Body in Bronze: "El Tiempo No Se Detiene" by Lorenzo Quinn

Today I received a box from Rafart Gallery. It contained "El Tiempo No Se Detiene" by Lorenzo Quinn, and that alone would have been enough to satisfy me, but it also came with a very nice receipt and book. Not a booklet but an actual hardcover book, and the book came with a DVD, too! The book seemed more so a gift than a catalog. Altogether, it made quite a pleasant surprise... The piece itself, translated as "El Temps No Es Deté" or "You Can't Stop Time, was two bronze hands coming together along their sides, open and palms facing up, one left, one right, and both distinct. The sculpture extended a bit up the forearms and the forearms were capped off with flat, gold-colored, metallic ends. About 5 1/2 lbs, and I'd say slightly smaller than life-size. Examining the piece, we see the texturing he likes to use. It not smooth and sleek like some artists. No, instead, he builds more character with his texturing, more life... Included with the packaging was the sand to be added to the hands in order to get the full effect. The book that was included contained a picture of it with the sand as does a book I purchased on Lorenzo Quinn. Based on the pictures, it appears to be a very pale and soft sand of just a single shade. Perhaps the sand has to be so fine in order to escape the narrow funnel of an hourglass. In the pictures, the sand is both on the hands and below, having slipped right through, reaffirming the as always straightforward message behind the piece, behind its title... The book I purchased has many opaque pages highlighting his great works but it contains impressive translucent pages of his artwork as well. The book also shows pictures of his public works and pieces from his private collection.

"Five Engineers"

I was looking at art today when I saw a picture titled "Five Engineers" (Concept in Progress). It was supposed to have the chief engineer from each Star Trek series: The Original Series, The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager, and Enterprise in that exact order. This places the character of Miles Edward O'Brien right in the middle, and they didn't even have him in a DS9 uniform, he was still in his TNG uniform. How is he supposed to be accurately portraying an engineer from the DS9 series while they use a picture from a preceding series?

World's Smallest Bank Teller or Missing ATM Test Scenario?

This weekend being the last weekend of the month, I set out to pay off all my monthly bills like I usually do, one of them being my cell phone bill. For whatever reason, the card swiper wasn't working, so I began my journey to the nearest ATM, towing return and pay in cash.

The closest ATM for my bank was a standalone unit located at the university down the street. As I proceeded to use the interface, the display threw as many offers and advertisements onto the screen as it felt I had the patience to put up with and I did my very best to ignore them all but the sentence, "Ask inside" managed to catch my eye. "Ask inside"? Did the bank stuff a teller inside this machine? Did they want me to break into it and talk to somebody? It was obvious that the answer to both of these questions was, "No," but an assumption about the location was made when a more appropriate message would have been, "Ask your local branch."

Dumbest Scientists Ever

In the movie, "If Looks Could Kill," one of the devices developed by British Intelligence is explosive chewing gum. It is explained that the gum must be chewed and then combined with the silver wrapper. Okay, wel what if you have silver fillings in your teeth? What then!?! What then!!!

Body in Bronze: "Adam's Arm" by Frederick Hart

Today I received an artist's proof of "Adam's Arm," a bronze sculpture by Frederick Hart. I love the detail in the arm, the veins bulging out, the muscles stretched and tense. It's no wonder some people compare it to the right arm of Michelangelo's "David". The space between each finger just leaves more room for Hart to show off the great amount of detail work he puts into his pieces.

Call me old-fashioned, but I like Hart's beliefs that artists should return to the themes and passions of artwork from the past, a style that sometimes appears to be dying out. I don't feel like the art of the past is being phased out, I just feel that so many more forms of art are being integrated into our society but that there will always be room for each of them, even if they are not all equally appreciated.

The piece is what I would consider to be life-size; it's larger than my own, but I'm not a very big guy to begin with so there! Since it was from a casting of the right arm of his "Adam" sculpture, you can really only appreciate the piece from the front of the side, not really from the back at all unless you were truly all that interested in the inscription around the back of the base, so I wouldn't recommend using this as the center piece in a room unless placed on a pedestal that automatically rotates.

One question I've been asked about the piece is "How much does it weigh?" About 18 lbs, that's how much! :D

If you like books, you can find the piece in "Frederick Hart: The Complete Works".

Body in Bronze: "The Thinker" by Holly Van Hart

I am now the original owner of "The Thinker" by Holly Van Hart, purchased from her in person. :)

It is an oil painting from Van Hart's award-winning Rodin series. The colors she used give the statue more of a bronze hue whereas in person the sculpture looks more black. I feel like her use of such browns and the occasional light blue really helped to bring out the details of Auguste Rodin's "Le Penseur". The angle she painted it from gives the audience the sense of being physically close to the piece but that the figure is too lost in his thoughts to even notice. A person admiring this piece can feel the propinquity of the statue while, at the same time, the artist has preserved the distance of the man whose mind appears to be elsewhere. An excellent contrast and a great use of perspective that emphasizes the emotions behind Rodin's work.

http://www.hollyvanhart.com/1/details/TheThinker_OilPainting_by_HollyVanHart_30x24.htm

Justifiable Spending: Art

Art, a subject not everybody appreciates or understands. You might be deep in thought when somebody interrupts with "How is that art?" I feel like there are always two parts to a piece of art that make it valuable: the piece itself and what it invokes in you. The price of artwork may vary, increasing over time, but the actual value, that is variable. It may appeal to your current mood and make a lasting impression, but it can also be like going to the grocery store when you're hungry: you're going to buy your food differently than if you weren't. Some people purchase art because they like it and others do so as an investment. If have recently decided to do so for BOTH reasons. Moreso as a hobby that has the potential of making me a reasonable profit in the future. I mean, if your typical collector keeps a piece for an average of 27 to 30 years, I might as well buy something that I will be able to enjoy for such an extended period of time (or longer)! I have an eclectic taste for art, but I have decided to keep my collection along the lines of a specific theme which I am quite pleased with. I call it 'Body in Bronze'. Bronze just seems so solid and ageless, preserving, and the human body is something I'm sure we all can relate to. These impressions of the human body can cause admiration or even sympathy amongst a full spectrum of reactions. Now that's what I call talent! That's what I call communication! These pieces speak to us without even using words! They can be beyond words! It's like visual, tangible, three-dimensional, alingual POETRY sometimes. Needless to say, I'm very much so looking forward to this new beginning for me...