Pictures of the garden on August 31, 2014

And yesterday, a visit to the St. Louis Art Museum…

I was drawn to the classical painting and sculpture…

late 2nd century BC–early 1st century AD

Greek

Hellenistic period
(323–31 BC)

or Roman

Imperial period
(27 BC–AD 330) (source)

It’s all just a good guess really, I mean no one REALLY knows EXACTLY where these pieces were found or when they were made…It’s what makes ancient art so mysterious!

Check out How to Sculpt for inspiration/instructions on how to make your own sculptures!

Matisse is one of my favorites…

I also like Frank Stella…

With a housepainter’s brush, Frank Stella methodically applied industrial enamel paint to the surface of this canvas. Thick black bands form concentric rectangles cut off along the bottom edge while thin off-white lines reveal unpainted portions of the canvas. The artist used an extra thick stretcher, a novel decision in 1959 that allowed Stella to emphasize that a painting is, in fact, a three-dimensional object. When asked about the content of his austere works such as this, Stella answered, “What you see is what you see,” underscoring the artist’s matter-of-fact, literal approach to painting. (source)

Richard Serra’s drawings to plan a large sculptural installation in St. Louis remind me of the Spy Garden deer fence plans:

Never underestimate a good sketch!

And the 2015 garden plan? Coming soon! But back to the St. Louis Art Museum…

I also enjoyed the Native American exhibits…

Soft, warm cradleboards shelter babies from the wind and cold, and provide a secure place for mothers to keep their young ones safe while they work and travel. Children often become so attached to their cradleboards that they try to crawl back into them even after they have outgrown them. Family members create cradleboards and imbue these objects with love, symbolic power, and protection. This cradleboard is of exceptional quality and reflects distinctive elements of outstanding Tsistsistas (Cheyenne) work, a tradition noted for technical excellence, crisp, even beadwork, and design shapes that include outlined hexagons and stepped “tipi” triangles with interior square doors. (source)

With every step or rush of wind, the rows of diagonal fringe and metal cones encircling this dress would sway and make a pleasing sound. The creation of sound and a sense of movement are hallmarks of the Southern Plains style. The long sides and neckline preserve the shape of the deer’s hind legs and tail to emphasize the raw material from which the dress was made, and to invest the wearer with the spirit of the once-living creature. (source)

One more favorite painting from my visit…

Compositionally (if that’s not a word, file it under neologisms) similar, but back at home…

and a test…

Happy Wednesday, friends!