"I'm having an emotional response to art!  
Is that normal?"

- Tom Haverford 

Today was full of beautiful things!

It all started a few weeks ago when the boyfriend said, "I want to take you on a fancy date!"  Well, if you insist...  So after taking the time to get dolled up this morning, it was off to Portland.  He planned the whole day and it was lovely.  He took me to the Portland Art Museum.  We saw Cezane's and Degas's and Renoir's and Van Gogh's and Monet's and Picasso's--we saw Rodin statues!  Then we indulged in delightful food!  He knows I've been studying for a French exam next week and found a darling, delicious French restaurant, Little Bird Bistro (un petit oiseau).  If you get the chance, check it out.  I had chicken fried trout with pickled radish and carrots drizzled in the most exquisite aioli.  For dessert, we shared an apple cheddar crumble with apple cider ice cream - ah! Delectable!  Then we took in the beauty of Nolan's scientific imaginings... a wondrous thing to be sure.  "Love is the one thing that transcends time and space."  Sigh... The film made me so glad I live on planet Earth--and so, so grateful for community!

Like I said, full of beautiful things.  And now, off to dreamland.  Bonne nuit!

And this is why I love my city...

West by Northwest: City Lights from Edward Aites on Vimeo.

Brilliant day for music!

Switchfoot's Fading West was released and is now streaming on The Drop.  It's fun.  Their first single, "Who we are" is a blast and the I rather adore the childlike rhymes of "Let it Out."  An underlying theme of the album - "we become what we believe."

 From the day we’re born
We are scarred and torn
We’ve been scared to sing out loud
But we don’t care no more
‘Cause we know life is short
And we don’t care who leaves us now
Breathe it in and let it out

John Mark McMillan's "Future Past" was also released with this music video.  It is simple.  It is beautiful.  I can't wait for the whole album.

And you,
You are my first
You are my last
You are my future and my past

And the one that made me most excited is that Kye Kye's sophomore album is now streaming here a week before it's release.  I've seen this band perform live twice and got to talk to them on both occasions.  They are such authentic artists with a sound I just love!  I've been dancing around my flat to "Honest Affection" and "Dreams (2 am)" since the singles were released, but I am loving this sneak peek at the rest of the album.

A part of me just wanted to know
But the other part was always so wasted
My heart was always made to be still
To wait because you promised you’d save it

Happy listening!

Inspiration is a word thrown around on a daily basis, but what does it really mean? Inspiration literally means the inhaling of air; it is the act when air has been blown into something.

The way I see it is inspiration is CPR on our livelihood.

When creativity is dying, when life becomes mundane, when we are unhappy, when we need our horizons broadened, when we need a solution, or just an idea, inspiration causes us to come alive again. CPR is when your lungs and/or heart are not functioning properly. You need an outward source to supply air to enable your heart and/or lungs to start working again.
Inspiration opens our mind and lights the match that ignites passions within ourselves.

- via Commadity

31 days of Books: Picture of Dorian Gray

Today marks the half-way point of my 31 days project (I started 9/30) - yippee!  Thank you all for reading and commenting.  There's pretty much nothing that makes me happier than other people reading a book I love!  So, thank you all :)

Also, (more to come on this, but) this weekend I got to see a first edition copy of today's book - autographed by the author!  Oh my word!!

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

Title:  The Picture of Dorian Gray

Author:  Oscar Wilde

Published:  1890

Year I read it:  2011

One sentence summary:  Corrupted Dorian Gray has a portrait that mutates and warps to show the state of his soul, while physically he gets to remain young, rich, and handsome.

Interesting fact:  Wilde's only novel.

Three reasons to read it:

• The prologue [see below].  I don't agree with all these statements.  I don't even like all of these statements.  But I love that Wilde compiled these statements!  They move me to think about what art is and what power it has.
• The story is a classic and I hear it alluded to all the time.  I was recently in a business meeting where one of the younger professionals scolded everyone else for not getting a reference from it.  I nodded in agreement.
• The novel is intriguingly autobiographical.  Wilde himself later referred to this book when reflecting on his own life.  

One reason you maybe shouldn't:

• Dorian Gray sleeps around, steals, murders and is in general a very corrupt, tragic figure.  Be forewarned.

Great quotes: [several of which I don't support... they're just Wilde being witty]

“Experience is merely the name men gave to their mistakes.”

“There is only one thing in the world worse than being talked about, and that is not being talked about.” 

“I am too fond of reading books to care to write them.”  

“Nowadays people know the price of everything and the value of nothing.” 

“Men marry because they are tired; women, because they are curious: both are disappointed.” 

Preface

The artist is the creator of beautiful things. To reveal art and conceal the artist is art's aim. The critic is he who can translate into another manner or a new material his impression of beautiful things. 

The highest as the lowest form of criticism is a mode of autobiography. Those who find ugly meanings in beautiful things are corrupt without being charming. This is a fault. 

Those who find beautiful meanings in beautiful things are the cultivated. For these there is hope. They are the elect to whom beautiful things mean only beauty. 

There is no such thing as a moral or an immoral book. Books are well written, or badly written. That is all. 

The nineteenth century dislike of realism is the rage of Caliban seeing his own face in a glass. 

The nineteenth century dislike of romanticism is the rage of Caliban not seeing his own face in a glass.  

The moral life of man forms part of the subject-matter of the artist, but the morality of art consists in the perfect use of an imperfect medium.  

No artist desires to prove anything. Even things that are true can be proved.  

No artist has ethical sympathies. An ethical sympathy in an artist is an unpardonable mannerism of style.  

No artist is ever morbid.  

The artist can express everything. Thought and language are to the artist instruments of an art. Vice and virtue are to the artist materials for an art.  

From the point of view of form, the type of all the arts is the art of the musician. From the point of view of feeling, the actor's craft is the type.  

All art is at once surface and symbol. Those who go beneath the surface do so at their peril. Those who read the symbol do so at their peril.  

It is the spectator, and not life, that art really mirrors.  

Diversity of opinion about a work of art shows that the work is new, complex, and vital. When critics disagree, the artist is in accord with himself.  

We can forgive a man for making a useful thing as long as he does not admire it. The only excuse for making a useless thing is that one admires it intensely. 

All art is quite useless.

Containing this great treasure...

A few songs for Thursday :)

Gungor released their new album this week (yippee!)
I have to admit, I'm still warming up to it.  I got a handful of songs, and they're good.
I just still regard Ghosts Upon the Earth as one of the most incredible albums...
So it's kind of hard for me to move on with the band.

That being said... there are some great songs including the title track:

"I am Mountain" (the single) picks up on the themes of "Beautiful Things."  

The premise is the unity of creation.

God used the same building blocks for mountains, stars, and people.

Homo sapiens are unique due to God's life-breathed power,

but we are made of common, mortal elements just the same.

This song (and music video) are a refreshing reminder

that we are both common and glorious:

I am mountain, I am dust
Constellations made of us
There's glory in the dirt
A universe within the sand
Eternity within a man

We are ocean, we are mist
Brilliant fools who wound and kiss
There's beauty in the dirt
Wandering in skin and soul
Searching, longing for a home...

Momentary carbon stories
From the ashes
Filled with holy ghost
Life is here now
Breathe it all in
Let it all go
You are earth and wind

Along a similar theme, another favorite artist, Sleeping at Last released another EP last week.

Just to (re?)explain, "Sleeping at Last" is now a one-man band comprised of: Ryan O'Neil.

He writes all the the songs and plays and sings 90%+ of everything he produces.

(You may have just heard his instrumental "Households"

on Kid President's breakout video.)

This year, he's taken upon a year-long music project entitled "Atlas."

It's basically a 4-part musical exploration of creation.

He has/will release an EP every quarter.

He started with Darkness, moved on to Light, and just released Space 1, to be followed by Space 2.

It may sound like a very rigid way to produce music,

but his self-enforced discipline has provided a springboard to some incredible music.

Space 1 examines "Sun," "Mercury," "Venus," "Earth," "Moon" (a stunning instrumental!) and "Mars."

[The EP can currently be streamed here.]

The follow up will cover the rest of the planets.

Be of good cheer. I think Pluto will even be included :)

[You can read more about his project here and here]

 

As a side note, this album carries a lot of the same threads as "I am Mountain."

"Sun" emphasizes:

We are the dust of dust.
We are the apple of God’s eye.
We are infinite as the universe we hold inside.

I think there is a yearning in God's people to move a place of awareness and humility.

A posture that says, "Yes, we are special,

but only because of a gift from Father."

Because then, there are no outsiders.

There are no special clubs.

[Ok, ending a rant before I get started]

Needless to say... it's an interesting and inspiring view of our relationship to the World.

The song is currently gripping me is "Mercury."

Mercury is the type of song that makes you want to hold your breath and turn it up.

It's like you don't want to miss a single word or note.

The song is musically and lyrically gorgeous by itself, 

but even more so for O'Neal's musical decisions.

As he explains, "For a planet 70% metallic, it felt fitting to only use metallic instruments on this song (except for my voice, of course, which is made of human)."

Here is the song and the lyrics interspersed with some [commentary]:

rows of houses,
sound asleep.
only street lights
notice me.

i am desperate,
if nothing else,
in a holding pattern
to find myself.*

[*a theme running throughout the song

a need for clarity of vision -

something I am definitely seeking]

i talk in circles,
i talk in circles,
i watch for signals,
for a clue.*

how to feel different.
how to feel new.
like science fiction
bending truth.

no one can unring this bell, [Magicians Nephew?]
unsound this alarm, unbreak my heart new.
God knows, i am dissonance
waiting to be swiftly pulled into tune.*

i’ll go anywhere you want,
anywhere you want,
anywhere you want me.

[Ever been so desperate you say,

"God, just tell me where and I'll go!"]

i know the further i go,
the harder i try, only keeps my eyes closed.
and somehow i’ve fallen in love
with this middle ground at the cost of my soul.

 

yet i know, if i stepped aside,
released the controls, you would open my eyes.
that somehow, all of this mess
is just an attempt to know the worth of my life…*

…made of precious metals,
precious metals,
precious metals inside.

i’ll go anywhere you want me.

["We now have this light shining in our hearts,

but we ourselves are like fragile clay jars

containing this great treasure.

This makes it clear that our great power

is from God, not from ourselves." - II Cor. 4:7]

The Crowd, the Critic, & the Muse - excerpt

Enjoy this snippet of my morning read:

Entitlement is not a friend of art.  Work is.  Pain is.

Pain is that blessed and despised universal experience that creates more true art than any other human experience.  Love is racked with pain.  Life's most joyful experiences--the birth of a newborn baby, the formation of a deep friendship, or first consummation of love--all are associated with an experience of pain.  A wedding is the joyful union of two lovers, but it begins with, "Who gives this bride away?"

Pain is as common as skin.  We enter this world in pain, struggling for our first breath, and when we leave, we struggle for our last.  Life ends when that struggle ends.  So does good art.

Pain is not the same thing as suffering.  One can fully experience the pain of life without being the tortured artist who lives in constant agony.  But creation is no easy task.  Good art demands a fight.

Wednesday Creatives: Obvious State

Ok, I know I've mentioned them before here and here and probably one too many times in conversation... but it's worth dedicating today's Creatives to Obvious State - because today I finally bought my first lit poster from them! 

A bit of background for those who I haven't talked to...

Obvious State is a multi-disciplinary creative studio co-run by Nichole and Evan Robertson. Our projects reflect our shared love of Paris, language and literature.

Obvious State is a husband / wife creative duo.  An English major, she worked in fashion & beauty; he went to Julliard and pursued the stage - both in acting & music.  After starting life and their family in the big city, they felt the need for change.  So, in 2009, they packed up their life in NYC and moved their things and two boys to an itty-bitty place in Paris.  They are currently back in the states - though frequently hopping the Atlantic to pursue their creative projects.

[Can you say "couple crush"?]

They started creating... and they haven't stopped.

She found a niche as a photographer and blogs about their adventures.  He designs fantastic posters based on quotes from famous authors. 



[Someday this will hang in my kitchen.]




[Love this one for This Side of Paradise]




[She also has done some Illustrations, each capitalizing on multiple images.] 




[Paris in Mint!]




[Assorted "Paris in Color"]


Her breakout book, Paris in Color is regularly featured by Shakespeare & Co.;  I happily spotted his posters on display on my last trip to Powell's.




[They, understandably, didn't want us taking pictures of the artwork... but they were right above my head in this shot]

 Together they've recently launched an ambitious and exciting project to create a virtual experience - using photography, video, and text - to give their readers "a day in a Parisian neighborhood."  The app and first neighborhood for their "The Paris Journal" are available free on the app store

I so appreciate the Evans' sense of adventure and their creative vision.  It helps that we share an affinity for Paris, Norton anthologies, and the strong sense both that "a picture is worth a thousand words" and that "a word is worth a thousand pictures."

I've been waiting to amass a few of their items for quite a while now.  They have shown up on Birthday & Christmas & general wish lists for over a year now.  This past birthday, I was given the Paris in Color: Notecards by a sib. 



[These now await frames and more wall space... but I can't wait to display them]


They currently have a 2-day promotional going on - go visit either of their Etsy's and use FACEBOOK20 when checking out to receive 20% off.  The promotion was the added incentive for me to purchase one of the literature posters.  I'm going to warn you - it's a reeeally hard decision to just choose one.  But I just told myself, I'd be back to purchase several more.



[Paris inspired fashion. Also, apparently my striped green shirt likes Obvious State too ;) ]

If you like Paris or literature or photography or adventure [or life], you will enjoy browsing their sites and shops.  Check out obviousstate.com, their page on facebook, The Paris Journal, their Etsy shops (listed below), or @obviousstate on twitter.



*All photography comes from obviousstate.com or the Etsy sites for Obvious State or The Paris Print Shop.

In the midst of all the running around and little things that need to be taken care of, I'm so grateful for those few moments that sometimes occur at work when Bob and I stumble onto talking about arts and culture--because that's when I discover more and more of our similarities.

I didn't think today would afford one of those moments, and I'm not sure how it happened.  But in the middle of talking about one issue or another we suddenly found ourselves praising Mumford, commenting on the quiet brilliance of Gotye (no matter how overplayed), and agreeing that (while thoroughly enjoyable) Lewis is a bit too literal for us.  We prefer the layered ambiguity of TS Eliot or Bob Dylan.  He's got me beat having read Lord of the Rings 8 times (I'm working on it =) and he had front row tickets to a U2 concert in Hawaii a few years back.  "Adele absolutely deserved every accolade she received"--I agreed.  Both holding our breath for CBS's debut of Elementary tonight.  And he promised he was getting back to Sherlock this weekend--only "Hounds" and the "Fall" left.  "You've seen them a few times each probably..."  A few, Bob.  A few.

It was 8 minutes at the most... but the conversation made my day!

You remember those amazing lit-inspired posters?  Well, I recently found some of the artist's back-story to making them, and it made me love them even more, so without further adieu... his words [and a few of mine] -

You are what you underline [LOVE that!]

The best thing about paperbacks (apart from the smell, of course) is that when a little jewel of a sentence grabs you, you can underline it. If you’ve only ever read a book on a screen (hey, it’s not far off), then let me explain: Underlining something in your book is the original “interactive” media. Think of it as a hyperlink that redirects to your own thoughts [so true!], and like a hyperlink, it can leave the rest of the story behind and open up a new window of ideas, insights, musings. 

That’s the spirit of this series of illustrations. I took little snippets of text and ideas from some of my favorite authors (with some notable exceptions that I’m saving), and let the words be a springboard for an illustration. The illustrations incorporate and interact with the text and hopefully add up to something that engages the mind as much as the eye. 

The plan is to complete around 50 illustrations in a year. I’ve posted some of them below.  There are 23 completed [now 24, see below ;], which you can see in my Etsy shop, Obvious State. 

I’d love to hear what you think. 

- Evan

[How cool is that?]

 Well, I'm hooked... can't wait to see the next one he creates =)

Absolute favorite etsy shop right now: Obvious State. Wow!

Just a few faves:

Chesterton, the Great

Because I'm reading him right now and reminded of all the reasons I adore him. Poet. Philosopher. Paradox.


“Literature is a luxury; fiction is a necessity.”


“The true soldier fights not because he hates what is in front of him, but because he loves what is behind him.”


“Without education, we are in a horrible and deadly danger of taking educated people seriously.”


“An adventure is only an inconvenience rightly considered. An inconvenience is an adventure wrongly considered.”


“The traveler sees what he sees. The tourist sees what he has come to see.”


“It [feminism] is mixed up with a muddled idea that women are free when they serve their employers but slaves when they help their husbands.”


“There is the great lesson of 'Beauty and the Beast,' that a thing must be loved before it is lovable.” 

“Poets do not go mad; but chess-players do. Mathematicians go mad, and cashiers; but creative artists very seldom. I am not, as will be seen, in any sense attacking logic: I only say that this danger does lie in logic, not in imagination.” 

“People wonder why the novel is the most popular form of literature; people wonder why it is read more than books of science or books of metaphysics. The reason is very simple; it is merely that the novel is more true than they are.” 

“We are perishing for want of wonder, not for want of wonders.”

“We are all in the same boat, in a stormy sea, and we owe each other a terrible loyalty.”

“If seeds in the black earth can turn into such beautiful roses, what might not the heart of man become in its long journey toward the stars?” 

“We should always endeavor to wonder at the permanent thing, not at the mere exception. We should be startled by the sun, and not by the eclipse. We should wonder less at the earthquake, and wonder more at the earth.”

“Jesus promised his disciples three things—that they would be completely fearless, absurdly happy, and in constant trouble.”

“It is well sometimes to half understand a poem in the same manner that we half understand the world.”

“Free verse'? You may as well call sleeping in a ditch 'free architecture'.”

“A thing may be too sad to be believed or too wicked to be believed or too good to be believed; but it cannot be too absurd to be believed in this planet of frogs and elephants, of crocodiles and cuttle-fish.”

“Romance is the deepest thing in life. It is deeper than reality.”

“I wish we could sometimes love the characters in real life as we love the characters in romances. There are a great many human souls whom we should accept more kindly, and even appreciate more clearly, if we simply thought of them as people in a story."

Lately I've been asking God what the purpose of art is. One of His responses has been "to reveal injustice and pain to inspire action."

This is so true. Looking at art in the past, it has been so influential in speaking up for the silenced and challenging injustices of the day. I'm sure people in England knew that pollution, harsh working conditions, and the lack of quality education were problems in the mid-nineteenth century. But once Dickens wrote about those issues, weaving them into the depths of his narratives, something had to be done. As the social realists were in early Victorian England, literature and photography was to the civil rights movement, and music was to the end of apartheid in South Africa. Arts and media portray the holocaust in horrific ways we would not dare ourselves to imagine. These can be so difficult to read, watch, listen to, and observe--but we persevere knowing that our discomfort is nothing compared to the pain of those this type of art attempts to portray.

For me, the very hardest type of art to watch is the abuse of women and children. It is hardest because it is most familiar, the most real to me. I personally know too many girls who have been affected and boys who have been hurt. I am as drawn to this type of art as I am revolted by the image it burns in my mind. This weekend when I saw Tree of Life, I cringed every time Brad Pitt yelled and I squirmed when he brutishly grabbed Jessica Chastain's wrists. But it is precisely because art is doing its job that I am so uncomfortable.

Tonight, I will subject myself to the art of injustice willingly. But this time it will be harder. It will not be Brad Pitt yelling and slapping. It will not be Keira Knightley left bleeding as a victim. Tonight it will all be portrayed by some of my closest friends. In Beauty for Ashes I will watch the pain of prostitutes and pimps, johns and slaves. Part of me is beginning to dread it. I know that my heart will suffer, but that is the point.

Art is meant to leave a lasting impression. Will you join me in getting an emotional tattoo? A statement that says we will not stand for injustice in our lifetime? Please join us tonight in Kirkland for Beauty for Ashes. You will not leave the same.