You learn something new everyday

With Sketchpads and Guns, Semper Fi

The NYT article, by Carol Kino, is about the United Stated Marine Corp Combat Art Program. It's really amazing - I had no clue there were artists covering wars in the 20th/21st centuries (not including photographers).

“We’re not here to do poster art or recruiting posters,” Sergeant Battles, 42, said. “What we are sent to do is to go to the experience, see what is really there and document it — as artists.”

The program is not the only one of its kind in the United States military, but many regard it as the one most deeply committed to its artistic mission. Like those in the other services, it began after the attack on Pearl Harbor and scaled back after Vietnam. Somewhat unusually, however, it has kept at least one artist in the reserves ready to deploy. And while most of the services have reactivated their art programs since the start of the Bush administration’s “global war on terror,” the Marine Corps’s has been the only one to cover most of the major conflicts.

and

One thing that sets the Marine Corps program apart from those of other services is its focus on human subjects and experiences. That’s what has always appealed to Anita Blair, chief strategist at the National Security Professional Development Integration Office, who got to know the program when she was acting assistant secretary of the Navy for a year (2008-09). “When you go over to the Air Force,” she said, “the art is all airplanes. In the Navy it’s all ships. Army art tends to be more about the battle, and the Army loves trucks. They’re fixated on vehicles. But the Marine Corps is fixated on Marines.”

Unites States Marine Corp Museum

Art Appreciation Friday

For Art Appreciation Friday I thought I'd share some of my favorite works of Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio.



St. Francis in Ecstasy




The Musicians




Bacchus




The Cardsharps

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Another YaYa Poker Night tomorrow. Looks like we're only going to have five people this time.

Art Appreciation Friday

Today's art appreciation is brought to you by the letter S ~ Paul Signac and Georges-Pierre Seurat.

First up, the work of M. Signac ~ The Dining Room




And now, for M. Seurat ~ Gray Weather




You can read more about Pointillism, the art form shown above, at wiki.

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For a little bee named Boo ~



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Two armed thugs tried to rob a line of people waiting to buy the new Playstation 3 gaming console early Friday and shot one who refused to give up the money, authorities said.

Merry Freakin' Christmas.

The two confronted 15 to 20 people who were in line outside a Wal-Mart store shortly after 3 a.m. and demanded money, said Lt. J. Paul Vance, a spokesman for the state police. The new Sony consoles are selling for around $500 to $600.

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Hunger still widespread:

That leaves less money for groceries, and the end result is that 194,000 people in Oregon and Clark County, Wash., are eating from an emergency food box each month. That statistic becomes even more heartbreaking when you consider that 72,000 of those food recipients are children.

Art Appreciation Friday

When I'm an old lady, I think I'll take up quilting. I do some sewing now, crafting, cross-stitching, embroidery, etc., but quilting takes time I really don't have right now. So, when I'm an old lady, I'll quilt.

My maternal Grandmother spent her retirement quilting. I have one which I took out of the press this morning, which is what got me thinking about quilting and making quilts the topic of Art Appreciation day. Head on over to the Museum of the American Quilter's Society and take a good look at the amazing art they have on display there. Also take a look at the Society's website where I found the picture of the quilt above by Jan Hutchison of Sedgwick, Kansas.





The quilt above is called "Camelot", by Judy Garden of Ontario, Canada. Amazing. It won Best in Show and I'm not surprised.


Now wander over to the New England Quilt Museum and check out Happy Birthday America, also known as "Centennial Quilt, 1876", which was made by Mary Haddy of Cape Cod, Massachusetts.





My favorite of their collection is the one above ~ "Album Summer Coverlet" made around 1850 in New York by an unknown quilter.





The town of Shelton, Connecticut, and the Friends of the Library, have a Bicentennial Quilt, above, which will be on display at the New England Quilt Museum until October 22. I'm trying to gather friends to head up to Lowell with me on October 14. Cross your fingers!

Art Appreciation Friday

My favorite opera is Carmen. My apologies for the Japanese subtitles. Unless, of course, you are Japanese... in which case, you're welcome.

Here's another version: