Author: juliemlmitchell_lchs7g

Below the Stacks: Above Par

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Yesterday I took my seven-year-old on a field trip to downtown Lansing. I don’t have reason to go downtown very often, but every time I do I think I should go more often. Currently, Below the Stacks is going on and I had to check it out. It makes me SO HAPPY when Lansing adds more art to its streets. Below the Stacks is a festival that takes place in cities like Chicago, Detroit, and now, Lansing! Painters from all over the world get a blank wall to do their thing, plus there are workshops, artist talks, and the kick-off event had breakdancing and graffiti classes. I am so sad I missed it because I feel like age 39 is the absolute latest I should be starting my breakdancing career.

We had a map of the mural locations, but if you know me, that was utterly useless. We mostly wandered around until we wound up on a street that was on the map and then I’d yell a building address to look for. It sounded like this: “Are we on Larch? We are! Yay! Look for 619!” I am a really great navigator and seven-year-olds love walking miles and miles with only a “Maybe it’s this way” to sustain them. Luckily, we had snacks. Always, always bring snacks.

We didn’t get to visit every single mural location, but of the paintings we visited, this was our favorite:

There is a sign by each location requesting visitors don’t ask questions while the painters are working, so I just yelled up, “It’s beautiful!” I couldn’t stop myself.

It is by Royyal Dog (aka Chris Chanyang Shim). a Korean artist based in Los Angeles. His most famous mural is “Peace to You” which features Rhianna in traditional Korean garb. This is typical of Royyal Dog- he often portrays black women in Korean clothing. The effect is stunning, don’t you think?

I think it was raining when he painted this. He had to stand under an umbrella-ella-ella.

The writing you see translates to a verse in the Bible: “…Peace be to you, and peace be to your house, and peace be to all that you have.” 1 Samuel 25:6. Lansing is so, so lucky to have Royyal Dog and other incredible artists decorating our city! Next time you’re in the middle of the mitten, be sure to go look at some of our new murals. And don’t forget your snacks.

Mr. Brainwash

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When we got our dog, we immediately went to PetSmart to get all her things, as you do. She is a bird dog, so my husband insisted we get her a stuffed pheasant. The girls and I agreed and bounced up and down and decided to call it Mr. Fezzy. Jim did not love that idea and wanted to call it “Bird.” I listened to a podcast the other day that referenced the artist, Mr. Brainwash. I wonder if he wishes when it was time to come up with a moniker, he’d had a sensible voice like Jim to say, “No, how about ‘Jon’? Or even ‘Artist’?” Personally, I like his actual name: Thierry Guetta. 

Well, what’s done is done. Here is MoJo with Bird.



And here is Mr. Brainwash:

Doesn’t he look like a fun guy? He was discovered by none other than Banksy, and there are some theories that MBW is a cover for Banksy, but I wholeheartedly disagree. MBW’s style is much less political and a lot more fun, if you ask me. If you’re a Madonna fan, you’ve seen his work on the cover of her 2009 CD, Celebration. He’s also done work for big names like The Red Hot Chili Peppers, Avicii (RIP), and Michael Jackson. The piece of art I recognized immediately was his Rock the Vote illustration we see every election year:
As you can see below, his art is influenced by many different artists like, Rockwell, Banksy (he’s not covering for Banksy! Don’t believe it!) and Warhol, to name a few. 

He’s fun and funky, right? I thought he was the perfect blog subject after I imposed spooky art on you the last couple weeks. Nothing scary here (except Marilyn Manson, of course. Sorry.)
Lots of critics call him a sell-out because he’s gone a little commercial (he did a gig for The Sunglass Hut, for instance). Big deal. He was discovered when he was a security guard at a used-clothing store, so I say if he wants to make his millions designing sunglasses and doing boutique openings, he should go for it! His mantra is “Life is Beautiful” and I guess if you’re going to be Mr. Brainwash, that’s a good message to send.

Twinning

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Don’t you just love a long weekend? We didn’t have school last Friday or Monday, so it was an especially extended Labor Day weekend for us. My whole family went up north and it was even more fun than I thought because my mom’s twin brother and his wife came unexpectedly and they are a blast! 

My mom and her brother are the very best friends. They talk on the phone every day, have rhyming names, are both redheads, and every now and then, when they are really twinning, will say something at the same time and we laugh and clap and beg for another party trick. 

Naturally, their twininess got me thinking about twins in art. Here are a couple tips, gentle readers. If you do a Google search on this, no matter what word combination you type in, you are going to get information about the Kaplan twins’ butts. It is how the internet works. More than anything else, Google wants you to read about their butt art. Resist. Here is my second tip. Once you dive past the $1,000 butt paintings, you will get to actual twin art and then you will be sorry, because twins are only portrayed as the creepiest people in the entire world. 

Case in point:

Stephen King did not paint this, as I would have expected. The artist is Jana Brike. Which sort of rhymes with “fright.”

Speaking of Stephen King, artist Beth Conklin has based some of her art off quotes from his books!

It’s raining spooky twins!

The sucker is a nice prop, no? I’m sure they stole those from their latest victims.

I’m happy to say none of the twins I know are in the least bit creepy, but you would never know it to look at the art world!

Curse of the Crying Boy

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The girls and I went to a movie last night with some friends. It was inspirational and uplifting and naturally, I bawled my eyes out. My daughter and her friend know their moms well. Every so often then would sneak down the aisle to us: “We’re just checking on the moms. You both crying? Okay!” What can I say? I’m a crier. 

On the way to the movie, we were talking about the scariest movies we’ve ever seen. In middle school, when I was more worried about what my friends thought than my own sanity, I saw many scary movies. I cited The Shining as the first horror movie I ever saw and advised my girls to never watch it.
When we got to the theater, there was a poster for… the sequel to The Shining! We walked swiftly past the poster and into the tearjerker where I belong.

The point of my story is this. Today I found a painting to blog about that embodies tears and fears! It is, The Crying Boy.

He looks cute, doesn’t he?

The Crying Boy was painted by Italian painter, Bruno Amadilo (who had many pseudonyms, as an FYI, in case you Google him. I hope his friends called him “Armadillo.”) There are some creepy stories floating around about both the painter and his subject, but none are founded. You research it and tell me what you think. Amadilo painted The Crying Boy around WWII and prints were sold in department stores throughout the 1970s. Tons of people had The Crying Boy hanging in their home. My initial reaction is to wonder why somebody would have a crying kiddo featured in their home. Then I looked around my own house.

So maybe I do get it a little. 

Anyway. The creepy thing about this picture is that in 1985 homes in the UK started going up in flames and they had one thing in common: The Crying Boy painting! Weirder still? The houses (or chunks of them) would go up in flames, but the paintings didn’t burn! Queue the creepy music! The people of Great Britain were totally reasonable about it. They knew it was crazy to believe a picture could be cursed. It also seemed totally reasonable for them to send their paintings in mass quantities to The Sun (who broke the story, then offered to take the cursed prints off their readers’ hands). Apparently the office was swarmed with Crying Boys in no time.

It turns out the prints were finished with a fire-retardant varnish, but who the heck cares about sciencey explanations when a curse is so much more interesting?! I don’t personally buy into it. But I’m also not keeping The Crying Boy.jpg saved on my desktop.

Bouguereau and Bunkers

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It’s the first week of school! It occurred to me we hadn’t been together as a family almost all summer, between camps and trips and work, so last weekend we squeezed in a mini-vacation up north, just the five of us. It was so delightful. My kids are at an age where they are fun and funny and they still think I’m fun and funny. That I’m fun and funny is no surprise to anyone, but I’m still surprised and delighted when they say or do something that actually makes me laugh, real authentic laughs.

Plus, they’re competitive now. They can hang. We had a no-holds bar shuffleboard tournament and it was an actual nail-biter, because they’re good. It never occurred to me that this day would come! That we could play games and it wouldn’t be a lesson in how to lose gracefully. It still is, I guess, but now I’m often on the receiving end of the lesson. 

What I’d like to do is take these moments, in the summer, in my favorite place, with my favorite people, doing things we love and vacuum-seal them. I want to package them up like beef jerky, freeze dry them like astronaut food, can them like the Ingalls getting ready for the long winter, then put all my preserved moments into a bunker. In a few years, when my girls are 12, 14, and 16, I know what will happen. Teenage Armageddon. Surly behavior, eye-rolls, not thinking their mom is fun and funny (it seems impossible, I know!). But I’ll be prepared! I’ll retreat to my bunker of memories and feast on their jokes and compliments and giggles, and it will tide me over until the worst of it has passed. 

I love how French artist William-Adolphe Bouguereau depicted young girls. It’s how I would like my own to be painted.

“The Nut Gatherers” This is the most viewed painting at the Detroit Institute of Arts!
“The Elder Sister” Meet Henriette and Paul. They are model children. 
“The Difficult Lesson” Ohmygoodness. Is this a little Hermione Granger, or what?!
“Shepherdess” Insert a hockey stick for the staff and that could be one of my girls.

I love that he painted girls as nurturing, academic, powerful, and adventuresome in a time (late 1800s) girls weren’t normally seen as such. He also really loved his work, which makes me happy. There were so many suffering, depressed artists (which he probably was- his family had horrible luck with tuberculosis), but it sounds as though his art was the source of his sanity and even joy when he lost four children and a wife. He said, “Each day I go to my studio full of joy; in the evening when obliged to stop because of darkness I can scarcely wait for the next morning to come…”

Friends with teenagers: when the door-slamming and hormones and attitudes get you down, you are welcome in my bunker. Bring your snacks. The pretzels, chips, and salsa, yes. But also your portions of memories of your kids being cute, silly, funny and when they thought the same of you. I’ll have some wine chilled and we will feast! Also, I promise to decorate the bunker with lovely paintings like Bouguereau’s.

Landscapes and Landfills

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I don’t know if it was the island hopping I’ve been doing this past week, or the podcast about Celia Cruz my girls were listening to, or it could have been  talking with my cousin’s bright and beautiful Cuban wife, but however it came about I was really wondering about Cuban painters today.

As usual, I didn’t know any of the names listed in the Pinterest board Google pulled up for me: 257 Best Cuban Painters (257!! How would you like to be number 258? Sad painter!) And, as usual, I was mesmerized and delighted and immediately vowed to own an original painting from each one. If you know me you might be thinking, “Her house is not large enough for 257 paintings!” Don’t worry! I’m moving to a castle on a cloud. It looks a lot like the Louvre.

We don’t have all day, so let me just randomly pick one of the artists I love. It has to be Tomas Sanchez.

“A veces la gracia parece una cascada.” 
I’m falling all over myself here. Isn’t it gorgeous?

“Los Cuatros Elementos”
Just give me some snacks and set me up in front of this for the rest of my life.

Sanchez met Fidel Castro a few times, and one of his paintings even hung in the Castro residence. But his relationship with the Castro regime was… not awesome. (Shocker, I know.) Many of his paintings were burned or given to budding (maybe more compliant) artists to paint over.

In addition to his amazing landscapes, Sanchez is also famous for painting bizarrely beautiful landfills. Not like, “Hey! That’s beautiful! Earth should have more landfills!” But beautiful like, “Ohmygosh, there is so much garbage and he somehow paints it beautifully. Ohmygosh, I should use a reusable straw and bring my own container to the restaurant for my leftovers.” Take a look at this one:

“Al sur del Calvario”
I think I see some of my coffee pods* in there. 🙁 

A few bio highlights if you’re into that kind of thing: Tomas Sanchez is only 71 (so we can look forward to much more work!); he was born to a middle-class family in Cuba, the oldest of two boys. His work has been exhibited in over 30 countries. Curators and the like have linked his paintings to the experience of meditation. His favorite song is Havana by Camila Cabello.

That last one is a lie, but now you too, can have that song in your head all day. Havanna oo na na!

* I read somewhere that by the end of 2020 all coffee pods will be biodegradable. Yay!

Family Ties

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This summer is all about family! I’m willing to bet you’ve had a reunion this summer. Or at least a get-together with some seasonal family (you know- the cousins you only see in the summer because they won’t come north in the winter, or because they’re teachers, or because it’s too expensive to fly your whole family to them, or whatever.)

We are packing all our family stuff into this one week. It all kicked off last weekend in the most incredible way, meeting my cousin and his family for the first time (that is a long, surreal, incredible story for another time) at a huge party with all my cousins from around the country, whom I adore. Today my girls are building forts and eating popsicles with my niece and nephew, to whom I will give anything they want, no questions asked. Tomorrow, we are meeting my cousins who are in town from Thailand. All of this to say- it’s the best week of the year and my heart is full to the point of ALL CAPS!

I don’t know about your cousins, but mine are fun, smart, kind, and creative. The Cranach family of Germany also had some artistic DNA running through their veins (or wherever DNA runs. You know what I mean.)

Apollo and Diana by Lucas Cranach the Elder

Christ and the Woman Taken in Adultery by Lucas Cranach the Younger

Having an Elder and Younger must have been very confusing when people phoned the house. And you know they opened each other’s mail. Not to mention BOTH wanted to be lcranach@gmail.com. Wikipedia is still confused and gives credit to L.C. the Younger for “Adam and Eve” which was actually painted by his dad.

Adam and Eve. These are separate paintings, but housed next to each other in Chicago.

Frustrating! But what are you going to do? It’s family.

A Visit to the Minneapolis Institute of Art

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Isn’t it a wonder when you discover new places in a state you’ve lived in almost your whole life? Every now and then somebody mentions a city in Michigan that I’ve never heard of, which seems impossible because I’ve lived here nearly forever. I immediately assume it’s in the “thumb” of Michigan, which remains a mystery to me. 

I had the same sense of wonder when we were in Minnesota. I lived right outside the Twin Cities after college, but when I go back I always discover places I’ve never been! Take the Minneapolis Institute of Art, for instance. I didn’t know what to expect, but I was sort of thinking it would be something tiny and “meh.” Wrong! Look at this place:

Isn’t she regal?

It was jam-packed with art from Gaugin, Van Gogh, Degas, El Greco, Manet, Seurat! Not to mention artists I wasn’t familiar with before, but that knocked me on my hind end! (I see you, Jeffrey Gibson.) It was heavenly! My girls loved it too. Every time we go to an art museum I give them scavenger hunts, because everything is more fun with a scavenger hunt. “Why yes, I would like to search high and low for a portrait featuring a person with a mustache!”

“Frank” by Chuck Close. 
The 7 year old loved it so much. It was massive and made her feel like a little mouse, as demonstrated here.

All this to say, if you’re in the Twin Cities, go to the MIA. And while you’re doing that, I’ll be in the thumb, exploring a little more of my home state.

Go Fourth and Celebrate!

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Happy Independence Day Eve! Or, if you’re Canadian, Happy belated Independence Day! You are no doubt heading somewhere fun to celebrate. (Maybe on a lake! Maybe to a spectacular fireworks show! Maybe to put new flooring in, which is what we plan to do.)

I could never have a favorite war. That is ridiculous. But that Revolutionary War sure was a Big Win, and I’m eternally grateful for it. Below are a few of the Americans (I bet that term was music to their ears) you probably recognize from history class, or a two dollar bill!

Robert Livingston helped write the DoI, but didn’t sign it! He thought it was too soon to declare independence. 

I haven’t seen one of these babies in a looooong time!

Some people think it looks like Thomas Jefferson is stepping on John Adams’ foot, representing their political differences, but experts agree the feet are actually just very close. I wish politics today were as respectful as these gentlemen were. But that’s a soapbox for another day! 

I admit, I couldn’t remember the other two chaps who helped write the Declaration of Independence. You probably paid better attention in history class, but just in case it’s on Jeopardy next time you’re watching, they were Roger Sherman and Robert Livingston. 

However you’re celebrating your independence tomorrow, I hope you are happy, safe, and exercising your right to the pursuit of happiness!

Tigers vs. Ticks: Which is Scarier?

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Last month my cousin sent me an article about a couple that was visiting Thailand. They wound up stuck in a bamboo tree while a tiger paced beneath them for half an hour. The part that was most interesting to me was that we went to that very area when I visited her a year and a half ago! Here in Michigan, there are warning signs for ticks on tons of trailheads, but I’m here to tell you, there were ZERO signs warning of tigers there! True, I wouldn’t have been able to read the signs if there were any, but how about a picture?!

They also had a King Cobra in their yard shortly after we left, which might be even scarier. Though still not as scary as the rats in Bangkok. But I’m not here to put you off Thailand- it was totally worth risking a tiger mauling, snake bite, and my sanity. All this to say, tigers are scary and so is this picture (another from the National Museum of Wildlife Art):

The night scene and full moon just add to the creepy factor!

Can you see the tiger very well? It’s just stalking around being creepy! What I find most impressive about the whole painting (and all Rousseau’s wild animal art, for that matter) is that he never left France in his whole life! The tiger and scenery are all whipped up in his imagination. His critics mocked his art, but the likes of Pablo Picasso recognized his genius, and now the whole world agrees.

I also have an active imagination, which is why you won’t catch me in the jungles of Thailand in the dead of night anytime soon. I have enough to worry about with the ticks around here.