Sketchbook Project

I just signed up to participate in an art project called "The Sketchbook Project". I thought this would be a great way to rejuvenate my art making and help regain focus.

I have selected the theme "A Day in the Life". I'm looking forward to working on this and seeing where it leads.

Visit to the Bechtler Museum of Modern Art

Giacometti at Work (after photo) - graphite on paper


Olivia and Derek at the Table - graphite on paper

Yesterday I visited the Bechtler Museum of Modern Art for the first time. Hard to believe I've waited so long---the place is right next door to where I work. They have a great collection of art featuring some of the prominent figures of Modernism: Giacometti, Braque, Picasso, de Stael, Johns, Calder---so many others.

I was really pleased to see the Giacometti pieces: a few small sculptures, paintings, and photogravures of drawings. I admire the gestural approach and the presence of these small works---rife with the fingerprints of the artist. Giacometti is one of my favorite artists, and I've done many sketches (from photos) of him working. I also use his gestural approach in my own work when I want to capture a fleeting image. This approach is particularly valuable when drawing from life. The images above are a few examples from one of my sketchbooks from last year.

Before I left I dropped by the museum store and picked up a copy of John Golding's Path to the Absolute---a survey of some of the great works of 20th century modern art. I love reading about these artists and seeing the kind of ideas and images they create---it is all quite inspiring.

Up

The kids and I watched the movie Up yesterday. This was the first time we had watched it---such a great movie! We all agreed that it was better than we had anticipated. It contains so many excellent themes and lessons for life. This movie reminds me of the old folk proverb: "If you want to make God laugh tell him your plans."

In an interesting coincidence, I tuned in to the LifeChurch.tv today and found that they are doing a "Dinner at the Movies" series; and today the movie was none other than: Up! The theme addressed was one of living in the moment. Sometimes our plans do not pan out like we want them to. But according to the Scriptures:

Go to now, ye that say, To day or to morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain: Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away. ---James 4:13-14

There are many devices in a man's heart; nevertheless the counsel of the LORD, that shall stand. ---Prov 19:21

One of my favorite lines in the movie is when Russell is reflecting on the times when he and his dad were sitting on the curb by the ice cream shop counting cars. He mentioned how this sounded "boring"---but then states how the boring things are the things he remembers most.

Annual Dante Reading

A few years back I decided I would read Dante at the midpoint of each year. The first line of Dante's Inferno begins:

Nel mezzo del cammin di nostra vita
(In the middle of this road we call our lives)

There the pilgrim finds himself (mi ritrovai) in a dark wood, and there begins his journey towards understanding and salvation. So the middle of the year seemed to be a fitting time to read the great poet. I have read The Inferno several times (various translations) and last year I worked my way through The Purgatorio and part of the way through The Paradiso.

On July 1 of this year I began to read Daniel Halpern's edition of The Inferno which is translated by 20 contemporary poets. I am in the middle of Canto XXIX. I am proceeding straight through the text without looking up the references. Many of them I recall from previous readings, but many more still prove obscure enough to warrant digging into the scenes behind the words. It is interesting to hear the fresh voices of these poets translating Dante's text.

After I finish Halpern's book I plan to make a fresh start on The Paradiso with a reading of Jean and Robert Hollander's translation.

Busy days these days, but I'm finding time to read on the bus---and here and there.