Yay!

Andy Warhol may have his 15 minutes--I got a whole day--lol! ;-)

Tribute to Vincent Van Gogh

I've always liked Vincent Van Gogh and thought this was a wonderful way to experience his work. If you want to know more, scroll down toward the bottom of my link section and visit Katey of Blue-Eyed Duck for insight into Vincent's life and death. --L

Flickr & other new things

I've finally taken the time to load a few photos to my Flickr account. No pics of art--those are in my ZNE gallery; I have updated that space recently, too. So, if you'd like to see either, your best bet is to use the links at the top of my link section because I'm still working on getting them to work in my text. ;-)

And thanks to Carol C. (also in my links) for the help on how to create a banner for my blog. I was able to get that to work today. So there is hope for my tech savvy...

How unusual am I? How unusual are you?

I've been tagged to share seven things about me--unusual things, habitual things, or things no-one else knows. After that I'll tag seven more people. So, here goes:

1. I find 4-leaf clovers all the time, anywhere there is clover. But I believe in God, not luck.

2. I once taught short story writing in a prison. The class ended after only about five sessions when a couple of my students were released and my star student was thrown into lockup (the others just quit coming). When I quit, the volunteer coordinator told me that I had lasted longer than the poetry teacher!

3. I'm a Tintin fan. My grandma brought me "The Black Island" from Martinique when I was quite young, but it was in French, so I couldn't read it until my mom found an English copy when I was in the fourth grade.

4. I really detest most chick flicks. That goes for chick fiction, too. I'm not terribly sentimental. Give me "Lord of the Rings" anyday--I much prefer adventure and action.


5. I should be a member of the Society for Putting Things on Top of Other Things.
(Yes, I used to watch Monty Python, but don't much anymore.) My office is a constant battle against large piles of things, although my fabrics are all filed by color and my buttons are sorted by color and my beads are sorted by color, my spices are sorted by color--okay, not really, but I am noticing a pattern here.



6. I've always wanted to go to England and used to watch soccer just to hear the accent (so I could practice my own) when I was a kid. Instead I've been to Canada, eh.

7. I still have my Viewmaster and all my disks of pictures, as well as my Breyer horse collection. I rarely throw anything away--see #5. ;-)

Hmm, unusual enough? Now I have to tag seven other people to share seven random facts, sooo, how about:
Amber at http://altered-art-by-amber.blogspot.com
Dianne at http://www.magpiesenvy.blogspot.com
Becky at http://www.bees-in-my-bonnet.blogspot.com
Carol C. at http://carolclasper.blogspot.com
Jenny at http://jennysaustralianneedleart.blogspot.com
Nola at http://inchtextiles.blogspot.com
and Steve at http://www.orangefrog76.blogspot.com

I still don't know how to get the links to show up. Help, anyone? I try the little link thingy at the top of the posting page and it just doesn't work, so you'll have to copy and paste to your browser to visit my friends' pages. It just seems so, so, low tech--the horror!

Women In Art

I found this YouTube video on a friend's blog today and thought I would share it. I love the images and how they merge. And after intensely studying my art history for the last eight months I even recognize a number of them. Woohoo! See if you recognize any of them.

Art History--test your knowledge

Now that school is finally out I have a little time and hope to update with some of my art form this spring sometime soon. In the meantime, here's another art challenge!

But first, the answer to the last one. The image was "The Presentation in the Temple" by Ambrogio Lorenzetti from 1342. Originally part of an altarpiece (many were cut apart and sold in pieces through the centuries), this painting is considered one of the first accurate and realistic portrayals of an interior space since Roman times. Quite beautiful. Ambrogio painted the famous frescoes of the Allegory of Good and Bad Government in the Palazzo Pubblico in Siena (the town of which was the artistic rival of Florence for a time). His brother Pietro was also an artist who painted some of the frescoes in the lower section of San Francesco in Assisi. Both brothers died during the plague of 1348.

Now, on to the new. This time I am presenting a famous double portrait from the Northern Renaissance. The men pictured were friends, from France. One was sent as an ambassador to London and his friend, the bishop in the picture, was visiting London. The items on the table each represent different aspects of the two men's lives. I'd love to hear your thoughts on what the items mean, but what I really want to know is what is that strange object in the lower foreground of the painting and why is it there? Happy hunting.

Woohoo!

School's out for the summer! I almost can't believe it. I'm crashing now--wait I have training next week. Still, that's easier than the last two weeks. Wowza yowza!