It's me, still, in a way. I don't have windmills or bores in my immediate area, nor a Quarter Horse or dog. I ride Arabians that I've bread and trained. Only have three left now. Slowly devolving towards a different life. But I do right out frequently and climb the trails to high plateaus where I give my horse a feed, have some lunch, a rest, and enjoy the views for a while. It's a wonderful way of learning to understand the land and feel at one with it.
The Aussie equivalent of the overseer is the boundary rider. He or she checks the livestock and maintains the fences and bores.
Jack Sorrenson, Charlie Russle... it seems America has a rich heritage of cultural imagery expressed in its art.
It suits Tolkein's vision perfectly, doesn't it? I think that's the moment when the elves are departing to their eternal home in the west. Seems to suggest something Jungian, like a journey of the soul towards discovery, light and wisdom. By merging all the European pre-Christian mythologies, Tolkien created something that tapped deep into the western cultural psyche - a journey into the fight between good and evil. And your picture suggests the ultimate escape route. :)
You're exactly right. It's the Grey Havens and you can see the three hobbits seeing the boat off that takes Frodo and Gandalf and others to Valinor. Their exit from the mortal realm.
Probably anything by Charlie Russle, Like him better than Remington who was a New Yorker. Russel was a cowboy and painted in the area close to my home where I grew up. This is one of my favorites
I've been bucked off horses like that - until I invented and made my saddle safety belt.
To me the picture is wonderful in the way it suggests a story - that the early American settlers took so long in their travel across the continent that young horses grew old enough to be broken in - it suggests years. I'd love to see it close up to see the detail. That the painter was a cowboy shows, I think, in how faithful he is to the anatomy and movement of the horse and the exact moment at which the rider loses his balance.
Thank you. I've never seen this artist's work before. A great new experience. :)
I know what you mean. :) I was a sculptor for about twenty years - in the first half of my adult life. Spent a lot of time in museums and galleries and grew to have eclectic tastes. For me, it's more about how well the individual work is done, how much depth of meaning it has. I also value originality, although not for its own sake and not when it degrades into gimmickry.
I love change too - the way it helps us see things afresh.
I'm told that traditional Japanese rooms have a special wall with an inset for the hanging of a scroll and below it one item on the shelf, an ikebana flower arrangement, a bonsai tree, or some item of nature. The images and objects are changed frequently, cycling through the year to reflect the seasons. I love that idea.
I remember seeing it when I was there with Mum in 1981. Found it easier to lie on my back to look at it, than to crane my neck. People looked at me as though I was mad.
For me, as an atheist, it was like viewing Egyptian sculptures of gods, priests and worshipers - exotic and curious.
The sheer technical feat of it is amazing. I dare say you've probably seen the movies about the making of it. Have you read James Michelin's biography? How he was so intensely involved in the process that he didn't remove his shoes in all the years of the project, and when he finally did, his skin came off with them. He literally endured torture to accomplish it.
I just simply stood there in awe. How could someone undertake such an incredible feat? And, of course, the scaffolding itself was a major engineering feat.
Yep. I keep thinking of how he must have worked in his studio, doing the sketches from live models, figuring out the compositions, how to position them relative to the architecture, how to make the transitions from one area of the creation story to another, how to enlarge the images without distortions, and how to transfer them to the ceiling with the primitive methods of the time. Stunning! :)
I quite enjoy the works of Hieronymous Bosch, Dali, and a few others., but the medium that closely catches my attention is photography. I really wish that I could pin-point a single piece Bookworm, but it's nearly impossible for me. Maplethorpe, Cartier-Bresson, Cecil Beaton are among those that I admire greatly. I am so hesitant to post anything on this site because the last time I posted a famous work of art by Bosch, I was given moderated off this site.
Urban Art/Graffiti has been of keen interest to me. Not just because of the colours and creativity put into them, but also because of the social, political, and historical relevance.
Benedict Arnold 