Blasius Erlinger

First, click here, then look at the photo on the far left for "latest work." Then look around at all the other photographs.  That first photo takes my breath away.  The composition, the pose!  Everything is to die for.  I had the pleasure of informally meeting the talented Blasius Erlinger in St Pete Beach, Florida.  The Postcard Inn used to be a dingy Travelodge.  In a matter of months, it has been transformed into a hip beautiful property.  Blasius was hired by Travel & Leisure to capture this new fabulous getaway.  It was so interesting to watch him at work.  His twin 15 year old 6 foot + daughters modeled the lobby furniture, surfboards, and rooms.  He ran around capturing the new architectural angles and atmosphere alike.  Usually a man of this caliber would be cold and arrogant.  Blasius was so kind and humble.  He was very flattered that we had even looked at his website, let alone complimented his work.  

It's very rare to find talent paired with kindness and humility.  He definitely deserves a shout out!

Band-Aid did not pay for the following endorsement...

Because I believe this look is utterly unacceptable past the age of 8, I don't wear socks with my shoes.  Because control top panty hose do wonders for my thighs but are killer uncomfortable, I usually slip my bare feet into my flats or heels.  For anyone who has worked to wear in a new pair of shoes, you know it can be painful.  Of course it shouldn't be, but it is.  You get the blisters on the tops of your feet from flip flops and the worn off pieces of skin on your heel.  Well this is of the past now that Band-Aid created Friction Block Stick.  It's a few bucks at Target.  I bought it, not being too optimistic, but having painful and bloody spots on my feet...I was desperate.  All you do is rub this small deoderant looking stick against those parts of your feet that get the most wear and tear and voila.  No more blisters.  I shit you not, this product is genius and I use it every day.  

***Band-Aid, if you read this, thank you thank you thank you.  Oh and you owe me for this commercial....

Old Dutch - Painting, not the potato chips...

When it comes to photo realism painting, no one holds a candle to the old Dutch masters.  When I went to The Netherlands a year and a half ago and went to Den Hague's Mauritshuis Museum, I finally saw Johannes Vermeer's "Girl with the Pearl Earring," Paulus Potter's giant animals, and Willem van Aelst's still lifes, I definitely fell in love even more.  It's always been a technique I've idolized.  Usually when I see a painting in person, I can finally see the flaws, the brushstrokes, the layers of color.  This is the best thing, I believe, about going to museums.  When I finally saw my first Frida Kahlo painting, I realized that she made some major mistakes or changes when painting.  Seeing the process, decisions made, and errors in ones you look up to is pretty cool.  Not so much for the Dutch.  Basically they're perfect, smooth, flawless.  In Vermeer's paintings, you can see brushstrokes up close, but from afar, it looks like a photo.  The above photo is an example of this technique.  A less famous version of the Dutch masters, this Jan Anthonisz van Ravensteyn painting was hanging in the Snite Gallery at Notre Dame University.  Those beautiful collars, although quite the fashion statement, would be a pain to paint.  The textures from fabric to frizzy beard hairs are so perfect.  The repetition and patterns that those painters achieved are so meticulously executed.  Seeing the paintings of the best of the best can be very discouraging.  However, seeing this paiting gave me a different outlook.  This is a style of painting that is reserved for the few these days.  It is popular to be gestural and abstract.  The days of photorealistic portraits may be long gone, but it is something I would like to explore even further.  Let's be Dutch and make ourselves go crazy by attempting perfection!   

Sloppy Pelican Loser Bug Paintings

Best burger of my life.  Medium-well grilled beef patty.  Melty provolone cheese.  Half of an avocado.  Lettuce, Tomato, and Pickle.  With garlic parmesan fries.  I'm so full, I hurt.  After a pretty stressful and long day at work, we headed down the beach to the Sloppy Pelican on St Pete Beach.  It's a bar/restaurant with a patio right on the water.  Fabulous service, good no frills food & drinks.  And some fabulously rich key lime pie for dessert.  PLUS you get to watch the sunset during your meal.  Just can't get any better.

Now that I'm bloated, I sit down on my bed to watch some tv.  The Biggest Loser is on, and of course, within moments I'm crying.  And feeling even more bloated than before.  Where is a personal trainer with crazy tasks for me to do?  Just then a bug walks by me on my bed (a big one) and I realize I have bigger problems than some extra weight right now...

Last night I had my first night of peace and quiet.  No noisy neighbors screaming.

  Bliss.  

For some reason I still couldn't sleep.  I think and think and think and somehow land on an image that I need to paint.  I want to paint.  It looks like a familiar face but in a style I have not fully explored.  Highly expressionistic.  Instead of trying harder to sleep, I pulled out my drawing materials that I travel with and got a pretty good first sketch of it.  Of course I didn't have a model to go off of, but I got down on paper the look I'm going for.  Then I could sleep.  Art is fun like that...sometimes it just demands your attention.  And thank goodness for that!

Salvador Dali

What a weirdo he was, yes?  I finally made it to the Dali Museum in St. Petersburg, Florida.  It is said to have the biggest and finest collection of Dali's works...outside of Spain, that is.  Statements like that lead me to believe it would be a huge art museum.  In reality, it was much smaller than I was expecting, however, too much Dali might be overwhelming, so it was a perfect size for the amount of work.  There were some small pieces, some measuring in the hundreds of feet.  The museum was arranged in chronological order, which was wonderful to see Dali's progression through styles and themes.  Obsessed with Freud and sexuality, Dali's paintings usually were object heavy, and each object meant something to Dali.  (I won't bore you with an Art History lesson...but it is pretty interesting if you're into that kind of thing.)

My favorite pieces were ones I had never seen before.  One is the painting pictured above : Oeufs sur le plat sans le plat (Eggs on the plate above the plate), 1932.  As one of his earlier surreal paintings, his talent for realistic painted objects is very clear.  The egg is attached and hangs with a weight that is not possible for the object.  The yokes reflect the light from a window which is not seen.  The technique is fantastic...he created a photograph with paints.  

The other painting I really enjoyed is the one pictured below : Sentimental Colloquy, 1944.  Midway through his career, Dali became very popular in all artistic circles.  This painting below is a design he was working on for the New York Ballet.  What?!  Yes.  Pretty crazy stuff.  It's interesting to think of these famous artists being so commercial.  Some artists judge those who do custom work, portraits, mass production, basically anything that's not your heart's yearning desire to express your soul, as not actually doing art or selling out.  Photographers get this a lot.  My response is that Mucha, Lautrec, Michelangelo, and even snobs like Dali did it.  Why can't we?  

Dali used to be my favorite artist.  Then I learned a little more about art.  And now I realize, seeing his paintings up close, that his technique is not flawless (its pretty damn good though...).  I believe there comes a point when an artist becomes so self obsessed that they stop communicating through their art.  Dali got to a point in his art where he kept repeating himself and pushing the envelope just for the purpose of pushing the envelope.  He was brilliant though.  And, the man new how to grow a mustache.  

Audrey Niffenegger and the Destination Novel

Staying up until 3 in the morning is something that very few select things can make me do. Watching back to back episodes of Lost or True Blood is one. Reading Audrey Niffenegger is another. I LOVED The Time Traveler's Wife with such passion. Immediately you loved, cared for, and were so anxious for her characters. The story had just the right amount of romance so that it's not "chick lit" but actually fits into the mystery/drama/thriller genre. I have followed Niffenegger's published works including her two somewhat alternative illustrated books (think children's books with adult themes).  When Her Fearful Symmetry came out, I ran out and got it immediately.  This happens to be what kept me awake last night until 3.  Although much different than Time Traveler, Symmetry still carried her gift of character and mood writing.  The major difference this time is that there are more main characters, and of which she exposes more.  This is one of the first books that I was so interested in the characters without actually knowing if I liked them.  They were very realistic people : selfish, emotional, flawed.  I'm not sure that I am on board with every plot twist in the book, but all in all, it's a great read.  

Her Fearful Symmetry took place in Lake Forest, Illinois and mostly London.  It was one of those books that gave directional details and store names without explaining what they are.  So if you've never been to London, you'd miss quite a few details.  I love these details cause it's nostalgic to me.  Sometimes I go back and forth as to how much of this is necessary.  An author who uses location as a character of the story is Neil Gaiman.  He uses London in Neverwhere (my favorite book of his) and the midwest in American Gods.  He gives the locations an appropriate importance to the story, so that they're not just mentioned, and they're not explained to death.  I believe that Audrey is getting there...as an American author, she did admit to having help with her English slang, as most of the characters were English.  So at times, it did seem a little forced, but it helped paint the atmosphere for me.  I'd be curious to hear what someone who hasn't been there thinks about the subject?  Does it enhance the story?  Or are they just added nonsense?  

Notre Dame

Notre Dame is the kind of idyllic university we see in the movies.  Of course there is the giant stadium where all the football is played, but beyond that, there are thousands of trees and gorgeous buildings.  There's a strong sense of the history and culture of the university as you walk through it.  The first building I came across was the art gallery.  An actual art gallery filled with actual historical and contemporary artists!  (See last blog for a review of one of the exhibits.)  

Obviously I snuck around the art studios to check out how great the facilities are.  Well, pictured here to the left, is just one of the sculpture studios.  Just one of them.  HUGE great spaces that I could not even imagine getting to work in.  It seemed like a pretty wonderful art department.  And I am definitely keeping it in mind for grad school.

I explored the rest of the campus including the beautiful cathedral and breathtaking admissions building.  Paired with the beauty of the campus, the immature co-ed conversations I heard seemed so out of place.  But then, I must remind myself that they are young, and even though this place is gorgeous and historical, 18 year olds live there too.  It was quite the experience to be there the day before a home football game.  The campus started swarming with alumni.  The infants and oldies alike were dressed in Notre Dame gear (which, I must add is NOT cheap, as I found out in the over-crowded bookstore).