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Post #1195 • June 17, 2008, 1:44 PM • 34 Comments
I'm hard at work on the last installment of the I-70 Suite at The Moon Fell On Me, which is going to be a doozy. So please enjoy this page of quotes from the immortal Bob Ross. (Via Andrew.)
2.
June 17, 2008, 3:35 PM
Here is the guy who taught Bob Ross how to paint wet on wet, William Bill Alexander. I think he is crazier then Ross.
3.
June 17, 2008, 4:39 PM
Funny. I discovered today, entirely by accident, that Wyland, he of the whale murals, has a how-to-paint show on PBS. I like Wyland, even though I'm probably not supposed to. He has a mural in Wildwood, NJ, where I spent a summer airbrushing t-shirts, and one on the Port Authority Bus Terminal in Manhattan. I like murals a lot.
When I think of crazy TV painters, though, I think of the guy who'd finish a painting and then whip the canvas up and staple it in the air WHACK WHACK WHACK! Can't remember his name.
4.
June 17, 2008, 5:01 PM
"We don't make mistakes, we just have happy accidents."
Ultimate denial. The story of my life.
He was so much fun to watch. Every little representation had a special brush and stroke and method. Little bits of painting magic. And then the paintings were so awful. It's tragic.
I want to see Monet do a TV painting lesson. What a treat that would be. But I wouldn't exactly expect that sweet attitude.
5.
June 17, 2008, 7:16 PM
Your right Chris. Murals are great. Anything that enriches the visual environment or at least adds some variey to it is a good thing in my book. Of course I don't want my way blocked by some obstrusive slab of steel placed smack dab in the middle of a public concourse, but murals don't get in your way and you can choose to ignore them if you want to.
6.
June 17, 2008, 7:21 PM
I remember this one show where Bob Ross exhorted us to keep our trees from being too straight -- "Otherwise they'd just get cut down for telephone poles or something."
You shouldn't pick on Bob's paintings too much. After all, he was just ahead of his time -- this is the Age of the Amateur. Home Depot: Amateur carpentry. Michael's: Amateur artificial flower arranging. JCPenney: Amateur fashion. Frank's: Amateur horticulture. Ikea: Amateur furniture. Everything's DIY these days, and most of us are pretty incompetent.
7.
June 17, 2008, 7:25 PM
I like visiting Center City, Philadelphia, for all the murals. Also, there's this totally awesome sushi place. But the murals are good, too.
I tried a couple of times to convince local mayors to allow me to do murals, but I was rebuffed each time. Just as well, since I'd probably fuck it up. I had a friend, too, with a pizza place down in Florida. He wanted me to do a mural for him -- anything I wanted -- but I kind of bobbled it, and by now he's moved back to Boston where he is, I believe, employed as a bum.
8.
June 17, 2008, 7:33 PM
William Alexander and Bob Ross are brilliant populists. What painter out there didn't have fun watching their shows on public television? Clearly they fulfilled a need, brought a smile to the faces of a fairly taciturn crowd. More painting related entertainment I say.
9.
June 18, 2008, 4:52 AM
By the way, I love most public sculpture as well. I didn't want to sound like I was picking on it. We had this amazing Henry Moore on the mall at SUNY Purchase when I was an undergraduate there and I used to recline on it and read all the time. I also drew it several times.
10.
June 18, 2008, 6:37 AM
"By the way, I love most public sculpture as well."
I call bullshit! MOST public sculpture is awful, Eric. You're right about Henry Moore, though.. his work does look very comfortable... if only bronze was a little squishier, they'd make excellent bean bag chairs...
11.
June 18, 2008, 6:37 AM
My painter grandmother had me watch Ross as a kid. And here I am now, doing all drawings. When I smell linseed oil I think of her basement and his hair.
12.
June 18, 2008, 6:38 AM
and Franklin, I'm assuming the last is California. Can't wait to see it.
13.
June 18, 2008, 6:42 AM
"We tell people sometimes: we're like drug dealers, come into town and get everybody absolutely addicted to painting. It doesn't take much to get you addicted."
This should be the Artblog.net motto.
14.
June 18, 2008, 6:59 AM
mc-
Someone doesn't like Henry Moore around here! I have to admit that I apply a different standard to public sculpture than I do to sculpture in other settings, museums, galleries, studios, etc. I am just glad to see more art in the world, outside the context of the museums and galleries. And though I agree with you that most public sculptures are ill suited for the particular place they are plopped down in, are formally weak because they are little more than blown up versions of smaller sculptures made in the studio, and are uninteresting figural or geometric crapola, I would rather have more art to look at when in public than less. It should be noted though that if I had to make a choice between more public sculptures or more public bathrooms I would choose the latter. Plus when bronze sculptures get covered in bird turds through the years they often develop a wonderful patina.
15.
June 18, 2008, 7:02 AM
That's a bit long for a motto, WWC
How about "This is your brain on Artblog"?
16.
June 18, 2008, 7:06 AM
Should it be "And though.." or "And although..." I probably got it wrong the first time.
17.
June 18, 2008, 10:08 AM
Re 15:
Yes - with a picture of Hirst's diamond-skull.
18.
June 18, 2008, 10:15 AM
I like the idea of public sculpture more than the execution most of the time. Still, any kind of public art makes me happy just by its existence. Even Oldenburg's giant clothespin is amusing enough to make me smile when I see it. In a gallery, I'd probably just get annoyed.
19.
June 18, 2008, 12:20 PM
( re-commenting on this thread, as I think it got lost on the Quotes du Jour thread...)
Hello. This is my first comment on this blog, and actually my first comment on any blog ( other than my own ). I appreciate the discourse and community, have limited time, and so may not participate as often as many of you do ( not to say that everyone's time is precious,..just my choice ).
John posted two images of my work and there was some discussion, so I thought I would introduce myself. Thank you, Opie, for the compliment. I agree with you, Edo is a strange picture. "Alien Still Life"....I like that.
John,..you understand very well the fine line that can exist between "creating a mess"..or a "doodle" ..and making a good picture. ( "good picture"- my choice of words ). I prefer to stay away from most of the philosphical discussion about art, ...just my preference,....and I will also stay away from provocation, but for now will say one thing: I find it more useful to not differentiate between abstract or representational art,..or atleast to make the effort to do so, as I believe, ultimately, it doesn't matter. I'm hungry for that high that one can get from looking at great art, or very good art, and my experience tells me that neither abstract or representational art has a premium on quality or level ( historical periods aside ).
...and, I feel almost the same as you, Chris, about public art,..most of it is awful...I like the idea,...but "any kind" does not make me happy...:) Thinking of some "stuff" I pass by near my studio ...stuff in a field, where the field would be much better without it.
But yes,..an Oldenburg could make me smile.
20.
June 18, 2008, 12:50 PM
I don't know. I'm always happy to see someone tried when I see public art. Even though some of it is bad, and an empty field would be an improvement. Still, it has to be pretty bad.
When I think of public art, though, I mostly think of it in cities. On a city street, almost anything is better than nothing. I like guerrilla art, chalk drawings, weird lumps of metal, anything that makes people pause and think, "Huh." I like architectural fillips, too -- a building a couple of towns over, which is otherwise just a big brick industrial building, has a terra cotta horse's head over the door. Maybe in a past life it was a stable. Quien sabe?
I don't like regular graffiti -- as Franklin pointed out to me once, modern graffiti's almost as stylistically rigid as Egyptian hieroglyphics. Odd graffiti is interesting to me, though. And I find myself missing the old New York City subways, even though at the time (my Ayn Rand phase) I hated them.
21.
June 18, 2008, 1:31 PM
Landscape Annihilates Consciousness
22.
June 18, 2008, 1:38 PM
Please elaborate on your statement... and explain why you feel that "landscape annihilates consciousness." Curious statement.
23.
June 18, 2008, 1:43 PM
scott,
ok, lets go...
24.
June 18, 2008, 1:46 PM
Do you mean that in a Zen sort of way?
25.
June 18, 2008, 1:54 PM
its like a hat trick. not to obfuscate things on purpose.
examp: what is zen...
26.
June 18, 2008, 1:58 PM
Scott, welcome. Those were some damn nice paintings.
Halo, non-sequitur remarks will be deleted.
27.
June 18, 2008, 2:03 PM
i understand
28.
June 18, 2008, 2:18 PM
Thank you Franklin.
29.
June 18, 2008, 3:27 PM
Scott we have several species of drive-bys around here. Hostile and Non-sequitur are the most common. Sometimes they actually say something nice.
30.
June 18, 2008, 3:49 PM
Welcome Scott. Franklin got it right about your paintings in #26, too.
31.
June 18, 2008, 4:02 PM
Yep...I get the picture...:)
I'll look forward to them actually having something to say, without the cynical, passive agressive bullshit attached.
I do appreciate the straightforward discussion that does occur here.
32.
June 18, 2008, 7:48 PM
The archived TMFoM were a nice treat for me this evening. I recall my criticisms for each, but on the whole, I wouldn't change a thing.
A refreshing lemon sorbeto. Thank you, Franklin.
33.
June 19, 2008, 10:23 AM
I favor I-70 Suite: UT the most. What inspired it?
34.
June 19, 2008, 2:54 PM
Ahab: Thank you.
Jane: Bryce Canyon and Arches in Utah.
1.
Eric
June 17, 2008, 3:11 PM
Does anyone here remember the name of the barrel shaped German guy who preceded Bob Ross and used to call white "Magic White" and would clean his brushes by whacking them against the legs of his easel? He was mesmerizing to watch as well. He used to paint the same crap Ross did.