The Sphinx

I've stumbled upon another painting.  Not something that is as striking to me as yesterday's Lady Violet but nevertheless interesting.

oh hai.

Sphinx in the Desert, Marcus Waterman 1872

Looks a little different from the ol cat that we know now.  This is a prime example of Artistic License.  About 21% of people, myself included up until recently are under the impression that Napoleon shot the nose off of the Sphinx.  Target practice if you will.  This is false.  The nose has apparently been missing since around 1378 where a person by the name of Muhammad Sa'im al-Dahr broke it off because he found locals offering tributes to the Sphinx hoping for a better harvest.  He broke it off and was hung for his monumental rhinoplasty.

This means that when Marcus painted this picture it was more a flight of fancy than a representation of an actual observable figure.  However we have to take into account what we actually see in the painting.  There is nothing in there that says that it was supposed to be a current representation.  Yes, the Sphinx was covered in sand up to the neck in 1870, there are plenty of photos backing that up but presumably, since it has been around for thousands of years I imagine there are several periods of history where it has just been a head sticking out of the sand.

I doubt Marcus had heard of al-Dahr though when he painted this.

Lady Violet

Every once and a while I run across something that causes pause.  This portrait is one of them.

Goodness

This is Lady Violet, The Duchess of Rutland  painted by Sir James Jebusa Shannon in 1896.  This morning I had no idea this painting existed.  I can't say exactly what about it grabbed me but it did.  Apparently Shannon painted her three times but looking at the other portraits I would have to say I like this one the most.  His other works can be found here.

One day I think I'd like to paint something like that.

5&1/2 Minute Hallway

My tastes in books, art or music tend to trend towards the content hinting at the inexplicable.  Either there is a larger and more fantastic mystery in the story or there is a narrative that is... disconcerting in the picture or there is a heart of sadness in the songs respectively.  Some of my favorite things are media that point to something larger.  Maybe it will be explained but I am perfectly happy 90% of the time if it is not.

One of my favorite books is called House of  Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski.  A short synopsis: The narrator receives a trunk full of papers from an old man, Zampano, which tell the tale of a family that moves into a house that, after a time starts to change.  The physical dimensions of the house grow, hallways appear along with mysterious doors.  The father of the family is a film maker and he documents the events.  The narrator finds records of these, but nothing physical.  It points towards being elaborate fiction but it has the side effect of making him paranoid beyond belief.  The end of the book leaves it so that the events either were real and forgotten or completely made up by a mad old man.

The only reason this book came into my radar is thanks to his sister, Poe.  Her album Haunted was written as a companion to his book... or vice versa and both were in a sense made to deal with the passing of their father.  Both are... lonely and larger than they seem.  There are hints towards sadness and loss and coming to terms with those feelings in both.  Moreover they have that feeling of mystery.

Of course the album has to be considered in a different way.  Not all songs fit the narrative, this is not a rock opera or a concept album.  Songs like Not a Virgin, Control or Lemon Meringue don't provide the same atmosphere but act as catharsis.  Control in particular is a good song to play quite loud as you... I dunno, flip off an old job or something.

Now if she could only release a new album, its only been 14 (!) years since the last one.

Utah In Pop Culture Salty Edition

I live in Salt Lake City.  No duh, right?  A fairly metropolitan area that homes about a million and a half people.  It is hard to think that about an hours drive would bring you to what would be a wasteland by any definition.

Welcome to the Salt Flats.

Not pictured: Slugs, Pepper.

The Bonneville Salt Flats is a geological formation that is left over from the recession of Lake Bonneville.  Due to the hard pack nature of the salt and our altitude (lower air pressure) it makes it a wonderful place to go really fast and not die for the most part.

The Salt Flats has seen speed records set as far back as 1935 with the last major land speed record set back in 1970 and a car topping out at 622 mph, not quite the sound barrier.  

It's also been featured in a few movies, one of the most notable being Independence Day.  

 Salt for your popcorn flick.

An interesting (to ME anyway) thing is he wrecks his plane in the Grand Canyon and is able to walk, alien in tow to this place.  Now, measuring from about the highest place on the GC to the lowest on the SF we come up with 224 miles.  Will Smith, to cover that distance in a few hours walking?  That is a land speed record.

I had something else...

I've written something else for the post, but I don't think I will share it.  It was sad.  I'm not going to delete it but I don't think I will publish it.

We landed on a comet today, it was in every way Awesome.  Delicate orbital mechanics and ten years of work to place a 200lb lander on this chunk of ice and rock 500 million km away.

Cool stuff.

Those who can't, critique.

Art.  I think by now if you read this or if you know me in Meatspace know that I love it in just about every shape and form.  My most favorite art though has to be painting.  Any medium, most subjects and most movements are like catnip.  I love to see them and try to figure out how some people painted what they did and why.

That in mind I think I will take this time to critique a fairly well known artist, though he is not known primarily for his paintings.

George W. Bush.

43rd president of the USA, a first lieutenant in the national guard and staunch republican.  I didn't like him as a president as his policies seemed to favor rich friends over the rest of the country.  I didn't think we should have attacked Iraq and I find it offensive that Bin Laden wasn't caught during his run as president.  However I think it is good that he is pursuing art.  Undoubtedly he has a lot on his mind and painting is a grand way to relieve some stress.

Recently he reveled a portrait of himself and his father.

Not as bad as it might've been.

Art, at it's best should allow us for reflection in ourselves.  I look at this painting and I see mistakes that I have made in the past.  The blotch of white, probably completely unpainted canvas in Sr's coat.  Some sloppy color changes and thickness issues that take a lot of practice to really control.  I see my errors in this picture, a common struggle shared by novice artists. 

Some people may be turned off by the roughness of the painting.  Completely understandable. There are some bad colors in here that muddy the image.  But there are elements there that show he has improved since his Putin painting.  His forms are more defined and he is trying to push light and dark contrast.  Something that I have issues with.

It shows promise that with a lot of practice he, like anyone who practices, will get better, but I don't like the picture.  I'm certain there are people who do, I'm not one of them but I would not tell him to stop if I had the chance.

Unexpected finds.

We all love it when we find something new.  New to us, new to the world, sparkling and ready for us to consume.  These last few weeks have had a couple of discoveries that have been super pleasant and I'd like to share.

Firstly, and I've said this on my FB, I've apparently inherited some frying skill from my Scottish ancestors.  I've pulled off fried chicken and taqitos just by tossing what I feel would be tasty together and poof, exceptionally tasty but very bad for me foods.  Two things I've decided though, I need to invest in new tongs for removing said fried thingys and I need a gas stove.  Better heat control would equal better foods.

Nextly I've run across a couple of bands/songs that have added some good color to my playlists.
Aubrey Debauchery & The Puke Boots have a song called Whiskey Breath which is peppy.
BABYMETAL is a J-pop meets deathmetal group and they have infiltrated my Good Things playlist with a song called Doki Doki ☆ Morning as well as one called Gimme Chocolate!!  Good things.

I am hoping to work more on projects that I can post here and elsewhere.  I've set something up with The Wife where we should be able to do that easier.  We shall see, I am hopeful.