Monday, September 03, 2007

Miniatures from Topkapi Museum

The portrait of Sultan Mehmet, the Conqueror.ascribed from Sinan Bey.
From Sarai Albums.Istanbul, towards end of 15th century.
Wash-basin in the form of a peacock -Illustrations from al-Jazari 1205
This museum has an outstanding group of Islamic miniature paintings, found in illustrated copies of classic works and as surviving fragments pasted or bound into albums in the former royal libraries. Here's a portrait of a Sultan sniffing a rosebud and grasping his hanky in case he might be allergic. That's how I see it anyway. And here is a mechanical drawing of a wash-basin with a beautiful peacock design from 1205. I always loved the fine-lined delicacy of Persian miniatures.

Sunday, September 02, 2007

Einstein on Gandhi

"I believe that Gandhi's views were the most enlightened of all the political men in our time.We should strive to do things in his spirit: not to use violence in fighting for our cause, but by non-participation in anything you believe is evil." -quote Albert Einstein

New Beginnings

Detail of sketch, Amy Crehore
I'm just showing a small detail of a sketch here because I want this new work to be a big surprise. It will be a large painting with a lot going on. It's for a show at Bergamot Station, Santa Monica, CA in November, but I am getting started on it now because I know it will take me forever to paint it. I only use the finest Belgian linen and Holbein oil paints and the result is well worth it.
I can't wait to get immersed in this new work. Art is great therapy and you always have something to show when you are done.

Saturday, September 01, 2007

Albert Einstein Quotes

Any fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more violent. It takes a touch of genius - and a lot of courage - to move in the opposite direction.
Anyone who doesn't take truth seriously in small matters cannot be trusted in large ones either.
Everyone should be respected as an individual, but no one idolized.
Few are those who see with their own eyes and feel with their own hearts.
Few people are capable of expressing with equanimity opinions which differ from the prejudices of their social environment. Most people are even incapable of forming such opinions.
Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds.
He who joyfully marches to music in rank and file has already earned my contempt. He has been given a large brain by mistake, since for him the spinal cord would suffice.
I am enough of an artist to draw freely upon my imagination. Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world.
I am not only a pacifist but a militant pacifist. I am willing to fight for peace. Nothing will end war unless the people themselves refuse to go to war.
I believe that a simple and unassuming manner of life is best for everyone, best both for the body and the mind.
I have no special talent. I am only passionately curious.
I live in that solitude which is painful in youth, but delicious in the years of maturity.
Imagination is everything. It is the preview of life's coming attractions. Imagination is more important than knowledge.
In matters of truth and justice, there is no difference between large and small problems, for issues concerning the treatment of people are all the same.
In order to be an immaculate member of a flock of sheep, one must above all be a sheep oneself.
Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.
It gives me great pleasure indeed to see the stubbornness of an incorrigible nonconformist warmly acclaimed.
It is only to the individual that a soul is given.
It's not that I'm so smart, it's just that I stay with problems longer.
Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow. The important thing is not to stop questioning.
Let every man be respected as an individual and no man idolized.
Logic will get you from A to B. Imagination will take you everywhere.
Love is a better teacher than duty.
Never do anything against conscience even if the state demands it.
Only one who devotes himself to a cause with his whole strength and soul can be a true master. For this reason mastery demands all of a person.
Solitude is painful when one is young, but delightful when one is more mature.
Sometimes one pays most for the things one gets for nothing.
Strive not to be a success, but rather to be of value.
The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and science.
The only real valuable thing is intuition.
The pursuit of truth and beauty is a sphere of activity in which we are permitted to remain children all our lives.
The true sign of intelligence is not knowledge but imagination.
You have to learn the rules of the game. And then you have to play better than anyone else.

Friday, August 31, 2007

Pre-Raphaelites and Illustration


"The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood had a very important impact on book illustration from the middle of the 19th Century. This was not because of the number of illustrations that they produced, which was not large, but because they raised the craft of illustration to high art, and gave an inspiration to generations of future illustrators, some of whom continued to draw in the Pre-Raphaelite style long after painting had moved in other directions."(quote)
Look at these gorgeous illustrations from the late 1800's. How inspiring! Pre-Raphaelite paintings are incredibly beautiful. These engravings are simply enchanting:

Thursday, August 30, 2007

Ray Caesar Show to open next week in the U.K.

"Ages Study"copyright 2005 Ray Caesar
One of my favorite "painters",
Ray Caesar is having a big show of 50 images that opens next week at the Richard Goodall Gallery .
Here's a
preview. I hope my friends in the U.K. will make it to this one! Ray has a book coming out, too. More info on the gallery website. (This is Leonard Cohen's Gallery, too, and you know I LOVE him.)

The Art of Amy Crehore