Egg-citement!

artist

We have all seen decorated Easter eggs....but have you seen this? It is a mosaic portrait of the Virgin Mary made from 15,000 wooden eggs!

I saw these ostrich eggs in Paris, carved and transformed into sconces!

Traditional Easter eggs have come a long way in the art world. Brian Baity works in glass, wood, gourds and eggshells.

His goose eggs are my favorite!

I have created decorative eggs as well. These are wooden eggs in various sizes that I marbled using old bookbinding paper techniques. I hope you have decorated eggs for Easter and have a happy weekend!

Fractals..Math and Art in Harmony

Alfred Liang

You can thank Benoit Mandelbrot for introducing us in 1975 to fractals.

A fractal is a geometric shape that has self similarity-when fragmented, smaller sections mimic the whole.

The closer you zoom in on a Mandelbrot set, the more intricate it becomes.

Do you think 60's artist, Peter Max saw what was coming in the future?

The merging of math and art is not a new concept.

Lenora Clark

"What distinguishes fractal geometry within mathematics is an exceptional and uncanny characteristic.  Its first steps are not tedious, hard and unrewarding, but playful  and extraordinarily easy, and provide rich reward in terms of stunning graphics.  To the mathematician , they bring a bounty of very difficult conjectures that no one can solve. To the artist, they provide backbones around which imagination can play at will. To everyone, a few steps in about any direction bring extraordinary pleasure. Nothing is more serious than play. Let's all play."
-Benoit Mandelbrot

Fine artists have used math for centuries to develop pleasing compositions...beauty....to the eye. This symmetry is based on the Fibonacci numbers.

The golden ratio is seen over and over in nature. Fractals occur in nature as well...a basic shape occurring over and over in a plant making a pleasing pattern.

Symmetry through math in nature produces beauty to the human eye.

The fibonacci series can be used to produce arcs and curves perfectly proportioned.

Art and math.....working together to create the intangible quality of beauty.


Thank you Jans Berghuis for making me think!

Salon...Atlanta, Ga 2011

Anita Medina panel

No, this is not a photo of the Assyrian lions in the Louvre...this is a decorative painting done by artist Anita Medina.
  A large group of international  decorative painters just gathered in Atlanta, Ga for the 2011 Salon.

Salon exhibits the most prestigious level of art  by decorative artists.

Pierre Finkelstein

Examples of marbles and wood graining by the best of the best are on exhibit. Each year, there is a theme to the gathering...this year it was "Secrets".

Jan Berghuis

Lectures were also offered by the artists for the "insiders"that attended .

This piece by Jans Berghuis, is based on the golden rule and was elaborated on in his lecture on the secrets of the universe.

Each piece exhibited had incredible detail and only got better the closer you viewed them.

Julien Gautier

Layers of shading and highlights are painted to produce intricate folds in fabric and carved marbles.

This is a detail of Julien Gautier's work showing how precise his lines are between shadow and light.

Natali Hallburg worked on a fantastic portrait of a child.  The expression on her face was perfect!

Mats Carlson 

It is all about the illusion of depth, shadow and light and the play of three dimensional with the flat canvas. Mats Carlson did a great example of what a decorative artist does best....fool the eye!

Salon...

This is a short post as I am trying to finish a job for a client and pack for Atlanta. Salon is hosting it's 2011 conference in the U.S. this year. (Last year it was held at Versailles)

Decorative artists from all over the world will gather to display their work and share techniques.

 The conference is April 6-10th and will be based at Atlantic Station. Artists that are submitting work, will display their panels executed based on the theme of the year. This year's theme is "Secrets".

Many styles and media will be on exhibit. Applicants enter work in trompe l"oeil, fresco, wood graining and marbling, anamorphic and other categories.

The conference will be open to the public on the 9th and the 10th. If you are anywhere near, this is a once in a lifetime conference to attend and see some of the best art from around the world. I will post a follow up on the conference when I return. To learn more about Salon, click here.

All photos are property of Salon website.