Manly Art?

I don't discuss art often here because anyone who knows me knows that I'm failry ignorant on the subject. Those that have read this blog for a while may recall my ramblings about a couple of members of the Group of Seven in December of 2009. Now before everyone starts reading this and saying, "that Alan is such an ass-hat" just hold off a minute. My son has given me permission to blog about his recent creations and knows that I won't cross the line. Well, not too much...

Sean is not an artistic person. I don't think that's a secret to anyone that knows him. Through grade school, the most artistic tendencies he displayed were stick men and colouring books and crayons (and he didn't even stay within the lines).This obviously comes from me as I haven't an artistic bone in my body. I can appreciate art, but making it is another matter.

The boy preferred to spend his time taking things apart to see how they worked...small appliances, a television, a microwave...nothing was immune to his dissection. Thankfully all of these items were past their prime because he didn't have a clue how to put them back together.

You can imagine my surprise a few weeks ago when he brought home a sculpted....er, large purple object (shown above) from his 9th grade art class at school. He has named it 'The Gilded Demon' because he figured it "looked sort of royal". I am encouraging him to box it up and FedEx it to William and Kate in the UK to help celebrate their nuptials this April. I think he wants to keep it, though, on account of the long hours fashioning it into just the right shape with his blistered fingers. The GD is a wire frame with panty hose stretched over it and painted. I didn't ask where the hosiery in question came from...sometimes a guy's got to have his secrets.

Just when we thought the 'artistic well' was tapped dry Sean brought home this wooden, umm...object...home from school. It was created in the wood working shop. It is made of wood glued together and cut and sanded to the shape shown above. "Nice Arrow," I said. "It's not an arrow," he replied with annoyance in his voice. He looked at me like I had sprouted another head. I was nervous now, trying to avoid bringing up the symbolic shape of the object. "It's a car," he said and pointed out the drill holes in the sides of the shaft for a future axle. "Very nice," I said, smiling and nodding. Drilled into the square end is a large hole, apparently for a future CO2 canister. Just guessing here, but if Sean has a French project soon he'll probably create a scale model of the Eiffel Tower. And in science he'll probably create a replica of the V2 rocket...

We've probably got nobody to blame but ourselves for the unique shape of the boy's artistic creations. Perhaps it was all the trips to Toronto we took him on as a small child. What's the first landmark you can see towering over the city for miles before arriving there? Of course...it's the CN Tower, piercing the brown-ish air of the Toronto skyline. Don't get me wrong, we're all for his creative endeavours...especially if he can off of them in the future. Even as I am typing this I can hear him in the living room listening to bagpipe music on YouTube. He'll be 15 next week and, if I may use a cliche, definitely walks to the beat of his own drummer. I'm OK with whatever he does down the road. I'll be behind it 100% as long as it's a) legal b) he can live off of it, and c) it gets him out of our basement and into his own place.

Butt, is it Art?

Finally, the blog post that Natalie Sin has waited for months to read (personally, I think she has been a bad influence on me). If you don't believe me, check out her blog here.


Note: Tacky story warning...possible naked buttocks [spoken in a Forrest Gump voice].

I hope that those of you who have attended my blog for a while will understand that after seeing this article in today's news...I could not leave it alone. The story begs for comment. It caught my attention right away (any time I see the word "nude" in a headline, my attention is piqued) and seemed like a story to sink my teeth into.

American photographer Spencer Tunick had about 5200 volunteers pose naked today, embracing one another on the steps of the Sydney Opera House. His photograph is to be called "The Base" and he notes that "In a way, I'm making a base for the structure, a base for the architecture- and by combining straight and gay and lesbian people I'm weaving the different sexes and society together to form this wonderful fabric that holds up this gorgeous building."

Tunick has produced nearly 100 of these works around the world and 19 year old student Art Rush was thrilled to participate. "I'll never get a chance to do this again; it's not worth being inhibited. It doesn't feel sexual, it just feels tribal, a gathering of humanity."

If I had paid more attention in high school art class I could have had a gig like this. Thousands of naked people, in warm, exotic locations, bending and posing on my command (That last line was for Natalie). I was thinking that there's no way the guy would ever come to Canada, where his models would have body parts turn blue, crystallize and drop off. But then, I discovered he had done a shoot in Montreal, in La Belle Province. They are a bit more cosmopolitan there.


The photo that came with the story was very tiny and gave a view of the Sydney Opera House with piles of bodies clustered together. I wanted a picture that would speak volumes. You will see to the left a picture from a previous session of his in Melbourne, Australia in 2001. I'm thinking if you click on the image it will give you a larger, clearer view of tanned bodies and pale bottoms (just thought that Karen would like to know that). Hmm, perhaps that blond haired woman on the bottom right could be Danielle...or the dark haired bloke low in the center, with the finely sculpted cricketers body, could be BT? Just a thought.

*sighs to self* Guess that means I'll have to apologise to my Ozzy friends next post...

Goodbye Old Man, Hello Baby!

I thought that I would refer to my post from a few days ago regarding art and my total lack of skill or even having a thimble-full of knowledge of anything resembling art. Years ago Bob Ross's program The Joy of Painting was very popular on the PBS stations (who knows, perhaps he still

lives on in syndication). I have, however, painted my share of door and window trims with a brush about the size of what he holds in his hand...my meagre contribution to the arts. And to answer your question. No. I have never had a 'fro' like Mr. Ross. Back in the day, I did have hair down past my shoulders but never permish.

The year is winding up and it seems somewhat appropriate to finish the year with my 100th post (not that I pay attention to milestones...) I have little to report regarding my writing progress for the year. This has been a time of learning about online networking and the places for one to go to peddle their stories. I started this blog in May of this year and have connected with many fantastic and knowledgeable writers with big hearts. I had some early success with a couple of short stories at 'those sites' that publish pretty much everything that appears in their in boxes.

My goal for 2010 is to focus more on a regular schedule of writing in order to crank out more stories (which, of course, will in the long run make me a better writer). I was pleased to have a flash story accepted at 52 Stitches as part of their 2010 line up. This was my first acceptance at a publication that actually pays its writers. This year I shall try to send out more stories to similar paying markets, some of which turned me down this year.

I shall keep practicing and continue to drink in knowledge of 'the craft'. I wish all of you success in your continuing endeavours for the upcoming year and look forward to reading your stories.

Thanks for all you kind words and support this year. I send a toast in your general direction!

Cheers, Alan

In The Eye of the Beholder

Yet again, this post may be sub-titled "aimless rambling of that guy on the east coast" or "Al should stay away from the hard stuff".

About a month ago there was a national news story here about an oil painting--correction, an oil sketch--that sold in auction for about $3.5 million Canadian. You can link to the full CBC story here or you can go to the auction house information about the paintings for sale here. The sketch in question was called "The Old Stump, Lake Superior" by Group of Seven Artist Lawren Harris (shown above). They were a group of Canadian landscape artists, primarily from the 1920's, heavily influenced by European Impressionism that held a strong desire to depict nature in their own unique way.

I will be up front about my total lack of background in art. If my knowledge could be measured, it would half-fill a shot glass and I would spill the contents down the front of myself trying to drink it. One only has to look at the stick-men drawings my son does by way of art at school to know what side of the family his abilities came from. I was trained as a draftsman in school, back in the days when pencils, rulers and drafting boards were used. I find comfort in the linear and orderly words and lines on the page. I was dragged, kicking and screaming, into the foreign world of technology and AutoCad. Art is even more abstract and foreign to me.

The story caught my eye because of Lawren Harris. Many years ago, while living in London, Ontario, I spent a weekend in Toronto and took a side trip north to the village of Kleinburg. There you will find the McMichael Canadian Art Collection that displays contemporary art, First Nations Art, Inuit Art and most of the works of the Group of Seven. If you find yourself about the Toronto area, I recommend a side trip to the McMichael.

Anyhow...at the McMichael I saw Mt. Lefroy, by Lawren Harris and was mesmerized by it (shown right). My lack of art education shows when I can't even explain why I liked it so much...I just 'did'. I suppose that if I had a few million of disposable income lying about I may be inclined to buy that piece of art, or something similar by Harris.

I recall a story a few years back about the federal government buying a painting from a Canadian artist for a large sum of money. That's fine, I suppose, except that it was three vertical stripes. I wish that I could remember the name of the artist or painting and I would attach it here. The three stripes thing just doesn't inspire me the way that mountain does. Then again, I guess that it's up to a person's individual tastes.

I know that a couple of you that read my blog have some art training and are much better qualified to discuss a topic like this. What do all of you consider art? Have you a favourite?