Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
The sap has ascended my arms,
The tree has grown in my breast --
Downward,
The branches grow out of me, like arms.
Tree you are,
Moss you are,
You are violets with wind above them.
A child -- so high -- you are,
And all this is folly to the world.
Monday, March 29, 2010
Friday, March 26, 2010
Thursday, March 25, 2010
When my girls were small, a holiday tradition I established for our family was buying a yearly book. On the inside cover, I would write "The Cook Family" and then the year the book was purchased. I bought Christmas (of course!), Easter, and Halloween themed books. With each passing year, we accumulated quite a library. I would pack the books away once the holiday was over, and then pull them out as the corresponding holiday approached. I usually stacked them on the coffee table in the den/family room so that the girls could read them whenever; they became an intricate part of our "holiday decorating." Even though the girls are now in their twenties, they still love for me to pull out their holiday books. They love reminiscing past holidays through the books.
I've begun the same tradition for my granddaughter. For this Easter, I've purchased "The Easter Egg" by Jan Brett. It's a darling book about a rabbit named Hoppi. "Brett's finely detailed watercolor and gouache art is a showstopper, spotlighting lifelike — though nattily clad — rabbits decorating eggs in hopes of winning the role of the Easter Rabbit's helper. Hoppi is awed by bunnies' creations, which include an ornate chocolate egg and a 'whirling, twirling mechanical egg.' But when an egg tumbles out of a robin's nest, he keeps it safe until the baby bird hatches. Borders of twigs, pussy willows, daffodils, and ferns add greatly to the warm, visually sumptuous setting of this gentle spring story. Ages 3-5." Publishers Weekly
Jan Brett is one of the nation's foremost author illustrators of children's books... with over 35 million books in print (yes, I said 35 million!). She is a very talented artist who also has an amazing blog that I recommend to you.
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
2 cups dried cherries
4 cups Cabernet
2 cups mint stems
1 cup mint leaves, chopped
1/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup water
1/8 cup cornstarch
Place cherries, wine, and mint stems in a large skillet and bring to a boil; cook until reduced by 2/3 and then remove stems. Whisk in chopped mint and sugar. In a small bowl, mix together water and cornstarch to form a slurry, and then add to the cherry sauce. Cook the sauce until it coats the back of a wooden spoon.
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
While watching the Sundance Channel this weekend, I saw again an award-winning, Bruce Weber documentary about Chet Baker's life entitled, "Let's Get Lost." It is filled with his music, a fascinating series of interviews with friends, musicians, his children and ex-wife, women companions and lovers, and is interspersed with film from Baker's earlier life and some modern-day performances. The intercuts of footage from the 1950s, when he was part of West Coast Cool, are amazing and engaging. It's the young Baker, he of the beautiful face, in California and in Italy, where he appeared in at least one movie and at least one jail cell (for drug possession). And, then we see the aged Baker, detached, indifferent, his face a ruin. Shot in black and white, the film belies its age -- it doesn't look twenty-three years old.
Check out some youtube cuts of my favorite songs: Time After Time, My Funny Valentine, Tenderly, I've Never Been In Love Before, Autumn Leaves, and Arborway.
Monday, March 22, 2010
I just want to say that I hate Daylight Saving Time. For some reason this year it has a hold on me that I can't shake off.
I'm not doing a good job of springing forward. I may use less energy lighting my home at night, but it also means I use more energy lighting it in the morning! To the DST gods: I do not need the extra hour of sunlight at the end of the day... what I need is the extra hour of darkness in the morning! Give me a break!
Friday, March 19, 2010
Thursday, March 18, 2010
This handbook is supposed to "put to rest the popular myth of the starving artist." It promises to help me make a good living by taking an active stand in promoting my career and to help me navigate the corridors of power that lead to success in the art world. It is filled with chapters of information: Overcoming Career Blocks, Launching or Relaunching Your Career, Entering the Marketplace, Presentation Tools and Packages, Art Marketing and the Internet, Pricing Your Work, Public Relations: Keep Those Cards and Letters Coming In and Going Out, Exhibition and Sales Opportunities: Using Those That Exist and Creating Your Own, Dealing with Dealers and Psyching Them Out, The Mysterious World of Grants: Fact and Fiction, Generating Income: Alternatives to Driving a Cab, and "Rationalization, Paranoia, Competition, Rejection, and the Overwhelm Factor."
Waiting for the postman to deliver the handbook, I have my black and red pen ready, as well as my florescent yellow highlighter. I'll let you know if it is, in fact, the Holy Grail!
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Instead of sitting at my desk in front of the computer screen, I wish I were taking a walk under the beauty of these trees, listening to the birds warble, the buzz of the bees, and smell the frangrances of buds and blossoms.
When wintry winds are high.
But milder days remind us all,
Spring's coming by and by.
Monday, March 15, 2010
I had the happy opportunity to visit the R.W. Norton Art Gallery in Shreveport this weekend. Along with their exquisite permanent collections, The Norton presented a special exhibition, "Fantasies and Fairytales: Maxfield Parrish and the Art of Print" (showing now through April 11, 2010.)
This exhibit included a comprehensive sampling of Parrish's illustrative work in a variety of printed media. Lithographs, calendars, posters, advertisements, books, magazine covers, and illustrations -- my head was reeling with the beauty of it all! Ya know, I have a special place in my heart for illustrators -- they too are true artists -- no matter what art snobs may say!
Maxfield Parrish (1870-1966) was known mostly for his color prints designed for the mass market. His work graced the covers of Collier's and Life for many years. "The Garden of Allah," "Daybreak," "Dawn," and "The Sirens of Titan" were huge hits in America during his heyday, embraced by millions of households. He had a fine eye for detail, fantastical romance, and luminous color -- especially blue which became one of his trademarks, "Parrish blue." And he has been the inspiration for modern artists such as The Moody Blues, Dali's Car, Elton John, Michael Jackson, Enya, Kurt Vonnegut, Bloom County, and the producers of The Princess Bride.
One year before his death, Maxfield Parrish's 30' x 40' oil painting, "The Errant Pan" which was first published as the frontispiece for Scribner's Magazine in August of 1910, was procured by the Metropolitan Museum of Art. His work long regarded as "kitsch" by some art critics, Parrish felt honored by The Met's purchase and finally validated as a true painter.
(Footnote: His second son, Maxfield Parrish Jr., helped develop the first self-developing camera with Dr. Edwin H. Land's Polaroid Corporation!)
Friday, March 12, 2010
Thursday, March 11, 2010
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
The eighteen signatories of the protest letter came to be known as "The Irascibles."
The above photograph was taken by Nina Leen, and appeared in Life magazine. This very famous photo, known as the photo of "The Irascibles " shows 15 of the 18 Abstract Expressionist painters: Jackson Pollock (1912-1956); Barnett Newman (1905-1970); Willem De Kooning (1904-1997); Clyfford Still ( 1904-1980); Adolph Gottlieb (1903-1974); Ad Reinhardt (1913-1967); Robert Motherwell (1915-1991); Mark Rothko ( 1903-1970); William Baziotes (1912-1963); James Brooks (1906-1992); Jimmy Ernst (1920-1984); Theodoros Stamos (1922-1997); Bradley Walker Tomlin (1899-1953); and Richard Poussette-Dart (1916-1992).
The photograph caption read: "IRASCIBLE GROUP OF ADVANCED ARTISTS LED FIGHT AGAINST SHOW -- The solemn people above, along with three others, made up the group of “irascible” artists who raised the biggest fuss about the Metropolitan’s competition (following pages). All representatives of advanced art, they paint in styles which vary from the dribblings of Pollock (LIFE, Aug. 8, 1949) to the Cyclopean phantoms of Baziotes, and all have distrusted the museum since its director likened them to “flat-chested” pelicans “strutting upon the intellectual wastelands.” From left, rear, they are: Willem de Kooning, Adolph Gottlieb, Ad Reinhardt, Hedda Sterne; (next row) Richard Pousette-Dart, William Baziotes, Jimmy Ernst (with bow tie), Jackson Pollock (in striped jacket), James Brooks, Clyfford Still (leaning on knee), Robert Motherwell, Bradley Walker Tomlin; (in foreground) Theodoros Stamos (on bench), Barnett Newman (on stool), Mark Rothko (with glasses). Their revolt and subsequent boycott of the show was in keeping with an old tradition among avant-garde artists. French painters in 1874 rebelled against their official juries and held the first impressionist exhibition. U.S. artists in 1908 broke with the National Academy jury to launch the famous Ashcan School. The effect of the revolt of the “irascible” remains to be seen, but it did appear to have needled the Metropolitan’s juries into turning more than half the show into a free-for-all of modern art."
Someone told me that originally there were only men in the group, but the photographer insisted on having a woman as well, and Hedda Sterne (who throughout her career maintained a stubborn independence from styles and trends) was brought in for the photo shoot, even though she wasn't one of the signers of the letter to the Met.
Friday, March 5, 2010
Thursday, March 4, 2010
It's going to be a beautiful weekend -- the sun will be shining, the temperature is supposed to be nearly 70, and green is popping up all around. I feel like something spicy and vibrant!
Tomatillo-Avocado Dip
1 lb. tomatillos, husked
1 avocado, pitted & peeled
1 cup loosely packed fresh cilantro leaves
1/3 cup sour cream
5 garlic cloves
3 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1 1/2 medium jalapeno chilies, stemmed, seeded & chopped
Cook tomatillos in large pot of boiling water until soft but still whole (about 3 minutes). Drain. Place tomatillos in large bowl and chill until cold (about 1 hour). Place tomatillos in blender. Add remaining ingredients. Blend until smooth. Transfer dip to bowl. Cover with plastic and refrigerate until cold. (Dip can be prepared 6 hours ahead.)
Great dip or you can use it as a topping for burritos and enchiladas!
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Monday, March 1, 2010
Friday, February 26, 2010
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Nearly one-third of our food crops require pollination by honeybees.
Monday, February 22, 2010
The Verbal & Visual Master:
I was sick all last week (ugh!) and couldn't hold my head up to read, so I kept the TV on for company. In all my channel surfing between AMC, TCM, BBC, and IFC, I also watched the Sundance Channel. One day there was an "Iconoclast" Season 4 segment showing fashion designer Stella McCartney paired with artist Ed Ruscha. It knocked me out! It was so great listening to Ruscha talk about art and catching up on what he is doing now.
Edward Ruscha's body of work is uniquely American in both subject and sensibility. Long regarded as an American master, Ed Ruscha has redefined the way we see the urban landscape, and, for that matter, the American landscape as a whole. Ruscha's intimacy with the essence of America, its free-spiritedness, is best expressed in his own words, "I like to think of myself as an ambling rambling person who doesn't have to concern himself with time: that's what we all dream about isn't it?"
Ruscha's glamorous "bad boy" persona and his Los Angeles County Museum retrospective were subjects for a 1983 People magazine profile in its May issue. In the article Henry Geldzahler is quoted as saying, "Conceptual, pop, surrealist, dada, neo-dada, earth art-all these are arguable elements of his style. Ruscha can be pinned down partially by any of these labels and yet he escapes all of them."
"His vision has touched America's soul through the beauty and boldness of his art, transforming city planning maps into sublime landscapes. I call on Ed Ruscha to reach out to Americans of every belief and move this good-hearted nation toward a culture of life. Ed's wonderfully idiosyncratic nature reflects the hard working people of America. Ed is a man of faith and a believer to the end. Ed Ruscha warns us that Los Angeles might be a mirage and California a myth -- a façade about to crumble into the desert, a set about to liquefy into the sea. Most families don't look to Hollywood for a source of values. The heart and soul of America is found in places like Oklahoma, where Ed grew up," commented President George W. Bush in January 2005 upon the occasion of naming Ed Ruscha as Secretary of the United States Department of Art & Technology, to lead his ambitious agenda for cultural reform.
Friday, February 12, 2010
Thursday, February 11, 2010
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 tablespoons finely chopped rosemary leaves
2 teaspoons salt
Freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons grated lemon zest
Heat the popcorn and oil in a 1-gallon, heavy bottomed pot over medium-high heat. When the popcorn starts to pop, cover the pot tightly and continue to cook until all the popcorn pops, about 2 to 3 minutes, shaking the pot occasionally. Pour the popcorn into a large bowl.
In a medium saute pan over medium-high heat, melt the butter and cook until it is brown, shaking the pan occasionally. Remove the pan from the heat. Add the rosemary to the butter and pour the butter mixture over the popcorn. Toss well. Add the salt and pepper and lemon zest. Toss well.
:: Melt 1 stick butter and 2 tablespoons EVOO, then add 3 rounded tablespoons of Brewer's Yeast and pour over 3 cups popcorn kernels that have been popped. Finish up with salt and pepper or your favorite seasoning.
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
A couple of weekends ago, I took a little trip to Harker Heights, Texas. On the way, I noticed that all the road signs were blurry. So blurry, in fact, that I couldn’t read the durn signs ‘til I drove almost past 'em! “Hmmm,” I wondered, “What is wrong with all these signs!?!”
I had an eye exam this morning. After taking my vitals and doing some preliminary vision checks, the nurse exclaimed, “And you actually drove yourself to this appointment!” Ha ha ha…
I was then escorted to a freezing cold rest area to wait for my eyes to dilate. I sat there for over an hour! (They denied it, but I think they forgot about me.) Once in the machine room, I snuggled my chin into a cold metal cup and leaned way forward… my eyes were subjected to grids with wiggly lines, bright blue lights, bright green dots, and bright white flashes. My eyeballs hurt and my head ached.
They handed me a pair of lovely Rollens to wear until my eyes returned to normal. I looked hot! Just like my 93-year-old-great-aunt. What a fashion statement!
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Since Valentine's Day is right around the corner, Hearts are on my mind. (I'm trying to segue here so bear with me!)
Have you ever heard of the Young At Heart Chorus? I thought if you haven't, maybe you would want to. I was introduced to them recently via PBS very late one night, in a Walker George documentary entitled simply, Young At Heart.
The film is about a senior citizen’s chorus singing rock & roll. It follows this group of 73 to 90 year old men and women as they rehearse and perform. Along the way you get to know some of the members and how much singing in this group means to them. It is a life-affirming film of people who are common in their age and love of music. They are very much alive and engaged, although they regularly confront the difficulties of aging.
There are many funny moments and many sad moments in the film, and many surprising moments... especially one scene when they perform at a prison. You can tell on the faces of the prisoners that they don't have a clue why these old people are visiting. Then the Young At Heart Chorus bangs out The Boss' Dancin' in the Dark, the prisoners start smiling and laughing at the irony. By the end of their performance, the chorus has won over the crowd and even earned some respect. But their last song touches the prisoners deeply, especially when it is announced that the song is dedicated to one of the chorus members who died a few hours earlier. Bob Dylan's Forever Young takes on new meaning for these men locked up in prison. The scene provides a very large lump in the throat.
Another touching moment is at the end of the film when Coldpay's Fix You is performed. Sung by an elderly gentleman in ill health, the song is no longer about youth's optimistic second chances; it is a blunt testimony about life, its trials and regrets, and its end. This version of Fix You will bring you to tears.
These singers, most of them well-rehearsed amateurs, refuse to go gently into that good night. For them music is oxygen. And this film allows us to see people who, because of their age, are generally invisible in our youth-centered culture. As the Young At Heart Chorus makes clear, these are people we need to know and whose joyful lives are worth aspiring to.
Monday, February 8, 2010
In response to 70-plus years of inquiries, pleading and collector interest, Eyvind Earle -- artist, illustrator, author, poet -- consented to write a definitive autobiography in 1990. It included the complete journal of his monumental cross-country bicycle trip across America in 1937; hence the title, "Horizon Bound on a Bicycle" illustrated with his black and white reverse etchings... waiting, anxiously, for my "vintage" copy to arrive!
Here's one of his beautiful poems to share with you:
Friday, February 5, 2010
In Earle's words:
"There is a great force pulling us, and the more it manifests, the more creative we become. Art is an attempt to delve into this mystery, to pick one detail out of the infinitude of infinities and make it clear."
He continued to produce serigraphs until he died in 2000 --his "screen paintings"--earning financial and critical success in an age when loveliness has nearly become passe. While other artists strive to impress with anger or social relevance, or to beguile with nostalgia, a public weary of the present and doubtful of the future, Eyvind Earle pursued beauty. This quest predates the Greeks, but Earle's strength of vision and craftsmanship made it compellingly his own.