Putting your Tablets and Smartphones to good use!

Smartphones and Tablets - much as I detest people who are addicted to these items (it leaves no time for actual artwork!), I am a lover of photography as an art-form. And lets face it, your smartphone can take a damn good photograph! Take a look at the winners of the annual iPhone Photography Awards, featured on the Journal.ie. Some of these are inspirational!

http://www.thejournal.ie/iphone-photography-awards-winners-2014-1515244-Jun2014/

Terry Vital

Picasso's Hidden Portrait

Pablo Picasso (1881 - 1973) was a Spanish artist, renowned for his contribution to Modern Art. He and fellow artist Georges Braque created the art-movement referred to as Cubism, a ground-breaking style of art that simplified and broke reality down into flat planes and sharp edges. This movement is commonly referred to as a forerunner of abstraction, where reality is completely broken down and simplified into shapes and colour.
Pablo Picasso is without doubt, one of the most famous artists of all time. Today, I found an article about one of his paintings 'The Blue Room', where a previously unseen portrait has been discovered underneath the painting itself. This mystery portrait was lying under the layers of paint that made up 'The Blue Room'.
Click on the link below to find out more about this enigmatic hidden masterpiece!

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2659893/Picasso-painting-reveals-hidden-man.html

Deadly Fashion!

We all know the realm of art doesn't just encompass painting and drawing - it includes an array of other disciplines such as sculpture, design, graphics, make-up, prosthetics, and traditional crafts like carpentry and stained glass windows. It also includes fashion, which is why I have chosen to add a link to an interesting article about lethal fashion! Be careful what trends you follow!

http://www.macleans.ca/culture/arts/deadly-victorian-fashions/

Lee Miller

This is a very exciting and must-see exhibition: photographs of Dublin by Lee Miller, some of them never seen before!
My leaving cert students will (should!) remember that Lee Miller was a famous photographer, and also muse of Surrealist Many Ray. It is so exciting to have her work featured here, especially as these photographs represent Dublin in 1946. The exhibition is on in the James Joyce Center in Dublin and is a must-see!
http://2014.photoireland.org/program/lee-miller/

Something fun

Thought I'd put up a link for this: an artistic and humorous way of looking at well-known phrases. Check out the link to view them all! ;)
http://www.boredpanda.com/clever-pun-illustrations-nabhan-abdullatif/

Summer Challenge!

For those of you not in exams, you should be practicing your art over the summer anyway...and for those in exams - you should be looking forward to getting back to doing some artwork once they're finished!
If you find that you're getting bored of Facebook or Twitter then why not do this drawing challenge to keep you occupied, and to keep your artistic skills developing? I found this one on Pinterest, but you could come up with your own one and even upload your sketches each day!

Installation Art

There are many different forms of art, but lately I've been collecting images from installation artists. Installation art is often three-dimensional art that is constructed or assembled within a gallery/museum or space of some kind.
I adore installation pieces because they are often larger-than-life - taking over and inhabiting a space. Sometimes you can even interact with the artwork.
Here are some of the best ones that I've come across online in the last few months:

Berndnaut Smilde

 

Henrique Olivera

Jannis Kounellis

 Chiharu Shiota

 

Ann Hamilton

 

Kimsooja

 

Yayoi Kusama

Summer time!

Summer is finally here! Check out these amazing cartoon-style bags, on sale in the fabulous Louis Glucksman Art Gallery in Cork city:

 

An article on these fantastic bags appeared in the Cork News: http://thecorknews.ie/articles/bag-ladies-14868