Thursday, June 21, 2007

Special Artwork

Many thanks to everyone who submitted their favorite artwork to me. We share our love of nature and outdoor beauty with each other, but I was curious about what people have inside their homes that contributes to the beauty and happiness of every day life. Here are the submissions I received with the stories "in their own words." Enjoy the show!


This might be the most ridiculous art form you’ll see, but I’m submitting it anyway.


My daughter saw the movie “Free Willy” when she was in middle school and immediately knew she wanted to become a Marine Biologist. She painted this in the sixth grade and we have displayed it in her bathroom since then. It is still displayed in our guest bathroom. We moved it from Maryland to Delaware to North Carolina. One of these days I will frame it instead of hanging it with push-pins! She has a passion for marine life and swam competitively for twelve years but did not earn a degree in Marine Biology at the University of NC at Wilmington. She earned an Environmental degree instead. We have some very nice artwork in our home, but I think I treasure this piece most of all.

(Mary, it's not ridiculous at all. I love the colors and how happy all the marine creatures are!)

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From Anna (my sissy):


Here's my favorite piece of artwork. It's called Yellow Moon Rising and it's by Peter Paskas. It's an artists proof, #34/50. I love the picture because it reminds me of the areas around home....valleys, barns, cows, rural countyside. I like full moons also. I just feel very relaxed whenever I look at that picture. I can almost smell the country air! That's the story about my favorite piece of artwork.

(I was working at the art gallery when Anna got this picture, in fact I made the frame for it.)

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From Jayne at Journey Through Grace:


Around Christmas time when Sam (who has autism) was in the third grade, he was struggling mightily with wanting to know what was in those wrapped packages for him under the tree. He would pick them up, shake them around, and ask me what they were. I kept merrily telling him that he'd better not open them, or else he'd have nothing to surprise him on Christmas. Theory of mind is one of those concepts that kids with autism generally don't possess, and so imagine my glee when he came out of his room with this work of art for me. "That's me," he said with a grin, as he showed me the picture he'd drawn of himself representing the struggle he was having wanting to open his gifts. I could only chuckle as I saw he'd drawn himself with an angel on one shoulder and a devil on the other. This work of art is just simply priceless to me.

(We framed lots of 'kids art' when I worked at the gallery. I always enjoyed hearing the stories that went along with their pictures.)

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I'm sure others have already said it, and I will, too -- there are so many "favorites" -- but the attached is probably at the top of the list. If the attached doesn't come through very well, let me know and I'll try taking another picture. BTW, thanks for the invitation to participate. It sure made me think about what I have and admire the most.


This is a Navajo sandpainting. I have always admired many works of art by Native Americans -- their rugs, jewelry, pottery, and sandpaintings. My husband and I had the opportunity to live in Albuquerque for a few years, and I enjoyed learning more about these people and their cultures while living there. What better place to learn more about the Navajo and Pueblo people than the Southwest. Sandpainting, to me, is such an intricate work of art -- to me it's more precise and intricate than rug weaving or making jewelry or even creating their pottery. My husband and I bought this sandpainting, among other pieces of art, a few years ago when we went back to New Mexico for a visit, and it was after we had part of our house remodeled. This sandpainting is the focal point in our living room where everyone can see it as they enter our home, and it's my hope that everyone would feel a sense of peace while looking at it.

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I have attached a picture that I love that we framed last year.

I took the photo of my daughter sitting on a bench at the market with a bag of apples. My daughter, Becka, then photoshopped it in sepia, keeping the mural in colour and a few red focal points.

I would never have had the patience to do that.

I like pictures that have personal meaning. My grandparents were both artists and I have a few of their paintings. Becka has inherited their talent in drawing so I will likely add her work to my collection.

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From Donna at kgmomumblings:

When our daughter studied in a semester abroad, in Glasgow Scotland, the University had a month long spring break. She and two college mates of hers decided to do some touring in eastern Europe. They flew to Vienna, and from there a bit at a time, they traveled by train, with Istanbul as their terminal destination. Their travel luggage, for the most part, were the large backpacks that they could carry on their backs or by hand. When they got to Istanbul, our daughter saw the perfect gift to bring home for us--a lovely blue plate to hang on a wall.

This is a plate hand-made in Turkey that our daughter bought it in a local market, even bargaining for the sale price. The inscription says "The God knows everything; The God is everywhere."


She packed it in her luggage, carefully wrapping it, and managed to get it all the way home across Europe, back to Scotland, and then back to the U.S. without the plate breaking.

So, for all those reasons it is my favorite piece of art--a gift from our daughter, a wonderful inscription, a marvelous travel tale!

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Lastly, here's my art. Because I worked at an art gallery, there are pictures on every available bit of wall space that isn't already occupied with Rick's trophy hunting mounts (my niece doesn't like coming to our house because of all the dead animals looking at her!)

While I was working at the gallery, I fell in love with the art created by Carl Brenders. He is a painter from Belgium and creates some of the most fantastically detailed wildlife paintings you have ever seen. Click on the link below to see more of his art through his publisher, Millpond Press.

http://www.millpond.com/site/artistbio.cfm?DocumentID=23

I have 6 of his pieces in my house, but "Power and Grace" is my favorite.

Because I have a special fascination with white-tailed deer, I knew I had to have this picture. I love the way he has painted the deer with their ears turned different directions--I have watched deer do this many times. The grasses and thistles look exactly as the fields would look in the late summer when you might see deer together like this. Although this print had been sold out for many years, the owner of the gallery where I worked was able to order it from another gallery and this framed picture was my Christmas gift to myself one year. It's definitely the most valuable piece in my home gallery and is the focal point on my living room wall.

Here are a couple other Carl Brenders prints I have in my basement. (I apologize for my poor photography skills-it's hard to take a picture of a print under glass with artifical lighting.)

Den Mother-Wolf Family

Full House-Fox Family

Thanks again to everyone and have a Happy Summer!

7 comments:

KGMom said...

Ruthie--thank you thank you thank you--for having the idea, then taking the time to assemble it & now for sharing it. I love how we chose our favorite piece for very personal reasons. No one said--here's my favorite art because of aesthetic reasons.
There's nothing wrong with aesthetics, but it is holding art at arm's length. These pieces of favorite art have all been embraced!

Anonymous said...

This was a GREAT idea. It was loads of fun reading about everyone's favorite works of art. I don't know how you ever picked a favorite out of all the art on your walls! You have such wonderful prints in every room. It was really hard to pick a fave because I like every piece of art that hangs in my home (otherwise they wouldn't be hanging in my home!) Thanks again.

Mary C said...

Oh Ruth -- the wolves and foxes are beautiful, too! I will be sure to visit the web site of this artist. And thanks again for putting this all together. This was indeed fun to see what everyone's favorite piece of art was.

Jayne said...

How fun Ruthie! Thanks for including me in your special artwork post creation. It was neat to read about other's favorite art pieces.

Mary said...

Ruthie, it was so much fun seeing everyone's favorite art! Your deer are gorgeous. Your home must be beautiful. When I enter a home with lots of paintings, I take my time, browse, and apologize to the host, hoping I'm not annoyingly nosey. I just like art.


Thanks for taking the time to do this.

What can we do next? How about showing something in our homes that we despise but it belongs to the spouse? LOL

RuthieJ said...

Donna,
I was surprised at the variety of art everyone sent to me and especially enjoyed the stories that went along.

Sissy,
you're right....it was hard to pick a favorite because every piece I have has a distinct meaning for me....just like yours.

Mary C,
Glad you enjoyed it and thanks for submitting your special picture also.

Jayne,
It was a lot of fun to put together. I looked forward to checking me e-mail each day to see what new submissions I had gotten.

Mary,
I'm like you going around and looking at pictures at people's houses or businesses. I learned a lot about preservation at the gallery and it always makes me sad when I see a ruined picture because it hangs across from a sunny window or been faded by fluorescent lights.

I like your next idea and have just the thing in my basement, however the spouse reads my blog and I don't know if I dare to do it myself. If you want to do that one, then I'll send it in for sure

Ruth said...

just getting around to reading some other blogs...Great job putting this together. Art truly is a very personal thing.
ruth