Asian Art at the Cleveland Museum of Art

I had the pleasure of re-discovering

The Cleveland Museum of Art this summer.

Admission to the museum is free!

(Parking in the garage is not, but if you arrive

early, parking on the street for free may be possible)

I was pleased to discover that

on the day we would be visiting,

there was an exhibition of Asian art,

one of my favorites.

The exhibit was called

"The Lure of Painted Poetry."

Click on any image to enlarge.

Above, the listing of other exhibits...

I didn't have time to see them all as

carefully as I would like. 

The Asian exhibit was breathtaking.  The lighting

in the gallery was very low in order to avoid damage

to the fragile paintings on silk and paper.

Most of the work was quite faded, in muted

tones of black, brown, and sometimes a little color.

But after all, some of the work was dated

as early as 1470, during the Ming dynasty!

The economy of line in these inked scrolls

was impressive, suggesting so much

with just enough line, form and space.

Postcard- 'Old Pine Tree'

One of my favorite motifs is the somewhat 

scraggly trees clinging to the sides of mountains.

I seem to remember from my college art history classes

that these represent the 'spirit of tenacity'

in both nature and mankind...

surviving life's storms with dignity.

Post card - 'One of Eight Views of Xiao and Xiang Rivers, 1788

I had my index cards with me and took a few notes,

and made a few tiny sketches.  As I began to sketch

a tree from one of the scrolls, a museum guard came over

and said, "Ma'am, we've been instructed not to permit

sketching in the exhibit. I'm sorry."  

How embarrassing.  No photographs I understand.

But no sketching? Seriously?

I guess they wanted to sell more exhibition books 

in their gallery shop.  I was quite nonplussed.

Post card- One of Eight Views of Xiao and Xiang Rivers, 1788

I had earlier seen a mother and two elementary-aged 

daughters in the same exhibit, sketching in little journals

and thought how wonderful that the mother was encouraging

such an appreciation for art. I wonder
if they got 'caught' too? Sketching was permitted
throughout the rest of the museum.  I even saw
one gentleman doing a small painting of the

landscape painting in front of him.
I can only guess how long it had

taken him, but he was doing quite well, and

was almost finished when I saw his work.  

One of my favorite scrolls was quite a large piece,

which portrayed a "Painting Party."  Of course I 

can't find my notes on it now...but it was a lively

portrayal of calligraphy and landscape painters who

had gotten together to paint, view and evaluate

each other's work.  Brilliant!  Sounds like 

an event that I would love to attend.

Maybe something like a workshop, though I 

suspect there was no monetary charge...

In Asian art, carrying on the traditions of

generations of artists was an important aspect

of their art.  Perhaps that will be a post

for another day...

I also  thoroughly enjoyed viewing Picasso,

Van Gogh, Braque,  Matisse and Warhol.  It is quite

an excellent museum.  Just remember to ask a guard if

sketching is permitted, before you whip out your 

art journal and pen!

Pages in Pink

You know that swap I was talkin' about
in the last post?

I got pages in the mail today from

Halle, of Halle's Hobbies.
She forgot to take pictures before
she sent them off, so intent was she
to get them to me quickly...
so here they are.  Must share
the color fun...

I chose my colors to be 

Hot Pink! and red, and

whatever other bright colors

the artist chose...

I know hot pink isn't everone's

cup of tea, but I am very fond of it!

The cutest house...and the

'music'...

"Feel the rhythm of home."

Superb.

Thank you Halle.

Asian Art Swap Pages

My friend Elizabeth, of Altered Book Lover fame,

organized a swap with a few folks to trade pages

with the theme to be chosen by each artist

for the pages they will receive. Rikae

has received her pages in the mail,

so I can show them to you without

spoiling any surprises...

Rikae chose Asian art as her theme,

using the color Jade, with touches of 

red and blue.  Since there are many 

shades of Jade, I just kind of winged it!

The image above was inspired by

art work that I saw at the Cleveland Museum of Art.

It is supposed to be a bird with its head

tucked beneath its wing.  The silhouette of

bamboo is a classic oriental theme, as is

the image of plum blossoms.

This quote seemed appropriate, 

and the decorations are from a wonderful

book called "The Grammar of Ornament"

by Owen Jones.  I frequently use it for

design inspiration!

The pocket, above, was made from some fabric

with an oriental-style design. The leaves are

detailed in gold thread.

The tag shows a design from a 

Columbus Museum of Art porcelain

piece, that is featured in a booklet I 

brought home from one of my visits.
The quote is from the Cleveland exhibit.

My bookcase is fairly overflowing with booklets,

free postcards, and books from my visits to 

exhibits!  But they are a great resource...

The back of the tag explains the inspiration

sources for each of the pages

What themes are favorites 

for your art inspiration?

American Folk Art Index Cards

This week I had trouble doing one 

index card each day...

so I did several in one day.

Not the idea of the challenge, I know,

but made me feel like I was

still staying on track.

All of these index cards were inspired

by folk art.

I bought a book at our local library sale

called "American Folk Decoration" by Jean Lipman.

The first copyright date was 1951!. My book is

a reprint from 1972.  Most of the images

in the book were black and white, however,

with one color plate in the front giving

recommendations for authentic colors to be 

used in the designs.

I've given them my own 'twist.'  One thing I 

really like about folk art is that the artists tended to

load up several leaf and flower designs on one stem.

And flowing curlicues abound on some of the designs.

Many folk art designs are symmetrical, which 

means that the design would have a central motif

with the designs on either side of it being a 

mirror of each other. But I personally prefer

asymmetrical designs.

'Lady Washington.'  This is inspired

by a historic sampler which showed both

Lady and General Washington.  I

"prettied her up" a bit, as the original

looked a bit like a man wearing a dress!

The head-dress and sleeves are

quite high style for the times 

I suppose...

Another folk art flower...

the top and bottom flowers are

designs that have developed over

years of making these.

I often try to incorporate as many

shapes and curlicues as possible

into one flower!

Hope your day blooms with art!

Visit the 'DaisyYellow' blog to see

more index card art.

Stack O' Cards - Index Card a Day

Here are a few photos of 

my stack of "Index Card a Day" cards.

The black spiral book is a pad of cards

that I've done from 2006 up to 2011.

A few every so often.

If you want to see some of the previous index cards
you can see them here, and here.

The stack in front is what I've done

this June, July and August, 2011!

Adds up to a lot when you do one

every day...

Here's the whole stack in one pile,

next to a bottle of water 

to give you an idea of the size.

If you look closely in the photos,

you'll see that this Friday's post

for ICAD will feature index cards

inspired by American Folk Art Decoration.

Stop by again to see the close-ups!

Index Card A Day (ICAD) Update

"Ticket"

mixed media collage

"Color Burst"

watercolor and Sharpie pen

"Crazy Cake"

Sharpie pen and watercolor

"Smile"

Sharpie pen

"Pink Lady"

mixed media collage

"Silhouettes"

Sharpie pen, scrapbook paper, ribbon

"Antiques"

in Sharpie pen...

I should have taken photos too, but

failed to do so.  Sketch of the many

vintage things to be found in an

antique mall.

Art Journal Pages in Pink

Bought some

Canson Mi Tientes paper

on sale at our local

Art supply/craft store. They were a real bargain

and I couldn't resist a few sheets.

It made beautiful little art journals,

though working on colored backgrounds

is a bit different for me...

A 'doodle' drawn on the back of

a bit of paper, then combined into

a collage with painted paper.

Enjoy your last bit of summer!

Index Card A Day (ICAD)

"Movement"

watercolor and Sharpie pen

(above)

"Three Children"

collage with fabric and painted paper

(above)

"Broken Heart 2"

collage with painted papers

(above)

"Zebra Pen"

drawn in ball point pen &

with Sharpie marker

(above)

"Broken Heart 1"

collage with painted & stamped papers

(above)

"Questions"

watercolor and assorted papers

(below)

Make an appointment with yourself

to be creative every day!

A Week of Pink Index Cards

"Roses and Leaf" (above)

As I was scanning my

'Index Card a Day' art work

I realized there was a lot

of pink. Not a bad thing,

but not intentional.

"Pink Moon and Spiral" (above)

The scraps that were on my table

were from the 'pink assortment.'

And I just went with what

was at hand.

"Self-Portrait" (above)

I am out of practice...

eyes are too close together

and the glasses are too small.

But there is a resemblance...

"Pink Circles" (above)

Painted papers, scrapbook papers,

watercolor.

"Pink and Green" (above)

Acrylic on fabric, painted papers,

and Sharpie pen.

"Dress Sketch"

Sharpie pen



"Grass Silhouette"

Painted papers and

card stock scraps.



"Collage with Heads"

Fabric, stitching, stamping,

painted paper, and a

commercial collage sheet image.

(sorry, don't know the source, it was a gift)

"Cultivate Community"

Sharpie pen, striped fabric,

collage paper, magazine clipping.

I filled up the spiral index card pad,

and these are loose cards. They definitely

are easier to scan.  Still haven't tired

of the challenge and am enjoying getting

in a quick art exercise each day!

Thanks to DaisyYellow for

the challenge and the prompts!