Diane Kempler

Root Maidens (earthenware) glazed and unglazed

detail of Celebrations

Celebrations of the House

Ceramicist, Diane Kempler, likes to work mostly with human form and enjoys its connection to nature. Thorn, root and leaf forms are often combined with the figure. She first encountered ceramics while working at a crafts center in MA, (a native of New York) after college, and found it was what she wanted to do with her life. She stopped working as a studio artist for a while and took a job as director of a puppetry arts center museum while she continued to teach. But after 8 years she returned to ceramics with a new vision and energy. Her work is all sculptural and focuses mostly on the abstracted human torso. She often uses elements of nature such as tree forms, root shapes, or other green growth. (Tommy Simpson and William Bennett Seitz)

Joni Mitchell Quote

"One line came like a gift. It flowed out. I drew back and said 'thank you' to the room." -Joni Mitchell.

The Canadian singer/songwriter, Joni Mitchell was really a painter 'first' before she was a musician. She went to art school and I believe started singing at that time. I think this quote could be meant for painting or songwriting... or both! I love the way art can sometimes 'flow' out of us... those are the good creating days. Funny how other times it just doesn't come easy. This CD has one of her paintings on it - a self portrait holding an iris bouquet. She has a way of painting in the van Gogh style... visit her website to see many more paintings here. I love the idea of her art and music melded together in this one useful object - a CD.

Kento

Kento is Japanese for Registration Marks in Japanese Printmaking or Moku Hanga.

'The genius of the kento system of registration lies in its very simplicity. The position of the kento is fixed in relation to the image on the original drawing/keyblock and faithfully transferred to each block. The principle maintains exactly the size of the margin around the printed area on each block thus guaranteeing accurate registration. ' (Rebecca Salter)

**Taken from the book, Japanese Woodblock Printing by Rebecca Salter, 2001. I highly recommend this book if you're looking for a good reference for woodblock printmaking! You can buy it at McClain's.

Georgia O'Keefe's Hands

Ghost Ranch, 1966

Holding Eliot Porter's Rock, Abiquiu, 1966

Ghost Ranch, 1966

Holding a book by Leonard Baskin, bedroom, Abiquiu, 1966

Most of us have seen the beautiful photographs that Alfred Stieglitz took of Georgia in the early part of the 20th century. I thought it would be fun to show those same lovely hands at an older age. These photos were taken in 1966 as part of a Life Magazine story by John Loengard.

I especially like the ones with the bones... she collected a lot of bones from the desert to take back to New York and paint. She said she wanted to to somehow take a little bit of New Mexico with her (she spent her summers painting there during the 1930s and 40's). Georgia O'Keeffe said they never represented death to her - on the contrary, they were very lively. She loved the shapes of the bones, especially in relation to the sky.

**photos taken from the book, Image and Imagination: Georgia O'Keeffe by John Loengard - 1994.

Baldacchino

Gianlorenzo Bernini, baldacchino, St. Peter's, Rome, 1624-1633. Gilded bronze, approx 100' high.

Baldacchino- A canopy on columns, frequently built over an altar. (a similar term is...)

Ciborium - A canopy, often freestanding and supported by four columns, erected over an altar; also, a covered cup used in the sacraments of the Christian Church. (Gardner)

Hans Hofmann

Fairy Tale. 1944. Oil on wood. 59 x 36". Private Collection.

(1880-1966). German-born painter and teacher who became an American citizen in 1941. From 1904 to 1914 he lived in Paris, where he knew many of the leading figures of Fauvism, Cubism, and Orphism. In 1915 he founded his own art school in Munich and taught there successfully until 1932, when he emigrated to the USA. He founded the Hans Hofmann School of Fine Arts in New York in 1934 (followed the next year by a summer school at Provincetown MA) and became a teacher of great influence on the minority group of American artists who practiced abstract painting during the 1930s. Hofmann continued teaching until 1958, when he closed his schools so he could concentrate on his own painting. He experimented with many styles, and was a pioneer of the technique of dribbling and pouring paint that was later particularly associated with Jackson Pollock. He was an important influence of Abstract Expressionism. The essence of his approach was that the picture surface had an intense life of its own. (Ian Chilvers)

Avatar

Boar avatar of Vishnu, Cave V at Udayagiri, India, around 400. Vishnu is 12'8" high.

(just for fun) Seated Buddha preaching the first sermon, from Sarnath, India, 5th century. Stele, sandstone, 63" high. Archaeological Museum, Sarnath.

An avatar is a manifestation of a deity incarnated in some visible form in which the deity performs a sacred function on earth; the number of avatars a deity has varies, with Vishnu usually having ten, or sometimes twenty-nine. (Gardner)