Lascaux Cave Paintings in Danger

I'm Starting to NOT like Dale Chihuly

This is ridiculous. Can you imagine if Caravaggio sued his various copiers-of-style, or Rembrandt, or Rubens? You can definitely tell we are living in the 21st century. People can be such babies. Chihuly could just step down from his ivory tower for just a minute and make BETTER work than anybody if he is the 'master' that he proclaims to be. Whatever happened to just being happy with being better and flattered that people wanted to copy you? Now artists have to sue each other? It's very unbecoming. A house divided against itself cannot stand--and we artists have to stick together. Sad.

Guilty Pleasure: "The Master of Disaster"

I heard this commentary this morning on Morning Edition on NPR. It discusses the remake of The Poseidon Adventure, Poseidon. The producer of the original is one of my personal favorites--Irwin Allen, the Master of Disaster. I would say it's a guilty pleasure of mine because watching disaster flicks appeals to my sense of morbid fascination. I have seen such notable films as The Poseidon Adventure, The Swarm, Fire!, Flood!, and of course, The Towering Inferno (my personal favorite) countless times. There's just something alluring about a film with big budget effects and watching Oscar winning celebrities in survival situations--far more interesting that today's "reality" television.

Internet Movie Database's file on Irwin Allen.

Something Fun

Check out The Art-o-mat.

Charles Sheeler

I was reminded of one of my favorite artists today. He is Charles Sheeler, an American artist who coined the term for his own art movement, "Precisionism." And precise is precisely what he is. I have always been a big admirer of draftsmanship, especially in drawing, and he is the Master. Here is a small collection of some of his works. I could not find my favorite drawing of his. It is "Feline Felicity," a gorgeous drawing of a tabby cat on a rattan chair. Some of his architectural paintings are often confused with some of friend and fellow Precisionist Charles Demuth's architectural paintings.

Charles Sheeler, Chartres Cathedral, charcoal, 1929


Charles Sheeler, Nude, graphite pencil on paper, 1920