Art auctions for sculptures are a great way to find new art for your home or office.  I like to peruse the online auction sites for nice sculptures.  I have found some very interesting items when I’ve looked.

There was a sculpture sold on eBay recently that was entitled Love.  The art auction for this sculpture went above the estimated value.  The piece was red and blue and made of polychrome aluminum.  The French artist’s name was Robert Indiana.  The art auction listed the item as six feet tall, six feet wide and three feet deep.

I liked a hall stand that was carved from wood that I found in an online art auction.  The carving depicted a playful bear climbing a fir tree.  There was a young bear cub carved into one of the branches.  The branches were there to serve as garment hooks and there was even a mirror on the piece in a carved oak leaf designed frame.

There was an exquisite sculpture by a Russian artist that was sold recently in an art auction.  The subject of the sculpture was a Bar Mitzvah boy and the medium was marble.  I think that marble statues seem so timeless and elegant.  It is an excellent medium for a sculpture.

The wife of artist Yitzhak Danziger signed a certificate for the brass sculpture her husband completed in 1969.  Danziger is an Israeli artist.  The piece looked very abstract to me.  It did not do very well in the art auction and sold for less than it’s estimated worth.

I found a lot of bronze sculptures in the online art auctions.  Most of them were of people, but the ones I liked best were abstract.  My absolute favorite was a Harry Bertoia bronze sculpture called Bush.  This piece is also known as a Brain or Coral.  The bidding for this piece of art in the art auction was started at thirty nine thousand dollars.  It didn’t get a bidder.

I saw little interest in the bronze sculpture art auctions for animal figures.  I’m not sure if the reasons they didn’t get bidders were because of subject matter or because of price.  Bronze is an expensive medium for an artist to work in and it takes a lot of training to be proficient.

I have a favorite glass sculptor.  His work goes for so much in online art auctions that I will probably never own a piece of his work.  Dale Chihuly is magnificent.  There are permanent installations of his tremendous work all over the world.

Crystal sculptures look more like paperweights to me.  Online art auctions for glass representations of animals and sea life are really neat.  My favorite art auction recently was for a hand blown glass jellyfish.  It was magical.

I liked another online art auction for optical crystal that had been turned into a work of art by artist Christopher Ries.  The piece was small and called Lotus.  It would look so pretty in a well lit display case.

I’m jealous of the buyer that gets to call this sculpture their own.  They won the piece in the art auction for just under a thousand dollars.  This artist uses blocks of pure, clear lead crystal cast from Schott Glass Technologies of Duryea, Pennsylvania.  It is truly amazing art.  His work is prominently displayed in numerous galleries and even in the Columbus airport in Columbus, Ohio.

This year, when The Pulitzer Prizes were announced, the not entirely delightful news is that no Pulitzer was awarded in drama.

While the decision is unsettling, the prudence of it must be acknowledged, since, affection for the theater and those who make it aside, there was no drama to consider.

Let us have the courage to ask why and, along the way, try our best to understand everybody’s culpability or innocence.

If you keep tabs on Broadway, just so you’ll know if, by some surprising concatenation of events, a drama you might actually be interested in seeing comes along, you know that the usual fare this past season was once again a series of enthusiastically promoted trifles.

But the financial realities on Broadway make it exceedingly chancy for producers to put up anything that isn’t already proven at the box office and, even more importantly, with the critics, who can even disable a previous box-office success. All very understandable. The producers are not in the business of nourishing unproven works, no matter how worthy they may suspect or be advised they are. Not understandable.

The small and regional theaters are seldom managed by people who have any sense of what mainstream appeal might be or they very likely wouldn’t be working in a little or regional theater. Perfectly understandable.

Even if a small or regional theater puts up a work that might attract a wider audience than the reliable coterie whose interests are decidedly offbeat, the likelihood that a well-known critic or even a second-string critic will show up is discouraging. Understandable. During the theater season, little theaters put up shows with withering frequency in New York and all over the country. The critics whose names people might known do not flock to any production that doesn’t have some kind of major preproduction cache. Their primary job is to review the little shows in the big venues, not the remotely possible big show in a little venue, and their secondary job, should they occasionally be inspired to assume its obligations, is to cherry pick smaller productions that present some precondition of influential interest. Also understandable.

The current crop of critics, when confronted by a work in any theatrical venue that smacks of being mainstream, are unlikely to find it suits their own offbeat temperaments. Not understandable. It is such temperamental selectivity that prevented, among countless lesser knows, a relatively mainstream playwright like Arthur Miller from getting a rave review during the last two or three decades of his life, and even a popular confectioner like Neil Simon from getting one for many years.

Read more…

More recently however there has been a revival in anchor tattoos and there are many new designs that are full of brilliant colors and new design motifs for anchor tattoos. There has been a revival in more traditional tattoos.

As always history, symbolism and meaning provide an interesting overlap of cultures and times. If you are thinking about getting an anchor tattoo it helps to know the background on them and do some research to find out the different meaning and symbolism of anchor tattoos. Some common designs in ankle tattoos are a tribal symbol, a floral arrangement or an initial. An ankle tattoo can be small enough that it isn’t noticeable unless the person is very close. Many professional women choose this type of tattoo because it isn’t overbearing and at the same time it allows them to carry something personal on their bodies always.

Once you have decided on a design and coloring for your ankle tattoos you’ll want to visit a reputable establishment that does tattoos. Looking through the yellow pages is one route but if you know anyone who has a tattoo you should ask them about their experience. Quite often they’ll be happy to share with you and they may recommend a place for you to visit. After deciding on a tattoo parlor you’ll want to discuss with the artist your concept. If you come there without a design in mind they will be able to show you a range of images that you can choose from. Most people prefer a smaller design for ankle tattoos and if the artist feels that yours is too large, they will work with you to bring it down to a scale that is more appropriate.

Getting a tattoo involves piercing the skin, and so there is going to be some pain involved, no matter how small the tattoo and no matter where it is on your body. The amount and type of pain experienced is highly variable depending on each individual’s tolerance to and acceptance of pain. While tattooing, the needles puncture the skin at a very fast rate and at a variable depth. The outline is usually the most painful work, because the needles are being used to create a nice solid black line that will define the tattoo, and so it is inserted deeply and carefully to ensure complete and effective coverage. The shading is usually not as painful, but this also depends upon the depth of penetration and the desired effect.

The pain you feel is generally as a slight burning or hot scratching sensation. Generally, the tattoo is more painful if applied to areas of the body where there is less muscle and fatty tissue covering bone, like wrists, ankles, chests, and other normally sensitive body areas. Upper arms are usually the least painful, while the ankles and sternum can be quite sensitive.

The tattoo pain is certainly not unbearable, here are some tips for coping with and minimizing the pain:
Find a reputable tattooist that you feel comfortable with to get the tattoo work done, the confidence you get from a tattooist can minimize your pain to the highest. Don’t show up drunk or on drugs.
Go in with some determination and accept the fact that a few hours of discomfort without giving the tattooist a hard time will help ensure that you get a first-rate tattoo. If you feel you can’t take the pain anymore, tell your tattooist. Take a short break, or come back in a few days. Tattoos don’t have to be applied all in one sitting. Break up your session if needed. Listen to music or let your imagination go wild during the procedure, a certain degree of distraction set by your self will help you put less concentration on the pain.

There are several ways to achieve black and white digital photography. With black and white digital photography, you are bringing the end user back into a period of time when life seemed a lot simpler. Many digital cameras come equipped with a function to take these types of photos. If your digital camera does not support this function, you can still change your photographs into black and white with software programs.

You’ll want your black and white digital photography to look its best when you are finished. A technique that can help you get the best image out of your digital photograph is through image manipulation. You may find it better to convert your eight-bit color images (which are usually jpegs) into 16-bit colors first. This is important because an 8-bit RGB can be the same as a 10-bit grayscale.

You can find information all over on the Internet to help you with your black and white digital photography. These resources can be found in everything from websites to magazines. Colored pictures can look truly beautiful as a black and white display. You will usually have to convert your graphics, because although there are options with digital cameras, there are no true black and white digital cameras.

Correct the Colorcasts

An important part of black and white digital photography is correcting the colorcasts. These are caused by bad lighting, but you can use software such as PhotoShop Elements to make the relevant changes by using their editing applications. The Imaging Factory is also software that can help you to easily convert and fix lighting areas in your graphics to get the best look with your black and white digital photography. If you want to turn your graphics into black and white digital photography, you can step into a completely new dimension in photography. You can do an endless array of projects right from your own computer.

Do you feel frustrated or unfulfilled with the songs you have written? Do you think your songs have to conform to a certain standard before they are any good? If so, what exactly are you comparing them to? You may find you have an unrealistic expectation of yourself or what you think a song is or should be.

If you are unhappy with the songs you have written or think your songs are not what they should be, examine these three songwriting tips to focus your attention on clarifying what you think you want to gain from your songs.

1./ Why Do You Want To Write A Song?

What do you want to communicate? Don’t dismiss this, answering this question is more important than you think. If you know why you are doing something, your path will be a lot clearer. For instance, do you see yourself performing on some late night TV rock show with the audience going wild for more, or do you want to write a romantic love song to impress your partner? Or maybe you want to perform an acoustic set down at the local bar? The answer will influence your behaviour and your writing style.

2./ Write About What You Know And Do What You Know.

Do you know how to put chord progressions together on the piano and improvise over the top or do you know how to link drum machines and turn tables together to a whole plethora of midi equipment to pump out the biggest, baddest beats this side of Georgia? There is no difference. Your song will have more style and impact if you can find the courage to be yourself and use those talents you have today, not in what you think you should be doing, or what your song should sound like.

3./ Develop Your Habit Of Songwriting.

How are you coming up with your ideas? Repetition increases the likely hood of repetition, that means the more you do something, the more you are likely to do it. The more you get into the habit of writing down lyrics in a notebook that you carry with you at all times, the more likely you are to write down lyrics in a notebook that you carry with you at all times. Get into the habit of writing down your thoughts when your inspiration strikes because ideas always strike when you least expect them.

Your inspiration could be in the form of a lyric, a sound you heard in the street, an unusual chord change you heard on the radio or a rhythm your mum was tapping out on her coffee cup. By doing this, you can consult your own wisdom as and when you need it. These are the gems that will determine your style and show you your way forward.

Disciplining yourself to these three songwriting tips will give you confidence in yourself and your music. Realize that to write a song,  you do not need to be anybody other than who you are, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Whether you are beating out a rhythm on a pair of spoons or bowing an upright punk guitar accompanied by someone tap dancing in a different time signature, songwriting is subjective. Someone somewhere will love whatever you do, someone somewhere will absolutely trash it as the most unbelievable pile of garbage to ever appear on the music scene in the history of music. The most important question you need to ask yourself at the end of the day is, do you like it?

Steve, a high school student, runs track, plays the sax in the band, takes 3 honors classes, works 10 hours a week and still continues to improve his piano playing. How does he do it?
He uses the 80/20 principle.

Nancy is married, works full time, goes to the gym 5 days a week and maintains a busy social life. Yet she keeps expanding her repertoire as her piano technique develops. What’s her secret? She uses the 80/20 principle.

Isn’t it time you followed the example of these successful piano students?

In his best selling book, The 80/20 Principle: The Secret to Success by Achieving More with Less, Richard Koch shows that there is a faster and easier way to get great results in all areas of life.

Koch is one of many authors who use the theory called the Pareto Principle (discovered by Italian economist Vifredo Pareto in 1897) to demonstrate how 80% of your results come from 20% of your effort.

Here are 12 ways you can use the 80/20 principle to achieve better results with less effort.

1. Practice 10 – 15 minutes every day instead of 2 hours once a week.

2. Learn 4 measures of a piece very well rather than playing the entire song poorly.

3. Plan the music for each of your practice sessions in advance.

4. Practice one scale per day using correct technique, fingering and timing instead of racing through all 12 scales daily.

5. Learn how to form one chord of each type (major 7th, 6th, diminished, etc.) as an alternative to memorizing a catalog of chords.

6. Put all of your repertoire pieces into a loose-leaf notebook rather than relying on place marks in your piano books. For help with this see my article:

How to Increase Your Return on Investment By Organizing Your Music

7. Listen to recordings of your special selection rather than expecting all of your inspiration to come from your own playing.

8. Pick one accompaniment pattern for the verses of a song and one for the bridge as opposed to creating specific left hand parts for each measure.

9. Memorize five songs which you can play anywhere at any time instead of using music to play 25 songs. For help with this see my article:
How to Memorize a Song the Easy Way

10. Create a repeating motive (short melodic figure) and use this to improvise on a 12 bar blues as an alternative to randomly playing the blues scale.

11. Arrange a song in advance by setting up patterns of ii-V-I progressions as opposed to simply following the chords as printed in a Fake Book. For help with this see my free lesson:
How to Arrange a Song in 12 Easy Steps

12. Set up low pressure performance opportunities (play for friends, family, fellow students, etc.) at regular intervals so that you have time-specific goals for bringing your pieces up to performance level.

Action Exercises

Here are three things you can do immediately to put these ideas into action.

First, pick one or two of the 12 ways listed above that fits with your personality, style and level. Start using these in your practicing right away.

Second, begin every practice session with your most important piece. Exception: if this selection requires that you warm up with scales or exercises, do these first.

Third, monitor your progress by recording yourself today and then a month from now.

Once you hear the difference in your piano playing, you’ll see clearly that your results have come from focusing on the most important areas of your practicing.

Start using the 80/20 principle today and you’ll be amazed at how quickly you’ll get better results from your piano practicing with less effort!

In the field of modern art, art deco plays a large and impressively lavish role. The strong colors and sweeping curves lend art deco the trademark boldness that expressed much of the progress and modern advances of the twentieth century. Art auctions around the world still move many art deco pieces of various kinds. If you’re interested in collecting art deco, there are many art auctions both online and off that deal primarily in art deco.

In the twentieth century the decorative arts converged in what is known as the art deco movement, which grew to influence architecture, fashion, the visual arts as well as design. The term ‘art deco’ was derived from a World’s Fair held in Paris, France, called the Exposition Internationale des Arts Decoratifs et Industriels Modernes in the year 1925.

Though the movement and term comes from the Exposition Internationale des Arts Decoratifs et Industriels Modernes, the term was not widely used until the late 1960s. Especially pre- World War I Europe influenced the art deco movement, though many cultures influenced and were influenced by this art movement. Much of the world was experiencing similar shifts in modern technological advances.

For the most part, the art deco movement was brought about and inspired by the rapid advances of technological and social facets of the early twentieth century. As culture responded to these increasingly changing times, the art deco movement was an outgrowth of these modern phenomena.

Art deco is considered generally to be an eclectic type of decorative modernism that was influenced by a variety of artists and particular art forms. Art deco includes furniture, metalwork, clocks, glasswork and screens as well as paintings and other fine art types of pieces.

The art deco style is known for its lavishness and epicurean flairs that are attributed to the austerity of culture brought about by World War I. Strong patterns and bold colors and shapes were used, as were many particular motifs used universally.

For example, the sunburst motif was used in everything from the Radio City Music Hall auditorium, images of ladies’ shoes, the spire of the Chrysler Building and several other pieces of art, architecture and design. Other ubiquitous motifs found in art deco were stepped forms, the zigzag, chevron patterns and sweeping curves.

In the West, art deco lost its steam around the Second World War, but continued to be used all the way into the 1960s in colonial countries such as India, where it served as a gateway to Modernism. Then in the 1980s art deco made a comeback in graphic design. Art deco’s association with 1930s film noir led to its use in both fashion and jewelry ads.

Today art deco is revered by many and dismissed as old news and overly gaudy by others. Though it undoubtedly played a major role in art history, as with most art, individual taste frames the individual’s interpretation and like or dislike of art deco styles.

Art deco is one of the most well known art movements. This is mostly due to its wide base of influences and influenced art forms and cultures. Since much of the world was experiencing many of the same advances in technology and mass production, many of the same ideas and symbols were relevant in various parts of the world.

Taking a good photo isn’t as hard as you may think. You don’t need the most expensive camera or years of experience, just 10 simple tips.

Enjoy!

Tip 1 - Use All Your Available Space

Don’t be afraid to use all the space in your photo. If you want to take a picture of something, it’s ok for it to take up the whole shot with no or very little background showing. Keep distractions out of your shot

Tip 2 - Study Forms

This is a vital aspect to photography. Understanding forms in your photos. Don’t see an object, she its shape and its form and find the best angle to photograph it from. Form is all around us and I highly suggest you read as many books on it as possible.

Tip 3 - Motion In Your Photos

Never have motion in your photos if you are photographing a still object. If there is something moving while you are trying to photograph a stationery object, your photo won’t turn out anywhere near as well. Also never put a horizon line in the center of your frame.

Tip 4 - Learn To Use Contrasts Between Colors.

Some of the best photos have shades of white, gray and black. You can take great shots with just one color on your subject, but the contrasts between colors in a shot is what makes you a great photographer.

Tip 5 - Get Closer To Your Subject

This is one of the biggest mistakes most photographers make, not getting close enough to their subject. Get up and personal and close the distance gap. You can always reshape and resize a good shot but you can’t continue to blowup a distant object.

Tip 6 - Shutter Lag

Shooting action shots with digital camera’s can be tricky due to shutter lags. What this means is, when you press the button to take the photo, it can take up to a second for the shutter to take a photo, by that time what you were photographing would have moved or changed somehow.  This means you have to compensate for shutter lag by predicting what your subject is going to do and taking the photo just before it takes the action you want. More expensive digital cameras don’t have this problem.

Tip 7 - Pan

If you are taking an action shot and your shutter speed is slow, pan with the object. Follow through with the subject, from start to finish and one of those shots will be a winner. You have more chance of getting a good shot if you take more then one photo.

Tip 8 - Continuous Shots

To pan like I suggested above you will need a camera that does continuous shots and doesn’t need to stop and process after every shot.

Tip 9 - How To Take Fantastic Night Time Shots

Night time shots can be spectacular, almost magical…. if done right! If not they can look horrible. Really horrible. Without adequate lighting, even good camera’s can turn out crappy photos if the photographer doesn’t know what he or she is doing.

Tip 10 - Study Your Manual

If your digital camera has a special night time mode, read the manual and follow their instructions on how to use it properly.