Another perfect day! Seems like we're reaping the rewards for suffering through last winter. Either that or it's in honor of Fathers Day.... or Kris' birthday.... or BluesFest ... or any of the many celebrations going on this weekend. Whatever you're celebrating—cheers!
Mark starts us off with a salute to our fathers, along with an admonition to relax (shouldn't be hard on a weekend like this one!).
While construction on the Kennedy makes it hard to get downtown to visit attractions like the Shedd Aquarium, we've got you covered! No need to look any further than Mohammed's painting, rapidly filling with wonderfully colorful and exotic tropical fish.
And did you see the lovely spring green of the leaf above? The color of new shoots and spring seems to be our theme color of the day. Here Abla fine tunes her flowers and, unable to resist the color of the day, begins a beautiful green landscape.
Sara, too, prominently features the color of the day in her still life. Can't you just feel the sun filtering through the new leaves of the trees shading this scene? This year, everything seems to glow with the reflected warmth of that distinctive clear green, doesn't it?
Even the architecture is seen through the same golden green haze. Both Vivian's Escher-esque commentary....
... and Ken's original urban landscape. You can also see two other paintings in various stages of progress; one looking like a soft pastel Easter egg view of the city and the other with just the framework. We'll be looking for more in this series. And, for extra credit, see if you can name the blues in the windows on different floors in the second painting. One will probably surprise you (answer next week).
And speaking of series, Susan continues her tale of architecture and the effect of the typhoon on the Philippines. Here we see the devastation of the morning after. The trees and buildings have all been damaged, but the church survives intact.
Even John's icy Alpine scene can't help but include trees with new spring growth.
And we have good news for you if you like John's illustrations and want to see more. He's our featured artist in our "Meet the Artist" series. Come back tomorrow (or Monday) to see more of his work and learn about John's path to being John. Learn what influences him, how he developed his style and why he chooses to paint what he does. You'll be enthralled, so don't forget to come back.
Artist of the week. Our popular library table was more popular than ever today, brimming with a fine selection of works. The selection was so fine, in fact, that it spawned a flurry of borrowing, with some books being reserved weeks in advance. Making a successful return was the book about watercolor in America, showing paintings from early days until now (although not right-this-minute now—none of us are included! LOL). There are works by Homer, Hopper, O'Keefe, Wyeth and more.... all the way to Chuck Close. A really inspirational book.
We also loved the compilation of 20th century drawings. Some of the same artists made it into both books. In fact, the drawing book contained a black & white version of the same painting shown in color in the watercolor book. Intriguing! Rounding out the selection was a book on Sufi art and several books on people from the French Alps, their costumes and culture. One was especially fine (see below), with quality plates and vellum separator pages. Of course, they were John's! No wonder he can render the details of his illustrations so authentically with these references!
Happy Father's Day! And remember, come back soon to learn more about John when we "Meet the Artist!"
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