today’s flickr find:
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[private_archives]Today was a roller coaster of a day - I need a reason to smile broadly and be amazed. The French street theater company Royale De Luxe lifts me up with their artistry, commitment, dedication, creativity and sheer will to bring a smile to the masses. Based in Nantes, France, the company has been performing around Europe since the late 1970′s. Best known for their giant sized mechanical marionettes, they take their crane to the streets for the Estuary Arts Festival, unveiling a new performance every other year. Their latest production was a fairy tale told over several days last week at multiple locations in the city of Nantes. Click on each of the images to see dozens of pictures taken by two people lucky enough to witness the touching tale unfold.
In this video, watch the sad giant walking through the streets searching for his lost niece. The video starts slowly, but look closely and you will see what an enormous undertaking it is to make a production like this happen. Pairs of men dressed in period costumes and holding ropes connected to the giant jump from a landing two by two to move his feet forward, one step at a time.
Heart.Be.Still. Hope this makes you smile too – have a great weekend!
The National Gallery of Australia has an interesting collection of artist interview videos, including one with acclaimed American metalsmith Helen Shirk. I have renewed hope – Shirk says that new breakthroughs are common around the age of 50. Guess who is turning 50 this year?
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[private_archives]Watch Helen Shirk’s interview here – you can watch all of the interviews here.
Violet Hood Commemorative cup XVIII, copper, patina, coloured pencils
Willard Wigan is dyslexic. When he was growing up his teachers made him feel small. As he explains in the video below, they made him feel like he was nothing. He began sculpting tiny houses for ants in an effort to escape his learning difficulties.
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[private_archives]Determined to help others understand that nothing doesn’t exist – that less is often more, Wigan became proficient in the art of micro-sculpture.
Each one of Wigan’s micro sculptures fits inside the eye of a needle and can only be seen under a microscope – the very patient sculptor sold his collection for 20 million dollars. That’s not nothing.
Automata artist Keith Newstead’s step by step record of his first Steampunk Automata is now a book, available on blurb here. I love this – both the automata and the idea of self-publishing a book!
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Keith Newstead’s Steampunk Automata
A Steampunk Romance
The video below shows the automata in motion and gives you a good sense of this man’s genius. Click this You Tube link to see two dozen video clips of Newstead’s other automata.
Watch this well-done video that puts the viewer on the fast track into the head, heart and soul of urban visionary artist Laura Castellanos. Every artist who thinks they are ‘just not that good” should feel renewed energy to forge ahead after hearing Castellanos talk about not knowing what she was doing at first, being confused by the rewards she was receiving for not knowing what she was doing, and eventually surrendering to the idea of continuing to do what she loved, regardless of whether or not she knew what she was doing.
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Click on the image to go to the video.
A little more than 2 minutes into the 5 minute video Castellanos talks about bummerbunny (pictured above) – don’t miss it. There is a lesson for all of us in the story of bummerbunny. Most artists go through periods of self-doubt. We all need a bummerbunny, don’t you think?
The video was created by Valerie Vozza for Seattle Channel’s Art Zone in the Studio, highlighting the best local talent in the Seattle area (the screen is a bit larger on their site – you can see it here).
bummerbunny has a blog, complete with a picture of Anthony Bourdain wearing a bummerbunny tee-shirt. My daughter might just faint (she’s a huge Bourdain fan and an awesome cook – watch for her blog, coming soon!).
The artist and Turtle Dreams
Castellanos also has a blog – where she takes pictures of herself with her paintings (fresh slant on blogging!) and a website for her paintings.
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