ART/FILM/VIFF: Loving Vincent

I put my heart and my soul into my work, and have lost my mind in the process.

This anticipated animated film about Vincent Van Gogh was a real story telling treat. What’s so amazing about this film is that it is entirely hand painted with Van Gogh’s paintings serving as the backdrop for each frame. In fact, it is the very first fully painted feature which took seven years to complete. It’s visually astonishing!

The story takes place in the French village of Arles (a place I visited with my husband where we sat in the famous Terrasse du café le soir. Yes; that one!

The son of a local postmaster goes around hunting for clues as to why the painter took his own life. There were conflicting reports as to whether he actually committed suicide. The question is really why Vincent went from a complacent quiet man to someone who would take his own life in a matter of weeks. A look into a complicated, talented but tortured soul. Sad that in his lifetime he sold only one of his fine works. Can you imagine?

He saw beauty in the tiniest of objects and in things that most people would deem insignificant. A man of true genius.

I see paintings or drawings in the poorest cottages, in the dirtiest corners. And my mind is driven towards these things with an irresistible momentum.”

I dream of painting and then I paint my dream – Vincent Van Gogh

Your dream came true, it’s just too bad that you were not around to realize it.

How people all around the world admire your work and can only dream of owning a piece of you!

Please visit: https://www.viff.org to find out more and how to purchase tickets. The Film Fest runs until October 13th

Georgia O’Keeffe: Living Modern

Speaking of Inspiring Women…

O’Keeffe in a 1929 gelatin silver print by her husband. Credit ALFRED STIEGLITZ; National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., Alfred Stieglitz Collection

You’ve got to admire how O’Keeffe was the master of her own public persona at a time when there was no social media. She told photographers how to “shoot her”, not the other way around.

A refreshing new exhibition at the Brooklyn Museum (on until July 23, 2017) for the first time combines O’Keeffe’s art and her wardrobe with photographic portraits. “Georgia O’Keeffe: Living Modern”

The painter of simplified images of enlarged flowers, Lake George tree trunks and New Mexico’s terra-cotta hills applied her meticulous sense of austerity and detail to every garment she owned. Some she designed and sewed herself, others she had custom made, and still others she bought off the rack or in antique shops (Japanese kimonos, for example).

O’Keeffe’s self-created image shaped her work’s accessibility, while at the same time shielding her privacy. This unity is revealed in the links drawn among some 50 works of art and 50 garments or ensembles, accessories included, and nearly 100 photographs of the artist taken by 23 photographers, from Ansel Adams and Cecil Beaton to Andy Warhol and Bruce Weber.

The greatest number of these images were taken by O’Keeffe’s husband, the eminent photographer and gallerist Alfred Stieglitz, often considered her domineering mentor, whom she met in 1916, began living with in 1918 and married in 1924.

For years, O’Keeffe limited her wardrobe to mainly black and/or white, until the Southwest loosened her color sense a bit and also introduced her to denim and jeans. She favored an androgynous look, frequenting the same New York men’s tailor — Knize — (as did Marlene Dietrich), liked Ferragamo flats and wore little jewelry. A rare favorite, visible in many photographs, was a brass brooch made for her by Alexander Calder. It represents her initials, OK, with ancient rock-painting complexity, and she wore it vertically to make it more abstract. In later years, she had it copied in silver, because she thought brass didn’t look good with her white hair.

Source: NY Times

https://www.brooklynmuseum.org/

Art & Culture

Arts/Crafts: La Quinta Arts Festival

It’s the whole package!This has to be the most remarkable outdoor arts festival I’ve ever been to. Certainly the largest.

what can be nicer than art in a stunning landscape with music, food & friendship. — **what can be nicer than viewing art in a stunning landscape with good music, food & friendship?**

art20 No wonder it has been ranked #1 in the Nation for many years.

This is the 35^th year the Annual La Quinta Arts Festival has returned to the visually stunning setting of La Quinta’s Civic Center Campus in the greater Palm Springs area. art13

As one of the Coachella Valley’s premier attractions, the award winning event attracts art patrons and tourists from across the nation. The festival raises funds for the Foundation’s non-profit mission of promoting & cultivating the arts. art15 art10

The world class artists have traveled from all over to present the very finest in contemporary artwork. Only 220 gifted artists and crafters are chosen from over 1,200 applicants who vie for the opportunity to showcase their incomparable works of art in the magnificent outdoor gallery. art16 art21

Live music, entertainment, delicious food (Ruth’s Chris Steak House had a kiosk with filet steak sandwiches & champagne), wine and beer complement the experience. A few examples on this page. art18 art19

art6 images: d. king

Vancouver designer and textile artist Joanna Staniszkis (r) & Joanne wear her beautiful creations. — Vancouver designer and textile artist Joanna Staniszkis (r) & Joanne wear her ethereal creations.

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Art & Culture

Art/Nature: DesertX

Well the thing is, art can be found everywhere, even in the desert. And it makes perfect sense; beauty with beauty. whitewater3

whitewater1

I realized that while taking a nature walk with the dogs right after a picnic. The location being Whitewater Preserve about 20 minutes northwest of Palm Springs. An absolutely stunning setting of over 2,000 acres of pristine desert with hiking trails and wildlife. From a distance I came across what looked like a birding roost, and on closer inspection found out it was made from sand bags. It’s actually an art piece. built to replicate how pigeons in Israel are put to roost. But it’s hard to keep up with everything that’s going on around town especially now, so I had to find out *more.
whitewater5 whitewater6

*From Feb. 25 through April 30, 2017, the Coachella Valley and its desert landscape will become the canvas for a curated exhibition of site-specific work by established and emerging artists, whose projects will amplify and articulate global and local issues that may range from climate change to starry skies, from tribal culture and immigration to tourism, gaming, and golf. The artworks, in various indoor and outdoor locations will be available for free and will offer visitors a way to see the valley and reflect on serious and playful issues through the lens of the participating artists’ creativity and work.

You never know what you will encounter while out on a simple walk

CHECK out this short VIDEO:

https://www.desertx.org/about-us/

You never know what you will encounter while out on a simple drive

On the drive to the nature preserve you will come across hundreds on windmills 20170224_140637 The windmills are there for power generation with renewable energy. However I hate them for the fact that the valley is infamous for the number of birds that are killed because of them.

Photos: d. king

Art & Culture

Old Las Palmas – a peek behind the hedges

An intimate glimpse into old Palm Springs

Thanks to a friend of mine who lives in Old Las Palmas, I had the privilege of visiting eight outstanding homes & gardens as part of Modernism week. This is the first time that these unique homes have been opened to the public. tour18 tour19
tour8 The little enclave known as Old Las Palmas has always been recognized as one of the premier neighborhoods in Palm Springs and many of the older estates and homes have been updated and enhanced over the years. As we tiptoed through ~~the tulips~~ Mary Pickford’s estate, the home of Mary Martin, a home Howard Hughes had built for himself (a long time residence of film director Howard Hawks) Liberace’s house and others, we wore little slippers to cover our shoes from tracking dirt through the houses. Each home was as interesting and magnificent as the next. Of course I sneaked in a few selfies!

A little info about a lotta glamour

Old Las Palmas boasts the largest number of celebrity homes in Palm Springs, dating back to the mid-1920’s. Some of the well-known celebrities who have lived here include Elizabeth Taylor and Michael Todd, Liberace, Mary Martin, Goldie Hawn & Kurt Russell, Lily Tomlin, Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz, Debbie Reynolds, Kirk Douglas, Edgar Bergen, Samuel Goldwyn, Edward G. Robinson, Clarke Gable, Gene Autry, George Hamilton, Harold Robbins, George Randolph Hearst, Ronald and Nancy Reagon and countless others. The many, world-renowned architects who have built homes for their clients here include William Krisel, Cliff May, Donald Wexler and E. Stewart Williams.

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Home of the original Peter Pan - Mary Martin — **Home of the original Peter Pan – Mary Martin**

Among the splattering of residents the area is alive and kicking with current Hollywood icons such as Leonardo DiCaprio who owns the house Dinah Shore used to live in. We drove by but it was unfortunately not part of our home & garden tour.

A colorful quintessential midcentury re-design — **A colorful quintessential midcentury update**

The Old Las Palmas Neighborhood Organization makes sure to protect and preserve its special heritage.

photos: d. king (while lovely to look at, these photos only reflect a bit of the elegance and don’t really capture the expanse of these charming homes). Also, I took many photos inside the homes and realize that it would overwhelm one post.) I hope you enjoy them nonetheless.

Art & Culture

Six Dance Lessons in Six Weeks

Notice how as the sunset is coming to an end the colours become even more intense, brighter and vibrant? – paraphrasing a line from the play

I just saw a wonderfully thought out play about life, unlikely friendships, loneliness and aging presented by Coyote Stageworks at the Annenberg Theatre, which is part of the Palm Springs Art Museum. Six Dance Lessons in Six Weeks warrants discussion on several life issues such as what it’s like for a woman living alone, toleration and discrimination but with exceptionally witty dialogue.

The play stars Loretta Swit (most recognizable as Hot Lips Houlihan from M*A*S*H TV series) and Broadway Actor David Engel, both of whom I met recently at Village Fest while I was out walking my two dogs among the madness. Infact, I found out about this play from Loretta Swit. Coincidentally and funnily enough when I called to tell my husband about meeting her, he was at home watching an episode of Mash.

Michael (David Engel) teaches Lily (Loretta Swit) how to dance — Michael (David Engel) teaches
Lily (Loretta Swit) how to dance

Swit plays Lily, an elderly widow who hires Michael (Engel) a gay dance instructor to come to her home to give her lessons from Tango to Swing to Viennese waltz.

Both actors compliment each other incredibly well and are really fun to watch amidst some enjoyable dance moves. They lie and they argue but ultimately they share more similarities than not and what enfolds is revealingly heartfelt. The audience also enjoyed two stagehands who entertained us while swiftly re-arranging the room in between each of the scenes. dancelesson3

They plan to take the play on tour. When it comes to your city I highly recommend seeing it.

Have you seen any good plays lately?

http://www.coyotestageworks.org

Photos: BroadwayWorld.com

Art & Culture

Art/Exhibits: Light and Space

This UNUSUAL INSTALLATION by James Turrell is designed to entirely eliminate the viewer depth perception. light1

Perceptual deprivation is something I struggle with at times ~~all the time~~ when ~~trying to park~~ parking my car but this is completely different. In general his work blends the worlds of art, science, architecture, astronomy, mathematics, archaeology, and spirituality.

James Turrell, Breathing Light

Ongoing at LACMA – Los Angeles County Museum of Art light2

You don little sock booties and walk through a sloping curved room with a strong light source at one end that continuously changes color. A little 60’s psychedelic, a little eerie mixed with some unexpected enlightenment.

About the Artist:

James Turrell was born in Los Angeles in 1943 and attended Pomona College, where he studied art, art history, mathematics, perceptual psychology and astronomy. He took graduate courses at the University of California, Irvine, and received a master’s degree in fine art from Claremont Graduate School.

www.lacma.org

Art & Culture

ART: Paint Party

The most I know about ART is that it’s always best to begin with an empty canvas, a glass of wine and a handful of fun women.

This I know: it's always best to begin with an empty canvas

In a perfect Art World setting

“I am a painter and I believe art should make you feel something. I believe in inspiring others by sharing secrets so we can all succeed and I believe that buying art should be a positively unforgettable experience.” – Donna

Donna Giraud is an inspiring woman. She’s also very patient as she instructed me and six other women to create an abstract work of ~~art~~ something painted on a canvas in her studio last week. It was a crash course of sorts but most of all it was FUN. paintparty3a

My creation

I’d like to try it again sometimeAbove painting by Lisa King

http://www.donnagiraudart.com/

Art & Culture

Edible Art: the BENTO redesigned

Thinking inside the Bento Box

Made with lunch meats, cheese, cucumbers, and mayonnaise. Courtesy of Amorette Dye — Made with lunch meats, cheese, cucumbers, and mayo (wasabi-mayo maybe?)

Like many aspects of Japanese culture, particularly contemporary fads (anime, Hello Kitty, harajuku girls), the bento has become extremely popular here in North America.

Frappucino: Chicken salad with toasted almonds, wheat crackers, tangerine wedges, cucumbers, cauliflower, rice, bits of Fruit Roll-Ups, and fondant over Okinawa sweet potato (naturally that purple!) Other food coloring used is vegetable-based colorants. — Frappucino: Chicken salad with toasted almonds, wheat crackers, tangerine wedges, cucumbers, cauliflower, rice, bits of Fruit Roll-Ups, and fondant over Okinawa sweet potato (naturally that purple!)

A single-portion meal, a Japanese bento typically contains rice, fish or meat, and one or more pickled or cooked vegetables. It’s pretty much on every Japanese restaurant menu or outside billboard (with the more casual places) as a fundamental lunch staple. A little variety of favourites in a partitioned decorative wooden box good for times you’re craving Japanese but you can’t make up your mind exactly what you want to eat, you’re hungry and don’t want to pay a fortune. Usually it’s the expected Western preferences like California roll (boooring), chicken or beef teriyaki over rice, tempura and the tiniest bit of salad. Sometimes miso soup on the side.

Recently I’ve come across some restaurants that offer a bit more creativity to the familiar boxed bento. You can pick and choose your add-ons from a variety of delicacies (usually from looking at photos on the menu). A design your own box lunch. After all Bento (弁当 or べんとう) really means the art of arranging one’s lunch. This is perfect for me.

Canadian Geese. Yellow pear tomato, rice, portobello mushrooms, sesame seeds (as eyes), couscous, pear puree, green beans, and soba noodles. — Canadian Geese: Yellow pear tomato, rice (made with vegetable food-grade dye), portobello mushrooms, sesame seeds (as eyes), couscous, pear puree, green beans, and soba noodles.

Anyway, for fun I wanted to share a few of these brilliant or at least cute looking bento boxes and lunch plates. I mean if they can create coffee art, why not this?

Above photos courtesy of Amorette Dye

foodart6 bento3 bento4

And finally a sophisticated French dessert — And who cannot resist **a perfect happy ending**

It brings new meaning to you are what you eat but are you willing to disturb the presentation?

Art & Culture

ART/Culture: Where the Universe Sings

The nice thing about ART is that it’s universal.

Isolation Peak, Rocky Mountains. 1930. Oil on canvas. Hart House Permanent Collection, University of Toronto. Purchased by the Art Committee with income from the Harold and Murray Wrong Memorial Fund, 1946. (Lawren Harris). — **Isolation Peak, Rocky Mountains**. 1930. Oil on canvas. Hart House Permanent Collection, University of Toronto. (Lawren Harris).

And a necessary distraction. You can be anyone from anywhere and of any economic background or situation and appreciate what you see the same way (or not) as the next person. This is why ART is so appealing and inspiring. But aside from the recognized and renowned artists such as Picasso or Van Gogh (love them or not) it’s good to expand your knowledge of other well respected but maybe not so widely famous artists from other countries. I’m having a Canadian moment here. Those of you living in the U.S. might not have heard of the Group of Seven. Comic book characters they’re not.

In the early decades of the twentieth century, circumstances brought together several artists who were committed to exploring, through art, the unique character of the Canadian landscape. Collectively they agreed: Canada’s rugged wilderness regions needed to be recorded in a distinctive painting style. This style would break from European tradition and reflect an increasingly nationalistic sentiment. Today, these men (and one woman, Emily Carr) are among Canada’s most famous artists. For many, their works have come to symbolize what is the distinctly Canadian identity.

When I lived in Toronto I had not paid too much attention to this Group of Seven but then I went to an exhibit at the McMichael Gallery to see what all the fuss was about and it changed me. Just like the saying goes “if you love to travel, explore your own country first” (or something like that), the same goes for art. So I did, and I learned something and appreciated what I saw – mostly the beautiful expansive and diverse landscape of my own country. Which, by the way I did explore in full since then. So I can admit that Art did influence me in another respect.

This year at the Vancouver International Film Festival (VIFF) I looked forward to watching a documentary about one of the most influential Group of Seven artists – Lawren Harris.

A founding member of the Group of Seven and a major figure in the history of twentieth-century Canadian art, Lawren Harris (1885-1970) remains largely unknown in the United States. This year the AGO partnered with the Hammer Museum to introduce Harris’s iconic landscapes to audiences in Los Angeles and Boston. The Idea of North: The Paintings of Lawren Harris was the first major solo exhibition of his work to be shown in the United States.

Around this time I was watching CBC (a former employer of mine while living in Toronto) and saw comedian (author and artist himself) Steve Martin talking about his love of Lawren Harris’ work with news anchor Wendy Mesley. It was very interesting.

Steve Martin was Michael's guide for a tour of a new exhibition of Harris's work at the Art Gallery of Ontario. (Art Gallery of Ontario) — **Steve Martin** was Michael’s guide for a tour of the exhibition of Harris’s work at the Art Gallery of Ontario. (AGO).

The exhibition The Idea of North: The Paintings of Lawren Harris was curated by comedian, musician, actor and writer Steve Martin in collaboration with Cynthia Burlingham, Deputy Director, Curatorial Affairs at the Hammer Museum, and Andrew Hunter, Fredrik S. Eaton Curator of Canadian Art at the AGO.

Yes, I too believe that while anyone can put brush to canvas, true artists are not created equal. Sorry, but that’s what I really think. The ones who really move you are guided by some other outside force.

An intimate portrait of the life and art of Lawren Harris, a founding member of the legendary Group of Seven, and the expansive landscapes that inspired him below.

WHERE THE UNIVERSE SINGS: The Spiritual Journey of Lawren Harris (trailer):

https://vimeo.com/192636801

And while writing this I decided that I’m going to attempt to create a painting of my very own.. on a whim with some friends….and some expert guidance….and some wine. It’s not until the end of this month. It’s kind of on my revised bucket list and believe me, I’m not expecting to create something of “worth”…just somethin…somethin….do something that scares you….well….this is it. I’m expecting that whatever it is, it will turn out to be pretty scary. However, according to my personal horoscope this month I have all of the cosmic mojo I need to accomplish—nay, excel at—anything I put my mind to. A possible masterpiece?? You’ve got to believe!

How about you? Do you have a desire to paint?