arts. writing. culture.

I’ve had this problem lately of missing time with two essential things in my life:  Friends and creative writing.  Luckily my friends love writing and I’ve managed to figure out a way to combine the two via computer.

While I love my friends dearly and always try to make time for them, there are some times I just can’t make it work and busy schedules prevent me from seeing them.  Meanwhile, work prevents me from my creative writing endeavors.  So, I’ve started a Yahoo Groups site for me and my friends to share our writing.  (This works just as well in Google, MSN, etc.)  Try starting one of your own!

How It Works:

The page consists of a forum board. Each week starts a new thread on that forum board.

1) Every week, we take turns choosing an assignment (Trust me—It’s much more fun than school).  This lends variety instead of one person picking every week.  Any genre is up for grabs: poetry, short stories, stream of consciousness.

2) We spend that week completing the project.  In our own time, at our own pace.

3) At the end of the week, we all post our interpretations of the assignment onto the board thread and comment on other member’s contributions under their posted work.

Now, I’ll never call this a substitute for sitting in a coffee shop with a close friend laughing and catching up on each others’ lives, gossiping, giving one another advice and spending true quality time with each other.

Nor would I call it a substitute for grabbing my beautiful leather-bound, tattered journal–sheets worn from my travels, ink soaking through the pages– and sitting in the corner of my favorite spot in my yard, coffee in hand (notice the trend), gushing my stream of thoughts into the only place where they really truly make sense ALL of the time (to me at least!)

This project is the best substitute I’ve found. It, more than most things, allows us a window into our friends’ feelings, views and crutches.  I’ve learned a lot about my friends through this project and then when we DO meet at the coffee shop, we’re all caught up on our lives and can get into the juicy details instead of surface-level updates.

Do you have a way that YOU combine time with friends with a hobby you’re passionate about?  Scrapbooking parties, tennis classes, etc.  Tell us about it in the comments section!

I’m so excited! I just received the Vinyl Underground bag and it looks great!  Vinyl Underground is one of my photographs that was chosen to be printed on laptop messenger bags! It is already for sale online   The colorful photograph features vintage vinyl records of iconic musicians lined up in a row. It’s a great (and useful) gift for music lovers!

Best yet, I was given a promo code for friends and family and since YOU are my friends, here it is: Receive 15% off your order when you enter: “xmas-giving” at checkout.  AND between now and the end of the year, get Free Shipping! Just in time to save on your gift purchases– Can’t get better than that!

The bag holds most laptop sizes securely with a well-padded laptop pocket. Made with tough 1680D Polyester, the bag has 2 compartments (the main one zips closed) and a strap long enough to wear comfortably (as in the picture shown).

* Bag Dimensions: 18.5″ x 15″ x 4″
* Padded Laptop pocket dimensions: 12.5″ deep, 14″ wide and 1.5″ thick.

Okay, okay.  Enough self-promotion. Sorry!  (blush).

Sorry for the delay in posts!  Busy week indeed.  I vow to keep up with this a bit more

I did spend some of the weekend with some great photo opps and last night I submitted some new photographs to my Imagekind page.  I still have more to put up, but here are just a few of the items I posted:

**All photographs in this post are copyrighted (c) to Mary Alice Franklin.  Email artfeedonline@gmail.com for any permissions.

Good news!  Now that the blog is sufficiently up and running, its time to start our newest weekly feature: Question of the Week! I post a question, you get free advertising!

Here’s how it works:
–You email me with your answers to this week’s question at artfeedonline@gmail.com
–I enjoy reading through them and pick a winner!
–What You Get: The winner’s name, answer, website link (Etsy shop and/or blog link) and a picture of their favorite piece from their Etsy shop will be posted when the next question is listed.  The link you give me will also be permanently listed on my Links page!

That’s it! Like I said: I post a question, you get free advertising! So what are we waiting for?

Question #1: If you could be one inch tall for a day, what specific place would you most like to explore?

Email artfeedonline@gmail.com with your answers.  Use “Oct 9: One Inch” as your subject line.  Winner and new question will be announced October 16^th!  Good luck!

Earlier this week, I had the honor of previewing an upcoming exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art “American Stories: Paintings of Everyday Life, 1765-1915,” with the opportunity to listen to curatorial remarks by Carrie Barratt and Barbara Weinberg and gather impressions of the work on display before it’s unveiling to the public on Monday, October 12, 2009.

The exhibition which runs through January 24, 2010, is the story of American history as told through its painters.  Broken into four time periods representative of the thematic mindsets of the time, the 100+ works range from colonial portraits through Impressionist influence and early 20^th century New York, telling of the artists’ interpretations of their own time.  These 4 chronological segments travel from the coming and going of the Civil War and American hardships as viewed through the eyes of such artists as Winslow Homer and John Singer Sargent.

The four sections of the exhibition, in synopsis:

INVENTING AMERICAN STORIES (1765-1830):

A less outwardly-expressive time period, these years produced many portraits and stifled stories of American life. Some noteworthy pieces in the show were John Singleton Copley’s “Paul Revere” (1768), using the boundaries of portraiture to still express a story about the revolt against tea taxes as the silversmith holds his teapot in an otherwise bare surrounding.

STORIES FOR THE PUBLIC (1830-1860):
During wartime, works concentrated strongly on national identity but maintain a cheerful overtone due to the nature in which they were created: in the hopes of being sold to customers.  On the eve of war, broader themes of race still ran strongly (“The Power of Music”) as did works that gleam a light onto the liberation of women who would have to take charge during dismal times (Spencer); however, these themes were shrouded in an ambiguity in order to sell to the masses.  The paintings were meant to appeal to a diverse audience with generalized figures and subject matters.

William Sidney Mount’s “The Power of Music” (1847) demonstrates the division of races as a black man eavesdrops on a group of white fiddlers creating music.  A clear separation of rights is visible, however the eavesdropper shows a slight grin, indicating what the title suggests: the power of music can bring people together.  This “intended” theme lightens the load of the racial issue at bay.

The controversial artist Lilly Martin Spencer, who can be considered the first prominent and successful woman artist in America, depicted strong women and foolish men as the museum displays “Kiss Me and You’ll Kiss the ‘Lasses (1856)(below) and “Young Husband: First Marketing” (1854) next to each other: She with a “come-hither” intrigue and He clumsily dropping groceries on his walk home.  Empowering and condescending at the same time, but all with a feminine and exquisitely-rendered wit.

STORIES OF WAR AND RECONCILIATION (1860-1877):

Meant to tame the sorrow from the war, artists turned to less political contexts.  Bloody battlefields were seldom generated or distributed over the preferred “aspects of every day life” during the war (inc. nostalgia of pre-war times and children playing), forming a contrast with the journalism reporting news of the time.  Even Winslow Homer, who created graphic works for Harper’s Bazaar at the time, chose to revolt from much of this subject matter in his major paintings.  His “Breezing Up” (1873-76) was an energetic piece expressing a generally-optimistic view for the future with symbols of hope like an endless horizon and boat anchor.

Eastman Johnson’s “Negro Life at the South” (1859) shows a community of African Americans in their everyday lives, reading, talking, sewing, etc.  The painting can be viewed in two extremely separate ways based [Read more →]

Nestled along a seemingly random road on a hill in Staten Island, NY sits the Jacques Marchais Museum of Tibetan Art—an amazing building designed to replicate the Himalayan style of architecture often seen in the East.  Formed in 1945, it’s also the first strictly-Tibet museum in the world before the Communist Revolution.

Factual tidbits aside this building and its grounds, though small and humble, are just beautiful.  I had the pleasure of visiting this museum when I recently visited the borough to participate in an art show.  With a garden unfolding behind it, seating and meditation areas, and nature-friendly environment, it was easy to feel at ease in such a tranquil spot.  It would have also been easy to sit outside all day enjoying this atmosphere if it wasn’t for the exquisite and visitor-friendly displays set up inside.  Made of stone, the building houses many statues representing physical yet spiritual representations of Buddhist symbols and figures.  An alter takes up an entire wall with graduated layers of such stoic pieces.  If that wasn’t enough however, the current art exhibit took my breath away.  I saw so many similarities to a Japanese form of Buddhism, Shinnyo-en, for which I once worked at an art exhibit that displayed works of art by its founder Shinjo Ito.

Tibetan Portrait: The Power of Compassion by Phil Borges (With text by the Dalai Lama and an Epilogue by Night’s Eli Weisel, you know you can’t go wrong).   Some of the most remarkable and human photographs I’ve ever seen showed beautifully-taken images of Tibetan refugees who escaped the unspeakable circumstances of their region to live in simplistic and peaceful living.  From infants to the elderly, each black and white photo was accompanied by only a sentence, but these few words told so much about their lives and stories if the images hadn’t already.  I stood in front of this girl’s picture, my eyes connecting with hers, for quite some time.

Jigme, 8 and Sonam, 18 months

“Jigme and Sonam are sisters whose nomadic family had just come down from the Himalayan highlands to their 16,500 ft. winter camp on the Tibetan Plateau. When I gave Jigme a Polaroid of herself she looked at it, squealed and ran into her tent. I assumed that this was one of the only times she had seen herself since her family did not own a mirror.”

One more fascinating fact about this museum is that it currently has the only existing not-destroyed mandala in the world.  Traditionally, these tools for prayer are destroyed immediately after their use; however, during his visit in 1991, the Dalai Lama himself gave permission for this particular mandala to temporarily remain intact at the museum until otherwise notified.  Check it out now because chances are that the museum will have little to no warning before it is to be ruined.  I had the honor of seeing this mandala as well as standing in front of it, in the exact same spot the Dalai Lama did during his visit, in a room surrounded by priceless works of art and the stories of so many brave and inspiration people.  Surreal indeed.

I love creative writing.  I don’t mean “writing about creative things” like I do on this blog, which I also love doing—I mean “creative writing”: poetry, short stories, essays.  The problem is that I never find the time to do it.  And by that I mean that I don’t “make” the time.  I’m not disciplined enough and every time I finally sit down (usually at 3am), I can’t get my thoughts onto the page in any type of coherent manner.  (Unless I already had a burst of inspiration and am writing feverishly on a tissue/ receipt/ whatever’s around.)  Unless already inspired, I usually need one little push, a tiny little prompt, to open the floodgates and pour everything onto the page.

Enter: OneWord.com. This site is perfect for these types of nights or nights when I claim that I just don’t have the time.  Have 60 seconds?  Then I’ve got the time.

Here’s how it works: You go on the site, click “go” and the site provides you with a single word, a text box and a 60 second timer.  The rules are simple: Get as much out as you can in 60 seconds.  The point, for me, is that I don’t have time to think, only to write.  And I have no more excuses.

It reminds me of Writers’ Workshop class in high school.  Mrs. Calhoun used to make us write stream of conscious thoughts for several minutes without lifting the pen from the page.  Can’t think of anything to write?  Scribble until you can.  Or write “I can’t think of anything to write so I’m going to write about how I can’t think of anything to write…” until you do.  And it works.  Many times the repetitiveness of my written nonsense would even turn into a coherent and worthy poem.

My only complaint about OneWord.com is that the “word” is only changed every few days.  I’d love to make it a daily practice to write my 60-seconds every day.  And who knows?—maybe even more.  I think it’s about time I don’t leave it up to OneWord anymore and leave it up to myself.

“Warning: Models in this ad may not seem as real as they appear.”

I love, love, love the fact that the French Parliament is considering a “Full Photoshop Disclosure” law for advertisements.  This would require that these entities inform the viewers if any Photoshopping or airbrushing was done on a given picture.  This would be mandatory for magazine ads, product packaging, press photos and art photography as well.

Much like a cigarette ad, these pictures would require a footer: “Photograph retouched to modify the physical appearance of a person.”  Any violators would be fined €37,500 or up to 50% of the cost of their campaign.

The law reminds me of a Standards Authority rule passed in the UK requiring that advertorials (paid advertisements masked as editorials, leading the reader to believe that the product recommendations are the opinion of the editor and not a paid ad.) be clearly marked with the word “Advertisement” as to not deceive readers.  With so many people trying to make themselves as thin as models in magazines without considering that the model may not even look that way in real life, this new proposal is a welcomed change.

If the law passes, it seems that it may be no more than a formality and I’m not sure that people would change their way of thinking for it (Remember that this doesn’t prevent places from altering images—it only requires them to put a small disclaimer on the bottom of it).  Still, an acknowledgement is a great a start.

That said, do we think this type of law can be in the future for the United States?  I think Americans would be hesitant to pass such a law—Perhaps because it would skew their vision (version?) of reality, proving untrue the idealism that we’ve put in the spotlight for so long.  Perhaps it would lose companies money because our society is built on the concept of unattainable beauty.

And what a shame since it could do our sometimes delusional society a favor by taking unrealistic weight goals, celebrity and unethical publishing practices down all at once!

What could beat taking a walk and browsing through the works of talented artists on such an absolutely beautiful day as this past Sunday?  Apparently nothing.  This weekend’s show at the Staten Island Museum of Art was extremely successful!  Thanks for the support, everyone.  On sale was my photography and jewelry.  I found it interesting that a bit of everything sold.  Scrabble tiles (sold on Etsy) were my winners for most sold , though.  My handmade notecard sets were a close second!

The weather made a fantastic day and my autumn theme felt just right with the cool breeze that hit me throughout the day.  With a fair showing of artists, streets surrounding the city’s cultural center were closed for patrons of all types to walk freely through the vendor tables:  Parents with children, college students, and many a local with dogs on hand.  With holidays quickly approaching, many people took the opportunity for gift-buying.

Though it’s a bit of a trek for me, the show was worthwhile and I ran out of business cards, so hopefully it will continue to be!  My favorite customer:  A young boy of maybe 8 years old who begged his mother for a framed print of the Eiffel Tower.  They decided to keep browsing before making a decision, only to return later in the day when he convinced her, saying “I want it more than anything else in the world!  Even chocolate!”  I would have given in, too.  Because come on:  I don’t even want anything else more than chocolate!  At least I’ll know it went to someone who will enjoy it!  Or color on it with crayons…

All in a day’s work!

Excited to find out today about the progress of a project I am involved in.  Diary 2010 is a motivating endeavor taken on by www.fantazya.ca to create a tri-lingual diary comprised of hundreds of artists’ work.  The compilation of various styles and perspectives is refreshing and inspiring!

The idea is for each page of this 392 page journal to be designed and conceptualized by a different artist from around the world.  I am so pleased to be involved with this project!  I chose to do a simple black and white pattern, with intertwined designs taking over the border on my page.  It reminds me of the new life that Spring brings, and the roots that grow beneath us to produce this life!  My page is May 27, 2010.

I’m glad to see that it is opened for sale and can’t wait to receive the copy (or copies) I’m ordering.

Pictures to come when the book arrives.

In the meantime, browse the project page here: www.fantazya.ca/diary2010.html