Lens-Artists’ Photo Challenge this week is to depict the topic of future. How can I take photos of something that hasn’t happened yet? Of course, that is impossible, but I can photograph potential and anticipation: the changing of seasons, children growing up, construction sites where buildings are being built on their current foundations.
I read this morning that there are currently six generations of people alive today. The G.I. Generation was born in the years 1900-1924. This generation is disappearing, but a few of them are still living independently in our senior community!
My mother, born in 1917, sat in her empty apartment in 2009 contemplating her future – the last chapter of her life – as we, her children, packed up her possessions in preparation for her move to assisted living. The empty white walls and shelves represented the end of her independence. (She died at the end of 2014.)
The Traditionalists/Silent Generation was born during the Depression and World War II, 1925-1945. Baby Boomers, the largest generation, were born 1946-1964 (this is my generation).
Members of three generations – my husband, Dale, was born in 1944 and grew up in the 1950s and early 1960s. Behind him is me, born in 1952 – a Baby Boomer. In back, that smiling, handsome young man is my son, Jayme, born in 1985 – a Millennial, because his generation reached adulthood in the 21st century. Every one of us has a future to look forward to, although Dale takes it less for granted than Jayme. Dale and I look to the future as one of travel and pursuit of our own interests in our retirement years. Jayme – assuming he lives as long as we have – will see a very different world: one with altered climate, perhaps shortage of food and hopefully, a more enlightened government that invests in renewable energy. Will his health be compromised from smoking during his young adulthood? Will he quit before that? Will he find the love of his life, get married and have children? Will he publish a book of poems? I wonder about his future when I look at his face. HOPE is always a projection of the future!
Generation X is those born between 1965 and 1979. Millennials were born between 1980 and the late 1990s. Finally, Generation Z (because we don’t know what else to call them yet!) are the kids of today: born in the last years of the 20th century to the 2010s.
A member of Generation Z is filled with wonder and delight at the ducks around her. She hopefully can look forward to a long future ahead.
Mason (in lime green hoodie), holds his younger brother, Max, (my grand-nephew) as they watch fireworks over a lake in northern Wisconsin. I have already seen their future – this was taken in 2014, and Mason is no longer a child – he’s in high school, and Max, age 2 or 3 in this photo, is now a second grader.
Each of these generations had or have a future. The older ones have already fulfilled their potential – their hopes and dreams either completed or frustrated. The future they looked toward is now.
In the political arena, I see the youngest two generations as our hope for the future. These are the kids of Parkland High School, who are turning eighteen and have registered to vote; they are 18-year-olds all over the country who are signing up to vote fueled by the passion of their peers, peers such as the survivors of Parkland who saw their classmates gunned down at school, or such as Greta Thunberg, the 16-year-old face of the movement to deal with climate change. We need their passion nowadays! We older folks can continue to march and protest Trumpism; we can show our concern for climate change and help in various ways. But it is really these younger people that carry us into the future.
Hope for future reflected in participants in a flash rally (including us – that’s me in the photo at left) in downtown Arlington Heights, that Robert Mueller would be allowed to do his job and discover damning information that would implicate Trump. What has Trump got to hide? Much of that is still to be uncovered – will the future bring us the full truth?
The future is my 50th high school reunion in June. Sedona, see you soon!
The future for an artist is an empty canvas. Nature is a good place to look for the promise of the future.
I was taking a walk on a chilly (but not horribly cold) afternoon last week and took this photo of a tree rising out of a sheen of ice on a retention pond. Later, when I looked at it in large size on my computer, I noticed a lot of white specks on the branches and realized, the tree is budding already! This has been a very mild winter and plants have been fooled into thinking it’s almost spring. Already we see the future on this tree – a future of blossoms and green leaves.
All species are equipped to reproduce, so that their kinds will continue. Flowers have fertile interiors, filled with the pollen needed to spread its seeds. The flowers’ colors and fragrance are designed to attract insect species to spread their pollen. Few orchids are red, because bees cannot see that color. And flies prefer flowers that are brownish, resembling decay.
To look into the center of a flower is to see the future – or the promise of it!
Baby animals start out so small…
Our grandcat, Freddy, when he was still a kitten. Look at the hair in his ears – what breed was in this shelter kitten? Only the future would tell…Now he’s six months old with the bushy tail of a Maine coon cat!
and in the wild, their parents can only hope that their future includes reaching adulthood!
One of the “must-sees” at the Chicago Art Institute is the Chagall windows. They are located at the end of a long hallway, in the same room with replicas of other famous artists’ Chicago artwork (such as the Picasso sculpture whose original is in front of the Daley Center).
Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge continues with her color series – this week it is pastel colors.
Some flowers are bright, while others have muted colors. Most marigolds are bright, but these are soft yellow and white.
Dahlias come in all colors – some are bright, some are light.
Wilted orchid
Artists experiment with all kinds of color schemes. These are some pastel colors in artwork.
“Hazel” (2019) in pastels – artist is yours truly!
A recent exhibit at the Chicago Art Institute featured drawings by 17th century Dutch masters. This pair is “A Portrait of a Man” and “A Portrait of a Woman” by Jan de Bray (1650) – black & red chalk on ivory laid paper.
Edouard Manet “Vase of White Lilacs and Roses” (1883) – oil on canvas
Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge this week is the color RED. These red items are mostly from my travels. Excerpts from my color essay on red are included.
Red says, “Look at me!” And we do because red stands out.
Many flowers are red – tulips, roses, dahlias and many others can be red – maybe these beautiful flowers are why some people choose red as their favorite color.
Zinnia in Arlington Heights, IL
Dahlia in Tacoma, WA
Wearing red clothes makes a person stand out.
A friend arriving at Tel Aviv airport, Israel
My brother-in-law’s barbershop quartet doing their annual “singing Valentines” – this one was for my sister at the Moorings.
Me sitting in a tall red chair at our hotel in Tiberias, Israel
Whimsical glass figure made by a child, on display at the Museum of Glass, Tacoma, WA
Red building in Poulsbo, WA
Facade of a church in Nurmberg, Germany
Famous cafe in the Jewish district – Budapest, Hungary
Some very delicious fruits are red – tart apples, succulent raspberries and yummy strawberries. Red tomatoes and red peppers are good and juicy too. But watch out! Red peppers can be HOT.
Raspberries & peppers in community garden, the Moorings, Arlington Heights
Sign in front of a winery, Miltenberg, Germany
Omaha Beach memorial, Normandy, France
Cake served on our river cruise ship, Viking Sigyn, on the 4th of July
Helio Oiticica (Brazilian artist) exhibit at the Art Institute, Chicago, IL
Speaking of hearts, we normally think of hearts as red. We give each other cards on Valentine’s Day with red or pink hearts.
Dale’s Valentine to me on Valentine’s Day 2019.
And by the way, Dale’s birthday is Valentine’s Day!
Dale celebrates his Valentine birthday with a dessert of flan and a margarita, Mexico Restaurant, Des Plaines, IL
At the capitol in Santa Fe, New Mexico, there is some amazing and beautiful artwork by New Mexico artists. The lines of the capitol building itself are also interesting, because the building is shaped in the form of the Zuni sun sign which is also found on the New Mexico flag. I have posted a few of these before, but the emphasis here is on lines and squares for Becky’s October Month of Squares.
These pieces are from the Museum of Glass in Tacoma, Washington. We went there to see Chihuly’s glass art, but the museum has so much more than that. The first exhibit we went into featured Native American artists using themes from the Northwest tribal art.
This piece is entitled Fox by Skokomish artist taqWitsa Vera Smith (born 2002), using fused glass.
Here are more beautiful pieces from that exhibit.
John Edward Smith (Skokomish, born 1973), Untitled, (2015-2018), blown and sand carved glass
All 3 pieces by Old Peter, (Chehalis/Skokomish, born 1980)
Delbert Miller (Skokomish, born 1957) & Jack-lyn Smith (Skokomish, born 1980), Family Outing, 2015-2018, brown & sand-carved glass and hair
Becky’s Month of Squares challenge is back! Hurray! This month the theme is Lines & Squares.
In the past month I have visited two museums: the Chicago Art Institute and the Museum of Glassin Tacoma. Plenty of opportunities for lines!! Squares too, probably.
Here are the rules for Month of Squares: Create your line square post, and include a pingback to one of my daily square posts You can also add a link to your post in the comments on my post To make it easy for others to find you and to generate interest across the web do include this month’s tag lines&squares Preferably post daily but you can also post all 31 in one go at the end of the month, or if it is easier join us weekly. You can even drop in occasionally with squares if you are away or really busy, and many do. There is though only ONE challenge rule; your main photograph must be square in shape!
At the Chicago Art Institute, after seeing the Manet exhibit, we went to the members only preview of an unusual exhibit entitled In a Cloud, In a Wall, In a Chair: Six Modernists in Mexico at Midcentury. The general idea of the exhibit was to show how artists in Mexico (whether they were Mexican or not) were influenced by native art and how they used native art elements in their own work.
My main photo is this one, by Ruth Asawa, “Untitled (BMC.58, Meander – Curved Lines),” c. 1948, pen, brush and ink on paper
Here are a few more in the exhibit:
Ruth Asawa, Untitled (BMC.127, Meander in Green, Orange, and Brown), 1946/49, collage of cut colored and coated papers
Ruth Asawa (American, 1926-2003), all untitled, hanging forms, brass, galvanized steel, copper and wire
Pitcher, c. 1950, Purepecha, Michoacan, Mexico, hammered copper
Cover of a book
Female Figure with Bold, Geometric Face and Body Paint, 200-100 BC, Chupicuara, Guanajuato or Michoacan, Mexico, terra cotta and pigmented slip
Cynthia Sargent, Linea Musical (Musical Line)
Sheila Hicks (American, active France, born 1934), Taxco el Viejo (Taxco, the Old One), 1962, handspun wool. this is one of Hicks’ works whose geometry draws from Mexico’s ancient pyramids, as well as from the weave structure itself.
Anni Albers (German, active United States, 1899-19940, Eclat 1976/79, silkscreen on cotton and linen
Sheila Hicks, Falda (Skirt), 1960, wool
Personally, I did not always see the connection between Mexican native art and the pieces on display, although I did notice style and color, which are very Mexican, from my personal experience. My favorites are the yellow and orange Taxco rug and the hanging wire forms. There were several more pieces in the exhibition not included here.
Nancy Merrill’s A Photo a Week challenge this week is about contrasting colors, using a color wheel which shows which colors contrast with each other.
In art, we often see paintings with colors that seem to pop out of the image. An artist may use what are called “complementary colors” (contrasting colors) to emphasize something in an image, such as an orange flower against a blue sky, or to create interest using contrasts. Here is an example by Georgia O’Keeffe, called “Trees in Autumn” (1920/21 oil on canvas, at Georgia O’Keeffe Museum in Santa Fe, New Mexico).
Here’s a photo I took of a tree in autumn.
As one can see from the color wheel above, the primary colors (blue, red and yellow) are matched with secondary colors (green, orange and purple) which provide the greatest contrast. Blue is matched with the secondary color that is created by combining the other two primary colors (red and yellow). Thus:
Blue’s complementary color is orange.
Red’s complementary color is green.
Yellow’s complementary color is purple.
Weavers are very adept in using contrasting/complementary colors to create colorful patterns. This is a close-up of a Peruvian woven sling I use to carry my water bottle. Note the green stripe against pink on one side and maroon on the other (both versions of red), or the blue stripe in the middle surrounded by orange stripes.
Nature is also excellent at creating contrasts:
We see this same contrasting beauty in architecture, such as Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem, Israel, with its famous golden dome contrasting with the blue sky and with the blues in the tiles on the walls. The artist(s) who created these lovely patterns with tiles had an innate sense of contrast, making the designs of the whole building stand out, impressing viewers.
The Christmas season is represented by red and green, which naturally complement (or contrast with) each other, making holiday decorations pleasing to look at.
Nature is a good place to look for the promise of the future.
