Friday, March 30, 2012

"Paris and Three Goddesses" in Oil

A couple weeks ago, I posted my pastel drawing of Paris and Three Goddesses, together with the oil painting of "Helen of Troy", my small series of presenting familiar Greek tragedies in semi-abstract fashion.

Now, my oil version of this Paris is completed, which though has the same composition and color palette, but has definitely somewhat different finish - brighter, richer and more sensual, perhaps if I have done more of pastel, I could accomplish more with that medium:

Paris and Three Goddesses / 帕里斯和三位女神 / Paris und drei Göttinnen
Paris and Three Goddesses
Oil on Canvas
14" x 11"

Below is the Pastel version:

Paris and Three Goddesses / 帕里斯和三位女神 / Paris und drei Göttinnen
Paris and Three Goddesses
Pastel on Paper



Matthew Felix Sun's Paintings Completed in 2012 by Matthew Felix Sun photoset

Wednesday, March 28, 2012

My Favorite Sculptures at Loggia dei Lanzi (Loggia della Signoria), Firenze

Just outside the wonderful Palazzo Vecchio, Firenze, another art treasure trove left a long-last impression on me - a covered public corridor, full of amazing sculputres - Loggia dei Lanzi, or Loggia della Signoria.

The best work there was the Perseus by Benvenuto Cellini's Perseus with the Head of Medusa:

Perseus, Benvenuto Cellini, Loggia dei Lanzi (Loggia della Signoria), Firenze _ 8080 - 500





Perseus with the Head of Medusa, Bronze, Benvenuto Cellini

This graceful statue, resembles so much of Michelangelo's and Donatello's David, in spite of the materials used.  They all shared the same noble disposition, youthful ardor and innocence, yet with some world-weariness.  Their bodies polished and elegant, their attitude reticent, their mixed reaction to their defeated opponents, instilled some humility and humanity to these fabled heroes. The sculpture was very detailed and polished, down to the fantastic winged helmet and the less than terrible, twisted body of Medusa.  This Cellini creation, along with those of Donatello, were a bit more mannered, less classically restrained, than that by Michelangelo.  Weapon raised, a bit more flamboyant and I love it even better.

The other most amazing sculpture was a relative recent one, The Rape of Polyxena by Pio Fedi, completed in 1865:

The Rape of Polyxena, Pio Fedi, Loggia dei Lanzi (Loggia della Signoria), Firenze _ 8082 - 500
The Rape of Polyxena
Pio Fedi in 1865

This story was about the greatest and the handsomest Greek warrior during the Trojan war - Achilles, attempting to taken away the Trojan princess Polyxena. Here, the determined Achilles, struck down Polyxena's brother, presumably Prince Troilus, held her pitilessly with his left hand, and ready to beat back the imploring Trojan queen, Hecuba. The further twist of the story was Achilles let her know his only weakness and she betrayed this secret to her brothers Paris and Deiphobus, and Paris shot and kill Achilles.  After the war, the ghost of Achilles demanded the sacrifice of Polyxena.

Such a terrible story.  Such a moving monument.  The group sculpture was highly dramatic, forming an impressive pyramidal shape, classic and grand.  The contours of the bodies, on three levels, guided our eyes from the base all the way to the very tip of the group, the deadly weapon poise to kill. The cleanness of the composition and execution, avoided a tangled terrible mess, and presented us a restrained reaction of an ancient tragedy, instead of a melodrama.




My Favorite Museum Collection Series

>> My Favorite Museum Collection Series 23: My Favorite Frescoes at Santa Croce, Firenze
<< My Favorite Museum Collection Series 21:  My Favorite Artworks at Museo di San Marco, Firenze



List of My Favorite Artworks in the Museums I've Visited

Monday, March 26, 2012

Hands and Gestures in Paintings

Recently, I completed a painting of hand study:

Gestures / 手勢 / Gesten
Gestures
Oil on Canvas
14" x 11"


This painting was a juxtaposition of hands in various gestures.  They are both simple study of "still life" and snapshots of vivid expressive gestures of hands, a most eloquent parts of our bodies, which can reveal much innermost emotions beyond the words.

This reminded me a fresco painting at Museo di San Marco, Firenze, by the great Renaissance painter, Fra Angelico, Mocking of Christ with the Virgin and Saint Dominic:



By a very slim margin, I didn't include this one in the picks of My Favorite Artworks at Museo di San Marco, Firenze, but it is one of my very favorite works indeed.

What I love in this amazing piece was its sparseness, fitting the Dominican Cloister perfectly.  The color schemes were appealingly subdued and subtle, with incredible beauty in every hue and they blended and contrasted masterfully.  Then, we have the saints in the foreground, each lost in his and her own thoughts and melancholy.  In the back, on the throne, the passive Jesus calmly receiving the abuses from mocking head and hands - instead of conventional mocking crowds, here the very economic usage of the few basic elements was just as overwhelming and even more cruel and terrifying. 

I hope that by putting my painting next to this masterpiece does not make my readers think that I am very presumptuous.  Rather, I am paying my tribute to the great master of the past, and demonstrate that whatever we deem modern or innovative, we can always trace the roots further back. Therefore, be humble.

Sunday, March 25, 2012

My Favorite Artworks at Museo di San Marco, Firenze


The most unique venue in Florence, Italy was Museo di San Marco, which located in the Convent of San Marco, an austere yet luminous presence in the colorful city of Firenze (Florence).

This Dominican convent had an ancient history and had its most infamous resident, Fra Girolamo Savonarola, a Dominican friar and proto Taliban who galvanized the citizens of Florence by his eloquent preaching on morality and then terrorized them when he pushed further into absolutism.  This museum hosted both his profile portrait by the great Fra Bartolomeo (see below) and the painting of his execution - Execution of Savonarola on the Piazza della Signoria 1498, attributed to Francesco Rosselli.

Its other residents included the famous painter known as Fra Angelico , who had left many wonderful frescoes in the cells of this convent, and even Cosimo Medici had a cell built for himself, where he could stay sometimes.

I was very taken by the simplicity of many Fra Angelico's frescoes on the life cycle of Jesus - austere, cool, meditative and becalming but the most impressive impression made on me was his slightly more colorful one - Annunciation.  The surprised Mary was all humility.  Her deep blue robe formed a solid foundation for for and also framed her and the angel Gabriel, whose fantastic multiple-colored wings, echoing Mary's dress, serving as the other end of framing devices.  The main portion of Gabriel and Mary were in pale pink or cream colors, weightless, emitting lights from within.  The setting, simple yet elegant arched loggia, and a classical style garden, was like the depiction of the Convent of San Marco.  The lines of Fra Angelico were precise and delicate.  His figures and facial features were equally characterized and very beautiful to behold - in a remote, otherworldly way.  We were there to witness a great legend, behind a slightly blurring gauze.

 
Annunciation
Fresco, 230 x 321 cm
Fra Angelico

My second favorite was a most unusual portrait - the profile portrait of the said Fra Savonarola.  His head, largely hooded under dark cowl, except for his sharp eyes, beaked nose and pursed mouth, with a startling determination and authority.  The contrast between light and dark was so strong that it took a strong heart to look at his portrait closely.  Fra Bartolomeo clearly grasped the fanaticism of this unique, notorious figure.

Fra' Bartolomeo: Ritratto di Girolamo Savonarola
Ritratto di Girolamo Savonarola (Portraitof Girolamo Savonarola),
Fra Bartolomeo, c. 1498.
46.5 x 32.5 cm.


My Favorite Museum Collection Series

>> My Favorite Museum Collection Series 22: My Favorite Sculptures at Loggia dei Lanzi (Loggia della Signoria), Firenze
<< My Favorite Museum Collection Series 20:  Vasari Frescoes and Michelangeo Sculpture - My Favorite Works at Palazzo Vecchio, Firenze


List of My Favorite Artworks in the Museums I've Visited


Friday, March 23, 2012

Vasari Frescoes and Michelangeo Sculpture - My Favorite Works at Palazzo Vecchio, Firenze

Palazzo Vecchio (Old Palace), the ancient city hall of the Renaissance Florence, was another landmark dominating the Florentine sky, along with the great Duomo.

Though it was a governmental building, it still accumulated some impressive art or civic collections.  At the entrance to it, was the wonderful replica of Michelangelo's David in the spot the original one had stood before being moved to Galleria dell'Accademia Firenze for better protections.

The interior of this Romanesque fortress was truly impressive - the civic pride of the Renaissance Florentines were evident everywhere, particularly in the two great art pieces I like most.

The first one was another marble by Michelangelo, the Genius of Victory:

The Genius of victory, Michelangelo Buonarroti, Palazzo Vecchio, Firenze _ 8081 - 500

 
Michelangelo Buonarroti
The Genius of victory
c. 1532–1534
Height 261 cm

Though not commissioned for this site, it fit the characteristics and the civic pride of the people perfectly. The Victory figure, a youth in the mannerism Figura Serpintina pose, graceful, rather casually, and easily pinned down the conquered rival - think of either Sienna or Pisa, the great rivals of Firenze - a powerful bearded figure in awkward and humiliating submission.  The contrast between the young and the old, the easy and contorted poses, the serene and anguished expressions were vivid and tangible.  The marble was tall but not gigantic as David, which was practically human scaled.  For the larger than life renditions of Florentine victories, one had to look at the immense frescoes by Giorgio Vasari, artist and art critics, in Salone dei Cinquecento, depict battles and military victories by Florence over Pisa and Siena.

The enormous chamber measured 52 m (170 ft) by 23 m (75 ft). It was built in 1494 and later enlarged by Giorgio Vasari. During this transformation famous (but unfinished) works were lost, including the Battle of Cascina by Michelangelo, and the Battle of Anghiari by Leonardo da Vinci.

Wikipedia described Leonardo's work in the paragraph below:
Leonardo was commissioned in 1503 to paint one long wall with a battle scene celebrating a famous Florentine victory. He was always trying new methods and materials and decided to mix wax into his pigments. Leonardo had finished painting part of the wall, but it wasn't drying fast enough, so he brought in braziers stoked with hot coals to try to hurry the process. As others watched in horror, the wax in the fresco melted under the intense heat and the colors ran down the walls to puddle on the floor. Michelangelo never even got past making the preparatory drawings for the fresco he was supposed to paint on the opposite wall—Pope Julius II called him to Rome to paint the Sistine Chapel, and the master's sketches were destroyed by eager young artists who came to study them and took away scraps. The surviving decorations in this hall were made between 1555 and 1572 by Giorgio Vasari and his helpers, among them Livio Agresti from Forlì. They mark the culmination of mannerism and make this hall the showpiece of the palace.


(Large image)
The Vasari Frescoes
1555-1572

Top (Pisa), left to right:
Defeat of the Pisans at the Tower of San Vicenzo;
Maximilian of Austria Attempts the Conquest of Leghorn
(also called: Siege of Livorno Lifted in 1496);
Pisa Attacked by the Florentine Troops
(also called: The Battle of Stampace in 1499)
Bottom (Siena), left to right:
The Taking of Siena
(also called: Conquest of the Fortress near the Porta Camollia in 1554);
The Conquest of Porto Ercole;
The Victory of Cosimo I at Marciano in Val di Chiana
(also called the Battle of Scannagallo in the Val di Chiana in 1554)

I truly love these frescoes for their ambitious topics, impressive compositions, vivid atmosphere, fluid execution and slight pomposity (the victories were minor and inconclusive).  These frescoes were great treasure to be relished.

Thus I must discuss a great controversy regarding these frescoes and that lost one by Leonardo.

San Francisco Chronicle reported that
But buried beneath one of the four frescoed walls [by Vasari] may lie a treasure of far greater importance - one that has not been seen for five centuries: a lost painting by Leonardo da Vinci.

Peter Paul Rubens's copy of  
The Battle of Anghiari.
Purportedly, from left to right is
United States public domain
In 1505, Leonardo began painting one wall of the meeting hall, a tangle of swords and horsemen called "Battle of Anghiari." He was called away shortly after he had begun, and we know what his unfinished battle scene looked like only from a copy made by Rubens.

The man hunting the lost Leonardo, Maurizio Seracini, has been called the "real Indiana Jones."

Back in 1975, Seracini noticed a tiny bit of text hidden within Vasari's frescoes in the Salone dei Cinquecento. On one frescoed wall, Vasari had painted exactly two words. Cerca trova. (Seek and you shall find.)

Seracini and many leading Leonardo scholars believe this to be a real clue from Vasari, indicating that he somehow preserved Leonardo's work - that this lost painting is hidden beneath a false wall onto which Vasari painted his own frescoes.

In 2006 that Seracini finally discovered a 1.5-inch hollow gap between the back of Vasari's frescoed wall and a second wall behind it. This double wall, which Vasari must have built when he painted the frescoes, is unheard of, and has no architectural or structural rationale. Further, the gap is only behind one of Vasari's four frescoed walls - the one with the words cerca trova written on it.

On March 12, UCSD announced that, by drilling through the Vasari fresco, Seracini's team found a black pigment that matched pigment used in Leonardo's Mona Lisa, suggesting that something lies beneath after all. This is promising, because many fear that the riceless Vasari fresco is being partially destroyed during this investigation for naught. Important art historians have signed a petition to stop the investigation because it is damaging the Vasari, and may end up as a wild goose chase.

The search continues, as the art world eagerly awaits what would be the biggest discovery of the century. But if Seracini succeeds, then we are faced with one more puzzle: How do we reveal the entire Leonardo without destroying the Vasari that lies above it?


I tried to be excited about the discovery of a Leonardo, which is a major event for sure, like the recent discovery of a copy of the great Mona Lisa, whose colors deteriorated less than the original, therefore less smoky à la Leonardo, and more typical early Renaissance.  Below pictures [source: npr.org], show side by side of the copy and Leonardo's original.  The copy has many more details obscured on the original version.

 

But, in order to find a remotely possible work, definitely unfinished, even by the incomparable Leonardo, while permanently, irrevocably destroying a wonderful masterpiece, it highly irresponsible and the treasure hunter, truly preposterous.


My Favorite Museum Collection Series

>> My Favorite Museum Collection Series 21: My Favorite Artworks at Museo di San Marco, Firenze
<< My Favorite Museum Collection Series 19: My Favorite Sculptures at Museo dell'Opera del Duomo (Florence)


List of My Favorite Artworks in the Museums I've Visited


Wednesday, March 21, 2012

A Pastel Paris and an Oil Helen

Continuing my effort to present emotions of the familiar Greek tragedies in more abstract terms, I recently completed a pastel drawing, Paris and Three Goddesses and an oil painting, Helen of Troy.

Again, I am not trying to give a narrative account of the stories; rather, I wanted to capture what immediate reaction I had once their immortal names were invoked:

Paris and Three Goddesses / 帕里斯和三位女神 / Paris und drei Göttinnen
Paris and Three Goddesses
Pastel on Paper
Completed in 2012

Helen of Troy / 特洛伊的海倫 / Helena von Troja
Helen of Troy
Oil on Canvas
11" x 14"
Completed in 2012

Matthew Felix Sun's Abstract - 抽象 - Abstrakt photoset



Matthew Felix Sun's Drawing - 素描 - Zeichnung photoset


Tag: Greek Abstract

Monday, March 19, 2012

A New Painting, "Discordance and Harmony", Completed

Last week, I finished another oil painting - a painting I had been working on for many months.

This painting was a confluence of many motifs I have been employing and experimenting with - white dress, ruin, river, writing of many languages.  On this 24" x 30" canvas, I was trying to bind together these elements to demonstrate during the long period of history, different cultures intermingled, fight with, learned from, and co-existed along other cultures and despite the constant tragedies entailed, it is undeniable that our collective history was enriched thus.


Discordance and Harmony / 紊亂與和諧 / Diskordanz und Harmonie
Discordance and Harmony
Oil on Canvas
24" x 30"



Matthew Felix Sun's Paintings Completed in 2012 by Matthew Felix Sun photoset



Related Article: "White Dress" Series Continues - A New Drawing and a New Painting

Sunday, March 18, 2012

My Favorite Sculptures at Museo dell'Opera del Duomo (Florence)

The dominant architecture in the great Renaissance city Florence was its Duomo complex - Santa Maria del Fiore, the Baptistery and the Campanile. It was exhilarating to visit it, especially climbing up the ever narrower stairs to see the city and the beyond. However, it also boasted a nice little museum - Museo dell'Opera del Duomo, opened in 1891, considered one of the most important Italian ecclesiastical museums.

One of the most impressive works in the museum was a wood sculpture, "Magdalene Penitent", by the great Renaissance sculptor Donatello.  However, this work, though ultra realism, reminded me of medieval icon more, particularly the emaciated figure and its strangeness.  Magdalene, covered with rough cloth and matted hair, dripping with penitence, was as pitiful as she was chaste.  An unforgettable sight.  This was not a pretty sight, as must be of Donatello's intention..


Donatello, White Poplar, c. 1453-1455

The other work impressed me very much was a marble sculpture, "The Deposition", (Pietà Bandini), by Michelangelo.



This group sculpture, though depicting heartbreaking moment, was demur and serene, full of grace and humility. The limping limbs of Jesus and his torso, though in an acrobatic pose, was without agony.  Those masses just gently settling down.  This was of a very humanistic approach and the polishes stone, emitted comforting warmth, in a dimmed gentle light.



My Favorite Museum Collection Series

>> My Favorite Museum Collection Series 20: Vasari Frescoes and Michelangeo Sculpture - My Favorite Works at Palazzo Vecchio, Firenze
<< My Favorite Museum Collection Series 18: My Favorite Sculptures at Museo Nazionale del Bargello, Firenze, Italia


List of My Favorite Artworks in the Museums I've Visited

Saturday, March 17, 2012

Vintage Cadillac

Recently, I saw a vintage Cadillac parking on the street and couldn't help taking some pictures.  This old treasure was stunningly beautiful and amazingly well-maintained.


Vintage Cadillac _ 7834 HDR 500

Vintage Cadillac _ 7828 HDR 500

Vintage Cadillac _ 7829 - HDR 500

Vintage Cadillac _ 7834 HDR 500

Vintage Cadillac _ 7827 HDR 500

However, I am glad that the modern personal vehicles are much smaller and energy efficient.  Also, I hope that this vintage Cadillac will find a home in some museum one day, like the one below, in Oakland Museum of California now:

Looking down to the history gallery - California in the decades after World War II, Oakland Museum of California _ 9546

Friday, March 16, 2012

Most Popular and Unpopular Foreign Brands in China

A Chinese newspaper, Global Times, published a domestic survey of 10 most popular and 10 most unpopular foreign brands.  The survey received 3,493 valid questionnaires and the pictures below show these results. Interestingly, Carrefour (a French supermarket chain), KFC, and Wal-Mart earned spots on both list.


The popular ones
(left chart) are:
  1. Apple
  2. Nokia
  3. BMW
  4. Wal-Mart
  5. Canon
  6. Audi
  7. Carrefour
  8. Mercedes-Benz
  9. Sony
  10. KFC

10 Most Popular Foreign
Brands in China


The unpopular ones
(left chart) are:
  1. KFC
  2. McDonald's
  3. Carrefour
  4. Ajisen Ramen
  5. Pizza Hut
  6. Wal-Mart
  7. Red Bull
  8. Coca-Cola
  9. Pepsi
  10. Goldman Sachs

10 Most Unpopular
Foreign Brands in China



I do wonder how many total brands are they chosen from.



Related article: Coca Cola, Mercedes-Benz and Yosemite

Thursday, March 15, 2012

My Favorite Sculptures at Museo Nazionale del Bargello, Firenze, Italia

Determining my favorite art works collected at Museo Nazionale del Bargello felt like cheating again - the choices felt almost too easy.  This great museum in Florence, Italy, had many important sculptures but two bronze sculptures stood in the forefront by a comfortable distance, by their polished elegance and undeniably beauty.

The first one was a David by Donatello, aka Donato di Niccolò di Betto Bardi (c. 1386 - December 13, 1466), an early Renaissance Florentine sculptor.  This elegant dandy, the first free-standing bronze sculpture that was completely unsupported and in nude form in the Renaissance period, depicts David of the legend standing with his left foot atop the head of the slain Goliath.  In contrast Michelangelo's David before the action, here, the almost feminine hero, left hand on hip, and right holding the large sword, was depicted at the moment after the great deed.  Yet, he was equally sedated and almost remorseful, much like the sadness after a sexual ecstasy.  

The sculpture was highly polished and beautifully detailed, and its verisimilitude was so startling, it must be difficult to gaze upon, particularly because that this David was of human scales, unlike that god-like David by Michelangelo.  For example, looking at the profile of this David, one would be struck by the slightly protruding belly and sagging buttock.  His beauty was so overwhelming that it was impossible not to be moved and almost inappropriate to praise openly.




David by Donatello
Patrick A. Rodgers




Gianbologna (Giambologna)
Mercurio (Mercury)
1580

The other beautiful nude sculpture was Mercury by Gianbologna, or Giambologna, born as Jean Boulogne, incorrectly known as Giovanni da Bologna and Giovanni Bologna (1529 - 13 August 1608), who was a late Renaissance sculptor, noted for his marble and bronze statues.  His style was in late Renaissance or Mannerist style.

Mercury, though beautifully formed, was somewhat more abstract than Donatello's David.  It was less a narrative piece; rather, it presented to the viewers an exuberant youth, with his upwards or airborne motion, it became a celebration of a wonderful form and a certain spirit it entailed, rather than a depiction of a figure or an event.  Mercury's body, from winged left ankle, up to his back-bent torso, and rotating right arm, and the index finger, which separated from other fingers, pointing straightly towards the sky, created a dynamic rhythm and was the textbook illustration of Figura Serpintina, an Italian term used to characterize the twisted, convoluted figures of of Mannerist sculptures.

My Favorite Museum Collection Series

>> My Favorite Museum Collection Series 19: My Favorite Sculptures at Museo dell'Opera del Duomo (Florence)
<< My Favorite Museum Collection Series 17: My Favorite Paintings at Palatina Gallery, Palazzo Pitti, Firenze, Italia


List of My Favorite Artworks in the Museums I've Visited

Tuesday, March 13, 2012

Cookie, Cracker or Biscuit - 饼干, 饼干 or 饼干

My dislike of (American) cookies roots in the misrepresentation of the word.  When I was a kid, I liked certain 饼干 (pronounced as: bǐng gān), which I learned that in (British) English it is called a biscuits.  In high school, we suddenly switched from British English to American English and I learned that a piece of 饼干 is now a cookie.

However, once I landed in the US and had my chances to taste cookies, they turned out to be of utterly different species.  They were too huge, too soft, too rich, and too strongly flavored.  They were nothing like of my 饼干 childhood and I was often offended by their audaciousness of masquerading as cookies.

Therefore, I started to look for biscuits, properly named by the proper English speakers, I naïvely thought.

Then the biscuits I encountered in the US were even more outrageously false.  First, I thought it highly strange to be on restaurant menu.  Encouraged by my friends, I ordered this biscuits, and again, they were not those 饼干 I thought to be.  They were even cooked and warm!  They were fluffy, easy to crumple, rich and flavorful and even come with some rich sauce, typically called gravy.  Alas, US didn't have real cookies.

Then, later, I encountered something when I started to go to galleries - cheese and crackers.  Those small, thin, and crisp crackers turned out to be the 饼干 I'd been searching for all those years!

Whey wouldn't Americans call them what they were - cookies!

This is very confusing and it had ruined my appetite for American cookies forever.

Below is the screen shot of a Google automatic translation, from English to Chinese, of biscuit, cookie and cracker, and you can understand why these three things confuse a native Chinese speaker so much:

Biscuit, Cookie and Cracker

So, how on earth can one differentiate one from another of these three similar but utterly different items?  I resorted to Wikipedia.  It told me that:
A biscuit is a baked, edible, and commonly flour-based product. The term is used to apply to two distinctly different products in North America and the Commonwealth Nations.
  • In the United States it is a small, soft, leavened bread, somewhat similar to a scone. A Southern regional variation on the term, beaten biscuit, is closer to the British form.
  • In Commonwealth English, it is a small and hard, often sweet, baked product that would be called either a cookie or a cracker in the United States, and either a biscuit or a cookie in Canada. Biscuits in the British Isles may be savoury (savoury biscuits are often referred to as "crackers") or sweet, such as chocolate biscuits, ginger nuts, custard creams or the Nice biscuit.

American biscuit (left) and British biscuits (right)
Lou Sander

In the United States and Canada, a cookie is a small, flat, baked treat, usually containing fat, flour, eggs and sugar. In most English-speaking countries outside North America, the most common word for this is biscuit; in many regions both terms are used, while in others the two words have different meanings. A cookie is a plain bun in Scotland, while in the United States a biscuit is a kind of quick bread similar to a scone. In the United Kingdom, a cookie is referred to as a biscuit, although some types of cookies maintain this name, such as the American-inspired Maryland Cookies, which are also sold there. In South Africa they are called biscuits, and the word cookie refers to cupcakes.
A British supermarket-brand Nice biscuit
Public Domain (PD)
Assorted cookies
Public Domain (PD)
American cookies
Jonathunder

A cracker is a baked good typically made from grain flour dough and usually manufactured in large quantities. Crackers (equivalent to savory biscuits in the United Kingdom) are usually flat, crisp, small in size (usually 3 inches or less in diameter) and are made in various shapes, though are commonly round or square.


Crackers with herring and garlic sauce.
Giovanni JL from Singapore


Well, snack time.  Biscuits? Crackers? Cookies? Anyone?

Monday, March 12, 2012

"White Dress" Series Continues - A New Drawing and a New Painting

My fascination with the "white dress" motif does not abate, after having created several paintings in the past.

Last week, I finished a pastel drawing and an oil painting with such motifs.  The drawing, titled Revelling, had three floating dancing white dresses, hovering over a plain landscape.  Though dancing, the color palette was anything but cheerful.  A melancholy permeated the space:

Revelling / 狂歡 / Revelling
Revelling
Pastel on Paper

As for the painting, it seemed even less comforting.  There, white dresses fell and continued falling into greenish dark water, in which the submerged materials mingled with other ominous looking objects, making this little canvas a swallowed scream:

Submerge / 淹沒 / Untertauchen  
Submerge
Oil on Canvas
20" x 16"

Below are three "White Dress(es)" paintings I created in 2005 and 2010.

White Dress / 白色連衣裙 / Weißes Kleid
White Dress
Oil on Canvas
20" x 16"
Completed in 2005

White Dress with Birds / 带鳥的白連衣裙 / Weißes Kleid mit Vögeln
White Dress with Birds
Oil and Graphite on Canvas
20" x 24"
Completed in 2011

White Dresses / 白連衣裙 / Weiße Kleider
White Dresses
Oil on Canvas
22" x 28"
Completed in 2011


Other Related posts on Art · 文化 · Kunst:
- New Presentations of My Yearly Artworks
- First Painting Completed in 2013
Unexpected Successes of "Stringed White Dresses - An Installation"
- 2012 Recapitulation - Video Presentation of Paintings Completed in 2012

Sunday, March 11, 2012

Beautiful Necklace and Keychain from Zazzle

The last batch of the small gifts I purchased from my Zazzle Store for my relatives finally arrived - a kaychain and a necklace designed with the images of my oil paintings "Liberation Road" and "In Distant Country", respectively.


 keychain_oil_painting_liberation_road-p146818566446803979z7gcx_380necklace_oil_painting_in_distant_country-p177245441731575503z8xmy_380
They looked as fabulous as on the Zazzle.com above, shining, well crafted and sturdy.  They even come with individual jewelry drawstring pouch and the care they put into them was obviously.  I am very please and believe that the receivers of these two little gifts would be pleased as well.

Zazzle Keychain & Necklace _ 7781


Zazzle Keychain - Oil Painting Liberation Road _ 7782

Zazzle Necklace - Oil Painting In Distant Country _ 7783

Zazzle Necklace - Oil Painting In Distant Country _ 7798

Zazzke Jewelry Drawstring Pouch _ 7784




Related articles:
Zazzle Bags Arrived
Zazzle Magnets Arrived