Letter O

O has been written the same way since early Semitic times, but since there were no vowels in the written language, this form signified a guttural "C" sound, from the word cayin (eye). The Greeks assigned it the "O" sound. (Rose Folsom)

A Difficult Indigo...

Around 1878, Emil Fischer* and his brother determined the structure of fuchsin, (a cherry-red dye) and were then able to develop a scientific method of synthesizing it. This procedure was used by many chemists who were trying to create new synthetic colors. The biggest challenge was to synthesize the 'king of colorants', indigo. By 1880, a German chemist, Adolf von Baeyer completed the synthesis of indigo in his lab, but couldn't find a synthesis that was cost-effective on an industrial level. After 20 years and 20 million marks spent, he succeeded. In 1904, Germany exported 9,000 tons of synthetic indigo, and 3 times as much in 1913. Whole regions were ruined - in India and the Caribbean; the English indigo trade disappeared and the shipping trade of Marseilles, wholly dependent upon it, also collapsed. (Delamare and Guineau)

*Emil Fischer - Organic chemist (1852-1919) devoted to the graphic representation of molecular structures, study of the major types of organic chemical reactions,and the study of colorants.

Honore Daumier

Daumier (1808-79). French caricaturist, painter and sculptor. During his lifetime he was known chiefly as a political and social satirist, but since his death he has been increasingly recognized as a painter. In 1830, after learning the still fairly new process of lithography, he began to contribute political cartoons to the newly launched anti-monarchist weekly, La Caricature. It's said he produced more than 4,000 lithographs, wishing at the time that the one he had just made could be his last. His paintings were probably done for the most part fairly late in his career. As a caricaturist Daumier stands above all others of the 19th century. The essence of his satire lay in his power to interpret mental states in terms of physical absurdity, but in his directness of vision and lack of sentimentality he has affinities with the realism of Courbet. Although he never mad a commercial success of his art, he was appreciated by the discriminating, his friends and admirers including Baudelaire, Degas, Delacroix, and Forain. In his final years he was almost blind and was saved from destitution by Corot. (Ian Chilvers)

Susan Rothenberg

Maggie's Cartwheel 1981-82. Oil on canvas, 25 x 30"

Mondrian Dancing 1984-85. Oil on canvas, 78 x 91"

Pontiac 1979. Acrylic and flashe on canvas. 88 x 61"

"Some of the pictures are truly mysterious to me... which is why I so often say publicly that I don't know or don't care what they're really about. And yet I can say that the paintings are prayers... that they have to do with whatever it is that makes you want more than what daily life affords." - Susan Rothenberg.

"The Only Rule is Work " - Corita

One of my all time favorite artists, Sister Corita Kent (1918-1986) made up this list of rules for the art college in which she worked. No. 7 is the best rule ever... it's my mantra!

'Admired by Charles and Ray Eames, Buckminster Fuller and Saul Bass, Sister Corita was one of the most innovative and unusual pop artists of the 1960s, battling the political and religious establishments, revolutionizing graphic design and encouraging the creativity of thousands of people - all while living and practicing as a Catholic nun in California.

Mixing advertising slogans and poetry in her prints and commandeering nuns and students to help make ambitions installations, processions and banners, Sister Corita's work is now recognized as some of the most striking - and joyful- American art of the 60s. But, at the end of the decade and at the height of her fame and prodigious work rate, she let the convent where she had spent her adult life. ' - (Julie Ault.)

**From the book, Come Alive! The Spirited Art of Sister Corita by Julie Ault. Published by Four Corners Books, 2006.

To Clam Island

Just a note to say hello and hope you all are enjoying summer! Our boat has set sail and I probably won't be back blogging more regularly 'til school starts. Until then, enjoy and see you soon :)
This painting is acrylic on canvas... by me. It's at one of my favorite 'secret beaches' in my hometown.

Konrad Witz

Konrad Witz, The Miraculous Drought of Fish, from the Altarpiece of St. Peter, 1444. Tempera on wood, approx 51"x61". Musee d'Art et d'Histoire, Geneva.

German-born Swiss painter whose sharply observed realism suggests that he was familiar with the work of contemporary Flemish artist such as Jan van Eyck. Lake Geneva is the setting for a biblical story in his best-known work, The Miraculous Drought of Fishes 1444, representing one of the earliest recognizable landscapes in European art. (Brockhampton)