Category Art

New York – Jimmy Buffet goes to Broadway with “Escape to Margaritaville!”

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Are you a fan of Jimmy Buffet? I know I am! He’s on Broadway (just started February 16th) at the Marquis Theatre with a musical called, “Escape to Margaritaville.” I saw a clip of the musical and it was wonderful. Many of his old and classic songs. It’s hard not to be in a good mood when we are listening to his Caribbean style music. It does feel like Paradise.

Put your tropical shirt on, get your straw hat, fix a margarita and GET READY TO SING ALONG! Thanks to YouTube you can hear his Broadway team practicing the songs here.

Hard for me to say which song is my favorite (Fins, Cheeseburger in Paradise, Margaritaville, He Went to Paris, It’s Five O’Clock Somewhere….)!

On CBS Sunday Morning, Jimmy Buffet was being interviewed. He said that his mother loved going to the theatre. A few times a year she would go to New York to see some Broadway shows. A favorite of his Mom’s was “South Pacific!” That warmed my heart, it was a favorite of mine too. Such fantastic songs. His Mom’s watching from Heaven, she’s proud!

I still enjoy the movie, “Mama Mia!” with music by ABBA. Always puts me in a good mood. Now, I’ve got the Caribbean beat in my mind, I’ll be humming his songs all day!

Good Luck to Jimmy Buffet! Like he says in his songs, “get a margarita, its 5 o’clock somewhere!”

The Australian Brush Maker (home made paint brushes)

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While I am not an artist, I’ve always been inspired by painting and various forms of producing artwork. The other day, I came across a story about an Australian artist named, “Lorna Crane,” who creates home made paint brushes.

On her beach walks she finds materials that she uses to make her paint brushes. I grew up on the beach… well, I mean near the beach, so I know the feeling of walking and finding rocks, feathers, dried grass, driftwood, wires, and more that wash up on the shore.

Crane’s paint brushes are works of art BEFORE they are even used. This was a brilliant idea. If you watch the video, you’ll see how beautiful and unique each brush is. Based on the brush she chooses, when she paints she uses a different painting technique. Painting is really freeing.

It’s the start of a new year. She’s inspired me! I’m going to make a goal for myself of producing one piece of art in 2018.

Hello fellow artists, how are you challenging yourself this year?

Happy Thanksgiving… YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL!

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D0206A70-E212-407F-939F-203ED00A3FAARecently, I came across this big sign that said, “You Are Beautiful!” As you can see the message is BIG and you can’t miss it. I admit, I had to smile. YES, “I am BEAUTIFUL.”

I sent this to a friend of mine. She said that a Chicago artist named, “Matthew Hoffman,” was the creator of the “You Are Beautiful” campaign, which he started in 2002 with 100 stickers. Now, fifteen years later people from around the world have been placing “You Are Beautiful” stickers in their communities. Hoffman has been commissioned by different companies to create art for them as well.

Here is a nice video where Hoffman talks about the project…

Happy Thanksgiving!

Remember… YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL!

Spread the word!

A true gentleman in the Chicago cemetery!

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IMG_4728Recently, I was taking a walk in a Chicago cemetery. It seemed like the normal cemetery with all sorts of tombstones, UNTIL I reached this statue of a young boy. It was so amazing! What a lovely young man, so elegantly dressed. I felt a mixture of sadness and joy as I looked at him. Sadness that he had passed away so young. Joy, because he was so distinguished, a real gentleman.

How beautifully his family honored him with this life size statue. Even at this young age, he looks like the Master of the house! His tombstone was so old, I could not see his name. Walking away I felt he was there to watch over his section of the cemetery.

I thought about the movie called, “Little Lord Fauntleroy (1936).” Do you know this movie? It’s an old one. The young boy in this movie, Little Lord Fauntleroy, dresses very similarly to this young man. If you haven’t seen it, I think you would enjoy it. Box office-wise, it was right up there with “Gone with the Wind.”

image1On the other side of the cemetery, I came across this group of geese. It seemed like a “male outing.” There were so many of them walking, eating and sqwauking at each other. I wished I knew what they were talking about.

As I turned around I saw a fox run by. Could not get a photo fast enough. I caught my breath for a moment, because I had recently read a Chinese story that talked about praying to the “Spirit Fox.” So, when I saw the fox roaming around, I felt it was a spirit running by me.

I had no idea there was so much “activity” at the cemetery. Next time I will bring my coffee, a book, and a lounge chair, so I can really observe what goes on there. VERY INTERESTING!

Vision boards, scrap books, ART… What inspires YOU?

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IMG_2548Fall is here, days are getting shorter. I had a pile of magazines to go through this weekend. I decided to work on my vison board.

First picture, what a find! I saw an advertisement selling computers. It popped in my mind that Brilliant Viewpoint is always on “my computer screen,” so I clipped that out. Then, I found, “Set Your Sights: Choose your path and focus on what matters.”

Clip, clip, snip, snip – page created!

Next, drawing. I’m not an artist, but found a video that gave instructions on drawing birds. NOTE: It did take a few tries to get this end result. Into the scrap book.

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I worked in advertising, so I was ALWAYS looking at ads, story headings–anything/anywhere it would catch my attention and I would think, “Ah, I love that! I need to add that phrase to my book.”

Next time you are in a dentist office, shopping mall, library — LOOK, SEE and READ what is around you. I bet you’ll wish you had your scissors handy, because your mind will visualize a NEW inspirational scrapbook page, like this one:

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The beauty of a vision board/scrap book is that it is YOURS!

What inspires you? Take it to the next step…

I read that a dream, is just that — a dream, but a dream written down with a date, NOW that becomes a GOAL! Take the goal and list the steps to get there, NOW you have a PLAN. Work the plan to completion, NOW you have fulfilled your DREAM!

SIMPLE… RIGHT?!

Artist, Bordalo II, honors the endangered “Red Squirrel” in Dublin, Ireland

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IMG_1633When I sold advertising, I was always canvassing the San Francisco Bay Area for “prospects” to call on. If I was not scanning through magazines for new advertisers, I was in my car sitting in traffic writing down “potential advertiser names” from trucks that would go by (flooring, landscaping, security systems, Google delivery, and more). You’d be amazed at how many potential advertisers you can find just sitting at a traffic light. Finally, I NEVER forgot to look at “billboards.”

Once something is taught, it stays with us. Even now, years later, I STILL find myself looking at advertising. I enjoy a great ad.

You can imagine my wonderment, here in Dublin, when I looked up to see a billboard of a HUGE Squirrel! Clearly, this was made out of trash from the junk yard. What kind of advertisement was this?

Here is a close up of the squirrel, so you can appreciate the details. Look at the squirrel’s fingers, his whiskers, his legs and tail that match in fuzziness, and the detail in his eye. BUT what is he carrying or trying to eat? I can’t figure that out.

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My next thought was… WHO created this? Google to the rescue.

Artur Bordalo (aka, Bordalo II) is an environmental art sculpturist/street artist from Lisbon. He uses paint and trash (chicken wire, tires, appliances, car parts, toys, plastics and more) to create his 3-D masterpieces. Through his art, he wants to bring awareness to waste, how it’s causing pollution and harm to our planet and the animals he creates.

For sure, we are noticing Bordalo’s street art, it is on such a grand scale. I “hope” that we go beyond just “smiling” though and actually do something to help the environment.

IS ANYONE FAMILIAR WITH HIS WORK?

FOUNDATION? – I could not find anything indicating that he has a Foundation where we could support his global environmental mission. His art is still new, maybe a Foundation will come in the future. If you know of anything, please share with us.

View more of Bordalo’s work on Facebook. His sculptures are around the world, i.e. a rat in Paris, a snow leopard in Russian, a turtle in Canada, a frog in Italy… it’s endless. Each one spectacular!

Live Art – What is wrong with second photo?

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IMG_4270Not long ago I went to an art show. It was one of those shows where you walk around town stopping at different shops to see art galleries, clothing, antiques, furniture, etc.

When I got to a shop for picture framing, I was looking in the window and was suddenly startled when I realized there was LIVE ART going on. I was staring into the faces of these young artists who were standing as mannequins as if in a picture.  Really nice.

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NOW, here is a second photo. I’m curious to see who can tell me what is wrong with this LIVE ART?  If I could play the Jeapordy game show music for you right now, I would.

I’m waiting…

Statue in honor of Firemen and Policemen

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FullSizeRender 6I was walking in Indiana and came across this statue of a young girl with a Fireman to the left and a Policeman to the right. Apolgies that I could not get a clearer picture of the faces in the statue, but the sun was not cooperating that day.

I was moved by this sweet statue, but I didn’t realize it’s complete importance until I read the two plaques next to the statue. The first one I share with you is the “Fireman’s Prayer.” The second plaque is the “Policeman’s Prayer.”

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Fireman and Policeman do not have an easy job. These prayers I read were a reminder to appreciate their efforts and that they put their lives on the line for us every day. If you have not read these prayers before, I hope you find them moving too.

Students in Sardinia practice English as Tour Guides

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IMG_1348The other day, as I was exploring Alghero, I was approached by young students. They were wearing white T-Shirts with their school logo on them. They were carrying a clip board. They were a bit shy, whispering back and forth to each other, but there was one in the group saying in Italian, “Come on, we have to do our assignment. She looks like a foreigner.”

As they approached me, they said in their newly learned English, “Do you know about the Santa Barbara church? Can we show you? Are you English?”

I smiled knowing that how I responded would determine the next 40 minutes of my time. Yes, I said, “I speak English. Are you going to give me a tour of this beautiful church?”

Once I said that the excitement started. The group immediately shuffled me over to the front of the church. I could see on their clipboard that they had memorized different scripts, like tour guides would do. Also, they were determining what order they would speak.

A young girl started telling me about the front of the church. A boy was “reminding her” of everything the teacher had told them to do (make eye contact, point to the objects you are discussing, etc.).

IMG_1317As we entered the church, I was truly amazed. I would NEVER have found this by myself. Incredible the bright colors of the murals all over the walls and ceiling in such a small space.

One of the students was talking about each mural, but was not showing me where they were. Keep in mind, they had memorized everything, so their goal was to make sure they finished their script without mistakes. A boy behind the girl, told her to point to what she was talking about. Soon my head was going from side to side, to the ceiling, everywhere to catch up with how fast they were talking (smiling).

The boy took over, he had a strong voice and was wearing cute round glasses. He looked like a mini professor, which was amusing. I followed him to the alter area and he started to speak about this.

IMG_1318The church was crowded with many groups of students talking to tourists. Before the children let me go, they had been instructed to have me write in a book, my name, where I was from and any comments.

They were very sweet, hanging over my shoulder to see WHERE I was from and WHAT I would write. I joked with them, “Should I tell your teacher you were excellent or terrible?”

It took them a minute to decide what “terrible” meant and then, as true animated Italians, they said in unison, “No, non terrible, excellent!”  I gave them a thumbs up!

As I left, I said, “Don’t you recommend a restaurant?”

They looked at me confused. That was not part of the teacher’s assignment!

India: Rescued elephants wear knitted jumpers made by villagers.

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Credit: Roger Allen for this wonderful photo showing the villagers who have knitted colorful jumpers for the elephants.

Did you see the story recently where villagers in India were knitting jumpers to save rescued elephants from freezing temperatures?  This is such a wonderful project. Apparently, an organization called, “Wildlife SOS: Elephant Conservation Care Center,” has been rescuing elephants who have been abused and mistreated. The stories are sad to read. The good news though is that once the elephants are rescued with the help, love, and support of special people the elephants are being nurtured to bring back their emotional and physical well being.

Earlier in the year, the elephants who are still ill and in recovery needed protection from bitter cold temperatures. A group of villagers near the northern part of Mathura, north of Agra, starting knitting big jumpers to keep the elephants warm. They look beautiful.

You can see more photos and read the story about the elephants in The Independent, story called, “Villagers knit jumpers for Indian elephants to protect the large mammals from near-freezing temperatures,” by Mary Bulman.

Too bad when we turn on the television to listen to the news, the media is not sharing more inspiring stories like this one. There is so much “good” going on in the world, it’s sad that we must dig deep to find these stories! Let’s keep sharing!

The Wildlife SOS organization plans to rescue another 50 elephants this year (2017)!  If you are traveling to India, you can stop by the Elephant Conservation Care Center for a 2-hour visit with the elephants. It looks like a very heart warming experience for sure!