Here’s an interesting quote from Robert Genn’s latest newsletter called “Transartistic meditation,” which is something like Transcendental Meditation.

“Studies of “flow” and “the zone” have been done using all stripes of artists. This is where the artist gets into a relaxed, intuitive state somewhere deep down in the lizard brain and the good stuff rains down like ripe pomegranates. Tired of rotten apples, I was curious about these concepts as well.” Robert Genn

I have never been able to figure why artists would want to waste their time meditating as they drink from the same pond while they have their tools in their hand. It may be an active form of meditation, especially if you’re an expressionist of any kind, but you’re forced to hang out in places that zen monks would be comfortable in. Personally, I think it’s why so many artists suffer from depression or are just downright wacky; as they can’t handle being in that space. You have to look at yourself naked in silence, which is why television, radio, and any other distractions are so popular with society.

Art crime is big business with an estimated $6 billion in losses annually! Here’s a list of the FBI’s Top 10 art crimes at the moment..

Iraqi Looted and Stolen Artifacts – The significant Statue of Entemena was recovered in 2006 but there are still many pieces missing.

Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum Theft – Thieves stole as much as $300 million worth of art from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston in 1990 with paintings by Vermeer, Rembrandt, and Manet being among them.

Theft of Caravaggio’s Nativity with San Lorenzo and San Francesco – Back in 1969 thieves stole Caravaggio’s Nativity with San Lorenzo and San Francesco from the Oratory of San Lorenzo, Palermo, Italy.

Theft of the Davidoff-Morini Stradivarius – In 1995 the Davidoff-Morini Stradivarius violin worth $3 million was stolen from the violinist Erica Morini’s New York City apartment.

The Van Gogh Museum Robbery – Two paintings by Vincent van Gogh called “View of the Sea at Scheveningen” and “Congregation Leaving the Reformed Church in Nuenen” were stolen from the Vincent Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam in 2002 and have never been recovered, even though the two thieves were caught.

Theft of Cezanne’s View of Auvers-sur-Oise – Paul Cezanne’s View of Auvers-sur-Oise was taken from the the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, England in 1999.

Theft of the Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney Murals, Panels 3-A and 3-B – Two Maxfield Parrish panels were cut from their frames in West Hollywood, California in 2002.

Theft from the Museu Chacara do Céu – In 2006 four paintings were stolen from the Museu Chacara do Céu, Rio de Janeiro. They included work by Salvador Dali, Henri Matisse, Claude Monet and Pablo Picasso.

Theft of Van Mieris’s A Cavalier – A self portrait by the Dutch Master Frans Van Mieris was stolen from the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney in 2007. It was taken in broad daylight, while the museum was open.

Theft from E.G. Bührle Collection, Zurich – The E.G. Bührle Collection in Zurich, Switzerland had 4 works stolen in 2008, with two important painting by Paul Cezanne and Edgar Degas still missing.

The FBI top ten list has changed a little from back in 2005.

I enjoy looking through artist studios so much that I decided to make it a semi-regular thing. So if you have a few photos of your art studio or workspace and would like to share them, please send them to me.

Make sure the images are under 1mb in size as they don’t have to be MASSIVE and my inbox clogs up. Include a short paragraph about your space if you wish and your website address if you have one. Artist studios from all creative people are welcome and it doesn’t have to be a beautiful working space.. it just has to work for you.

Here’s the studios so far (listed alphabetically so that my studio is conveniently placed at the top..lol)

Dion Archibald’s Painting Studio – Working space of an Australian artist.
Jessica Burko’s Artist Studio – Mixed media artist based in Boston, MA, USA.
Gail Sauter’s Painting Studio – American painter working in Maine, USA.

I’ll add to the list as artists send them in (I have three other studios to add at the moment)

Jessica Burko is an artist based in Boston, MA, USA and creates photographic mixed-media works on wood, and is currently working on a series of paper quilts called “In Stitches”.

She has kindly sent in a few photos of her studio. It looks much cleaner and more ordered than my studio.

To see what comes out of Jessica Burko’s artist studio see her website here.

The nude Madonna and Guy Ritchie painting by Peter Howson ended up selling this week. It failed to sell at a recent contemporary Scottish art auction by McTear’s Auctioneers in Glasgow but has since been sold for more than the £15,000 reserve price.

McTear’s employee Brian Clements told the BBC “We were very confident we would find the right buyer for ‘Madonna and Guy’ and we are delighted to have secured such an excellent price for the painting. Although we cannot divulge the name of the buyer, we can confirm that the painting will be leaving Scotland.”

The 2005 nude portrait of Madonna and her ex husband Guy Ritchie is one from a series of the famous singer by Peter Howson. It’s not what I would call a flattering naked portrait of Madonna. She looks like a transvestite with funny fingers if you ask me.

Also in the UK, in Brighton, England the Impure Gallery (which calls itself “a naughty little gallery“) is showing some nude photographs of the young Madonna from 1979. New York Photographer, Martin Schreiber got Madonna to pose naked for just $30. I’m guessing that he would have to add at least a few zeros to that price to get the now super-famous Madonna to get naked.

Madonna Nude by Martin Schreiber

Madonna Naked by Martin Schreiber

Before I went on my recent road trip I received a painting by Washington, DC. artist Matt Sesow called “A Guide to North American Birds.” I have a thing for birds and a thing for quirkiness so I really like the painting. I also buy art that I couldn’t or wouldn’t paint myself, so I end up buying bright, bold and colorful paintings which are in contrast to my own paintings that are almost colorless.

Guide to North American Birds – Matt Sesow

I bought these smaller works from Matt too..

Traumatized – Matt Sesow

Cardinal – Matt Sesow

Matt Sesow’s website can be found Here. I also mentioned a video by Matt Sesow earlier.

Brian from MyArtSpace has asked some interesting questions on his Spiritual Side of Art post..

“Has a specific work of art touched your soul? Can you recall a specific work of art that helped your through a difficult time or defined a time of joy for you? I know that some people suggest that there is no longer room for the spiritual in the art of today– do you agree? Or would you say that the spiritual aspects of art surround us just as they did in other periods of time? In your opinion, why does visual art have this power– why do viewers establish these personal connections?” My ArtSpace

I think most of the spirituality in art is in the making of art, with the artwork simply being the byproduct. So a painting can be of something unspiritual, if there is such a word, but the artist may have felt that he/she was touching god while painting it.

I have never seen an artwork that has “touched my soul” or moved me to tears, even though I have looked at lots of art and think of myself as a reasonably sensitive person. Installations and moving images have come close as they have more tools to play with. A painting or sculpture has to work harder to affect the viewer as it simply sits there with no movement or sound, so we have to do all the work ourselves if we are to end up in tears. Film on the other hand has more tools available to press our emotional buttons at will.

Art affects us on a more subtle level, it seeps into our soul rather than blows our mind on the spot. Good art will linger, it will hang around for weeks and months after viewing it, but it probably won’t make you cry or save your life. I think the viewer has to be content with knowing that the artwork is just the waste byproduct of something spiritual, which doesn’t necessarily make the finished piece spiritual. Sometimes that waste product works as a mirror or points to something greater and it affects a person deeply, but usually it just ends up as something pretty hanging a wall.

Google is celebrating the birth of the American impressionist painter Mary Cassatt with a Cassatt-ized Google logo.

It’s one of my favorite artist tributes from Google. Google does loud and colorful logos well, but this Mary Cassatt logo shows that they can do subtle and neutral colors too. See more Google logos here.

Mary Cassat was born on the 22nd of May, 1844 in Allegheny City, Pennsylvania and died near Paris, France on the 14th of June, 1926 at the age of 82.

The Mary Cassatt painting in the Google logo is “The Child’s Bath” from 1893. It is owned by the Art Institute of Chicago.

Yes, it’s an art blog and doesn’t have much to do with travel, but such is life. I have been ping ponging all over the place lately but I keep forgetting to take my camera with me. I managed to take a few snaps though.

(Click to see larger images)

In a hotel in Canberra I had this trippy ceiling that didn’t let my eye rest. I think as an artist you just let an image take you where it wants to go, but this wallpaper on my ceiling just made me dizzy.

Most trees at home are green all year, so I found these trees interesting. There was something romantic about walking down this path, even if I was alone.. and freezing.

See the parrots in the grass? That’s why they’re called Grass Parrots I guess. I have always loved birds and get pretty excited when I see them in the wild. Click on the image to see a larger version.

Here’s the view from my hotel in Melbourne.

Here’s another view of Melbourne.

One more photo of Melbourne city.

Then I felt like I needed sun and warmth so I jumped in the car and headed North again. I have landed in the commercialized hippy town of Byron Bay. It’s a strange combination of weekend hippies, far out hippies, wealthy retired people, surfers, and BMW driving yuppy types. Along with lots of Germans, Brits, Japanese, Americans, and a number of other nationalities.

Everytime I go to the Byron Bay lighthouse I seem to get wet.

One more Byron Bay photo.

I haven’t decided what I’m doing or where I’m going next, but I check out on Wednesday so I better hurry up and figure it out

I received a few emails and comments left on the art scammers list about Nicole Danes nicodanes@live.com

She/he must be hitting a lot of artists at the moment. So I’m just publishing this post so that her name and/or email address shows up on Google, letting artists know that she is a scammer.

Here’s an example of an email sent by it..

From: Nicole Danes <nicodanes@live.com>
Date: May 7, 2009 10:45:58 AM EDT
To:
Subject: artworks purchase

Good day to you.

I am so excited that I came across of your work on internet search,I am interested in purchasing these creative artworks from you…………………

Construct Series 7,Construct Series 1,Slab,juncture and evanesce

Let me know their various prices.and how much discounts are you going to give?I will be happy to have these selected artworks hanged in our new home in South Africa. As well, I want you to take out the shipping cost.I have been in touch with a shipping firm that will be shipping other house decoratives.

We are traveling from our Dallas home to our new apartment as soon as possible.On Paying for the artworks,I will be glad to pay you with a Money Order or Cashier`s check in US funds that can be easily cashed at your local bank,please let me know on how to proceed for the payment of the creative artworks.

I will await your advise on how to proceed.Have a wonderful day.

Take care,
Nicole Danes

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