Author: juliemlmitchell_lchs7g

I Hate to Harp On, But….

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As we happily determined yesterday, it is most definitely September! I won’t bore you with more praise for my favorite month, but I will just give you one more reason to love it: hummingbirds. My heart’s delight! I swoon over these little flutterlovies all summer and especially this time of year because they visit me more frequently to beef up for their upcoming migration. I see my little hummingbirds multiple times a day throughout the summer, but get excited every time. And can we all just agree that JK Rowling must have fashioned the Quidditch snitch after a hummingbird?

Charley Harper is an artist who appreciated a hummingbird too. All birds, it seems were muses to him. His work is lovely and respected, but what I love most is that it can hang in the most highly regarded museums, and is also cheery and fun enough to put in say, a baby’s nursery. (In fact, that’s a real option if you like- just do a quick Google search!)

I think I’ve seen this guy at my feeder!
If you think of it this December 8th, know that while all the birds he may have fashioned his art after are down south, the city of Cincinatti is celebrating Charley Harper Day! 

ArtPrize!!!!

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It’s September!! The best month of the year!! The month that has me excited enough to use at least two exclamation points at the end of every sentence!!
September is not just my birthday month, it is also the onset of Fall. Michiganders rejoice because our forests begin turning into a natural art gallery full of the loveliest colors you’ve ever seen. And also, cider and donuts. Not to mention the pumpkin. Never mind it was 92 degrees today. Labor Day is over and now it’s time to get excited for Fall and Thanksgiving and Christmas and hey- Happy New Year, everyone!
Another reason I love September so much is because my favorite Michigan event is right around the corner. ArtPrize!! It is a huge art contest that covers the streets of Grand Rapids. We’re not talking a measly sculpture here or there if you happen to be paying attention. We’re talking over 1,200 pieces of art from artists all over the world. It is an art lovers dream come true!
Here is just a taste of something one might see in GR during ArtPrize. You’ll just be walking around viewing the art that is quite lovely, when BAM you see something that takes your breath away. Something like this stunning piece by Bruce Mackley.
This is titled Turning Away, but I bet you can’t.
Mackley used over 9,000 screws to make her and isn’t she gorgeous? That was his first piece of work from what I understand (I know!) and then he created Descent, which I love even more (and not just because it’s a redhead.) (Just kidding. It’s definitely because she’s a redhead.) The screws on both pieces are drilled in at different depths creating a gorgeous effect and awesome texture. In fact, he encourages art-goes, and visually disabled art-goers especially, to touch his work and create a mental image.
She looks dainty, but this piece actually weighs in at 350 lbs!
If you can go to ArtPrize, go! If you can’t, I will surely be posting some of the artwork I find and will report back. I promise to keep my exclamation points to a minimum!! 

Coffee and American Gothic: Two of My Favorites

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September marks an important anniversary for me. I don’t want to be cheesy and sentimental about it, but sometimes emotions come like a freight train and there’s no stopping them. One year ago I began a new journey. 
I began to drink coffee.
Throughout college, grad school, and three infants I was able to live on one can of Diet Coke a day, but last September the school year started and I folded like a ton of bricks (something I might have said in my nonsensical pre-coffee days!) I can see clearly now! I can see how people are productive citizens of the world! I can accomplish full sentences and remember to put more than a banana in my kids’ lunches! I am celebrating my one year anniversary of being functional!!
Nowadays, if I don’t have coffee in the morning, I look a little American Gothic. A little sad. Definitely motionless.
They’re somber because they have yet to drink their morning coffee.
It remains unknown whether Grant’s sister and dentist (the models for American Gothic) were coffee drinkers, but the general public have lots of other opinions about this painting! The house in the background (with the Gothic-style window) is in Eldon, Iowa and is open for touring (and photo-ops! Just bring your own apron and pitchfork, please). At first Iowans were insulted that Wood depicted them as frumpy and humorless, but later many came to view the painting as a symbol of resilience and the hard-working American spirit. 
What do you think? I especially love the gentleman. They look somber to me, but he is certainly not without personality and definitely not without kindness. The two strike me as people who would be happy to invite their neighbors over for some food and cornhole after their hard work is done. Or better, have friends over for coffee!

A Different Kind of Edible Art

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Happy Labor Day weekend!! I don’t know about you guys, but a big part of our end of summer holiday includes eating! My whole family goes up north together, and we hang out at the lake, hike, paddleboard, fish, and feast! Last year my sister’s boyfriend (now husband! A lot can change in a year!) walked out of the pantry in a daze: “There are 19 loaves of bread in there.” What can I say? Nobody ever accused us of being anti-carb.

Of course we eat our fruits and veggies too, which brings me to this fantastic artist my daughters introduced me to. His forte were portraits of people with food for facial features.

Giuseppe Arcimboldo: a berry cool artist.
He’s old. I mean, dead now, but he was alive a long time ago. When the girls were describing his art to me I was thinking super modern. You could have knocked me over with an asparagus when I realized this guy was creating art like this in the 1500s!
This guy is cool as a cucumber.
Apparently his work was widely admired by other actual artists! I mean, I think it’s amazing, it just seems so… progressive for the time! No wonder we refer to our heads as melons! Mad props to Giuseppe for pulling this off. And thanks to him, I’m starving now. I could go for a loaf of bread.
Happy Labor Day weekend!

The Return of Puck and Tank

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First things first, let me just say this: I am a dog person. Cats have never been my thing. It could be because I’m severely allergic to them, or it could be because of the time I babysat and had to fight for the baby’s life because their Siamese cat wanted to attack the child in her sleep (the mom’s words, not mine.) Then there’s the dead little animal problem. The one where cats bring their owners dead things? No, thank you.
But, life takes us down some surprising paths and now (heaven help me) we have two kittens. They’re barn kitties (again, the allergy situation) and last night they didn’t come home. You guys, I prayed in earnest for the well-being of these cats. I imagined their little faces and funny antics, and saw in my mind’s-eye the kittens snuggling on my daughters’ laps as they cozy up on the porch to read. It turns out I… love those furballs! Talk about a surprising path. Next thing you know I’m going to have a Pinterest board titled “You’ve Got to be Kitten Me”  or “Pawsome Cats.” 
This morning our girls were back and I about wept with relief. In honor of our little Puck and our little Tank is the only piece of cat art that comes to mind. Once I Googled, of course, I found millions of paintings, sculptures, etc. featuring cats, but I still like this one even though its expression reminds me of the cat that tried to claw baby Brittney’s face.
Le Chat Noir was one of many cat paintings Theophile Steinlen did. This was an ad for a cabaret club in the Monmontre district of Paris, where Steinlen lived. At first the cat looked sort of evil to me, but then I imagined it was less evil and more masterful- like a mob boss with a heart of gold. In any event, be sure to follow my new Pinterest board, “Feline ‘Em Up.”

Ernie Barnes: A Man Who Did Not Fumble In His Art

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I don’t know about your family, but around here the start of school means the onslaught of extracurriculars. I really love that my girls are “into” lots of different things and I really really love watching them in their endeavors. A thing I do not love? Logistics. But I am having a good attitude about alllllll the driving this year. Do you hear the determination in my voice? A good attitude!!

I am going to be cheerful (mostly) about driving because I want my kids to be well-rounded. It seems like many times kids fall victim to either/or syndrome. They are either athletic or academic. Either physically active or bookish. Either sporty or artsy. It’s weird, really, and unfair, definitely. Ernie Barnes was a man who tackled that either/or concept to the ground and was successful athletically and artistically!
Barnes was an NFL player and talented artist. He actually designed album covers for Marvin Gaye and B.B. King. Kanye West commissioned Barnes to make a piece for him too! He painted some sports scenes, but in my opinion his other stuff is far more interesting and joyful! His subjects are often dancing or playing, and clearly loving life! One of my favorites is Woman Ironing. Don’t you adore the serene, peaceful look on her face as she slow dances with the suitcoat?
Do you think she’s listening to a Marvin Gaye song?
Here is another painting of his, just for fun. And fun it is!
Sugar Shack. This was a Marvin Gaye album cover!

Wave, Hello!

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I’m not going to lie- much of my art knowledge comes secondhand from what my kids are learning about in Art class. (By the way, their Art teacher is amazing. Gone are the days of making collages with rubber cement [which I’m pretty sure isn’t even legal in schools anymore. It smells too good to be legal.]) These kids are learning actual things. It warms my heart. My art heart, if you will.
Last year Adrienne came home and told me to Google The Great Wave.

What did the ocean say to the shore? Nothing! It just waved.
It turns out The Great Wave isn’t just a fun stadium game at sporting events! It is a woodblock print created by Japanese artist, Katsushika Hokusai between 1829 and 1832; the print is fully named, “The Great Wave off Kanagawa” and is just one part of a series showing Mount Fuji from several angles. Frankly, I never realized what an influence Japanese art had on…. well… art! I’ve been reading about Mary Cassatt lately and when she discovered Japanese art, her paintings quickly took on an Asian “feel.” Among others, Degas and Toulouse-Lautrec were also enamored with Japanese prints, and (wisely) let them influence their work.
When I read up a little on The Great Wave I learned Claude Debussy composed “The Sea” after being inspired by Hokusai’s print. Don’t you love it when art inspires art?! More importantly, I found The Great Waveis a popular tattoo. Way to go Hokusai, almost 200 years later you still aren’t washed up!

A Visit to The Art Institute of Chicago

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The girls and I recently tagged along on one of Jim’s work trips to Chicago. He loved having the four of us there as he worked. He acted like he didn’t love it, but I know he did.

One of our first stops, naturally, was the Art Institute of Chicago. Dreamy! I had only been there once before (in high school) to see a visiting Degas exhibit, and that was all we got to see. I didn’t know that ALL the amazing things were there!!! Name an artist. Go on and name one. Not DaVinci. Another one. That one had art there!! Thankfully my daughters’ art teacher is incredible and has introduced them to artists I didn’t have the slightest clue about at their ages. Picking a favorite is too overwhelming, even though I forced the girls to do it (sometimes motherhood means being a hypocrite) and here are their picks.

Molly picked Monet’s Water Lily Pond, because duh. Last year this was their main art project at school, so she was pretty familiar with it and pumped to see it in real life. I sang Jessie J’s “Price Tag” the rest of the day. (“It’s not about the Monet, Monet!”)
Adrienne was super excited when she learned the museum was home to The Wave by Katsushika Hokusai. Unfortunately, it turns out it’s almost never on display it because it is so old and so fragile. I’m going to write about it more tomorrow because it really is beautiful. Happily, A is also a giant fan of Seurat’s A Sunday on La Grande Jatte because ohmygoodness, how can you not be?!

CeCe loved the Degas ballerina statue, (Me too. That ribbon in her hair about does me in, I love it so much.) but somehow, we didn’t get a picture of that one so here are the girls playing air guitar in front of The Old Guitarist by Picasso.

This last one is a pictures Mols took on the sly and later showed to me proclaiming this is what I look like before my coffee in the morning. Funny girl, that one. 

We can’t figure out who painted it though! Do you know? If so, clue me in!

Not Your Mother’s Sidewalk Chalk

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A while back my husband and I did a Bike ‘n’ Brew. You know, the big bikes you ride from bar to bar? It was just as fun as it looks when you see groups doing it. We went with a bunch of friends and had a great time despite the actual work. I don’t know what I thought was going to happen, but you actually have to pedal those beasts! Sometimes uphill! A good time was had by all- maybe a little too good. As in, I made it through Zumba class the next morning, but not without some dizzy spells.

Here’s an artist whose work makes me dizzy, but delightfully so. Maybe you’ve had someone forward you an email with a bunch of Edgar Mueller’s work, or have seen it on Pinterest. I actually do not think I could bring myself to walk on that “lava” in the second picture. When my kids are jumping on our furniture pretending the floor is lava? They legitimately convince me I’ll get burned if I walk into the living room. 


In honor of Edgar Mueller, we hosted a sidewalk chalk competition within our family. The theme was “fish.” Molly won with her second entry (her first was good… if it was a bunny drawing competition! That’s right, I’m trash-talking my kid.) The judge (my husband, Jim) just overlooked the charming heart bubbles coming out of my fish like they weren’t even there. I resisted any “there are other fish in the sea” jokes though, because Molly’s winning fish was pretty cute. You might say it was artsea.

Rembrandt: Take 2

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One of the disciples is throwing up over the side. That would be me.

With Halloween right around the corner, (we might think it’s not, but seriously. It is.) aren’t we all in a spooky, clandestine frame of mind? Here is an unsolved mystery for you: The Rembrandt from yesterday’s blog? The Storm on the Sea of Galilee? Stolen!! Not that that’s new for Rembrandt paintings – it turns out they’re kind of pinched all the time. Just ask his portrait of Jacob de Gheyn III which is actually in the Guinness Book of World Records for being stolen so often.

It does sort of surprise me the FBI hasn’t cracked this thing open yet (although it doesn’t sound like it will be long). The robbery took place in 1990 when a couple guys dressed as police officers entered the museum, tied up the security guards and helped themselves to a bunch of art, including the 5’ tall Sea of Galilee. A heister I’m not, so I just don’t get what these guys are doing with the art? Just appreciating it? No art collector is going to touch that stuff, right?
Rembrandt painted a tiny self-portrait of himself within The Storm on the Sea of Galilee (on the bottom- see the man holding his hat and looking right at you? That’s him!) That fact alone should shame the thieves into returning the painting- he’s looking right at them! Not to mention you know- Jesus! In any event, I think the “takeaway” here is that everyone wants a Rembrandt and museums would do well to Remembrandt that!