Let’s start with St-Paul-de-Vence and then another post on Eze. Two beautiful medieval towns close to Nice. Each one perfect for a day tour.
This is St-Paul-de-Vence, clinging to the rocks and still a magnet to all kinds of tourists. Filled with galleries and art, and Fondation Maeght close by, a private museum with collections of modern and contemporary art.
Here’s some different ”street art” – I loved that hanging lady – real size!
Stars like Greta Garbo and Sophia Loren stayed at this hotel. It still looked fashionable.
I loved Fondation Maeght, and especially the tall, thin figures by Alberto Giacometti, the cat and the dog. I have seen some of them at Louisiana in Denmark before.
So, when in Nice – take the bus out there and enjoy!
John gives us a chance to feature almost any public art we have met – please visit his inspirational site for more!
First in my post must be an all time favourite of mine – although I don’t remember either artist or name of the work. The rain made it even more unforgettable. I still find her fascinating – and so much alive.
This oversized, strong worker portrayed walking, and the fragile woman walking beside him – I loved the contrast. Look at their hands, and their feet, putting the same foot first.
This is a Prague cavalcade. You will recognize Kafka – and the Lennon Wall I guess. So much to see, so much to take in, so much to love. In the end, it had to be The Dancing House and Charles Bridge, for the goodbye.
Tančící dům
Karlu̇v Most
”Art is where you find it.” John says, – where do you find yours? Your challenge response should include a link to his original post. We can find your post easily in the Reader if it includes the “Lens-Artists” tag. For more information on joining the challenge, click here.
Many thanks to Sofia for her wonderful mood theme. We have learned more about moods in photography from her and from your creative photos. Next week, it’s Amy’s turn to host the Lens-Artists Challenge. Until then, stay kind and well.
This week Donna is our host – and yes, it is this tricky time of the year… she is so clever… but I have chosen tricky things that still are real and true…or most of them are.
Life is tricky – you never know what’s going to happen.
– Dito Montiel
My two dogs (both gone now) posing as ”The Town Musicians of Bremen” from the fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm.
Life is really pretty tricky, and there’s a lot of loss, and the longer you stay alive, the more people you lose whom you actually couldn’t live without.
– Anne Lamott
And what is this? Tricky…but soon coming to us in the northern hemisphere…
That’s the tricky thing these days: being able to surprise people.
– Joseph Kosinski
…and so are these little wonders.
Ideas aren’t magical; the only tricky part is holding on to one long enough to get it written down.
– Lynn Abbey
These two furry friends used to have a lot of fun together – and indeed we all had! Talking about all the tricks they played on us…
I think human beings are funny, tricky things.
– Amy Landecker (or Mille and Totti)
I have posted this image a couple of times before – but it is still truly tricky…which one is an animal and which one is a twig?
Double vision makes reading the prompter very tricky.
– Shannon Bream
Earthquake or…no, just modern architecture.
I find it tricky to make plans.
– Isabel Lucas
Time for a dog again…WANTED – dead or alive!
I just like having creative solutions to tricky situations.
– Simone Giertz
This is the fascinating remains of a basilica in Tblisi, Georgia. I walked past it and noticed you could touch the debris through the window, and see across the whole building to another window. Enigmatic.
Making peace with one’s choices is always a tricky feat to achieve.
– Sameera Reddy
As you may have understood, I am not the really tricky sort…so, I will borrow some of Erik Johansson‘s works. He is a Swedish artist based in Prague, who creates surreal images by combining images to what looks like a real photograph, but with logical inconsistencies. The trickiest guy I know… enjoy!
Thanks to Donna for this week’s tricky challenge. Be sure to check out her amazing post, and to link your responses to it here. Thanks also to Anne for last week’s New Experiences challenge. A fabulous trip to Australia, and many interesting responses and tips what you can do and where you can go.
Next week we’re excited to welcome Guest Host Siobhan of Bend Branches so be sure to check out her post at noon EST next Saturday. Until then, please remember to stay safe and be kind.
We visited Västervik this summer, and we happened to visit on the last days of this excellent exhibition of original cirkus posters. They were rather worn, and were to be digitalised and saved for future generations. These original posters come from one of the most extensive collections of cirkus posters in the world. Amazing.
From my childhood memories, cirkus posters mostly looked like the left one, Trolle Rhodin’s cirkus. But here, we found an interesting collection of Polish posters from Cyrk and the Polish School of Posters. See the stunning difference between these two. I just had to post a gallery with some of them. I don’t have to say that my most loved one is the lion having humans jump through the ring… As a child that was my greatest wish…, and a wish for bulls chasing humans in the fighting arena too.
I just loved the simple and clean approach in these Polish artists’ hands. And the hidden messages. I also learned that long ago the cirkuses often had ”real” artists making their posters. Like this left poster by Tolouse Lautrec. The middle one is a poster from a time when ”strange and abnormal” people where shown to the audience. These two girls were albinos. (19th century)
The last advertisment is about Cirkus Madigan (also 19th century) and the beautiful Elvira Madigan. I guess some of you have heard her story or seen the movie on her tragic loveaffair with Sixten Sparre. It is always strange to realise that some movies were built on real persons, and real fates. We will never know the true story of course, but seeing her name there made her come alive to me. I loved that movie.
Västervik town had three big street art festivals 2019-2021. We went there for a couple of days to enjoy the beautiful town and its art. The weather was not the best, but good enough. Some works from the festivals collected here. In the header we have an Ollio/Curtis Hylton.
Amy is hosting Every Little Thing this week, please visit her lovely site for more inspiration! We invite you to share every little thing that makes you smile. Amy says:
”Small things around us have interesting stories to tell if we only take the time to stop, look, and listen.” With this little mixed gallery, I hope to send you some smiles from me!
The important little ones around us, are both necessary for our survival – and beautiful. Not only spring flowers and Yoko Ono art, but animals, insects (even flies)…
…and tiny worlds to get lost in.
And how about a little sun of your own?
Many thanks to John, and for your special contributions to his Mechanical/Industrial theme. I have had a trying week without my PC, but now I am here! Hope you will participate in Amy’s beautiful theme, and don’t forget your Lens-Artists tag and link to Amy’s original post!
Next week it is my turn, Leya, to be your host. May the sun shine on you – and inside you, until then!
I wanted [photography] to be more than a document, to be something that is as close as you could possibly be to the subject. –Chris Killip
A famous quote from Robert Capa goes: If your pictures aren’t good enough, you aren’t close enough. And surely you win some things by getting closer – but at the same time you lose things too… For LAPC #190, Patti’s challenge is about moving closer to your subject. Post one photo or a series of photos showing what happened when you got closer to your subject!
So, get closer by moving your feet, by using a zoom or macro lens, or by cropping the photo. In my images I have zoomed in or cropped – no macro lens in these.
My inspiration was an interesting design museum in Gothenburg, which made our stay last weekend really worth while. The museum grew from a family with deep interest in oriental art into a versatile collection. We spent some hours enjoying and learning some really new things to us.
A netsuke is an artistically carved button-like toggle that was used to fasten cases for medicine and tobacco onto the belt of a kimono. From originally having been a simple piece of wood, the designs, motifs and materials changed and developed over the centuries. Ivory and wood, but also metal, horn and porcelain was used by the skilled artists.
Study nature, love nature, stay close to nature. It will never fail you. – Frank Lloyd Wright
The motifs are from Japanese and Chinese mythology, and from the plant and animal worlds. Clearly it wasn’t enough with overall pictures – you had to get closer. An average sized netsuke is not bigger than 2-4 cm. The details are exquisite.
The word ”netsuke” means ”root to hang from”. Notice the opener with a snake in the pumpkin (?).
One of the rooms contained beautiful tapestries – this one from our famous Swedish artist, Märta Måås Fjetterström.
Her Swedish forest is a gem – and if you crop the image you will get either the canopy in cooler colours, or the forest floor in golden light. I find them all beautiful. Three artworks in one! Not all art will tolerate a good cropping, but this one does.
Finally, a hydrangea in winter costume – I had to have a flower too of course… The soft colours and the close-up make the skeleton petals a special treat.
Thank you, Patti, for helping us discover new things in our images! Do visit her site for more inspiration!
A special thanks to Tina for encouraging us to post our wonderful, odd, and eclectic photos. Next week, it’s my turn to inspire, so hopefully we will soon meet again!
I am sending you a gallery of interesting artwork in wood, bronze, sand and more, from an outdoor exhibition in Denmark. You might recognize some fantasy figures, and Erik Röde, HC Andersen and The Pied Piper of Hamelin. The exhibition was really nice, and we were allowed to watch the skilled artists at work. Earplugs were handed out!
The beautiful painted wall was indoors, and decorated for a party. In the header, another hall decorated for a wedding.
Patti is our host this week, and we are asked to think about symmetry. As she explains in her instructive and beautiful post, symmetry is, and have always been, pleasing to the human eye.
The header, as well as most of these images, are from Spain. Art and architecture here has its origin from many cultures including the Moorish. A fantastic blend.
A warm Barcelona night – we stumbled upon a motorcycle gatheringMore Spain – Gaudí of course! A small church or chapel, not that well known.Nature then? I cannot have a post without being natural in some way… Bilateral symmetry, (in biology) – ”a basic body plan in which the left and right sides of the organism can be divided into approximate mirror images of each other along the midline.”Back in Spain again – A silent monastery walkCervantes looking down at his heroes, Don Quixote och Sancho PanzaFinishing off with one of my favorite floors – a wooden floor found in Copenhagen – man-made. Diagonal symmetry? Or I just made that up maybe… but, symmetry can also exist in many ways in the same object, work of art or image. I like the combinatory possibilities.
Thanks to all of you in our creative community for your support, enthusiasm, and creativity. Let’s keep inspiring each other ! Next challenge, LAPC #117 will be hosted by Amy instead of me, October 3, 2020, so don’t forget to stop by her site and join the fun.
Until then, I wish you all a wonderful, creative week – and stay safe.
This week, Tina’s challenge is all about inspiration. What inspires you in life? Go to Tina’s fabulous post for more inspiration – and I am sure you will be lingering there for a while…
I am a nature person and an animal person. I prefer walking in nature and being together with animals instead of people. Nature is all inspiring and the foundation of my thoughts and choices in life. Nature is real, animals are honest and straight forward. Humans can seldom measure up to that.
When I was a child there were always cats in my home. As an adult, always dogs. They listen, they do not judge you, and they are faithfully loving till the end. I believe it is essential for a child to grow up with animals around, to watch them and to learn from them how life and death works. They teach you how you should treat everything living. Furthermore – it is a scientific truth that people feel more calm and stable with animals around. In Sweden we have specially trained dogs to go visit elderly people regularly. Some homes for the elderly have a ”house cat”.
I have met some fabulous dogs and cats over the years – here are two of my favorites.Nature is my greatest inspiration. From glorious landscapes to its tiniest and most intricate elements. My Swedish summer landscape, and then something from my windows – size, 7-10 mm.
Art in all its forms is inspiring – religious art, street art, everyday art… Antoni Gaudí was always inspired by nature, in my book he is the number one architect of our times. Abstract trees and flowers in Sagrada Família. Remember that Gaudí found Nature inspiration through walks and talks with his mother.“You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream.” – C.S. Lewis
To me, reading and books always mean inspiration, film and photography as well. There are so many things to be inspired of…what is inspiring for you?
Thank you as always for your support of, and commitment to, our challenge. We hope you’ll join us next week when Patti brings us challenge #116 on her Pilotfish blog.
Leya 
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