A sea shell by the sea shore

A sea shell by the sea shore, Jean Hart

The Golden Ratio

"If there is a God, he's a great mathematician." Paul Dirac

You see this pattern everywhere in nature.

You see this pattern in art too.

What makes one painting more beautiful than another?

The answer may surprise you.

It's Math!!!

Getting a painting to hold the right proportions is what has inspired artists for centuries.

Proportions is what holds a painting together to create the beauty and balance of a master piece.

The Golden Ratio

as quoted from CKG

"One of the easiest ways to define the Golden Ratio is through the famous sequence of numbers named after the mathematician Fibonacci. See if you you can identify the pattern in the following set of numbers: 0,1,1,2,3,5,8,13,21,34....

Each number is the sum of the previous two numbers. When you divide any of the numbers by the one before it, you get roughly the same number, , and the value becomes increasingly refined as the numbers get larger."

Well there you have it.

Here is my challenge for today.

See how many things in nature you can find that has this pattern and ratio in it.

Start by really looking at flowers, shells, cones, the most common is the spiral itself.

 We have talked about symbols and so it is the spiral too has a meaning.

Spiral: A symbol of change and forward motion. It means growth and progress.

So as the New Year arrives, 2013 will begin and on this New Years Eve day I'm going to make a spiral in honor of bring in the New Year.

2013 the year of the water snake
digital artwork by
Jean Hart

 

Be Inspired,

~Jean

www.zazzle.com/jeanhar1*

Pink Saturday New Years Wish

                   HAPPY PINK SATURDAY....

                   SNOW...........AND

 

 

 A HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

 

My New Years Wish For You

My New Years wish for you

Is for you to enjoy each new day

where joy, peace and, love,

Will carry you through

all the new year long.

Be Inspired,
~Jean
www.zazzle.com/jeanhar1*

 



Fauvism (wild beast)

Fauvism (Wild Beast)

Paris, France

1905-1908

I can only image what it would be like to be an artist at this time in history.

To be able to sit with these great artists and listen to their conversation.

Fauvism was the first major Avant-Garde art movement. From this short lived expression came the more modern art and developed into the Cubist art.

The Fauves created traditional art subjects by painting them in a nontraditional way. They used bright colors to express emotions. They were inspired by Van Gogh, Gauguin and Cezanne.

The artists of Fauvism were, George Braque, Andre Derain, Georges Rouault, Kees van Dongen, Maurice de Vlaminch, but the most famous was Henri Matisse.

Even when Fauvism went out Henri stayed true to it believing the his paintings were able to project passion and pure emotion through color.
With the new year ahead of me, and, my desire to go the Pairs. I will take a virtual tour of the Louve and seek out a Henri Matisse painting and reproduce one of his paintings. As a lesson as I go through my art history course.
Be Inpsired,
~Jean
www.zazzle.com/jeanhar1*
 

 http://www.henrimatisse.org/
http://video.search.yahoo.com/video/play;_ylt=A0S00MrteNxQZVMA4nT7w8QF;_ylu=X3oDMTBrc3VyamVwBHNlYwNzcgRzbGsDdmlkBHZ0aWQD?p=henri+matisse&vid=8a724e7304a97296e3e70300b98d0d37&l=00%3A36&turl=http%3A%2F%2Fts2.mm.bing.net%2Fth%3Fid%3DV.4855092013760529%26pid%3D15.1&rurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DMiEIeitUNFs&tit=Henri+Matisse+speaking+about+drawing+and+painting&c=1&sigr=11ah4q0tu&&tt=b

ALIEN ART-CROP CIRLES

CROP CIRCLES

12/21/12 HAS COME AND GONE AND LOOK WE ARE STILL HERE!!

However, it did make me think about many things and strange things that take place in our world.

ALIEN ART

If you are one of the people who look for extraterrestrial answers to these beautiful artwork marks left on the farm lands around the world, you may have been waiting for your spaceship to come in.

But what if these are really HUMAN MASTERPIECES?
My own artwork involves circles, although mine come from a more symbolic nature then alien design

 

 The theories of the origin of crop circles have been swirling around for years.

Whether they are man made or extraterrestrial is a question for the more serious scientist. I'm an artist and I see them as amazing pieces of artwork!!!

Over the years, man has learned to create them in their own fields. Some groups create them as competitions to see how intricate a pattern they can make. Of course, the advertising companies, not being left out of any ad campaign will want to place a logo in the field so it can be seen from the sky.

I have read, that the first crop circle to show up was in the 17th century England.

One thing is fore sure about these crop circles is, they generally appear in a field without warning, and they are mostly without a signature of the creator.

VERY MYSTERIES!!!

They do their work at night, work secretly, and never tell anyone what they have done, letting the stories of alien art fill in the mysteries around their work of art.

Like all good mysteries, there seems to be enough unknown about the crop circles to make humans think they are the works of Aliens creators.

So here are a few questions for the deep thinking art viewers.

 What if aliens really are creating art in our fields-

1. Do you think we should meet with them and charge them for the privilege of using our fields?

2. Should we pay them for expanding our view of art?

 

I invite you to check this crop circles out, they are really very interesting.

These are the crop circles found in 2012

 http://images.search.yahoo.com/search/images?_adv_prop=image&fr=yfp-t-701-1-s&va=crop+circles+2012

Be Inspired,

~Jean

www.zazzle.com/jeanhar1*



Renew for the new year

   RENEW, REJUVENATE, RECHARGE

Reveive, acrylic, by Jean Hart Artwork, www.zazzle.com/jeanhar1*
 

I love this time of year. I love going through my calendar book and seeing what I have done all year. It helps me to see that I'm living life and active.

During Christmas break I buy a new date book. I go through it and mark all the important dates and then I start filling in the vacation plans, exhibits I need to rotate and short workshops I want to attend.

RENEWING MY PASSION FOR BEING ALIVE!!!

 What is it you do to Renew your spirit?

The new year is like a blank page and you get to start over, start again, start anew.

My reading list grew to be too long this year. I will have to start a new page.

My painting projects grew to be too many for one year.

Now that I'm able to work out, I'm buying work out clothes that are growing into a big pile too.

One of the things I want to renew is my love of the masters artwork,

It's the excitement of seeing a new piece of artwork for the first time. So my Biography books are now growing too.

We are only here for such a short time and I want to see it all.

But first I must renew my commitment to myself to do the things I love, do the things I must, and do the things I dream of.

Just a quick note, I can no longer reprint this book, "12 Days of Christmas".  So for those that have this book, GOOD NEWS, you own a limited edition.

Be Inspired,

~Jean

www.zazzle.com/jeanhar1*

GETTING EVERYONE ON THE SAME PAGE WHEN IT COMES TO ART....

GETTING EVERYONE ON THE SAME PAGE WHEN IT COMES TO ART....
"Art... is a means of union among men, joining them together in the same feelings, and indispensable for the life and progress toward well-being of individuals and humanity."
Leo Tolstoy

 

I spend much of my day looking at art, visiting online museums, and working on my own artwork.

I have often thought that art should bring a response from the viewer. Yes, sometimes I fall to painting a still life only because it brings me the pleasure of painting and doing something productive. After all a pear is only a pear and you can't really respond too emotionally to that.

Pear, acrylic, Jean Hart Artwork, www.zazzle.com/jeanhar1*

 

However, I strongly feel that art should be used to be a representation of history. I like that some art pieces really stop me in my tracks and make me think. I like to ponder over artwork and figure out what the artist is saying in symbol and color. Those pieces give me pleasure as well.

Midnight Souls, Jean Hart

Some artwork can be strong enough to give a viewer a purpose to change an opinion. Strong enough to evoke emotion of change. Hopefully enough to be continued to be viewed.

Soul Song, Jean Hart

Some art questions to think about today are;

1. Do you believe people sometimes spend too much time and energy focusing on art, to the neglect of more important matters?

2. Is it enough to receive pleasure from art, or should it also foster a change in spirit?

3. Have you ever seen a painting that moved you so much that you had to share it with everyone you know?

Abundance, Jean Hart

Be Inspired,

~Jean

www.zazzle.com/jeanhar1*

HOW IMPORTANT IS SETTING UP YOUR PALETTE?

 

HOW IMPORTANT IS SETTING UP YOUR PALETTE?

 

Palettes have changed over time, just like everything else in time. You can set you paint on wooden slabs, glass or ceramic plates. Picasso used newspaper...

I use a plastic covered paper plate for my acrylic paint. They're easy to mixed on, easier clean up. When your painting on a white canvas a white paper plate is the best to see true colors and get a feel for how the color your mixing will look on a white background. One thing I have found about painting with acrylic paint is no matter what the surface of you palette I have to spritz the paint with water often. The acrylic paint tends to dry out quicker than oil.

Palettes come in a variety of shapes too. I'm sure you have seen the wooden ones with a hole for your thumb to go through to hold on to it.

My best advice on palettes is try them all until you find one that works best for your style of painting.  Quickly on arranging your paint. This too is a personal choice, but I have found that if you always place the colors of paint in the same spot on the palette, your brain will become use to its placement and painting and mixing colors becomes automatic.

Once again it's your palette so do what's comfortable for you.

Prepare the palette before you start painting, lay out your brushes, water, towels, etc. Because once the flow of painting starts you don't want to have to stop to set your palette up.

Just one more thing; Get very serious about writing down the colors and amounts you mixed for a certain color you need for a painting. Chances are you wont remember it tomorrow when you return to your painting.

Be Inspired,

~Jean

www.zazzle.com/jeanhar1*



Symbolism....What is it?

SYMBOLISM....IN ART.....WHAT IS IT?

Art books have whole chapters on this subject.

Can you see the symbolism in this painting of Jean Hart's?

 

Symbolism.

First, a symbol is anything that, over time, human beings have decided is a representation of some thing. They must be agreed about and people must recognize them as meaning one thing.  Some artist will make up a symbol that means something important them but has no meaning to a viewer.  When doing abstract artwork you may see a symbol just to give you an idea of what the painting is about. It's a way for the artist to let you know what this painting is about, ...peace, love, rage, etc.  It's helpful for the viewier to have help translating the artwork.

Symbolism is not only seen in artwork, but, in theater, literature, and music.

Almost anywhere where the artist wants the viewer to go beyond the singular dimension of the artwork. The Art Movements that used symbolism best were Modernist, Expressionism, and Symbolism

Some of the more famous artist are;

Paul Gauguin, Gustav Klimt, Edvard Munch, Pierre Puvis de Chavannes

http://www.artmagick.com/pictures/artist.aspx?artist=pierre-puvis-de-chavannes

Here are some common symbols and their meanings

Circle, represents eternity.

Chain, connection that exists between every living thing on the planet.

Figure 8, infinity, balance of power between the sun and the moon.

Square, foundation upon which everthing else is built

Spiral, change and forward motion.

Triangle, creative focus of mind, body and spirit.

Butterfly, represents the soul and transformation.

Cat, good luck and a deep love of all things beautiful in the world.

Coyote, cleverness

Deer, maternal love.

That should get you started on your next painting,

Be Inspired,

~Jean

www.zazzle.com/jeanhar1*

Paintbrushes

Paintbrushes.................................

 

Paint brushes are the basic tools to have when stocking your tool kit.

I think there has not been enough said about the picking and use of the paintbrush.

When you go to the art store there are rows and rows of paint brushes and it can be overwhelming.

I have used cheap brushes only to have them fall apart and leave hairs on my canvas to be permanently part of my painting.

Brushes come in three basic hair types. Soft natural hair bristles are made up of the hair of an animal. these bristles, which are very resilient and hold a good amount of moisture, are an excellent choice for watercolor.

soft synthetic hair bristles are made up of man made fibers and are recommended for acrylic paints. Bristle brushes, which have thick, coarse hair, are best for oil painting and can be either natural or synthetic.

Shapes;

the most common brush shapes, fan, flat, round, and rigger.

For a  beginner you don't need more than these.

try starting with

l. two flats, small and large,

2. three rounds, small, medium, and large

3. fan brush, medium

4. rigger.

Something to think about,

"Use the largest brush you are comfortable with while painting a particular area. This will help you stay loose and avoid painting too much detail."

Joseph Stoddard

Be Inspired,

~Jean

www.zazzle.com/jeanhar1*

Salvador Dali

Salvador Dali (1904-1989)



I once saw a  movie on Salvador Dali and personally I found him to be a bit bazaar.. and to say his artwork is strange is almost an understatement.

But I watched the whole movie, googled him, googled his artwork and as fate would have it, I now own a lithograph of his painting "Venice".

This very week I will be hanging this piece in my dinning room.

He is a master on Surrealism.

He is connected to his unconscious like no other artists I know.

It has been said of him, "Dali's work in the genre depicts ordinary objects in  strange contexts using dream like, sometimes nightmarish, imagery."

Born in Catalonia, Spain, Dali's childhood was peculiar in its own right. He was born nine months following the death of his brother, who was also named Salvador. Dali's parents believed that their second son was his dead brother reincarnated, and they subsequently convinced the young boy of the same;  this belief both haunted and influenced the artist for the rest of his life.

His paintings have influenced the Surrealists movement but in the 1930's he moved to a more classical style and the Surrealists criticised him and excluded him from the movement.

Dali was more than just a painter, his interests were diverse. He also wrote books, crafted jewelry and designed theatrical sets, costumes, and furniture.

His most notable works are:

Premature Ossification of a Railway Station, 1930; The Persistence of Memory, 1931;

the Ghost of Vermeer from Delft which can be Used as a Table, 1943

http://images.search.yahoo.com/search/images?_adv_prop=image&fr=yfp-t-701-1&va=salvador+dali+works+of+art

Be Inspired,

~Jean

www.zazzle.com/jeanhar1*

Let it snow

Let it snow, Let it snow, Let it snow......

I can hardly wait for the snow. Once when I was feeling a little down because it was cold and wintery I found that If I learned to play in the snow winter wasn't so long.
I went outside and made a snow labyrinth.
This year I can hardly wait for the snow.
I have lots of ideas about what I plan on making with the snow.
I plan on filling up my water bottles with food dye and coloring the snow.
Shaping it, rolling it and making all kinds of cool things.
My only problem is that this year, NO SNOW!!!
There is no snow yet to make a snowman.
But I know it's coming and when it does, I will be ready.


Twin Aspen Trees, acrylic, Jean Hart, www.zazzle.com/jeanhar1*
Be Inspired,
~Jean
zazzle.com/jeanhar1*

Please enjoy these amazing snow scultures

http://images.search.yahoo.com/search/images?_adv_prop=image&fr=yfp-t-701-1&va=snow+sculptures

 

Still bored with your coffee?

Latte Art.......Love it.....


Did you know that the average American drinks a total of 200 gallons of coffee each year?

or so says David Schmidt's imagination.

what ever the statistics is, and I'm sure it changes daily.

American like their coffee, lattes and cappuccino's

A new art form is to draw on top of the foam of a latte. .

Drinkable Artwork!!!!

Flowers, hearts, rosettes, animals and even faces can be seen in the foamy canvas.

There is no even international competitions for Batista's to compete in this form of art.

Ask yourself has your cup of coffee gotten alittle boring?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KeQg0TSZ9hI&ytsession=QE6VbHkZaQi0hKFB-A1WJ9-OcTe51

johaKLJyWgyFgN_bPOEDx00De1pwLRaiPLEIknUVSOROzge8U5t-wVN51S9GoCVc2oOaYAAla8u0JlFzstU62XvOspxoKVHumPZFRHWEl6TL815imuZRGWNfSyAw9Wz

UIlOU0w99yqljBw6C9pOwMWFyxNbm5xlbWQKZFvTaJg1iCdt6tCTiJgBm1gsf6NkFM-bUkLr3yMS7Z8

Be Inspired,

~Jean

www.zazzle.com/jeanhar1*

 

When is art Too Small?

Can artwork be too small???
How small is small? The new style of painting for awhile was painting miniature paintings, 2"x 3".
If a painting is too small to see with the human eye, can it still be appreciated?
What if no one could see it on the wall or anywhere in the house?
Would you still buy it?
I hear the answer to these two questions is "yes".
I didn't know there is something called, "Micropainting".
Artist, Stefano Busonero creates paintings that are less than a square inch in area.  All of his artworks require a magnifying glass in order to appreciate them.
Artist J'Sha is the artist best known for his technique called, "nanoentonography", he creates works of art that can only be seen through a microscope.
I'm in an age now that I can not even eat without putting on my eyeglasses. I have to ask, WHY?
Not only is this a technique I would not be able to do, but, the people looking at your artwork would have to buy special equipment to view your artwork.
Please enjoy some of their artwork here.
Let me what you think.
Be Inspired,
~Jean
zazzle.com/jeanhar1*
http://www.busonero.it/index1.htm
http://www.dailygalaxy.com/my_weblog/2007/04/nanoart_the_wor.html

The Elephant Artists..Are they making a statement on the Art World.

The Elephant Artists..Are they making a statement on the Art World.
As an artist I am always looking at artwork. I'm interested in seeing whats new in the art world and hearing what people are buying.
It is true people are still looking to match their sofas, and colors of their living rooms.
It's been told to me, " that if I paint landscapes I'm sure to sell."
Well, I'm not too interested in landscapes. But I have painted my share of them and sadly I have sold them too. Sad only because that statement is true!!! Sad again that the paintings of my passion, while loved and awarded often reside in my own home.
Now I have come across this new artists, or band of artists. The Elephant. As if we human artists don't already have enough competition, here comes the animal kingdom to keep us on our toes.
I have come to learn that Elephant artists have been creating their original art since 1998. They do not work alone, they require help from their human counterparts. These pieces will sell at auction for more than $2,00.00. Yes, now I have your attention!!!
How is this painting possible. By grasping paintbrushes with their agile trunks, given to them by their trainers, they are able to create colorful, energetic, well composed paintings  with a touch of emotion.
Visit this site for more information and see their artwork...
Be Inspired,
~Jean
www.zazzle.com/jeanhar1*
http://www.exoticworldgifts.com/video_popup.php?id=13
http://www.exoticworldgifts.com/servlet/-strse-612/Elephant-Painting-Video/Detail

 

What is an Artist?

Welcome December......The best time of the year.

 

I just got back from a road trip that took me to Santa Fe. I went to the Georgia O'Keeffe museum. I must say I am now her biggest fan.

I can see how she was so inspired by the southwest. The colors, the mountain, the people. It was fantastic.

It is time for me to get back to work in the studio, but at this time of year there is so many other things I want to be doing.

Decorating, baking, visiting, shopping, the list goes on.

But here for today, when I would rather be doing anything else than be in the studio. I have to ask the question,

What is an Artist?

 Do I make the cut?

"The artist is not a different kind of person, but every person is a different kind of artist." Eric Gill

Do you agree with this quote?

Sure it makes a statement to everyone, but does it speak to you as a artist?

I might think that an other definition might be someone who actually does art, or maybe even someone who does art for a living. 

However, I do see that all people can be creative, have wonderful hobbies, and be considered artists.

But if we only think of the "fine arts" as true art, then the number of artists in the field of art is diminished.

I think of the times I was in college and taking art classes. I did not think my doodling on a notepad made me an artists.

Years later when I started to show my art publicly and sold paintings, it was then and only then that I considered myself an artist.

Here are some questions to ponder.

What does it take for a person to be a true artist?

Would you consider yourself an artist?

Why or why not?

These are things I think of when I don't feel like going to the studio to paint.

Be Inspired,

~Jean
www.zazzle.com/jeanhar1*