Sherri Cornelius

Shout out to my buddy Marta, who is selling her art to fund her involvement in Art City Austin, and she’s decided to let you decide how much to pay for it. Marta’s art is thoughtfully whimsical. And I don’t know how to talk about art even though I like it, so why don’t you just go check it out?

I enjoyed reading everyone’s opinions on yesterday’s post. I’m not a debater, but I’m fascinated so please continue.

My husband and I had a rare day off together with the kids in school. We visited the Mabee-Gerrer Museum in Shawnee, an eclectic collection of art and artifacts donated by a worldly a Catholic monk, who was an artist himself.

I realized something while examining the exhibits: I love seeing the evidence of the artist in the art. The brush strokes, the finger prints, the globs of paint, crooked lines you can only see up close…Those are the things that I love to find. I noticed several years ago that when watching a scene with an actor incidentally reflected in a background mirror, I will watch the mirror instead of the foreground. I feel like the person rather than the actor is revealed in the reflection. The actor is presenting his face, a mask for the scene, and the back side is the real him. Guess that’s weird, but I guess it’s along the same lines of loving an artist’s mistakes. It’s about revealing the person underneath the art.

And the same can be said of writers. All of them, published novelists, wannabes, bloggers…If a piece of writing interests me, I want to know all about the author. Figure out how the particular piece germinated. Don’t you?

I’d just gotten in from grocery shopping (that’s why I look so good), and guess what I found on my doorstep! This is the package I’ve been waiting for: the book that Marta made for me. It’s a gift which combines all my loves–art, fiction, and hand-crafted…ness. The book is The Labyrinth House, one I gave a critique a few months (a year?) back, so it has sentimental value, not to mention I’ve been wanting to get my hands on some of Marta’s art, and now I have it. Here’s a link to her art page, Words Are Art. Go browse…buy something. One of these days it will be worth ten times what you paid, mark my words.

My 10-year-old daughter loves to look at Marta’s pictures, so she is thrilled with the book, even though the story is too old for her. I need to put it under glass so she won’t smudge it with all her touching. I’ll do that after I read it again.

Looking at my gift, I see inspiration, anticipation, friendship, and beauty. It touches me so deeply that I’m not sure I can even see all the ways it touches me.

I’ll stop gushing now. I just wanted you to see it.

There’s some cool stuff going on in Sherri’s world today. Thought I’d give a little linky love today so you can join in.

• Writtenwyrdd is having a contest on her blog to celebrate three years and a thousand posts. A thousand! Wha? You heard me. Here’s her description of the prize: “I’ve got a bunch of hand-screened cards (black on cream) that I made years ago as part of my arts and crafts phase. The winner will get a couple dozen, each individually wrapped (a $50 value).  They can be framed as well.  I carved the originals in lino blocks and turned the prints into card designs.  Various Celtic designs, fantasy designs and pagan designs.” She’s taking entries through next Friday, so go leave a comment to enter.
• Ian coined a term to describe when, as a writer, you get in your own way: Eating your earlobes. You’ll have to go to his blog to get the whole story.
• A friend of mine had a great job interview today. I’m not naming names because we’re being cautiously optimistic, but I wanted him to know I’m behind him!
• The thing I’m most excited about is coming from my buddy Marta. For as long as I’ve known her I’ve loved her art and wished I could afford to commission some to hang on every wall of my house. Now I’m going to have a little piece I can hold in my hands. A little while ago she had a contest on her blog, and I won an original copy of one of her books, bound by Marta herself, with original art included! She let me choose the book and everything, and now she’s posted pictures of the art-making process here. It’s fascinating and beautiful and exciting. Won’t you go on over and see my prize and be jealous? She’s really giving me a gift, and I’m not just talking about the prize. It’s been a pleasure to know her.

Have a great weekend, y’all! I plan to.

Here’s a nice art quiz I saw over at DarcKnyt‘s.

Note my score of -21 in Cubism. I really hate Cubism. Always have. However, I used to really love Impressionism in art and music, but I found myself turning away from those choices. The second-highest score I got was for Renaissance art. I like those paintings because they look weird to me, and there are usually lots of details to study.

Your result for What Your Taste in Art Says About You Test…

Simple, Progressive, and Sensual

11 Ukiyo-e, 1 Islamic, 2 Impressionist, -21 Cubist, -12 Abstract and 8 Renaissance!

Ukiyo-e (浮世絵, Ukiyo-e), “pictures of the floating world”, is a genre of Japaneseand paintings produced between the 17th and the 20th centuries. it mostly featured landscapes, historic tales, theatre, and pleasure. Ukiyo is a rather impetuous urban culture that has bloomed in popularity. Although the Japanese were more strict and had many prohibitions it did not affect the rising merchant class and therefore became a floating art form that did not bind itself to the normal ideals of society.

People that chose Ukiyo-e art tend to be more simplistic yet elegant. They don’t care much about new style but are comfortable in creating their own. They like the idea of living for the moment and enjoy giving and receiving pleasure. They may be more agreeable than other people and do not like to argue. They do not mind following traditions but are not afraid to move forward to experience other ideas in life. They tend to enjoy nature and the outdoors. They do not mind being more adventurous in their sexual experiences. They enjoy being popular and like being noticed. They have their own unique style of dress and of presenting themselves. They may also tend to be more business oriented or at the very least interested in money making adventures. They might make good entrepreneurs. They are progressive and adaptable.

Take What Your Taste in Art Says About You Test at HelloQuizzy