Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #45 – Street Art

11 maj, 201923 februari, 2020 / Leya / 31 kommentarer

Patti’s challenge this week is all about Street Art – something I believe people in general have a special relation to. She shows us some remarkable examples of fine Street Art and asks us to send some more…so, here we go. Greetings from Poland, Sweden and Ireland.

In the header – This happy party I found in a small alley in Lodz, Poland.

Light Move Festival – Lodz

Poster – Canadian artists from famous Cirque du Soleil visiting Sweden

Mural – Blending in nicely in Lodz

Installation – Poland

Graffiti: Peace Wall – Ireland

Welcome to join in!

Create a new post on this week’s theme.
Link your post to Patti’s post ”Street Art”.
Tag your post with Lens-Artists to help us find you in the Reader. We’ve had some trouble with pingbacks, so tagging will help us find your post.
If you need more detailed instructions, click here.

Next week…

…I will be your host! Ann-Christine, Challenge #46. Wishing you an inspirational week and hope to see you then!

Lens-Artists Challenge # 44 – Harmony

4 maj, 20196 mars, 2020 / Leya / 38 kommentarer

Tina challenges us this week to think Harmony – and in her splendid post, she encourages us to show our favorite harmonies. In short, Colour Harmonies are colors that look good together. If you have ever taken classes in painting, you should be familiar with the colour wheel. There are many different systems to create a color harmony. You will find a useful, free tool, for colour harmony here.

I guess colours are always a part of what makes up our inner concept of ”Harmony”, but there are also other types of harmonies. These are some of my favorites.

Art is a harmony parallel with nature – Paul Cezanne

Antoni Gaudí’s masterpiece Sagrada Família.

Organic architecture is a philosophy of architecture which promotes harmony between human habitation and the natural world. The term ”organic architecture” was coined by Frank Lloyd Wright (1867–1959), and Wright’s ”Fallingwater” is a very good example – but the concept can also be illustrated with an old Nordic cottage like this one.

He who lives in harmony with himself lives in harmony with the Universe

– Marcus Aurelius

A life in harmony with nature, the love of truth and virtue, will purge the eyes to understanding her text – Ralph Waldo Emerson

Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony – Mahatma Gandhi

Harmony is pure love, for love is a concerto ~ Lope de Vega

Even if some will always be playing out of tune…

…it still is a Concerto.

With love from the vast tulip fields in The Netherlands.

So, How do you reach colour harmony in your picture if it isn’t there from the start?

A simple and effective way to change its mood is to shift the white balance either towards the warmer or colder temperatures. This can often also push the image towards a colour harmony. One of the simplest yet also most effective ways to further tune your colour harmony is to use the Hue, Saturation, and Luminosity (HSL) panel in Lightroom.

Or, if you were a certain fashion icon: Women think of all colors except the absence of color. I have said that black has it all. White too. Their beauty is absolute. It is the perfect harmony.

― Coco Chanel

Thank you to Amy for last week’s lovely ”Less is More” and we’d love you to join in with Tina’s ”Harmony”!

Thursday Thoughts – Exploring the Unknown

2 maj, 20191 maj, 2019 / Leya / 38 kommentarer

As so many of you expressed your appreciation over my son’s inspirational desk (Creativity Challenge #42)…I thought I would invite him this Thursday, to share some of his creative work with us. And he said Yes – so – I hope you will enjoy his explorings!

Sösdala Distillery

There lies an old distillery right next to what feels like endless farm fields. One might assume that the farmers grow potatoes, barley or wheat here – since they are all big components in making spirits – especially Vodka.

This distillery, which is considered one of the oldest in Sweden, was built in 1860 – the same year Sweden passed a law against moonshine. At the time, alcohol consumption was becoming a big issue. Some workplaces even offered to pay their workers in home brewed spirits. This law marked an important milestone towards state-regulated spirits, and an overall healthier relationship to alcohol. But on the flipside, it also gave birth to lucrative smuggling from Denmark.

Sadly, the remnants of the production were few. Some barrels could be found, as well as rusted taps and scales. They had some straw beds left, along with a very rusty stove. I’m impressed that the tall chimney is still intact. Though I wonder why they built a square chimney instead of a round one – since the latter is proven to have better airflow.

Bjärnum – Mattssons Furniture Factory

A remnant from a time where this little town, located in the southern parts of Sweden, flourished with furniture factories. It was abandoned in 1982 and will soon be demolished to make space for a new housing area. I like to imagine that the craftsmanship within these walls will be decorating households for decades to come – so that even if the factory is no more, their work will live on.

Some of the original machinery is still intact and would probably function if serviced.

The ground floor invokes the feeling of a haunting murder scene due to the red color pigment leaked onto the wooden floor. Every single scratch and mark reveal the countless hours of pacing and activity inside. Scrapings from the wooden joist creating a half moon shape onto the door – which most likely led to a loading area.

Posters and signs can be found throughout the factory. The top one forbids the use of tobacco, while the bottom one is a poster for seminars about ”international issues”. The year is 1933, and the fee for the whole course was 1 Swedish Crown. Today, 2019, that would be 32 Crowns – an interesting way to get a perspective of currency inflation.

The building consists of three whole floors. While the lower ones are filled with machines and tools, the upper floors mostly contain books, almanacs and old photos. Ranging from the 1890s to the 1980s – almost a whole century of history.

A stack of paper signed ”L.S” is hidden in a desk drawer on the middle floor. Intimate letter correspondence between one of the workers, assumably a seamstress, and her husband who was sent into World War II. We get to invest ourselves in the hardships of past times. The longing hearts of two lovers, separated. Exchanging handwritten words, feelings and prayers.

Urban exploring is an interesting way to experience and learn about history. These places are all forgotten and abandoned. Sometimes they’re just empty shells. I enjoy searching for puzzle pieces, trying to recreate their stories to show the beauty of it all. It’s a way to pay respect to these life stories – and a way for them to be remembered – if only for a short moment in time.

I would like to thank my Mother for this opportunity. This blog is an inspiration for me, and I hope you enjoyed this peek into my thoughts.

Sincerely,

David P

Tuesday Photo Challenge – Technology

30 april, 2019 / Leya / 17 kommentarer

Tuesday Photo Challenge – Technology

For Frank and Tuesday –

Friendly Friday – Looking Up

26 april, 201926 april, 2019 / Leya / 12 kommentarer

Amanda, at ”Something to Ponder About”, asks us for the Friendly Friday Challenge to look up! When visiting my daughter in Umeå this winter, she made me look up to see this tiny Wolkswagen bubble hanging from the ceiling. Frankly, I loved it.

So, you had better be looking up in order not to miss those funny things!

Thursday Thoughts – Flower Power

25 april, 201924 april, 2019 / Leya / 16 kommentarer

Flower power was a slogan during the late 1960s and early 1970s as a symbol of passive resistance and non-violence. It started as an opposition movement to the Vietnam War. Originally, the expression was coined by the American Beat poet Allen Ginsberg in 1965 as a means to transform war protests into peaceful affirmative spectacles. Hippies dressed in clothes with embroidered flowers and vibrant colors, wearing flowers in their hair.

Who, my age, didn’t love the musical Hair?

As you can see, the theme of this year’s Keukenhof flower festival was Flower Power.

And Flower Power there was – in abundance. The pictures in this post all come from only one of all the exhibition halls…

Tulips, orchids, roses, hyacinths, anthuriums – cars and clothes!

As you can guess…I could have stayed here forever. After an hour or two, my poor husband found a chair somewhere…But, admitted that this was a glorious feast to the eye. To see the whole exhibition area, or most of it, we spent the whole day. Unforgettable.

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #42 – Creativity

20 april, 20196 mars, 2020 / Leya / 152 kommentarer

Creativity is the use of imagination or original ideas to create something new or somehow valuable – inventiveness. The created item may be an idea, a scientific theory, or even a joke; or a physical object, maybe a new invention, a literary work – or a painting. Being creative is a very valuable asset today – and has always been. That is, when creativity is used in a positive way.

I believe for many of us, being creative is a way to relax from our ordinary jobs (of course your job is creative in its own way too) and also to develop our minds as well as the use of our hands.

Snapshot of my son’s desk – (he is a graphic designer, and the wall quote is by Einstein)

Maybe the creative space most used today is at the computer in our own room? Or maybe not? This week’s challenge is all about Creativity – hobbies, crafts, creative spaces at home or places you have visited – show us your creative post…unlimited!

Last week I was fortunate enough to visit Keukenhof in the Netherlands, and the annual Flower Parade (Bloemencorso in Dutch). This is a glorious feast brimming with beautiful colors and delicious flowers. Twenty huge floats and thirty lavishly decorated cars follow a 42 kilometer route from Noordwijk to Haarlem.

Millions of flowers and the creative work of hundreds of volunteers make this most amazing flower parade possible. And, hundreds of thousands of visitors from Holland and abroad are drawn to the colorful flower spectacle every year. Let’s have a look at something of the brilliant Dutch creativity!

Some floats were so big, that they were divided into two – like this one.

The impressive Phoenix

When we visited Keukenhof in the 90’s we missed out on the parade, so this year, we decided to go to Noordwijk early in the morning to see the flower creations from up close.

It was a very cold morning, with temperatures below zero – So, to save the flowers, all floats and cars had to stay inside before the parade started.

This float was the winning equipage – But there were also very modern themes – creativity unlimited!

And how about driving your car from an Easter egg?

Thank you for joining in the fun, and while we are looking forward to seeing your creativity flow – we wish you all

Happy Easter Holidays !

Thank you, Patti for your simply Delicious challenge last week!

Lens-Artists Challenge #37: History

16 mars, 201916 mars, 2019 / Leya / 20 kommentarer

For this week’s challenge, Patti has chosen History. At first I wanted to write about Riga, the capital of Latvia, whose history begins as early as the 2nd century. But inspired by a visit there, I have chosen a piece of puppetry history instead – an art form very much alive in Latvia.

According to Wikipedia, puppetry is a form of performance that involves the manipulation of puppets – inanimate objects, that are animated or manipulated by a human called a puppeteer. The puppeteer uses movements of his/her hands, arms, or control devices such as rods or strings to move the body, head, limbs, and in some cases the mouth and eyes of the puppet. The puppeteer often speaks in the voice of the character of the puppet, and then synchronizes the movements of the puppet’s mouth with this spoken part.

The earliest puppets probably originated in Egypt, where ivory and clay articulated puppets have been discovered in tombs. Puppets are mentioned in writing as early as 422 B.C.E. In ancient Greece, Aristotle and Plato both made reference to puppetry.

This art form occurs in almost all human societies where puppets are used for entertainment through performance, as sacred objects in rituals, as symbolic effigies in celebrations such as carnivals, or as a catalyst for social and psychological change in transformative arts.

There are many different varieties of puppets, and they are made of a wide range of materials, depending on their form and intended use. They can be extremely complex or very simple in their construction. The simplest puppets are finger puppets and sock puppets. Familiar examples of hand puppets are Punch and Judy. Marionettes are suspended and controlled by a number of strings, plus sometimes a central rod attached to a control bar held from above by the puppeteer.

In Riga, we just happened to walk past the puppet theater, went inside and met – Alexander! A charming young man who showed us around and tried to explain, in broken English, about the theater and the puppets. These special ones behind the glass were handled by him alone. You can see him at work as a puppeteer in the poster shot above.

Some more history of puppetry

Many types of folk art puppetry developed in disparate regions of the world, and some are still practiced today. In Japan, the sophisticated bunraku tradition evolved out of rites practiced in Shinto temples. The Vietnamese created the unique practice of water puppetry, in which wooden puppets appear to walk in waist-high water; this was originally developed hundreds of years ago as a response to the flooding of rice fields. Indonesian shadow puppets are another example of a long-held folk tradition. Ceremonial puppets were also used in several pre-Columbian Native American cultures.

In medieval Italy, marionettes were used in the production of morality plays by the Christian church. The famous comedic puppet tradition of commedia dell’arte evolved in the face of censorship by the church. Later, the plays of William Shakespeare were sometimes performed with puppets in place of actors.

In Sweden there is no great tradition of Puppetry, but it still exists as an art form for small children. In Latvia they have several performances every day. For both young and older children – and for adults as well. Do you have this art form in your country?

Nowadays the Art of Puppetry is experiencing something of a real renaissance all over the world, touching hearts and minds and engaging new spectators of all ages. Puppetry is a unique cultural treasure, which invites you to experience such a magical way of art that cannot be created or substituted by any other form of art. The task of our puppet theatre is to introduce this special kind of theatre arts in such a way, that the wonders of puppetry world would find their home in the heart of every child.

Vilnis Beķeris

General Director of Latvia Puppet Theatre

Finally, some history of the theater in Riga

The early beginnings of the Puppet Theater date back to 1942, when during the war the National Art Ensemble of the Latvian SSR ( Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic) was formed in the city of Ivanov in Russia. From there originates a group of puppeteers, whose shows were watched by evacuated soldiers and Latvian people. On the 4th of October 1944 the National Puppet Theater of the Latvian SSR opened, run by poet Mirdza Ķempe and writer and translator Jānis Žīgurs.

Thank you to Patti for letting us share so many things, events and places of historic interest. Welcome to join in the historic tour! And please don’t forget the tag Lens-Artists so people can find you in the reader!