Quotes on Art and Life

A punctuation of texts for the influx of pictures recently in this blog.

From John Ruskin's On Art and Life by Peguin Books, Great Ideas (I love these pocket sized travel friendly series.)

Do what you can, and confess frankly what you are unable to do,
neither let your effort be shortened for fear of failure,
nor your confession silenced for fear of shame.

Now it is only by labour that thought can be made healthy, and only by thought that labour can be made happy, and the two cannot be separated with impunity. (page 24)

All art worthy the name is the energy - neither of the human body alone, not of the human soul alone, but of both united, one guiding the other: good craftsmanship and work of the fingers joined with good emotion and work of the heart. (page 69)

~~~

Some I manage to plug from online. Especially from the podcast of Sidebar.

Make sure wherever you go after school, you are not the best guy there.
~ David Groove

Draw now, think about it later.
~ Greg Munchess

But mostly I feel happy to be part of something far bigger than myself. I like being part of a team, it's why I write scripts rather than novels.
~ Jack Thorne, writer of The Scouting Book For Boys, shares his diary

Nothing should be prized more highly than the value of each day.
~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

The true secret of happiness lies in taking a genuine interest in all the details of daily life and elevating them to an art.
~ William Morris

Creative ideas reside in people’s minds but are trapped by fear or rejection. Create a judgment-free environment and you’ll unleash a torrent of creativity.
~ Alex Osborne

Change does not change tradition. It strengthens it. Change is a challenge and an opportunity; not a threat.
~ Prince Phillip of England

~~~

From Unlimited Power by Antony Robbins.

Success: to laugh often and much, to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children; to earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends; to appreciate beauty, to find the best in others; to leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition; to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded.

Success is the ongoing process of striving to become more.

The opportunity to continually grow emotionally, socially, spiritually, physiologically, intellectually and financially while contributing in some positive way to others. The road to success is always under construction.

~~~

From the armory in Kevingroove Museum.

When you cross sword with an enemy you must not think of cutting him either strongly or weakly; just think of cutting and killing him.
~ Miyamoto Musashi, A Book of Five Rings, 1645

It has to be lamented, that man, ever in a progressive state of civilization, differs little from the savage in his thirst for gratifying the degrading indulgence of revenge.
~ JG Millingen, the History of Dueling, 1942

~~~

And those I pillaged from the walls in the same art gallery,

Blessed are they who see beautiful things in humble places where other people see nothing.
~ Camille Pissarro

...it is the human aspect of things, that which is plainly human, that touches me most in art.
~ Jean-François Millet

In a word, what I wanted to do was create a style for our age.
~ Emile Bernard

Monet is one of the few painters who know how to paint water... With him, water is alive and deep. It is true water.
~ Emile Zola

I do not literally paint that table, but the emotion it produces upon me.
~ Henri Matisse

I want to conquer Paris with an apple.
~ Paul Cezanne

I don't paint portraits, I paint people in their homes.
~ Édouard Vuillard

The portrait is one of the most curious art forms. It demands special qualities in the artist and an almost total kinship with the model.
~ Henri Matisse

I want to make portraits that will be revelations... in a century's time... I am not trying to paint using a photographic likeness...
~ Vincent van Gogh.

~~~

And a last one from me. On the week before our degree show exhibition was due, a friend of our classmate jumped from the Suspension Bridge. If only he can see how much his friends huddled and cried and was miserable after that. I will say in this day and age, even boredom can literally kills, but hey,

A successful suicide can only be committed once - don't squander it!
Therefore, live.

At least live till a day when there is a good enough reason to commit it. And chances are, by then you would realize the precious gift that is being Alive.

UK 2.0: Edinburgh - Day 3 - Glasgow

We began our third day in Scotland by walking to the Elephant House. While I do not consider myself too big a Harry Potter fan, I certainly do have such friends. This section is dedicated to all my dear friends who are fan of the bespectacled boy wizard of 7 tomes. Here be his birth place.

This is an Indian eatery's elephant signage with nothing to do with Elephant House or Harry Potter. I was just intrigued by the 2 shop's proximity.

I must also say a hugh THANK YOU to Hoeyyn and Kay. Thank you so much for inviting us to your shop and for the Scottish breakfast in Kilimanjaro. It was a great pleasure to see you again and an added joy to visit your drawing studio and to hear about your growing business. Thanks for everything and I wish you the very best your new branch in Glasgow.

After breakfast, we headed over to Glasgow, via a 45 minutes ride from Waverley train station. I freely confessed that Glasgow did not left too good an impression on me on my last trip, maybe in no small ways thanks to our super budgeted hostel that felt like a prison cell. My main aim of the day was to visit Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum.

If I have spoken anything bad about Glasgow's beauty, I humbly recant after beholding the autumn glory of Kelvingrove park.

I would like to climb the university hill and amble beneath the golden canopy, but alas time was not on our side. We made straight for the main agenda of the day. The impressive red sandstone Spanish Baroque structure deemed the most popular free museum outside of London did not disappoint. It can certainly delight and awe and inspire you with myriad of emotions as displayed by these hanging heads.

There were so many amazing exhibits from art and culture to nature. Even Salvador Dali's Christ of Saint John of the Cross were there. But the armory was what fascinates me the most. There intricate works of men highlighted our cultivated and civil skills in making something so beautiful and elegant and our bestial savageness in making such instrument of pain and destruction.

A pangolin and an armadillo, inspiration from nature.

Among the many amazing classical works, this contemporary painting stuck out the most. It looks straight out a graphic novel cover to me. Self Portrait by Stephen Conroy, 2005.

I lingered among these halls of knowledge till the sun was down and we were soon to be kicked out. I skipped the Doctor Who exhibit and took the underground back to the city center. A hearty meal in Rumours, a Malaysian restaurant on 21 Bath Street kept felt especially satisfying after skipping lunch in the museum.

Christmas decoration transformed Glasgow's night streets. Reflections on the wet pavements courtesy of passing drizzles accentuated the festive touch further. The streets by MOMA glistered in gold.

George Square was still being dressed for the festivity. Animated Christmas bells, and other traditional decorations made of light tubes already dangled around the a square. The majestic Glasgow city chambers loomed in the background.

A Christmas tree stood by a glowing sledge with electrical reindeer (of android's dream).

Two lions gazed stoically at the dazzling and colorful lights, unmoving and guarding another war memorial laced with red poppies between them. Who has paid the price that we may rejoice?

Those courageous soldiers, yes. But above all, it was the Lion who bridge the gap with blood, whose birthday we have appropriated into our modern worship of the formless and faceless deity of materialism, whose high temple and seat of power stood surrounding us. God bless us all!

Exhibition: Banksy vs Museum - pt2

Out of the zoo,

We continued our visit to the upper level of the museum, where the art galleries are. It is a delight to try to spot his contemporary works among the classical ones.

One of my favorite paintings, not so much because of the attire of the woman on the apron, but more so because of the ironic motives.

Out of the galleries, we headed towards more 3D works. The old flying contraption has a pilot once again.

and this faces the pilot.

Both of which overlook the central courtyard/entrance where the usual reception was replaced by a burned ice-cream truck,

The ice-cream truck was flank by this little pony rider and more statues.

There were so much more that we discovered on our subsequent visit to the exhibition, with another long wait to get in, as new works were added periodically. And so fun has came back in force to the museums and artifacts of old, long may the young'uns not forsake the knowledge, history and cultures of those who came before and roam the Earth now.

Exhibition: Banksy vs Museum - pt1

Here is a post for my friends who are Banksy fans and who didn't get to see the exhibition, being oceans apart. Here are some of the works from Banksy vs Museum exhibition in Bristol, definitely one of the most interesting one I've seen. It is like a freak show, circus, zoo and treasure hunt in an Edwardian Baroque building, all-to-gether, only better.

It wasn't too often that I see people queuing up for a few hours in the sometimes torrential UK rain just to get into the museum. Good things come to those who wait, or so they say, at least amusing is the word in this case. These Statues greeted us as we were being herded into the special exhibition room on the museum ground floor.

Things in special exhibition room,

The paintings, big and small, from more graphical to classical.

I really like the pose of this one a lot!

The profound simplicity and humor of it!

This zoo is definitely my favorite section of the entire exhibition. Look at all those very well done animatronics, each subtle tilt of the head, the energy in the flicking tail, the gentle rise and fall of the diaphragm, occasional blink of the moist and thoughtful eyes give a strongly persuasive illusion of life.

We have a wannabe celebrity

and a named celebrity here.

The piece I most empathize with, do we not all feel like that sometimes - like a performing monkey in a cage?

Yummy chicken nuggets. Maybe I won't mind pets like these. They can be handy when you feel peckish and longs for midnight snacks.

A fond overview of the zoo.

(more in the following entry...)