Artist of the Week - Ray Villafane

My art teacher friend forwarded images of Ray Villafane's carved pumpkins and I was hooked on several levels. Definitely blog worthy, but also art class lesson worthy!

1. I gave 6 weeks exams to all of my 170 students yesterday and it was grueling work! You think test day would be an easy, quiet day, but au contraire! We needed some fun today. I'll just leave it at that.
2. Halloween is Sunday, so there is a definite timely, holiday theme to the art.
3. We had a pep rally at school this morning which meant the kids were all hyped up and we would have shortened classes from 50 minutes - what to do to engage the kids?
4. It falls into my blog category of "food art" which I love, think is fun and is a popular category on my blog (especially with my students).
5. We are getting ready to do a clay relief sculpture in my sculpture classes, so it's an excellent lead in before designing and executing their projects. Lots of juicy ideas.
6. We are also getting ready to start contour drawing in Art I - his work uses lots of line and would be really fun to draw using any number of contour drawing techniques. Another great lead in.
7. It looked like a fun thing to do today for them and for me! We all needed some fun!

So that was the lesson - a review of the body of his work, the television interview (linked in the post title) and the great tutorial on his website about his sculpture process. They enjoyed it. So.......I'm challenging my students and the reader to go carve a pumpkin! You probably won't be able to compete with his 15 or more years of pumpkin carving expertise, but you might get a new idea or two to try. Go for it! Halloween cometh!

Food Art: Peepshi

Easter Sunday and there has not been as much sun in Dallas as I had hoped. Had the croquet set up, the hammock swinging invitingly in the breeze, but the darn misty rain has made the out of doors not so desirable.

So! What to do!? How about posting to my blog (which I have not done in a looonnnnggg time)? What to think about? FOOD! We did have a large, yummy Easter feast at our house with all the usual suspects: deviled eggs, ham, coconut macaroons, fruit salad and candy. Candy and Easter just go hand in hand. But what to do with all that leftover candy? Peepshi! Just found it today, but it falls right into a category that is near and dear to my heart (and to many reader's hearts as well) - Food Art.

I just love the creativity people have and the fun, humorous way they find art materials everywhere - especially with foodstuffs. Check out the slide show from the Washington Post's Peeps Diorama Contest for some incredible art made with Peeps.

At any rate, Peeps and sushi have gone bump in the night to create sushi. Click on the post headline to learn how to make your own. Enjoy!

Artist of the Week - Ju Duoqi

The Vegetable Museum - 04, Ju Duoqi, 2008
The Third of May 2008
C-Print Size A: 120x150cm Edition: 6 Size B: 80x100cm Edition: 12

(Blogger's note: It was a subconscious act that I chose "The Third of May" for my Third of May post! Only AFTER I viewed the post did I see the cosmic nature of it. Those of you who know me well know how much I LOVE cosmic events!)

What is it about food art that we love so? I think it is because we love food AND art - when they come together it is fun and interesting. Ju Duoqi is a Chinese artist who reinterprets classic paintings using vegetables as her medium. She photographs the scene she has created and prints editions for sale. Click on the post title to go to a site that features The Vegetable Museum. She displays sensitivity and humor in her work. Before going, I'd like to leave you with one quote from the site that captures her feeling about her work: "Everything has a spirit, each vegetable, each person, and each second, under careful observation, has extraordinary meaning." Here is a link to a video interviewing the artist at work.

The Vegetable Museum - 07, Ju Duoqi, 2008
Napoleon on Potatos
C-Print Size A: 150x120cm Edition: 6 Size B: 100x80cm Edition: 12

One good food art post deserves another

Garden Bento by Sakurako Kitsa

So the Charm City Cakes post was so fun and yummy looking, I couldn't resist finding another fun food post. Really - food art is so groovy! The color, texture and edibility are all so irresistible! I'm posting another blog post that collects different food compositions. Why don't you try to make a creation of your own this coming weekend!

The Art of the Cake

Duff Goldman, Baker/Owner of Charm City Cakes

Ahhhh, the art of food. Lately I've been watching the Food Network and am truly amazed at the creations that very talented people create in the form of dessert. The Ace of Cakes is especially fun and amazing. They create really amazing cakes for all events - weddings, anniversaries, parties, celebrations for people of all ages, young and old. Their Starship Enterprise cake, an exact replica of the ship, is astounding. The post headline is a link to their website.

Their show features a few cakes in each episode and shows each baker in the process of building their masterpiece. There are many things they have to take into consideration as they created their sculptured confections (and a lot of problem solving!): how will they support different parts to keep the entire cake intact, what colors are appropriate, how do they scale the designs to be appropriate to the size of the cake, and what details will enhance the design? These cakes are truly works of art but meant to be totally consumed! In the end, each cake needs to be not only beautiful but delicious as well! Check out this link for their show on the Food Network and see some videos about their cakes.

Redneck Art made with BBQ Ribs

Ha! William sent me this great link for another food art blog entry.....BBQ sauce! The You Tube video is fun....I wasn't sure where they were going for a bit, but then it all started coming together. This would be a monochromatic painting, using tints and shades of the same hue, art students!

Coke Art!

Where have I been and what in the heck have I been doing? Well, I can't reveal all of the information - let's just say only my hairdresser knows! Anyway, I am back in the blogging saddle and apologize for my absence.

One of the fun videos that is back is the Extreme Diet Coke & Mentos Experiments II - The Domino Effect - science and art meeting in an artistic extravaganza! Get a diet coke, sit back and enjoy!

Toast Art

Toast. An interesting medium for the artwork of Lennie Payne from the UK. He's been working in this medium since 1996. How does he do it? He explains on this website that he has to flatten and dry out the bread first. Then he works with different tools like gas burners, knives, sandpaper, drills and paint. He seals it to preserve the work and keep it from being eaten by little critters (que horrible to invest in biodegradable art and have it nibbled away!). I do want to comment on the use of units that are assembled to make an overall art piece - I am personally attracted to this artistic device. What was the quantum leap that led Lennie to his artistic vision? First, you burn some toast. Thanks, Mr. Martin!

Gum Art

As a high school art teacher, I have had the distinct pleasure of having lunch pizza parties in my classroom for the last two days with anywhere from 40-100 kids diving for pizza slices like it was the last food on the planet. Admittedly, they were hungry. However, I have come to the conclusion that an adult MIGHT be able to get ALMOST anything they want from a teenager

IF they have pizza as the reward. I digress. It was AFTER the pizza party today, during our studio art critique, that I noticed a bottle of water on one of the tables with a VERY carefully placed piece of chewed gum on top of the unopened bottle top. Obviously it was to be rechewed after the yummy pizza. At first glance, we said "uhhhhg" (as any self-respecting gentile student or teacher might say), but then, later I remembered this site I stumbled upon late the night before as I was searching for random food art (a popular medium on my blog - i.e. the most comments about...). Yes, this site has an amazing display of artwork created from chewed gum. The important statistics (how many pieces, how long it took to accumulate, etc.) are there. The range of work is impressive. I might even go out on a limb and say this is my favorite site in a while ( and I LOVE everything)! So...now I am sorry I pitched that bottle & chewed gum away...I could have started collecting!

More Food Art

I started with coffee, then we moved to watermelon, and now the beautiful eggshell! I think this is a theme that deserves exhaustive research (using food as a material for artistic expression). Food is essential to life and I posit that it is the same with art. No wonder the two merge into one beautiful expression! The skill level of these examples is really exquisite, the material delicate and the result has a luminous, fragile quality. Not sure what tools are used for this precision work (lasers?) - these images came to me without any credit. I did google egg shell art, and came across this website of Blackhawk's which is the following: http://www.magicalweb.com/eggshell/ . He gives a little background to this ancient art. Check it out!

Watermelon Art

Ahhhhh.....summer is here and the watermelon is ripe! I love to eat it, and usually have some on the 4th of July which is coming up. But an art material?!? Well, see for yourself. These images came to me through an email and their source was unidentified. Here was another kind of food art (see coffee art post below!) that is quite successful. The complementary colors of red and green are quite nice. Notice how the artist uses the white part of the rind to create highlights in the composition. I LOVE the sense of movement in the bike and baseball pieces - the lines are so effective! And the depth of space in the architectural piece is subtle but wonderful. How many other types of food lend themselves to artistic expression? It thrills me to see people's love of artistic expression come through the sacredness of food - essential to life just as art is!

More Coffee Art

Coffee, the elixer of our day, vital to productivity, but so much more than that! An opportunity for contemplation, play, fellowship, and Art!

Coffee Art

The sublime combines in flavor and visual!