handyman pierce lutz

Abstraction is real, probably more real than nature. I prefer to see with closed eyes. (Josef Albers)

We just got back from the Peabody Essex Museum up in Salem where the purpose was to see the Turner exhibit.  But we got there 15 minutes before the next bunch could go into the Chinese House so we also did that. TY loved it-  a house built in 1800 and in the same family for almost 2 centuries.  In 1982 it was sold to the museum and dismantled and reconstructed in it's entirety, including the furnishings, in the museum courtyard.  And the fun thing is we went through it with a young Chinese family who apparently didn't speak much English.  The father would listen to the audio thingy and then tell his wife and little boy what to look at.  After we went through the house we watched the video they made as they reconstructed it tile by tile, board by board.  

The Turner exhibit was very well done-  many Turner seascapes gathered from far and wide and juxtaposed with his contemporaries the he influenced.  As soon as one of the other artists approached his prominence, he would veer off into a new direction so it was fun to follow that.  Personally I didn't get emotionally involved until he very late work which they can't peg as finished or in progress.  It became extremely impressionistic at the end and I fell in love.  To boost my new found appreciation, they had a painting blown up to fill an entire wall, about 30' long and I decided I NEED that wallpaper.  Sand at the floor, sea through the middle, and sky at the top, all visible brushstrokes and soft color blends.  Gorgeous.  

I'm doing something different today-  somehow I started looking at the Islamic marbleizing technique and it led me to more, and then more and different stuff,  And how could I not share with you, my inter web BFFs in cahoots!

Painting on Water (Turkish Ebru))

Simple Suminagashi (Japanese)

Ink and Water technique

Accidental Painting Technique

Acrylic and Shaving Cream  (ICK!  Editorial comment)

But you can use the shaving cream method on fabric too- semi-Ick factor

Poured Acrylics Technique

Norway’s Bergen Public Library has a lovely Flickr album of antique book paper patterns dating from 1890 to 1930, brought to our attention by Slate Vault. While there are plenty of geometric shapes and floral touches, there are also unique designs like a grid of unicorns and fantastic birds, as well as marbled paper.

Whew.  That calls for a squirrel, doesn't it?

Looks like he's eating his chia pet today.