nature and art

Frits Ahlefeldt is an artist, eco-freak and hiker who makes art projects about the environment, sustainable living, technology and the challenges and trails ahead of us. He works as an artist, blogger, story teller and graphic facilitator.

He says  "I work from a green vision to empower our cities, to find ways to make us thrive better and to, at the same time, get closer to finding more sustainable ways of living.

In my drawings and storytelling I often use metaphors as I try both to illustrate the challenges, the paradoxes and when possible even to sketch directions, that can get us moving along better trails."

for more: http://hikingartist.com/environment/

the river and the sea

nature

Hanami is an important Japanese custom and is held all over Japan in spring. Hanami literally means viewing flowers, but it generally indicates cherry blossom viewing. It's said that the origin of Hanami dates back to more than one thousand years ago when aristocrats enjoyed looking at beautiful cherry blossoms and wrote poems. 

Gorgeous flowers are main attractions of the festivals, but a variety of traditional Japanese performing arts presented in many festivals. Tea ceremonies held under cherry trees is part of the festival. This is an opportunity for a lot of performing art events taking place. One such performing art is that of playing of the Koto. 

The Taisho-koto instrument was invented about 90 years ago. Koto are about 180 centimeters (71 in) length, and made from kiri wood (Paulownia tomentosa). They have 13 strings that are strung over 13 movable bridges along the width of the instrument. Players can adjust the string pitches by moving the white bridges before playing, and use three finger picks (on thumb, index finger, and middle finger) to pluck the strings, otherwise known as plectra. 

leap

Nachi falls, a hanging scroll from the Kamakura period (13th /14th Century), Japan is a colour painting on silk displayed currently at the Nezu Art Museum Tokyo.It is one of the 159 items designated as 'National Treasure' by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (Japan) based on its "especially high historical or artistic value". 

A hanging scroll "kakemono" is one of the many traditional ways of displaying or exhibiting a painting or calligraphy.

The traditional craft involved in creating a hanging scroll is considered an art in itself. The actual painting is mounted on a larger mount of fabric or paper, sewn at the top and bottom ends round small wooden poles or rods. At the top it allows hanging by a cord, at the bottom, it provides a little weight to hold the scroll flat and steady.

source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_National_

Treasures_of_Japan_(paintings)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanging_scroll

two seasons

Nature,the greatest artist,embraces change with every season. Not only does it accept change, but it does so with beauty and grace. The Semul, the Palash and the Amaltas, three very beautiful trees of India featured in the above photographs demonstrate that change is not only inevitable,but also beautiful.

the rain

canvas

Cloud Gate and Sky Mirror are large scale sculptures made out of stainless steel,  installed in public places. The highly reflective surface of the sculptures mirrors the sky, creating beautiful, ever changing paintings on it’s surface. The sky mirror, installed at the rockfeller Center reflected and inverted the Center’s skyscrapers, thus, in the words of the artist, bringing “ the sky down to the ground”.

Sir Anish Kapoor is an Indian sculptor who has lived and worked in London since the early 70’s. His sculptures are ambitious manipulations of form and space, drawing the viewer to explore new dimensions and perspectives. 

source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anish_Kapoor, http://anishkapoor.com/

seeds of thought

Collage (from the french: coller, to glue) is a technique of creating art by putting together different forms and materials (paint, newspaper clippings, bits of paper, etc.)   This term was coined by both Georges Braque and Pablo Picasso in the beginning of the 20th century when collage became a distinctive part of modern art

Jo Reimer is an artist who works in oil and water colour on canvas, linen and board. to know more about her work, visit http://joreimer.blogspot.in or http://www.joreimer.ca/home.