Old Motorcyles

This is a second-part response to my friend's blog about being bored with the "cookie-cutter" things of life. One of the things he would like to see is "more oddball" motorcycles. Hope this helps!

These were taken at the Motorcycle Museum in Sturgis, SD last month.

It's a wonderful museum! I highly recommend a stop there if you're in the area.

These pix are just a very small sampling.

As you can see, I was particularly intrigued with this bike. They said the owner loved bling and did all the fancy etching himself.

On the flip side, here's a bike that has seen better days.

But you know how I love to photograph rusty & rickety, er, "vintage" type items.

The museum had so much interesting history to share, not only in motorcycles, but photographs and advertising, too. The ladies restroom was very tastefully decorated in vintage pictures of women and their motorcycles & gear. The exhibit rooms were themed by eras, with one room being dedicated to women. I had no idea how common women bikers were was in the 20s-40s!

Art Cars

This is a special post for a friend

who is weary of "cookie cutters" today!

(to read some random thoughts, click here)

It's the perfect time to post some overdue pictures I took at the Blue Dome festival a few months ago - the Art Cars division.

I want to say this is truly ugly... but, as the saying goes: "beauty is in the eyes of the beholder." Seeing the amount of work that went into this car, I guess it's beautiful to the owner.

 Next up is something light and airy...

This one is definately, um, unique.

After that, time for something whimsical!

A fitting end to this post:  people celebrating life in a most anti-cookie cutter way!

Super Sunset / Super Moon

It's time for my summer tradition - chasing the beautiful sunsets or moonrises. This time in the same evening. It was Super Moon night!

On the way to the moonrise location, I caught the sunset. It was gorgeous.

I don't have the lens to really capture the moon, but it's still fun to try. And it's so much fun to see it rise from the very second it starts to appear.

There's a neat app that lets you put in a location and it will show you the direction of the sun & moon. Click here and check it out.

Mint Tin Treasure

One of my art-doll club members brought the cutest little item to show us last month. It was a moss-covered Altoid tin with a tiny metal gate. It looked very fairy-tale-ish. The inside was collaged with pretty paper and an inspirational quote. And a sweet surprise - a tiny clay fairy she had made. Well, I just had to make some! I've been collecting items for the outside and quotes for inside. Today I made the first one.

I spray painted the outside of the tin. I lined the inside with paper printed with hot air balloons. It's actually paper from a wallpaper sample book. I had forgotten there were hot air balloon prints - how timely for using for the current Steampunk craze! Now I have some other projects in mind to use that paper. But first, back to the tins...

The quote says: "I see my path, but I don't know where it leads. Not knowing where I'm going is what inspires me to travel it." (Rosalia de Castro). Using Photoshop, I laid it out on a picture I took of the stone path at Rock City Gardens in Chattanooga, TN.

Since I'm giving this as a door prize for doll club this month, I filled it with little treasures the winner can use on a doll or other mixed media project - old laces, ephemera, buttons, and behind that is a tiny glass bottle of beads, a tiny metal whistle and a vintage sequined applique.

That was fun! I have plans to make several more of these!

The Love/Hate Affair of Art and Morality

I've been wanting to post some pictures from May's Blue Dome & MayFest Art Festivals. I think this might be the perfect moment. There are tons of pictures. It was hard to choose. These are from Blue Dome. MayFest will be next time.

So not being a philosophy major, or even a traditional college grad, I've never explored the relationship between art and morality before. I never thought about it. Doing a quick Google search, I discovered the great philosophers have indeed written extensively about the subject.

I just thought of art as the creation of something beautiful or interesting, decorative or useful, or a combination of any of these.

I do realize that art can be/is an expression of the artist's thoughts, beliefs, pain, joy.

I understand that artists support their personal causes with their talent and there are many examples of such endeavors. Hats off to them.

I suppose there are artists who use their gift to purposely cause division among people, perhaps in an effort to bring light to perceived injustices or perhaps to just be controversial.

Certainly, there are artists who use their gift to express spirituality.

So, yes, as I write and think this through, I can see where Art and Morality clash, collide, support, converge, and especially, engage.

However, the relationship among a community of artists may be another mindstreaming subject. And again, I'm thinking out loud here. 

The soul of most creatives is like a Monet painting - a blurry mess of color. Or a delicate Japanese cherry blossom print. A twisted Picasso. An abstract Pollack. One person described the artist's mind as "a browser with 2,857  tabs open. All.The.Time."  I think that one's my favorite.

Whatever is going on inside the artist comes out in their work. It's individualistic and to be respected.  But when we get together as a community, our binding link is our common calling to be creative.  We bond over sharing our love for the medium. Debating politics or religion doesn't accomplish that in this construct. Potentially hot subjects should be explored only in the context of how it is being expressed in the artist's work. ART is the point, the uniting center, the nexus for an artist community.

The Supreme Court's ruling involving Hobby Lobby is, like just about everything nowdays, highly charged. For our community it is potentially polarizing. 

It's personal to us because it is an art resource yet now we feel obligated to take a stance. But are we morally obliged? That's for you to decide. 

My hope is that each person would make a private decision whether to spend their hard-earned money there or not. Private decision. Not a campaign which opens the door of judgement against those who decide differently. 

Because, as a community of creatives, don't we just want to make art?

When engaged in a similar conversation, an artist friend of mine in Chicago expressed it best, in the most basic of terms:

 "I just wanna make cool shi!#."

Persimmon Hollow

A while back, I posted some pictures from a local antique-y place that has an 1800s motif. I said I had more pix to post but alas, I do procrastinate. Sorry it took so long, but here they are!

It's called Persimmon Hollow and sits tucked back off a busy shopping strip. It has lots of big, shady trees and the buildings are ramshackle and weathered.

These are just an assortment of shots that I did some experimental editing on.

It was the most beautiful sunny day, celebrating spring after what seemed like a very long winter.

I just walked around looking for something interesting that would express the flavor of the place.

Remember the photo of "Squirrel Hotel"? Maybe that's where this guy lives!