?

Put a little Pumkin in Your Life

2011-09-19T06:59:00.000-07:00

Finding the Tao

2011-09-03T15:14:00.000-07:00

I've always found that there is something to be gained by mixing tough and gentle ... mostly to show that what is the most basic need in all of us is somewhere between the light and the shadow, the soft and the hard, the gentle and the silent.

2011-09-03T15:09:00.001-07:00

“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; because there is not effort without error and shortcomings; but who does actually strive to do the deed; who knows the great enthusiasm, the great devotion, who spends himself in a worthy cause, who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement and who at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly. So that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.”
-- Theodore Roosevelt

agapistudios

2011-04-26T19:12:00.001-07:00

http://eyeworks.zzl.org/azx5.html

Posted via email from agapistudios's posterous

agapistudios

2011-04-22T00:50:00.001-07:00

http://wholesuperfruits.com/adv4.html

Posted via email from agapistudios's posterous

All the Fish in the Sea

2011-02-07T11:47:00.002-08:00

Hot Summer's Series

2011-02-07T11:47:00.000-08:00

Choices

2011-02-07T11:24:00.001-08:00

Finding Our Way

2011-02-07T11:23:00.001-08:00

News From The Couch …. GOLD

2010-12-08T09:29:00.001-08:00

A little bit of Egypt today and the reminder of the deep impact this culture has on our world. The symbols, people and art work are always a good way to explore ideas again and again.

The use of gold in a painting really dramatically changes the impact of color on the total piece and like the one above, I am really enjoying the process of learning and having fun with it’s added dimension to my world.

How’s Your Day Going?

Working Artist ….. News From The Couch

2010-11-23T10:08:00.001-08:00

I like this couch because It reminds of some of the creative sessions I had late at night in my old studio. Nothing like some friends, some conversation, a cold beer and Inspiration.

I have been working in my studio and working a full time job. So the inspiration is still there and the devotion is still there and it’s best to make the best out of the gifts your given I think. I’ve got some great work in process and I’ll be unveiling that in a month or so.

Here’s a pic of some of the work from the Fall series. Hope your day is going well.

This series was partially inspired by focus of a frenzied paced and the racing to get here and there in this world. I wanted to take some time out and paint what it felt like to rush all day long and found that there is this delicate gracefulness in the middle of chaos. A fractal; maybe, or at least my own personal version of one. What do you think? Like them together or one at a time?

Have a wonderful day!

All work is done on archival paper and can be purchased. Please contact Beth at agapistudios@hotmail.com for more information. These works all measure 14 x 17 and cost between $300 and $400. Enjoy

News From The Couch … Just One

2010-11-09T11:24:00.001-08:00

A bit of lighthearted artwork completed at the end of the summer in preparation for the fall series. This work is inspired by a bit of egypt and what else ….. FUN. Enjoy you day!

You can contact me at agapistudios@hotmail.com to purchase, this work measures 14 x 17 and is done on archival paper. The cost is $400.00

News From The Couch … What goes together

2010-10-30T09:40:00.001-07:00

I really like the continuity of these pieces and find that the fall series I created works well in sets.

So this post is dedicated to what goes together. Maybe a little like sesame street but not quite.
These are the three I liked together, have a favorite of you own, let me know.

How’s your day going?

More New Work …

2010-10-30T09:36:00.001-07:00

Fall … A season to feel the fresh breeze

2010-10-04T12:22:00.001-07:00

Technorati Tags: art,abstract,kandinsky,picasso,graffitti art,fall,seasons,news,unique,painting,art supplies,couch,funishing,decorating

New Work From My Studio … One view at a time

Fall Scenery

2010-09-28T10:19:00.000-07:00

News From The Couch ….. New Work

2010-09-27T06:45:00.001-07:00

Please contact agapistudos@hotmail.com for more information on NEW Work for fall. All work shown is 14 x 17 done on hot press archival paper.

Ahhh a little kitten sneak too

Technorati Tags: art supplies,art,studio,modern,couch,SEO,trend,daring,bright color,abstract,picasso,pollock,guggenheim,palette,destination

Friday’s Famous Artist is …. Jackson Pollock

2010-09-24T12:58:00.001-07:00

Imagine if you will a world filled with post renaissance work, Madonna and child, an eloquent Victorian lady in a scene perhaps the illuminating painting of Monet or Van Gogh to seize upon.

Fresh out of the war and into a new idea of American Importance comes Jackson Pollack, Willem de Kooning, Mark Rothko and Robert Motherwell to name a few. Flash forward here we are in American in the 1940’s fresh out of the depression to end all depressions and World War 2. Enter Peggy Guggenheim.

This is New York in 1942 where Peggy Guggenheim established the Museum of Modern Art named after her Uncle. With a thrill for the unusual and a absolute passion for abstract art, New York became the entreated hub for the New form of work called Abstract Impressionism.

“They worked large and they worked messily, recklessly. Pollock “broke the ice,” de Kooning would say.”

In fact Pollack was given supreme prestige for his work, a position garnered without the intense presence or nod from “the old school.” America/Pollack, were creating their own identity and staking a claim on art that no other place in the world could. For This Pollock earned a supreme and undeniable place in history.

The great mystery of unlocking a door no person had ever unlocked in the art world … that honor went not only to his friends but also to Pollack who seized the essence of this unique form of expression and laid it down on the canvas. In this process his friends and colleagues also imparted their own vision in the wake of knowledge unknown to artists before.

Notorious for his drinking problem and his struggle with alcoholism, Pollock crashed his car August 11, 1956 and died near his New York home.

"Abstract painting is abstract. It confronts you. There was a reviewer a while back who wrote that my pictures didn't have any beginning or any end. He didn't mean it as a compliment, but it was." Jackson Pollock

Technorati Tags: Jackson Pollock,abstract,expressionism,painting,art supplies,art,Motherwell,Picasso,famous

News From The Couch: The Master of Blue Jeans? …… A HOAX?

2010-09-20T09:47:00.001-07:00

Article found on Foxnews internet with a source of AFP may be a hoax. With no author given for the 10 supposed paintings going on exhibition in an unknown Paris show with no dates given and some strange connections to a reputable curator, Gerlinde Gruber, known for her expertise with Flemish art.

Two well known artists of that time 1664, Michael Sweerts and Giacomo Ceruti are also mentioned in the article as sharing a show with this great unknown author who has now miraculously given blue jeans a record in history that up until this article had not been found.

I am wondering if anyone can identify these paintings? Is this the work of some well done photo shopping to make linen/cotton clothing look like the famed blue jean material?

Here’s some links to the article: http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100920/lf_afp/lifestylefashionarthistory and http://www.foxnews.com/world/2010/09/20/art-historians-uncovered-origin-blue-jeans/
And the paintings mentioned …..

Hmmm … pretty faded apron made out of blue jean material.

A quote from the article:
“Ten paintings have been attributed to the Italian artist, eight of which are on show in Paris alongside works by contemporaries such as Michael Sweerts or Giacomo Ceruti, loaned from museums and private collections in Rome and Vienna.”

You know how old that jacket would have to be to look like that and it’s not even faded?
Hoax or Not? What do you think … that’s the News from the couch, How’s your day going.

Fridays Famous Artist Is …..

2010-09-17T05:28:00.001-07:00

Robert Motherwell …..

Robert Motherwell born Jan 1915 and living until July of 1991 was an American abstract expressionist painter and printmaker. He was one of the youngest of the New York School which included Jackson Pollack, Mark Rothko, Willem De Kooning and Phillip Guston.

Robert’s gift for rhetoric and easy comfortable feeling around people is credited with placing him on the map. Though others in his group who later became as famous, might not have been had Motherwell not been so engaging with groups.

His writing and three published books:

The Dada Painters and Poets, R. Motherwell, New York, 1951.
Robert Motherwell, The Collected Writings of Robert Motherwell, University of California Press, 1999.
Robert Motherwell translated to English Paul Signac's book, D'Eugène Delacroix au néo-impressionisme, 1938.

are all considered a credit to his ability to engage the average reader and not just the art critic.

To me his gift as a printmaker served him very well as a painter and he was able to glean techniquest and improvise on the canvas creating almost cinamographic images with his paint. His work is beautifully fluid and yet eloquently simple and moving at the same time.

News From The Couch … Hot Summers

2010-09-11T11:07:00.001-07:00

I had the chance to find some new and interesting techniques for my blogging program and here is one of the resulting “reflections” options with a watermark. What do you think?

I’ll be posting my new work all week. Enjoy

How’s your day going?

Friday’s Famous Artist is …. Mark Rothko

2010-08-19T05:40:00.001-07:00

Born in Russia (Sept 1903 – February 1970) his family moved to Portland, Oregon when they feared they would be drafted into the czarist Russian army.

Life was difficult as they lost a sibling on the trip over which meant all the kids had to work to help the family make ends meet. Markus was in 3rd grade at this time and was excelling so well he was moved to the 5th grade where he learned his 4th language after, Hebrew which was English.

Mark Rothko went on to study at Yale University but felt it was an elitist establishment and dropped out after his 2nd year. It was an encounter in New York some years hence where he saw a young student sketching that started his desire to become an artist which continued to the end of his life.

By this time Rothko had joined a group of other fairly well known painters and is known for painting what he himself claimed were “industrial paintings” works that hung on large walls. Rothko’s work was 8 to 10 feet long and equally as high.

The progression of a painter's work as it travels in time from point to point, will be toward clarity.. toward the elimination of all obstacles between the painter and the idea.. and the idea and the observer.. To achieve this clarity is inevitably to be understood.

Rothko suffering from severe depression took his own life in February of 1970.

To me Rothko seemed deeply affected by an intense need to arrive somewhere in his work which in some small insignificant way I can understand. There is a hidden drive in some artists to get at it. The vision can be so intense at times that portraying it is almost the hardest thing to do. As you get a bit of it, you think it’s right and then somehow in the next day or so it slips away.

I think if you spend some time deeply looking at Rothko’s work you will see much in what appears to be “nothing.” He is extremely adept at layering and shading with the colors underneath bouncing through to the foreground. His work shimmers and has a very lush quality about it. He definitely had a vision for his work and it saddens me that in the end he took his life for it.

New Work …. From The Studio

2010-08-14T09:49:00.001-07:00

Vivid Red seems to be the theme for HOT SUMMERS. I have been working on 14 x 17’s pretty much exclusively all summer. I had a need to work out a series which means for those of you who aren’t familiar with artist’s terms …. create about 20 like minded and inspired pieces. The idea of a series is to stick to the same theme, using repetitive patterns so when you look at them all together, framed and ready to rock and roll … they all look similar. All the work should be as if they belong as oppose to NOT belonging.

Anyone familiar with the jury process at an art show will know that the art work has to look cohesive. Cohesive.

My work is considered abstract and expressionist which means it is not a picture of an apple or a cat or a landscape … it’s an abstraction of ??? It’s an abstraction of an expression. What does a SCREAM feel like? What does the smell of rain look like, and so on. That’s expressionism.

That’s the News From The Studio … how’s your day going?

News From The Couch ….

2010-08-10T06:55:00.001-07:00

Weaving the Unexpected In

My work dramatically changed this week. So I stopped midway to breath and my head is trying to catch up with change. I didn’t expect the lines to shift so quickly and now that I’m here, well it’s interesting to understand whether to go forward or back.

Funny isn’t it? In life taking a left turn on a map means that you usually have to shift yourself around and ultimately aim towards the direction you had intended. Things don’t always happen like that with paintings.

Paintings are an evolution of many things, like pattern, shapes and the context they are put in. Change anything and the whole piece is completely altered.

I have in my heart; a beginning, a middle and a crescendo to my work and in the middle of doing that A LOT HAPPENS. Spatially things don’t move the way I expected or better then I expected the colors I chose change the mood for awhile, my kitten jumps up on the canvas, my kitten decides it’s time to stop painting and I don’t agree.

Day to day of life is a process of many things interwoven. Painting a canvas is no different. We have a list when we start our day of things that need to be done and how urgent that is. It is much like painting. Certain things have to happen in order for the magic to occur.

The odd and unusual can make your day heaven or hell. I have a wonderfully precocious kitten who is full of energy running around and what a delight. Until the water gets tipped over and the paint falls to the ground.

I have made changes in my directions because it’s better to have the company of the profound and lovely. That means not getting upset when things don’t go the way I thought they should. Leaves room for imagination and patience and a lot of fun.

That’s the news from the Couch ….. how’s your day going?

Friday’s Famous Artist is … Paul Klee

2010-08-06T04:58:00.001-07:00

“A line is a dot that went for a walk.” Paul Klee

Paul Klee 1879 – 1940 was born in Munchenbuchsee, Switzerland. Credited with inspiration in the impressionist and cubism movement, here again we see an artist moved by symbols and the primitive essence. Finding words and color could move together to form a thought or sentence, Klee was inspired to paint symbols as a code in his work. Each piece representing an entire experience.

He is credited with writing the book “The Thinking Eye” which details an obsession with spiritual concepts and exactness. The book is considered the most detailed manual on the science of design ever written. This book is as valuable as Da Vinci’s journal and notes on A Treatise on Painting.

Paul Klee was a man who un spun the wheel and detached from the need to create limp realistic, stilted images. He was more impressed with the impression of time upon a person’s consciousness and deformed objects and related them back to the place they “belonged.”

His works take great leaps of change throughout his career, none staying exactly in any one direction, but there is a pattern to the evolution of his work in his artist’s eye. It is color and pattern, color sometimes more important and at other times pattern or symbols more important in the progression of his work. Shapes are expressive and speak, then pattern is expressive and speaks. In yet another work, a face or a figure are expressive and speak all returning to …. and then a release from that structure.

Playful, humorous, emphatic, brilliant and majestic are all words to be found in his pieces. He is at once, demanding an attention to our human past, present and future. Time stops in one work and begins again in another. Moments are captured and released to return again. All of his work speaks the language of the human spirit.

“Beauty is as relative as light and dark. Thus, there exists no beautiful woman, none as all, because you are never certain that a still far more beautiful woman will not appear and completely shame the supposed beauty of the first.” Paul Klee

News From the Couch: Why Buy Original Artwork?

2010-08-01T12:19:00.001-07:00

Finding the right location for a picture is easy for me. I was the person who nailed a chair to the wall and put a picture on it. I was the person who put vases on the floor with real flowers in them. Luckily Gabriel (the kitten) didn’t tip it over, he’s so nice. I was the person who painted a huge mural on my staircase wall with stars and canyons and guest’s handprints all over it.

I have seen beautiful pictures in magazines of stunning living rooms and nooks and bookcases and, and and. I also didn’t have the resources and or just the product available in my area to buy. What to do? Well we punt.

I’m eclectic with an eye for the best. I love rich fabrics and good couches and quality where I can afford it. After that …. well sometimes it’s a can of paint, some ingenuity and a few “what ifs.” Decorating is an unique as you are.

Beloved pieces can make any house a home. Make sure your have some. Have an original piece of artwork on you walls, not a print, not a copy, not a piece of cardboard with color on it. An original, made by an artist. That’s what artists are there for, to give you an authentic, real piece of work to add to your home.

This piece is titled mother n child and is for sale at http://agapistudios.blogspot.com or contact the artist Beth Simpson at agapistudios@hotmail.com. THANKS!

Pillow Talk? ….

2010-07-29T09:20:00.001-07:00

The fun of Artist is the fun of decorating and utilizing all the elements gathered to rendered a perfect picture. Well with objects de Art and gifted objects and the wonder of putting things together. Whoa … how to make mismatched colors work …

Alot of beiges going on. You’d think they’d all magically go together but alas they do not. Try a a baby blue with a chocalate spiral … making things pull together even if they don’t want to.

That’s the news from the Couch. How’s your day going.

News From The Couch

2010-07-28T17:12:00.001-07:00

When The Comfort Zone Itches ….. What to do with the ho hums.

It’s been a week, of course when isn’t it sometimes? I have been in my studio where I spend probably 4 to 5 hours a day working on new work. This week has been a roller coaster of ups and downs. First I love it, then I don’t love it, then I re work it, then I wreck it and on and on and on.

I’m back in the liking it stage which is good because the other other ones are frazzling me. Now I can sit back for a minute and coast. I am working in a new direction so the tendency to fall back on comfortable is really strong. I have to remember to tell myself to go away from that for now.

My way of changing things is to watch movies I would never watch. Read a book I would never read and look at blogs I wouldn’t normally be attracted to. We all get stuck in ruts. When I see the pattern coming on it’s usually accompanied by a feeling of agitation and restlessness, like things aren’t moving quickly enough. RUT ahead. Whoa.

This time I slowed down for a change and enjoyed what was going on today, now. It’s amazing how quickly the frustration ebbs away and I can feel the breeze again. Somehow the clouds look lovely and the moment isn’t sucked up by trying to get to some place at some point in time.

Friday’s Famous Artist is Ben Eine and Ed Rusha

2010-07-25T06:46:00.001-07:00

Ahh the famous trade between president Obama and Britains Prime Minister Cameron….begins here. First British Prime Minister Cameron gives Obama a painting by a well known Pop Artist Ben Eine and a while later President Obama returns the favor by gifting another Pop Art work by Ed Rusha. Who do you like better?

Ben Eine – Graffiti Artist

An Interview with Ben Eine http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2010/jun/27/streetart

Or … Ed Rusha pop artist

An Interview with Ed Ruscha

http://www.lacma.org/art/BehindTheScenes14.aspx From the Los Angeles County Museum of Arts, Los Angeles, CA 90036

A little different then abstract art but no less important. They both follow the post modern movement of Art.

News From the Couch with coffee….

2010-07-22T07:02:00.001-07:00

I’ve tweeted, linked and blogged and it’s not even 9am yet. This is the moment when I realize it’s time to reflect a little about the weeks events.

I just finished a show outside of San Antonio that was Hot, Dusty and I was set up across from a guy selling Alligators on a stick. Not the best place for my art I am thinking then behold Sunday comes and a whole crowd of wonderful people emerge.

Never say never. That’s the news from the Couch, how’s your day going?

Friday’s Famous Artist is Kandinsky

2010-07-19T18:58:00.001-07:00

Wassily Kandinsky (Dec 1866 – Dec 1944) was a Russian painter and is credited with painting the first modern abstract works.

“In Kandinsky’s work, some characteristics are obvious while certain touches are more discrete and veiled; that is to say they reveal themselves only progressively to those who make the effort to deepen their connection with his work. He intended his forms, which he subtly harmonized and placed, to resonate with the observer's own soul.”

That is such a poignant statement to me. I have been mesmerized by Kandinsky’s works from the age of 12 and my first visit to the Art Museum in which hung 2 of his works. At that time I did not know who it was that offered such a unique view of the struggle between color, shape and definition.

That struggle I later found was with purpose. Long after I had started my own journey with paint and canvas and found myself working with many of the same ideas and concepts, I chanced upon an article about Kandinsky and was stunned to hear words put to thoughts and emotions I myself have had.

I find expressing with words what I am doing on the canvas far more difficult. For me the minute I pick up my paint brush I am in a totally in a different world. Putting words to the motions and interaction that occurs with my work has been far more difficult.

Kandinsky settled in Munich in 1886 and studied first in the private school of Anton Ažbe and then at the Academy of Fine Arts, Munich. He went back to Moscow in 1914, after World War I started. He was unsympathetic to the official theories on art in Moscow and returned to Germany in 1921. There, he taught at the Bauhaus school of art and architecture from 1922 until the Nazis closed it in 1933. He then moved to France where he lived the rest of his life, and became a French citizen in 1939. He died at Neuilly-sur-Seine in 1944.

It is amazing to me how circumstances at the time of his life greatly shaped his work and his reasoning. Kandinsky was deeply spiritual and studied symbols. He was also deeply moved by the biblical implications of the apocalypse. Many of his pieces were an attempt to translate the difficult metaphorical map that the Bible laid down.

Kandinsky is credited with providing a Rosetta stone on which the meaning of these mysterious figures is inscribed. He left a legacy and a primer of abstract art.

New Work ….. A View From The Couch

2010-07-12T16:02:00.001-07:00

100 Hearts Series. This work measures 14 x 17 and costs $400.00. Part of the proceeds from this series are donated to a charitable cause every year. Please contact me at agapistudios@hotmail.com to purchase. All work is shipped unframed and is done on 100lb archival paper. Thanks!

Scrapbook …. Leaving Comfortable

2010-07-12T07:48:00.001-07:00

This is part 1 of a series on travels to the Southwest
I packed up my duffle bag with lightweight cooking pots, sleeping bag, tent, first aid kit grabbed a flight to New Mexico and drove the rental car out of the airport parking lot and into the dessert. I went West to a Canyon that had an ancient archeological site listed in UNESCO’s World Heritage sites.

I stopped at the grocery store and piled my trunk with wood, water, lighter fluid, charcoal and packed a Styrofoam cooler with ice and food. I had no idea where I was headed other than the map and a destination.
The road into the Canyon is 30 miles so I made sure I gassed up at the only gas station around for 100 miles before heading down it.

The scene before me looked like burnt food. Big mounds of sand packed down from years of weight and weather. Black edges tinge the rocks while the sun beat down relentlessly.
I took a left onto the road and saw the Sign for Chaco Canyon Historical Park and made my way down the dusty road. Later I learned that if it does rain … the road turns into a giant clay slick and you can’t enter or leave the park for days until the road dries out again.

The long ride to the campsite only emphasizes the distance between you and the world you have now left behind. The road enveloped me like a story that takes you away from your daily reality.

The flavor of my surroundings is more of the same, I glimpse for some strong emphasis of stunning but am disappointed to see only these burnt loaves of rocks first on one side of my vehicle then rising up on the next.
Still the air crackles with mystery. I drive on leaving behind the remnants of civilization. I pass the mile marker and head to the camp site.
Before me rises a giant bluff. This is the site of the sun dagger that was this worlds way of marking the phases of the moon. The bluff is standard really to the layout of this world, nothing much but the highest point around and made of shear rock. There is I hear a toe and foot trail that winds up to the top but for the life of me I couldn’t get there and besides you can’t without a permit from the visitors center.

I pull into the campsite and see a small number of tents hugging the wall of the canyon. I drive forward pick out a spot close to a trail head and walk back to the registry box to dump my payment in the slot. I clip my tag to the wooden stick in front of my site with my name and phone number on it and the number of nights I am staying and walk to my car, back it in and start unloading my wood.
Build a Fire. It’s hotter than hell now, about 110 but in about 2 hours after the sun sets it will go down to probably 40 degrees if I am lucky. I pull out the first layer of fleece. It’s too hot to start now and I pop a baseball cap on my head as I am in the blazing sun and burn easily.

Stacking wood is an art. For those who have done it, you know. It’s an art; setting the kindling in and layering the wood so the most consumable piece starts the fire and then as it builds heat, layering it with hard wood or cedar. Makes a nice smell.

I grab the frying pan and pull out my 1/2 pound of meat, some butter and a bun and cover the whole deal with aluminum while the fire stokes up.

A moment of rest. I stare at the empty world around me. All I see is a beetle on the ground . There is a cloud every now and then and a grateful breeze intermittently. The grass is prickly but grows up in patches here and there. I glance a purple flower amongst the dry parched world and a brown chameleon darting here and there.

There are these weird cylindrical red chunks on the earth and I pick one up and stare at it. It’s a 600,000 year old root of a plant. They liter the camp site.

It’s getting dark. People are coming back to the campsite from the trails. I wave at a person across the brush, shake their hand, find out where they are from and we discuss beer and an invitation to join in with the conversation around the fire 6 spaces down.

As the sun sets behind the Canyon wall and my eyes adjust to the night, I grabbed my fleece top and gently lift it over my head. The goose bumps on my skin alert me to the drastic drop in temperature and a patch of sun burned skin.

My tent is slightly to the left of me on a flat 8 x 8 area that is edged with wood planks. The ground is not level at all so I rearrange my tent so my head will lay at the top of the slope. I checked the ground for rocks and sharper objects. There is nothing worse then rolling around on jagged rocks while your sleeping at night.
It’s a clear night and the stars are magnificent. I stay by my campsite and enjoy the peace and quiet of the evening.

Hr3AMj06OiBytYc_PeZLKnDcZ-Q.txt

Friday’s Famous Artist … Picasso

2010-07-09T08:12:00.001-07:00

“Art is a lie that makes us realize the truth.”
— Pablo Picasso ^[32]

Famous Picasso, studied and painted since his early teens. Only this commitment could net the unbelievable achievement that comes from such a span of time , October 1881 – April 1973.

From his Blue Period to the Rose Period to the African influences then to Cubism, Classicism, Surrealism, and more Picasso's work evolved into many forms. Shockingly deconstructing realism and and placing cubes and circles where hands use to be.

I was exposed to Picasso’s work at the Tate Gallery in London. The curator of the Gallery taught the classes I took. His name was Ray Bradbury and he has very definite, strict ideas that held fast to his absolute devotion to Picasso.

I had the opportunity to sit and study his work very up close. The solid nuances of his absolute fascination of woman is strikingly apparent when one is able to view multiple instances. His close friend Brach, who was also his student,

Not mentioned but very important is Picasso’s many relationship with artists he influenced and movements such as “DaDa” art with the likes of Georges Braque.

Picasso also like many artists of that time created commissioned sculptures …

Picasso was well know for his many relationships, marriages, break ups, and was strongly influenced by the women in his life … who it appears may have shaped the many directions of his art and career.

Picasso is timeless and timely to this day his influence is felt.

The Widget Brain Meets the Art Brain

2010-07-08T13:16:00.001-07:00

Ok so here I am at my desk staring at the maze of statistics for my blog. My heart rate is going up and I feel this incredible urge to distract myself as if leaving the computer will somehow make all the information appear.

Imbedding codes is as far as I am concerned a way of layering paint on the canvas which takes years and years of practice. NO

Imbedded codes are the objects you need to place in your objects to make other objects work. YES

Right. Brain. Left. Color. Right. Correct. Left. A Little Darker. No you need to create your tags and then put them in a cloud.

K Done … Thanks. Do I pass?

Famous Abstract ARtists ……

2010-07-02T05:12:00.001-07:00

Willem De Kooning (1904-1997) a Dutch American ARtist. Here he is immortalized for all time. Another Abstract artist who believed that he was an “individualist” as opposed to abstractionist . He was a hard drinking man who had notorious escapades with woman. The hallmark of de Kooning's style was an emphasis on complex figure ground ambiguity. Background figures would overlap other figures causing them to appear in the foreground, which in turn might be overlapped by dripping lines of paint thus positioning the area into the background.

“The attitude that nature is chaotic and that the artist puts order into it is a very absurd point of view, I think. All that we can hope for is to put some order into ourselves.” De Kooning

Hot Summers

2010-07-01T03:02:00.001-07:00

<a href="http://topartistsdirectory.blogspot.com"><img border="0" alt="Top Artists' Directory"

It’s Hot/Hot Summer’s series measures 22 x 30 and costs $1200.00. Please contact agapistudios@hotmail.com to purchase. All work is shipped unframed and is done on 300lb archival paper. Thanks.

Famous Abstract Artists … Miro

2010-06-29T07:53:00.001-07:00

All Irrelevant Comments Thread on BlogCatelog

2010-06-28T20:45:00.001-07:00

Couch, Painting, Thread … Enjoy .. A lot of cool folks at www.Blogcatelog.com

http://www.blogcatalog.com/discuss/entry/all-irrelevant-comments

http://agapistudios1111.blogspot.com/y_key_124c1eee21bca9cc.html.

Burnt Spiral is 11 x 14 and costs $300.00 To purchase this piece please contact agapistudios@hotmail.com. All work is shipped unframed is done on 300lb archival paper. Thanks

Endless Days of Fun

2010-06-28T13:39:00.001-07:00

Being an artist is a full time job. Having been doing it now for 20 years has created some of the most interesting moments with myself. For one … I always give my best to my art. Always … I don’t put a bunch of villains or shadows in my work because I feel that life is given with the best hope of success. I believe that If my work hangs in a person’s house I don’t want negative symbols floating around. So I do my research. I study the ancient purpose of them and their use. I find a lot to love about geometry and it’s perfection.

I love nature. Long walks, the beach, the warm days and the starry nights. A patch of sunflowers in an open field have a million poems waiting to be written. A smiling child or a laughing couple … or friends enjoying themselves.

There are moments of introspection … that society doesn’t have maps for. Those moments may be strange and scary. Having exposed myself to passion has allowed a lot of un masking. I often find that this is a great teacher in my life. If I have the space to share a “real” side … it’s as abundant as the fields and the starry nights and the tides of the ocean. Aren’t we all a bit like that? I think so …..

It's Sunday ... Funday ....

2010-06-27T10:39:00.000-07:00

google-site-verification: googledf8755bede691646.html

Saturday …

2010-06-26T08:11:00.001-07:00

Up at the ungodessly hour of 4am this morning. My cat decided to do a pounce on my face and just really kept going until I woke up. Cup of coffee and time to work on my next painting. I decided to maintain the same structure in my work for 20 pieces. Not changing my direction has been a wonderful experience which is entirely exasperating, daunting and down right frustrating. Yesssss and no. I have just this day begun to see the good yes. A lot of emotions have come out … and that’s not always good for an artist. Too much can overwhelm and defeat. Keeping things on task has helped and defeats. Twenty years of this process and I know a good bit of myself and yet these other parts I have shielded myself from the ooze. I’m a pragmatist. What gets in the way of success isn’t going to happen. But giving myself the time to work on this “dark matter” and not believing I could/can manage it has helped me through not always an entirely pleasant experience. I have managed to transform some of it to the better and understand myself which is good for me and better for my artwork. I think it’s hard to be innocent in a predatory world. Better still that the predatory finds a different path.

Color Test ……

2010-06-25T06:00:00.001-07:00

Every Friday I thought I would wrap up the long hot week with a color and well maybe a message. If you need to check your monitor … the color of this sign is BRIGHT YELLOW …. deffinately in the really flippin yellow category. No if and’s or butts about it.. It’s yellow. Any questions?

Got a couch ….. Need a Painting?

2010-06-25T05:20:00.001-07:00

“Easter Sunday” 22 x 30 and is $1,200 You can contact me at agapistudios@hotmail.com to purchase. All work is shipped unframed and is done on 300lb archival paper. Thanks

Two halves are better than ……

2010-06-23T11:47:00.001-07:00

“Little Heaven is 5 x 7 and costs $100.00. You can contact me at agapistudios@hotmail.com to purchase. All work is done on 300lb archival paper and is shipped unframed.

It’s Hot and the Paint is Melting

2010-06-23T10:07:00.001-07:00

“Little Heaven” is 5 x 7 and costs $100.00. You can contact me at agapistudios@hotmail.com to purchase. All work is done on 300lb archival paper and is shipped unframed. Thanks

New Work .. for a New Couch …. hmmm

2010-06-20T09:02:00.001-07:00

Couch, Space, Paint

Work in Progress are 5 x 7’s. You can contact me at agapistudios@hotmail.com to purchase. To view a slide show of my portfolio click on the Flikr link on the upper right side of this page or leave your email address and you’ll get all of my posts as they arrive. Yippy

Got a Couch ….. Get Some Art

2010-06-18T15:30:00.001-07:00

These works “Little Spirals” are 5 x 7 and cost $100.00 each. You can contact me at agapistudios@hotmail.com to purchase. All work is done on 300lb archival paper and are shipped unframed.

Got a Couch …. Get Some Art

2010-06-16T13:19:00.001-07:00

Eye of Gold is 11 x 14 and costs $200.00. You can contact me at agapistudios@hotmail.com to purchase. All work is done on archival 300lb paper and is shipped unframed. Thanks

Got a Couch … Need a Painting?

2010-06-15T06:46:00.001-07:00

“Dancing Chaos” is 22 x 30 and costs $1200.00. You can contact me at agapistudios@hotmail.com to purchase. All work is done on 300lb archival paper and is shipped unframed. Thanks

Got a couch ….. Need a Painting?

2010-06-14T08:14:00.001-07:00

Swirls and Cosmos and Shapes

2010-06-11T16:46:00.000-07:00

Need Road Trips for Inspiration ...

2010-06-11T16:33:00.000-07:00

U2 - One - Anton Corbjin Version

2010-06-10T05:49:00.000-07:00

haha …

2010-05-23T10:38:00.001-07:00

The Spirit of Color

2010-05-19T06:34:00.001-07:00

http://www.facebook.com/pages/AGAPI-Studios/314796320749?ref=mf

2010-05-16T16:56:00.001-07:00

Art with a Destination

2010-05-11T09:10:00.001-07:00

Ezekiel ..Gabriel … Moses … Budda … Pumkin

2010-05-11T08:32:00.001-07:00

New Work ....

2010-04-10T18:07:00.000-07:00

Another Blogger's Day

2010-03-30T18:07:00.000-07:00

Been busy working on my blog for you. I am not the best at this I admit it, but many of the Widgets and Gadgets Beckon you to answer. I'm still playing around with the format and will shorten and lengther the press as needed. Please comment if you feel something is not right. Comments help and your opinion counts. So thanks in advance.

2010-03-16T17:08:00.001-07:00

I went back in time today ... what a joy ... staring at my hand painted plate done by my grandmother more than 100 years ago. She was French/German from Alsace Lorraine. Its a beautiful plate and as I was rambling down my mega abstract road ... something stopped me and called me back to the first sketches I ever did. So this piece you see is really an ode to my heritage and my grandmother and the great gift she left me.

Surfing the Net Among Other Things

2010-03-16T17:00:00.000-07:00

Abstract

2010-03-11T08:36:00.001-08:00

Abstraction indicates a departure from reality in depiction of imagery in art. This departure from accurate representation can be only slight, or it can be partial, or it can be complete. Abstraction exists along a continuum. Even art that aims for verisimilitude of the highest degree can be said to be abstract, at least theoretically, since perfect representation is likely to be exceedingly elusive. Artwork which takes liberties, altering for instance color and form in ways that are conspicuous, can be said to be partially abstract. Total abstraction bears no trace of any reference to anything recognizable.

The breeze that floated in ....

2010-03-07T10:34:00.000-08:00

It's a beautiful day, the air is a little cool but the temp is about 60 something and as I stand working on a painting I feel this wonderful breeze float through the door and the rustle of nature outside. It's intoxicating really and a powerful bit of mercy on my exacting canvas. It's nice to know that things come along to help you out. Its making what might otherwise be a tedious task ..... ohhhhhhhhhhh sooooooo wonderful. Thanks for listening and enjoy your day

Art is Good for the Eye and good for the Soul

2010-03-06T15:57:00.000-08:00

2010-03-03T14:45:00.001-08:00

art is ART is ArT