A LOOK AT SOME UTAH ART

Located in Rozel Point which is towards the North end of Great Salt Lake lies the "Spiral Jetty" by Robert Smithson created in 1970. Made up of mud, precipitated salt crystals and rocks. The water coil is 1500 feet long and 15 feet wide. Something I have always wanted to go check out. Maybe when it warms up I will make the venture.

Another Utah piece I have been able to check out is the "Metaphor: The Tree of Utah" by Swedish artist Karl Momen created from 1982-1986. The 87 foot tree stands about 95 miles West of Salt Lake City - On the North side of I-80. Made up of 225 tons of cement, almost 2000 ceramic tiles, 5 tones of welding rod and tons of minerals and rocks native to Utah.

Find out more information on each work at the links below.

"Spiral Jetty" via: The Salt Lake Tribune & www.robertsmithson.com

"Metaphor: The Tree of Utah" via: www.utah.com

MUTTS

For a long time I have enjoyed the comic strip Mutts by Patrick McDonnell. Always doing a great job!

via: www.muttscomics.com

BLUE MARBLE

NASA makes it look good... well helps us see how good it naturally looks anyway! The 64-megapixel (8000 x 8000 pixels) image named "Blue Marble" was made using stitched together images taken by NASA satellite Suomi NPP. Check out the full size image here - BLUE MARBLE.

via: www.thisiscolossal.com

PATHS

Received an email from my mom this morning with the subject "Amazing Paths of Life." Needless to say my mother knows me well! I opened it up to find a collection of really wonderful photos. I couldn't resist wanting to share a handful of them on here. Enjoy!

ALBERT

I have always enjoyed this photo of Albert Einstein. Something about that great mind enjoying a simple pleasure makes me feel good. A couple days ago I came across the quote, I think it says so much in so few words. So I figured why not put them together for a post!

A HEALTHY INDSIDE

I can see it looking similar to this illustration done by Lim Heng Swee.

NORMAN

Start the week off right with some works by good ol' Norman Rockwell.

SPACE COLLAGES

These wonderful collages are done by Daria Usova out of Switzerland. You can find more of her works here dariausova.blogspot.com.

First spotted via: thecuriousbrain.com

JACKSON POLLOCK

This post was inspired by my recent watching of "POLLOCK" with Ed Harris (great job!) made in 2000. I remember a couple years back someone showing me a fun interactive site made in 2003 by Miltos Manetas (link below). The first picture above is my - quick - example of the fun you can have! It looks like they are in the process of expanding the site so I know I will be visiting often to see the changes.

Visit jacksonpollock.org to make your own masterpiece!

Educate yourself about Pollock here - www.jacksonpollock.com

Check out https://www.artsy.net/artist/jackson-pollock to see Pollock's bio, over 65 of his works, exclusive articles, and up-to-date Pollock exhibition listings. Go explore!

NUESTRO PUEBLO

I first learned about "Nuestro Pueblo" (translated to "Our Town") in one of my art history courses. It is now most commonly know as "The Watts Towers". What an interesting and inspiring project, you can see why I think so below.

Handy man Simon Rodia never claimed to be an artist. When asked why he made the towers, he answered "I wanted to do something big and I did it."  The installation consists of 17 major sculptures constructed of structural steel and covered with mortar, adorned with a diverse mosaic of broken glass, sea shells, generic pottery and tile, a rare piece of 19th-century, hand painted Canton ware and many pieces of 20th-century American ceramics - built without machine equipment, scaffolding, bolts, rivets, welds or drawing board designs - besides his own ingenuity, Sam used simple tools, pipe fitter pliers and a window-washer's belt and buckle.

You can find the towers located in a triangle lot on 1761-1765 107th Street in Los Angeles, CA. I hope to make a visit myself very soon!

*Fun side note, the towers were included in the video game Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas.

via: www.wattstowers.us

MARTIN LUTHER KING JR.

Call it a hunch but I figured today would be an appropriate day to post this. :) I did the illustration back when I was first learning about the graphic design (digital illustration) world. So please, be gentle on me!

HIS NAME WAS...

What was it again? Oh yeah, JASON! Threw this together after I realized it was Friday the 13th!

FEDERICO PIETRELLA

Only a few works from the diverse collection done by Berlin bases artist Federico Pietrella. Done with rubber time stamps, amazing! Reminds me of a large scale piece I saw in a home years back. Self portrait done with thumb print pressed in graphite, it was extremely well done to say the least.

via: www.thisiscolossal.com

More works here www.federicopietrella.com

MARY X ABE

Good quote from Pres. Lincoln and delightful hand drawn illustration by Mary Kate McDevitt who is an illustrator and letterer based in Portland, Oregon

via: www.designdefined.co.uk

IMAGINATION VS REALITY

My brother first showed me these a little while back. It's been really hard picking some favorites to post. They are all done by talented Belgian painter, illustrator, portraitist, caricaturist and photographer Ben Heine. This series is titled "Imagination Vs Reality" or "Drawings Vs Photos". You should without a doubt check out his other amazing works at the links below!

www.benheine.com & His Flickr

VIETNAM

I couldn't choose between the one with color or the one without so you get to view both! I also couldn't find much more info on the artist; all I know is his name is Gregory and he is an independent Ukrainian designer. This piece is titled "Vietnam."

via: www.creattica.com

DIEM CHAU

Some pretty amazing, detailed sculptures carved from crayons and pencils by artist Diem Chau.

ENOUGH SAID...

I APOLOGIZE

My posting has not been on top of it's game as of late. I will work on that. Hopefully everyone had a wonderful holiday and is geared up for 2012!

THIS IS WHERE WE'RE HEADED

NORTHERN MILKY LIGHTS

The Milky Way and the Northern Lights (Aurora Borealis) seen over Finnmark, Norway in late September.

(Sky Show) Photograph by Tommy Eliassen

via: www.nationalgeographic.com

FIREFLIES

Long exposure shots of fireflies in Japan. Taken after mid year thunderstorms.