Moore, Moore, Moore

I went to Kew Gardens for the first time yesterday and ended up spending three hours wandering around...

I didn't even see everything and while those who love flowers and fauna are catered for in the greenhouses I went for the Henry Moore sculptures.

I found them inspiring and loved seeing them and being able to move around them and touch then and feel the contours. I have so many pictures with the fading light as well as the sunshine.

I walked so much yesterday carrying a heavy artbook that I'd bought earlier but it wasn't until later the same evening that I really felt my legs going.

I haven't been that impressed as I was with some of those sculptures for a longtime but I think the success of the exhibition is in the outdoor nature and the sheer scale of some of the pieces which are big! The fact that you could touch the pieces and see them surrounded by natural forms probably enhanced the experience too.

Other things that continue to surprise and impress me is Miles Davis...I have a jazz smart playlist on shuffle on my itunes with 321 tracks and invariably I don't know all of them but when I check to see something I like it seems more often than not to be Miles Davis.

More sculpture pics soon!

Clash

Why do times and dates conspire to clash against me!

An open evening for postgraduate studies and the 2nd Leg of the Champions League.

Why does this shit happen?! Grrrr.

Teaching old dogs new tricks

This is related to the post below...in my case if I'm interested in something then I want to know how to do it better.

If I'm not interested I find it hard to get into the subject and despite knowing that I may need to, I don't. Is that my inner child saying 'no!' with the pouty mouth?

If I think back on the times that I have done well learning something it has been because I was interested and enjoyed the way it was taught.

I think respect for the teacher and the methods go along way to learning a new 'trick' but if you find it hard to build a rapport with the teacher then the subject will not go in because you can't maintain a flexible approach.

How was learning to everybody else? Were the best teachers stern or ones that found ways to raise interest and enthusiasm or is all down to the application of each particular student?

Stubborness

Is there a point where you stop learning or rather stop wanting to learn or just become selective in how you want to spend your time.

Are there certain things that just can't be learned or taught?

Learning because you have to and not because you want to, is that the whole child and school conflict?

We have to learn the things we don't want to out of necessity of survival?

Happy Valentines Day?

Or is that lusting day? Or seeking affection day? Whatever...

Artist=Autistic=Narcissist?

In my never ending question asking I put the following forward. Is a artist in some respect autistic in that their means of communication can only be through their chosen medium and when they are truly involved in making their art they sometimes become immersed in that endeavor.

However, where they differ from a true autistic person is the narcissistic aspect of creation because it seeks some sort of approval from others to merit its existence.Is the value of art only that when it has been seen by others who then appraise it and purchase it or extol its virtues to others.

The act of painting oneself in a self-portrait is that the act of a narcissist or a cry for help or a way of trying to tell the world about oneself? In the case of Van Gogh was he advertising his art or himself as a person or both? A self portrait is a CV of oneself and ones work but do you try to show yourself heroically or create an image of how you perceive yourself or how you would like the world to perceive yourself?

Portraiture is still a highly valued after all there is a gallery dedicated to it in London and it still held in high esteem to have ones portrait 'done'. Is there more honesty in the nuances of perception through the control and manipulation of paint than just lighting and photography?

Oh so many places!

There are places and people that I want to see and meet but where should I go?

Some of these places I've been before and some I haven't.

In no particular order these are the places where I know at least one person if not more...

1) New York
2) Los Angeles
3) San Francisco
4) Boston
5) Melbourne
6) Tokyo
7) Rome
8) Vancouver
9) Athens
10) Reykjavik

Then places I haven't been but might want to but don't know people...

1) Dublin
2) Madrid
3) Barcelona
4) Hong Kong
5) New Zealand


Maybe I should just put the list in a hat...not a bad idea come to think of it...

Los Angeles, San Francisco and Vancouver could be done in one trip.

New York is a trip in itself.

Melbourne and Tokyo could be done in one go.

Am I brave enough to go where nobody knows my name...?