Included in the prints we purchased were four etchings of carousel horses. They are signed “Olson” and are very well done. We bought them with our future child in mind, for the nursery. We still have them, and after 10 years of marriage we finally have a reason to frame them. Here’s the first for your viewing pleasure, Horse Head #2 by Olson, number 21/250.

Etsy is a great idea but has terrible management. The company seems to be bent on purist policies that snub their own users, without which they would cease to exist. I’ve always been convinced that the website is a very inexpensive way to maintain a nice looking store, but you have to market it yourself. You can’t remotely rely on the website’s own traffic for sales.

Marissa is switching to Art Fire for the time being, which she’s already used some and likes pretty well. The following is one of her mixed media prints listed on Art Fire, titled Dream World.

On a similar note, my friend Joel Armstrong just called me to say that Art Bistro‘s terms and conditions include (in number eight) a clause that gives the Bistro all rights to work you post or list with that website. I’ve registered for Art Bistro but have yet to figure out what the website is actually for. Joel was right to point that out though; among artists, a statement like that won’t be popular. Since I personally work almost exclusively in three-dimensions, it applies less to me than painters and illustrators whose work can much more easily reproduced. For sculptors like me, if the Bistro wants to use images I upload of my own work I’d probably be thrilled at the free marketing!

Update: Etsy has reversed the change mentioned above according to my wife, after a mere week of outcry from users.

Kim Westad : Ceramist
Sweet pea in orange :: $35

mLee fine art (woodcuts)
African queen :: $45

Stepanka (porcelain sculpture)
Small porcelain bud vase :: $35

newbyart (encaustic)
The great awakening :: $120

What I mean by architecture is the design and execution of structures such as homes, offices and civic buildings. Architecture is a very “well-rounded” profession requiring knowledge of a wide variety of disciplines and crafts. Successful design and execution of structures makes use of craft and decoration.

What I mean by interior design is the design and execution of interior spaces, making use of finish materials (wall coverings, floor coverings, moldings) and furniture. Architecture and interior design often overlap. Successful interior design makes use of craft and decoration.

When I refer to the tactile arts, I am referring to paintings, sculptures, ceramics, prints (as in printmaking, not digital reproductions) and so on. These are commonly referred to as the fine arts as well. I specifically refer to them as the tactile arts to distinguish digital art from hand-made, three dimensional art. The tactile arts regularly make us of decoration, and hopefully employ good craft.

What I mean by craft is “to make or manufacture an object with skill and careful attention to detail.”

I write all of this in a manner of thinking out loud. I don’t personally know how to reconcile my interest in so many distinct visual activities. I would love to find a way to be equally involved in all of them, designing homes — inside and out, working in my studio to create both abstract sculpture and functional furniture. Could I make such a thing financially viable, make it into a business? Would I want to?

Last night I listened to a discussion among friends. They pondered out loud the definition of art, the importance of craft and the validity of abstraction. It was pointed out that Frank Lloyd Wright’s wonderful designs were often poorly executed. Craft is vital. In culture today craft is second class. Whether on account of our impatience, profit-driven mass manufacturing or an imprudent priority given to concept over product, objects in America these days are more often than not cheaply made. I’d like to see this change in the midst of good design, great concepts. I’d like to see well-built, enduring architecture and furniture, with imaginative and prophetic sculpture and painting on the walls and in the yards of homes and public structures.

And I’d like to be a part of that renaissance, somehow.

A week or so ago I wrote briefly about Makoto Fujimura’s recent blog post dealing with Vincent van Gogh. Normally, van Gogh is regarded as a modern artistic genius, afflicted with stereotypical artist-slash-genius afflictions; in other words, he was kinda crazy. And then there’s that bit about him cutting off his ear.

What we don’t know — even me with an art degree — is that he came from a very religious family. He wanted to be a priest, but was denied the priesthood by the Dutch church for being too uneducated (he only knew five languages). He was sent as a missionary to a mining community in Belgium. He likely suffered from some unidentified mental illness, which explains the mood swings that caused people to think of him as crazy. And his style, his application of paint to the canvas, was a reflection of his appreciation for Japanese wood cuts.

I took five art history classes as an undergrad: Art Historty Survey I and II, History of Photography, Roman Art and Archeology and History of Architecture. I never learned details like this, details that significantly influence how a person looks at a work of art. Yes, a painting or sculpture possesses merit in and of itself. We don’t need to know the personal history of the artist in order to say “That’s a good painting.” While such knowledge may not necessarily lend additional meaning to his individual pieces, such details do make a work of art infinitely more interesting.

Rembrandt
The Nativity (etching) 1654