Transformed into a Swan Basket

I've always liked the summery quirky baskets from Kate Spade,

So fun, and they give off a vacation vibe that I love. I was thinking of trying my hand at basket-weaving, but then I saw this on ebay:

A cute black swan! Other similar baskets have come up claiming to be ducks, but look at those wings! 

So I painted several layers of white paint, glued on some feathers and made a drawstring pouch to go inside the basket to hold my valuables... and voila! 

The duck has become a swan, it goes perfectly with all my white summer clothes,

Tuesday Toolbox: Stereoscope Lesson

Compass: " Ugh! It just makes me dizzy. How does it pop out at you like that?"

Pencil: "Well, I just don't believe that perspective!"

A stereoscope was an early medium for 3D technology. Whe the two seperate left and right eye images overlap with our binocular vision they form one image that seems to have depth as the horizontal position of the image seems to shift. This was an early form of home entertainment in the 1850s to the 1920s, especially for those who went on holiday around historical sites. Later this developed into the View-Master. Now we can go for the ultra-modern, the My3D app or 3D films. We are always trying to make every image hyper-real. For more information on the stereoscope go here.

The image in the stereoscope is "Farm in the Lades (House in the Garde)" by Etienne Theodore Rousseau at the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute.

- have you ever held out your pencil to figure out perspective?


drawing by: Chloe Cornell

Picasso at Work

Picasso is a legendary figure in the art world. His work still groundbreaking and inspiring. This video is a stop motion film of him painting, works which he later destroyed. This is a tantalising glimpse into his breathtaking art in motion. Since the work was destroyed this is a perfect moment in time, suspended through the medium of film where we can view the genius of Picasso and watch him in action.

watch full video

Because these paintings were destroyed upon completion the full Mystery of Picasso was declared a national treasure by the French government. 

see original article

Artists That Inspire: Samantha French

With temperatures rising I am starting to feel the itch to head to the sea.. Well any sort of pool of water will do. It's that time of year to go swimming, sailing, kayaking, and other water activities. My favourite memories are of that first plunge after a hard days work in my grandparent's pond. The cool murky water enveloping me, and finding silent peaceful state. I find that feeling of peace and contentment floating in water, as long as someone isn't cannonballing nearby! The painter Samantha French recreates those feeling for me in her painting of swimmers underwater. She says,

"My current body of work is focused on swimmers underwater and above. Using vague yet consuming memories from my childhood summers spent immersed in the tepid lakes of northern Minnesota, I attempt to recreate the quiet tranquillity of water and nature; of days spent sinking and floating, still and peaceful.  These paintings are a link to my home and continual search for the feeling of the sun on my face and warm summer days at the lake.  They are my escape, a subtle reprieve from the day-to-day.  At the same time, I am drawn to an idealistic time before my own, where swim caps and wool swimsuits were commonplace. This combination of memory, observation and photography (old and new) has allowed me to preserve the transitory qualities of water and remembrance."

                                             Samantha French in her Brooklyn Studio

"Surface Break"

"Breathing at the surface I"

"Twist; let go"

"Twilight"

I find these pieces very peaceful, like the gentle rocking motion you get when you float on the surface of the ocean. These works and others can be found on Samantha French's site here.

Tuesday in the Toolbox

Blue Paintbrush: " So, what do you think about this painting on film business?"

Red Paintbrush: " Eh, it's a change but you should see how the easel has taken it...

It's really knocked him down a peg or two, he's always thought he's such an institution..."

still from STKINT film, site-specific work at Stoke Newington International Airport 2009

for full film go to www.chloecornell.com, and select STKINT project.

Monet's Garden

Spring is in the air and along with the sunshine comes the urge to plant things. I have painted often in the past and have always found Claude Monet to be an inspiration, both as an artist and as a gardener. I am planning on planting nasturtiums and was reminded of Monet's garden. It was an oasis and I hope to grow one as well.

'Garden Path',  1902 by Claude Monet at Österreichische Galerie Belvedere

I know that probably the most recognisable works of Monet would be his waterlily paintings that he also painted in the Giverny gardens. While I love these for their calmness, and almost overwhelming nature ( the large murals) which make you feel like you are floating on a calm lake; I want to focus on his flowers. 

As a child I loved the book .

In which a garden loving young girl travels to Paris and sees Monet's garden and paintings and learns what it means to be called an Impressionist. I also went as a child to Monet's garden so I really loved this book and would love to visit again. 

me at 5 in Monet's garden

It is a short way from Paris so it is quite quick to take a train there, please go if you are visiting Paris in the spring or summer. Here are some lovely pictures taken by Cherry Blossom Girl in the garden.

Monet liked to paint controlled nature, like the waterlilies and the bridge. He was deeply involved in his garden and meticulously planned the layout and treatment of the garden to his gardeners. The garden was his source of comfort and inspiration throughout his later life as he gained cataracts, he then continued to paint the garden from memory. 

1.Monet, right, in his garden at Giverny 

The Garden in Flower, 1900

Water-Lily Pond and Weeping Willow, 1916–1919

Springtime (1872). The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore

The Rose-Way in Giverny,1920–1922, Musée Marmottan Monet
I hope you are enjoying spring, take a walk in the fresh air. Monet was one of the forerunners of painting en plein-air, or out of doors, far from the studio with its still life. He struggled to capture light as it shifts and changes and these attempts are among his greatest works. So if you are struggling to find the muse, be it writing, painting, or finding that elusive idea, take a break and walk outside. I leave you with Monet on his bench enjoying the sunshine.

via http://blogs.spectator.co.uk/books/2012/10/plein-air-pleasures-and-the-great-indoors/

all paintings can be found on wikipedia.

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Spring Green- Inspiration

 

The weather has finally turned for the better and it feels like Spring is finally here. Here are some spring greens to brighten your day. I hope it's nice where you are! 

1.photography by david christensen 2. Raoul Dufy via alovelybeing  3. painting by Tatiana Musi 4. Prue Ruscoe photography via desiretoinspire 5. via Mark D. Sikes  6. Miranda Brooks and Mastien Halard's home via Vogue.com

view more of my inspiration board at pinterest

the snow began to fall

Six Years Later by Joseph Brodsky

So long had life together been that now
the second of January fell again
on Tuesday, making her astonished brow
lift like a windshield wiper in the rain,
    so that her misty sadness cleared, and showed
    a cloudless distance waiting up the road.

So long had life together been that once
the snow began to fall, it seemed unending;
that, lest the flakes should make her eyelids wince,
I'd shield them with my hand, and they, pretending
    not to believe that cherishing of eyes,
    would beat against my palm like butterflies.

So alien had all novelty become
that sleep's entanglements would put to shame
whatever depths the analysts might plumb;
that when my lips blew out the candle flame,
    her lips, fluttering from my shoulder, sought
    to join my own, without another thought.

So long had life together been that all
that tattered brood of papered roses went,
and a whole birch grove grew upon the wall,
and we had money, by some accident,
    and tonguelike on the sea, for thirty days,
    the sunset threatened Turkey with its blaze.

So long had life together been without
books, chairs, utensils—only that ancient bed—
that the triangle, before it came about,
had been a perpendicular, the head
    of some acquaintance hovering above
    two points which had been coalesced by love.

So long had life together been that she
and I, with our joint shadows, had composed
a double door, a door which, even if we
were lost in work or sleep, was always closed:
    somehow its halves were split and we went right
    through them into the future, into night.

[1968]

Anno Domini from NYTimes Books 

"Tree Snow" http://www.nadavkander.com/

"Tall Windows" http://www.hammershoi.co.uk/

Electric Feathers moodbook photographer Matt Wilson

from "Landlock" by Eamon MacMahon http://www.eamonmacmahon.com/

Snow has been falling recently, rather out of season too. I am reminded of dark winter days and cannot wait for spring to come. Though these words and images remind me of the beauty that comes with a blanket of white.

-Chloe