Illinois based artist MITCH CLARK in Marfa, TX

Mitch Clark, professor emeritus at Blackburn College, and a resident of Illinois, has shown his latest series of paintings at the Drive-In Gallery at 510 W. San Antonio in Marfa, Tx (an old gas station).

The show , which ran till the end of 2013, was a dance of vibrant colorful energy that moved you through the room as swimming in water.

Jon and I had the opportunity to be at the opening

to celebrate with him this wonderful and exhuberant body of work- his latest! Few picks below.

                                                                                  Mitch talks about teaching, the arts community in Fort Worth 

during the 1950s and ’60s, and the Dallas Museum of Art, as well as his own work. 

Here is the link to the radio interview

http://marfapublicradio.org/blog/talk-at-ten/artist-mitch-clark-exhibiting-in-marfa/ 

The Metaphone- Urban Instrument- Music by the Light- France

A short concert and very pleasant to the ear:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QAiT__GRTR4&feature=player_embedded

You can read more about this musical project here:

http://beforeitsnews.com/green-living/2013/11/this-solar-powered-concert-hall-doubles-as-a-musical-instrument-2450494.html

Sleeping Twice a Night ...

According to Jeremy D. Johnson our current belief that we need 8 hours of sleep is a modern creation.
In an informative article Johnson makes the case that in the old times- very old times like in the 18th century- humans used to sleep twice a night and that those sections were used to read, pray, have sex, or even socialize with neighbors...

http://disinfo.com/2013/08/how-our-ancestors-used-to-sleep-twice-a-night-and-highlighting-the-problem-of-present-shock/

Cuban Photographer Abelardo Morell: On Photography, Life, and Dancing

Morell presented his work at the Museum of the Art Institute of Chicago. I viewed his work then and I became captivated by his imagination, use of materials and of light on his subjects. Hope you enjoy his work as well.

Chicago Timelapse Project - Windy City Nights Video

A two years project that ended up in a wonderful video on the lights of Chicago. I just feel like sharing it with you all.
Chicago Timelapse Project - Windy City Nights from Max Wilson on Vimeo.

Pulaski International School of Chicago- MURAL PROJECT

Matthew Tolzman, photographer of Ben & Fushi Violins Co., has two wonderful kids enrolled at Pulaski International School of Chicago (http://www.pulaskischool.org) and he is also a musician
and an activist.
I know Matthew for many years as he is the photographer of my work. I always admire the passion he has for learning and education. He is one of those parents that you want to have in the classroom
if you happen to be a teacher- always ready to help, be involved, providing creative ideas, open minded, and a very kind man.
Few months ago, he and his brother Nathan, who is also a musician, embarked in a creative project: painting a mural, an idea he has shared with me since last year. The project basically was to create a mural based on the 10IB learner profile attributes:

IB learners strive to be:

• inquirers
• knowledgeable
• thinkers
• communicators
• principled
• open-minded
• caring
• risk-takers
• balanced
• reflective

I asked him to send me some info on the mural which final image I found on FB. And that is what he wrote:

 "I approached the art teacher and asked if she could have students draw the attributes for inspiration for the mural. My brother and I sketched out a rough design and took it to the students. The students that helped us were 3rd graders at the time. Now they are 5th graders. They were really great. They gave us some more suggestions and saw things in the sketch that we didn't even see! It was a tremendous experience hearing the kids talk about art that they inspired..."

The mural has no name yet but he wanted to hang it and let the kids have a chance to look at it first. "My plan is for the 5th graders to come up with a name for it."

GREAT JOB!

A World Heritage Site Railway Route through the Swiss Alps

WOW!!! WOW!!! I was blown away by the photographs of this railway. I bet you will be too.

http://twistedsifter.com/2013/11/rhaetian-railway-albula-bernina-landscapes/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Twistedsifter+%28TwistedSifter+%29

An Slice of White

A Slice of White. Oil on Masonite. 6" x 6"
BL.Copyright 2013
$75

 

Inspiring Music for Inner Balance-Gayathri manthram

Rock & Roll in Photos at the Chicago Cultural Center

Last week Friday 25th I was at the opening of Paul Natkin's show at the Cultural Center. A photo show that chronicles the work of this Chicago living music photographer. It is titled "Shutter to Think; The Rock & Roll Lens of Paul Natkin"- an exhibit produced by Elmhurst Historical Museum and curated by Lance Tawzer. The presentation equals the quality of Paul's photos. In talking with Tawzer I learned that he had the opportunity to showcase the work of photographers from another part of the country but made a conscious decision to look for someone rooted in Chicago and he added "I was looking for someone authentic..." The show is excellent and deserves many views. I already saw it twice and I will probably stop again and again to savor it slowly.
Here are some picks I took with my iphone:

Thinking about Holiday Gifts?... What about a print from an original piece of artwork?...

My Rag Doll

The memory of this painting is about a rag doll I had when I was a child. I believe my parents gave it to me as a present. I loved that doll!; it went with me everywhere. 

As every rag doll, with time deteriorates & becomes dirty. My rag doll was not an exception. That fact did not concern me but it did to my mother who, every time we were going on an outing, she tried to convince me to leave the doll behind. 

On our way to visit my aunt Nelly's house we had to take the train. There was one day ... the three of us were on the platform- my mother, me, and my doll. The train came. As we were stepping in the doors suddenly closed catching my hand (that held the doll) in between the doors. My mother was horrified and wanted me to drop the doll so the doors can closed properly and I can be safe. I was not about to chance my tune. I told my mother that the doll was coming with me, I was willing to have my hand in between the doors holding to the doll till we got to the next station. My mother then stood there with me, anxiously looking & holding my other hand, and probably praying in silence. 

The next station came. The doors opened. My mother immediately pull me toward a sit where the three of us sat in silence for the rest of the ride. 

I was six years old. I am past 50 now and I still remember that moment ...

My Rag Doll. Oil on Canvas. 11" x 14". $650

WITCHES & WICKED BODIES

WITCHES seems to be in the minds of everyone -consciously or not. There is a sort of fascination with them as we are fascinated with the eternal question quest "is there a heaven & hell?... god & devil..."
Witches and fairies transport the human imagination to realm of power, the struggle with the unknown. The Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art's new exhibit taps into it with the exhibit "Witches & Wicked Bodies"
You can read more about and view wonderful images of artwork here:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/08/26/witches-wicked-bodies_n_3805204.html?ir=Arts&utm_campaign=082613&utm_medium=email&utm_source=Alert-arts&utm_content=Title

What drawing is for you? ...

Everybody Can Draw!- A lecture by Sue Gussow, Professor Emerita (The Cooper Union School) speaking in Copenhagen, Denmark in March 2010

My Online Shop at Etsy

Have you thought in tracking your data and turning it into music? ...

Well... artist Brian House thought about it and created Quotidian Record.
You can read the interview here:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/26/quotidien-record_n_3653658.html?ir=Arts&utm_campaign=072613&utm_medium=email&utm_source=Alert-arts&utm_content=Title

Or can listen to the music here:

Disappearing Bodies of Water- The Work of Maya Lin

Art21 presented a short video on Maya Lin in which the artist describes her work about the erosion of the Lake Chad, the Aral Sea, and the Arctic Ice Shelf. Her question: how much damage we're doing as specie to our planet?

An Artist's Investigation on Suburbia USA

You can read more about it here: 

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/24/suburban-street-art_n_3640095.html?ref=topbar

The Hyperrealism of English Painter Robin Eley

http://www.robineley.com/?page_id=70

You can also read an article on his work here: 

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/15/robin-eley_n_3566023.html

              

Joe Mangrum- Sand Paintings in Public Place

I became aware of Joe Mangrum last month when I learned that he was in Chicago working on two mandala like sand paintings in two different public places. Crazy as I am about mandalas and the spiritual in art, I needed  to see them. I was able to see the final product as I was unable to be there when he was actually working. He sent me though this short video of one of the sites which is
worth to watch. Here is the link. I am sure that you will enjoy seeing it as much as I do

http://vimeo.com/69762520

Detroit Institute of Arts and the banksrupted city of Detroit ...

Is Detroit Institute of Arts selling their art collection to save the city of Detroit?...

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/24/detroit-art-sale-bankruptcy_n_3643597.html?ref=topbar

Honoring Female Abstract Artists.

 "The Nature Of Women' Exhibition Honors The Female Artists Who Prove Abstraction Isn't A Man's Game" is the title of a short review  on last Mayor Gallery's art exhibit in London as the gallery is closing

Lisa Corinne Davis, Itemized Pandemonium, 2009, Oil on panel, 61 x 91.5 cm, 24 x 36 inche

You can read the full article and see a good slide show of the work following the link below"

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/24/the-nature-of-women_n_3640867.html?utm_hp_ref=arts

Higos en Almibar

Higos en Almibar
Oil o Canvas
11" x 14"
$650

My father liked to cook. One of my preferred deserts was figs in syrup. I truly loved it! 

The last conversation I had with my father over the phone was in February 1991. I was planning a

visit to BA in May of that year and I wanted to do a road trip with  him to visit the town where he was born. At that moment he was not interested in such a plan but very much wanted me to know that he was making several jars of "higos en almibar" for me.

When I expressed my surprise that he was working on it so much in advance, he replied: 

"I may not be here by then. I just want you to know that there will be few jars ready in the kitchen for you to enjoy them."

He died in mid April of that year. When I arrived

to his house, I went straight to the kitchen and, as he said, there they were-- three jars of "higos en almibar" in the pantry silently waiting for me ...

A Poem by Boris Novak- Decisions

Between two words
choose the quieter one.

Between word and silence 
choose listening.

Between two books
choose the dustier one.

Between the earth and the sky
choose a bird.

Between two animals
choose the one who needs you more.

Between two children
choose both.

Between the lesser and the bigger evil
choose neither.

Between hope and despair
choose hope:
it will be harder to bear.

(translation by Mia Dintinjana)

Boris A. Novak (born 3 December 1953) is a Slovene poet, dramaturge and editor.

In Hiring a Writers' Agent for My Recently Published Book

As you already know, this year I self-published my first book "Mandalas: A Personal and Visual Journey into Mandala Journaling" (2013). The book discloses and documents a personal and experiential process I went through at the time when I was trying to adjust to living in a new country. The book highlights the importance of symbols as a way to communicate our own deep hidden messages, insights that can emerge from our unconscious mind in visual images. I specifically addresses the impact that mandala-making had on my life during a painful and confusing transitional time and how it can create for you, the reader, a similarly enlightening and transformative effect.

I want my book to be translated in different languages and to be available worldwide. As this is the first time swimming in the world of writing, I need a writers agent to guide the process and find a suitable publisher for the book.


My goal is to raise money to help me pay for such service. Here is the link to such fundraising. Thank you.

http://www.gofundme.com/3dmuk0

Falling Out of Grace. Available Print Edition

Available Print Edition

FALLING OUT OF GRACE -Giclee Print. Edition of 10.

Print Size: 8 1/4" x 11". 

Signed and Numbered $25+Tx+ Shipping

Interested? Write me an email:

beatriz@ledesmastudio.com

MUTO a wall-painted animation by BLU

http://vimeo.com/993998

MUTO a wall-painted animation by BLU from blu on Vimeo.

Flashbulb Memories of Air and Movement

Flashbulb Memories of Air and Movement

by Beatriz E Ledesma  Chicago, IL, United States

theme: Travelogue

project: SBP 2013

You can view my book here:

http://www.sketchbookproject.com/library/11549#page-slide_1

This project began with the Art House, an independent Brooklyn-based company that
organizes global, collaborative art projects. The Sketchbook Project is an evolving library
that features more than 27, 542 artists' books contributed by creative people around the globe.
They also operate the Brooklyn Art Library, an storefront exhibition space in Williamsburg
home to all their project.

Third Coast Diaspora Exhibit

Third Coast Diaspora
 

produced by

Chicago Art Leasing

Chicago As A Point of Arrival and Departure

Opening at the Fine Arts Building

Friday, June 14, 2014
6 - 8 pm

 Come see work by Chicago artists
Samuel Gillis, Terry Dixon, Kevin Swallow and Chris Davis!

Presented by Chicago Art Leasing
Curated by Joshua Ginsberg

Fine Arts Building

2nd Floor Gallery

410 S. Michigan Ave. Chicago IL 60605

312-566-9800

Cool Blog

I found this cool blog called "It's about time". The blogger is a woman by the name of Barbara Wells Sarudy. Apparently she keep different blogs but states about this one to be "more personal. It scours history, art, nature, & everyday life for unique perspectives, uncommon grace, & unexpected insights..." I enjoy receiving her e-newsletters as they are full of interesting paintings and information on the artists. I thought that you might enjoy it too.

Here is the link to the blog:  http://bjws.blogspot.com/
 

Why Music Makes Our Brains Sing- NYTimes Article

A very thoughtful short article on neuroscience advances on the studio of the brain and music.
"...Some 50 years ago, Wilder Penfield, the famed neurosurgeon and the founder of the Montreal Neurological Institute, reported that when neurosurgical patients received electrical stimulation to the auditory cortex while they were awake, they would sometimes report hearing music. Dr. Penfield’s observations, along with those of many others, suggest that musical information is likely to be represented in these brain regions..." You can read the rest of the article following the link below:
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/09/opinion/sunday/why-music-makes-our-brain-sing.html

Visionary Art

Twilight Warrior by Elvira Baranova

 I subscribe to the newsletter of the Visionary Artists. Their images makes me gasp in admiration every time I view them. I love!!! their images and also the refinement in painting technique. Above there is only one sample image by Russian visionary artist Elvira Baranova; she is one among other exceptional artists in this vein of painting. I just feel it deserves to be shared with all of you.
The website to their online gallery is below a short explanation taken from Wikipedia.com on the difference between visionary art, surrealist art, and fantastic realist art that can be of help to some of my reader.

"The American Visionary Art Museum defines Visionary art as "....art produced by self-taught individuals, usually without formal training, whose works arise from an innate personal vision that revels foremost in the creative act itself." In short, Visionary art begins by listening to the inner voices and inner perception of the soul. It goes on to say that visionary art is a product of an inner process, and may not even be thought of as art by its creator...."


"Surrealism is a cultural movement that began in the early 1920s, and is best known for its visual artworks and writings. The aim was to "resolve the previously contradictory conditions of dream and reality." Artists painted unnerving, illogical scenes with photographic precision, created strange creatures from everyday objects and developed painting techniques that allowed the unconscious to express itself.<sup>.."

 "</sup>The Vienna School of Fantastic Realism is a group of artists founded in Vienna in 1946. It includes Ernst Fuchs, Arik Brauer, Rudolf Hausner, Wolfgang Hutter, Anton Lehmden and Fritz Janschka, all students of Professor Albert Paris Gütersloh at the Vienna Academy of Fine Arts. It was Gütersloh's emphasis on the techniques of the Old Masters that gave the fantastic realist painters a grounding in realism (expressed with a clarity and detail some have compared to early Flemish painting) combined with religious and esoteric symbolism..."
 
So here is the link. Enjoy it!!
http://visionaryartgallery.weebly.com/

Revealing the Neuroscience of Creativity

Have you thought what makes a person to be creative?...
Developments in neuroscience and the technology field allows us to peer into the brain. Rex Jung, assistant research professor of neurosurgery at the University of New Mexico writes about it here:

http://www.templeton.org/templeton_report/20130530/

Latest Paintings- On Stage and Figs

Oil on Wood  8" x 8". Copyright 2013. $200

"Figs" is very much related to my childhood. As I may have mentioned in an earlier posting, I grew up in a house full of fruit trees and one of them was a fig tree. I was always curious about this tree: leaves are rough to the touch and the stem spills a milky substance that is sticky when you cut the leave from the tree. My father used to make "higos en almibar"(figs in syrup) very often and we all savored it as a cold desert at lunch or dinner. Ah! What a gastronomic delight!

 

Oil on Canvas  11" x 14". Copyright 2013. $650

EBook FREE During the Entire Month of May

My book Mandalas: A Personal and Visual Journey into Mandala Journaling is also in ebook format.






Now available in Apple's iBookstore:
http://itunes.apple.com/us/book/id631059976


Or at blurb bookstore:
http://store.blurb.com/ebooks/382903-mandalas

For the entire month of May the ebook is free. 

I hope you take advantage of this opportunity and/or pass the information to others interested in the topic

"Herb & Dorothy 50 x 50"- New Documentary

A new documentary on Herb & Dorothy Vogel, the NY collectors who managed to build a wonderful collection of minimalist art on a government employee's salary, are the focus of a new documentary by Megumi Sasaki. The HuffPost online published an interview with Dorothy that, in my opinion, is worth the reading.
Here is the link:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/artinfo/people-need-to-follow-the_b_2950888.html

Animated Popup Books

Janet Chafin is the director of Offramp Gallery in Pasadena, CA. She keeps a blog in the HuffPost-
art & culture section. I follow her there.
Recently I came across her article about animated popup books, "a new genre" of popup books. She takes the reader through four animated popup books videos that I think worth of viewing, if you are inclined to do so. Hope you enjoy them as much as I did.
Here is the link:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jane-chafin/popup-books_b_2854699.html?utm_source=Alert-blogger&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Email%2BNotifications

Children of the Decree- Romanian Documentary

You might find of some interest a Romanian documentary made freely available by Florin Iepan, the director of the movie:

Children of the Decree - Full Movie

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZgZJ-IV8Et0

"Placebo: Cracking the Code"- YouTube Video

Here is a fascinating documentary (2002) about the science and psychology of placebos, centered on a gathering of the Harvard Placebo Study Group.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QvbQnMvhQFw

My First Book was Just Published. Take a Look!

Mandalas: A Personal and Visual Journey into Mandala Journaling discloses and document a personal and experiential process I went through at the time when I was trying to adjust to living in a new country. In the book I highlight the importance of symbols as a way to communicate our own deep hidden messages, insights that can emerge from our unconscious mind in visual images. I specifically address the impact that mandala-making had on my life during a confusing transitional time, and how it can create for you, the reader, a similarly enlightening and transformative effect.
Here is the link:

http://www.blurb.com/user/store/beatrizld

The Latest Painting and Its Process

Oil on Wood. 8" x 8". Copyright 2013.

 $200

 

Pop Culture: Hillary White

I love White's interpretation of "The Last Supper" (by 16th century German artist Hans Holbein the Younger) which she titled "The Best Supper". View the slide show here:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/07/pop-culture-art-history-hillary-white-paintings_n_2813710.html?utm_hp_ref=tw

In Honor of International Women's Day

A nice homage to the contribution of 10 architect women. Hope you enjoy it as much as I did.
Here goes:
The 10 Most Overlooked Women in Architecture History (PHOTOS) http://huff.to/14Dg0Ya via @HuffPostArts

Trans-Mongolian: A Long Train Journey

Moki- Photorealistic Paintings

Reading the Huffpost Arts & Culture Section, I stumbled into this article about the artist Moki, who lives and works in Hamburg. I learned that her photorealistic paintings "find inspiration in comic book themes and natural and human mysteries.." Her work fascinates me!

So here is the link to read the article and to see more of images of her work:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/10/optical-illusion-art-moki_n_2828460.html

And here is the link to her web site:
http://www.mioke.de

Latest Oil- Hanging from the Wall ...

                                                        

I found this pulley in an antique store by my neighborhood. The object was hanging on a blue hallway wall as my father's carpentry tools.

My father was a carpenter. His studio was on the back of the house. It was a large room with a wooden door and one large window. All his tools were hanging from one of the walls -sometimes organized and other times liying down around a wood project he was working on. I enjoyed wandering into that space ...

Hanging from the Wall ...

Oil on Canvas- 11" x 14"

Copyrighted 2013
$ 650.00

More Pages of Flashbulb Memories of Air & Movement

A Cow Eating Grass Under Open Sky

Are My Castles Obtainable?...

Bringing out one of my oldies ...

In Thinking about Decisions

Oil on Wood

36" x 48"

Copyrighted BL
$ 2,500

Flashbulb Memories of Air & Movement

At night the road is dark. 

The trembling stars up in the sky are bright. 

Some of them are big.

They guide our path. 

I look at the temperamental sky, at the edge of storming over us. 

I think of Beethoven

-the passion I hear in his music.

The Path to a New Series of Paintings

"My Mother's Shears" is my latest commission by Ms. Majaro. It is a small 12"x16" oil on canvas that left my studio yesterday.

As the painting developed I got to think about the outings to antique stores that I did with my mother Emma and my aunt Nelly during my childhood. I used to be filled with expectancy hours prior to the outing. I looked forward to view antiquated objects; I always wondered what secrets or stories they could tell me if they could talk ...

Up to today's date I enjoy visiting antique and/or thrift stores; I am always looking for "that" particular object that brings an "Aha!" moment in me awakening my curiosity and my imagination.

"My Mother's Shears" is the first painting in the series of those objects I find on my outings to these stores. I will keep you posted on the next one but for now... 

here is: "My Mother's Shears"

Copyright 2013

Flashbulb Memories of Air & Movement

Endless road facing the sun as a gigantic medallion 

as waiting for us to melt our eyes ...

Flashbulb Memories of Air & Movement

Usually road trips set my mind at ease and 

in some sort of meditative state.

It seems that looking through the windshield onto the open sky

 brings me calmness and my imagination becomes engaged 

with the ever lastingchanging colors and cloud formations.

Do you have a guest out of town seeking a place to stay? ...

Minutes from Downtown Chicago!

Book Online

Find a place to stay in Chicago

Two Versions of the Same Drawing ...

Birds of Onix. 

Two Versions. Drawings on Paper from my late 80's drawing phase

Flashbulb Memories of Air and Movement

When my partner suggested a road trip to Oklahoma, 

I got on board without even thinking.

I've not done a road trip for more than a decade. 

I was very excited to embark in this one.

Climate Change in Visuals ...

Intrigued by the proposition of a visual in climate change I adventured to the DePaul University Museum of Art  (http://museums.depaul.edu) to view its current exhibit "Climate of Uncertainty"- an exhibit showing "the work of twelve artists who address issues of environmental degradation resulting from human activities...".
The exhibit placed me in a self reflective mode and provocatively forced me to interact, if nothing else via thought reflections and memory. An exhibit worth your time, energy, and certainly your thoughts!

Here are few artists that their work spoke to me the most:

The works that attracted me the most were those of Edward Burtynsky, a Canadian photographer, with an image from his Manufacturing series (edwardburtynsky.com)

Chris Jordan, another photographer, disrupted me with his disturbing images of young albatrosses killed by plastic waste they ingest mistakenly (chrisjordan.com). It took me to what I have observed so many times on the surface of our dear Lake Michigan ...

Sabrina Raaf (raaf.org), a Chicago- based artist, introduced me to "Grower", a robotic piece that measures the carbon dioxide levels in the gallery and translates the readings onto walls as strokes of
green pain

and this is "Grower" at work ...

The black crows of Maskull Lasserre, Montreal-based artist (maskulllasserre.com), entitled "Murder" is visually shocking and quite painful to view. I found myself thinking in my dear South America soil and the deforestation of the Amazons, in Chernobyl's nuclear contamination or BP's oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico ...

And finally Sonja Hinrichsen (sonjahinrichsen.wordpress.com) who made me a participant in her

multi-screen video projection "Three Gorges 3rd edition", which projects images of the Yangtze River onto three walls, replicating the experience of being in a boat cruise. In it "we" arrive to the hydroelectric dam ("the largest in the world"). I did not take a photo of this installation. You can view

one though downloading the exhibit catalogue here: 

http://museums.depaul.edu/wp-content/uploads//Climate_Catalog.pdf