Thursday, February 26, 2009

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www.mariaozawa-miyabi-video.blogspot.com


silahkan di klik untuk masuk BRO semua Salam Maria !!!

Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Snowbound Shed

I think I'm coming to understand the subtleties of the snow here in Sweden. Yesterday in the morning, it was only -1 deg C and by midday, we were up to plus 2! As a result there was a lot of melting snow and slush. Waking up this morning there had been a light snow 'shower' and the areas that were snow free yesterday, have a dusting of white again. The apples that we threw into the back garden for the deer and the birds sank into the snow but were visible, now they too are covered with a sprinkle of white. The birds still find them though, clever things that they are!

I did this drawing of the shed (which in Summer is going to be the playhouse) in the garden. It is a typical small Swedish garden shed. When I did this, the snow had melted quite a bit and the roof was nearly its normal dark colour. I have subsequently taken photographs of it covered in snow again, and will try and depict those at a later stage.



Monday, February 23, 2009

Kelly Clarkson worked numerous odd jobs during and after high school

Kelly ClarksonKelly Clarkson worked numerous odd jobs during and after high school, such as mowing lawns, helping her contractor stepfather build porches, and working in a movie theater starting at age sixteen and until Clarkson moved to LA.

Kelly Clarkson also worked for Papa John's, Subway, 6 Flags Over Texas, Starbucks, and sold vacuums door to door (her latter experience which she described with a well-intended pun: "It sucked.").

Motherwell's "Elegy to the Spanish Republic" at Phila Museum of Art



If you go to art museums, you surely know this is one of Robert Motherwell's over 200 versions of Elegy to the Spanish Republic. This one was painted in 1958-60 and is on display at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. I saw this one again recently, and I have seen many similar versions in many other museums.


You can view some of my 3-D paintings on my website at www.jayrolfe.com/.


Sunday, February 22, 2009

On the Road

Sunday today, and my grandson is going to have his birthday party although his birthday is still 4 days away. He will be 7 on Thursday.

The plan was to have the party outside where they could play and have a fire to cook sausages for hotdogs. But this morning we awoke to more snow and where there was a little bit of thawing, the world is now black and white again. And the snowflakes are swirling down. So no snowball fights, no building of snowmen, just indoor games.

During last weekend we went down to Stockholm and visited, yes, wait for it


As a South African, Ikea is a whole new world to us. There are no stores quite like it. And quite frankly, it's a whole lot warmer in a building than it is outside.

We also took a drive through to Uppsala, the university town which was founded in 1477.(the University, that is). The Swedish Institute of Space Physics is also there as is the Astronomical Observatory. All very high tech! It was also the main pagan centre in Sweden. I took some photos on the way there and from the blurry images and my memory, came up with this drawing.



Saturday, February 21, 2009

"Black Fire I" by Barnett Newman at the Philadelphia Museum of Art



All right, this blog is called "Contemporary Art Revealed," and I have posted about Impressionist, post-Impressionist, and Modern paintings over the past 10 days. So here's something from 1961, Black Fire I by Barnett Newman. Newman was known for his vertical stripes he called "zips" and for his large vertical blocks of color (often black). This painting is usually on view at the Philadelphia Museum of Art where I saw it again a week ago.


You can view some of my 3-D paintings on my website at www.jayrolfe.com/.


The wall label at PMA describes the painting as follows: "Black Fire I conveys a dark grandeur through simple means: the tensions between edge and field, opacity and transparency, order and spontaneity, black pigment and raw textured canvas." Wow. Sometimes a picture IS worth a thousand words.


Friday, February 20, 2009

Mary Cassat at Philadelphia Museum of Art



On my visit a week ago to the Philadelphia Museum of Art, I again saw one of my favorite Impressionist paintings owned by the Museum. It has been off display for a while, and now it is back. The painting is Mary Cassatt's portrait of her sister Lydia at the Paris Opera House in front of a mirror which reflects the interior of the Opera House. It was painted in 1879 and is titled Woman With A Pearl Necklace in a Loge. It is bright, lively, and when you see it in person it's like you are there enjoying the opera scene with her.

Mary Cassatt was born in the Philadelphia area, and moved to Paris after art school at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in order to further her art career.

You can see some of my 3-D paintings on my website at www.jayrolfe.com/.


Thursday, February 19, 2009

Matisse "The Moorish Screen"



Henri Matisse painted The Moorish Screen in 1921. It shows his daughter Marguerite and his then-favorite model Henriette Darricarre in an interior of incredibly rich carpets and wall coverings and the titular Moorish screen. Although I have seen this on display at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, it is now on display in the Museum's Perelman Building as part of the exhibit "Henri Matisse and Modern Art on the French Riviera."


You can view some of my 3-D paintings on my website at www.jayrolfe.com/.


Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Matisse "Still Life on a Table" at Perelman Bldg of Phila Museum of Art



The second of the two Henri Matisse still life paintings I referred to yesterday is Still Life on a Table painted in 1925, the year after the painting featured yesterday. This painting, not usually on view at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, is currently on view at the Perelman Building of the Philadelphia Museum of Art as part of the exhibit "Henri Matisse and Modern Art on the French Riviera." You can see many similarities between this painting and the one featured yesterday.


You can view some of my 3-D paintings on my website at www.jayrolfe.com/.


Tuesday, February 17, 2009

Kelly Clarkson - School and Sing

Kelly ClarksonFamily of Kely Clarkson struggled financially, and music became Clarkson's refuge after the 1st divorce. She attended Pauline G Hughes Middle School and Burleson High School, originally aiming to become a marine biologist.

In 7th grade, a teacher (Mrs. Cynthia Glenn) overheard Clarkson's singing in a hallway and asked Clarkson to audition for the school choir. She told the teacher that Clarkson had never received professional vocal training.

In high school, Kelly Clarkson performed in musicals such as Annie Get Your Gun, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers and Brigadoon. Around this time, she decided to pursue singing. Clarkson sang at her high school talent show, after which a gentleman shared some inspiring words with her: "God has given you this gift. You've got to sing. You're destined to sing."

Kelly Clarkson did continue to sing and soon started classical training, hoping that music would be her ticket to a college scholarship.

Matisse "Still Life" at Perelman Bldg Phila Museum of Art



Two Henri Matisse still life paintings that are not usually on display are now on display at the Perelman Building of the Philadelphia Museum of Art. This one was painted in 1924 and is titled Still Life. You can see Matisse really loved his textiles.


You can see some of my 3-D paintings on my website at www.jayrolfe.com/.


Monday, February 16, 2009

Matisse "Head of a Woman"



Matisse used models extensively and frequently painted figures. This Henri Matisse painting from 1917, Head of a Woman, is somewhat unusual in that it includes only the head. This is one of the Matisse paintings owned by but not usually not on view at the Philadelphia Museum of Art and now on view in the Perelman Building exhibit "Henri Matisse and Modern Art on the French Riviera."


You can view some of my 3-D paintings at www.jayrolfe.com/.


Sunday, February 15, 2009

More Matisse on the Riviera


On Friday I was at the Perelman Building of the Philadelphia Museum of Art to see the exhibit "Henri Matisse and Modern Art on the French Riviera." Although almost all the works on display are from the Museum's collection, there are many I haven't seen before even though I visit the Museum frequently. As you can imagine, museums own many more items than they can display at any one time.

Henri Matisse often painted interiors, especially liking ones that had a view out a window. This painting in the exhibit, done in 1917-18, titled My Room at the Beau Rivage (Interior at Nice), is perhaps typical in that it has a room full of colorful textiles and an ocean view out the window.

You can view some of my 3-D paintings at www.jayrolfe.com/.

Saturday, February 14, 2009

Matisse "Two Models Resting" at Perelman Bldg Phila Museum of Art


Yesterday I went to the Philadelphia Museum of Art and, for the first time, across the street to the Museum's exhibition space in the Perelman Building (separate admission). One of the exhibits at the Perelman Building was "Henri Matisse and Modern Art on the French Riviera," which is on display from December 13, 2008 to November 1, 2009. Almost all the works on display are from the Museum's collection, but many I haven't seen before in the period rooms in the main building. As you can imagine, museums own many more items than they can display at any one time. So it was very worthwhile for me to visit.

I generally like Matisse's work, and I've seen a lot of it. I've seen the many works exhibited at the Baltimore Museum of Art which are part of their 500+ work collection of Matisse several times, and I've seen the 59 Matisse works at the Barnes Foundation many times. I've seen Matisse at the Phillips, LACMA, MoMA, the Met, Art Institute of Chicago, etc., etc. And it was nice to see some new-to-me paintings.

By the way, you can see some of my paintings on my website at www.jayrolfe.com/. You can also access this blog through the website.

Today I'm featuring Henri Matisse's colorful Two Models Resting from 1928. I'm sorry it's slightly out of focus. That's even more reason for you to get over there yourself and see the original.

Friday, February 13, 2009

Timber Wolf

I'm finally getting used to the colder weather and quite enjoying going for those bracing walks in the fields of snow. I never knew snow could be so noisy.. crunch, crunch, crunch as you walk - as a result haven't seen any deer or badgers yet.

Some time ago, I painted this picture of a timber wolf and gave it to my son. I had forgotten about it until I saw it on the wall of his office. I specially painted it for him as he loves wolves - most of us have a closeness to some type of animal - mine is dogs an
d his is wolves.And to that, another little (sad) story. The wolf population last century was decimated in Sweden. Only a tiny area in the very north of this cold country was left. With the conservation policies in place, this population is slowly increasing and as a result, there are more sightings of wolves up north.

However, one lone wolf came down too far south and was roaming the countryside south of Stockholm. Unfortunately it was living off the fat of the farmers lands and taking out the occasional sheep. The farmers weren't charmed and shot the animal. A huge outcry by the bunny huggers (I am an unashamed bunny hugger!), but in the end, the Nordic shrug of the shoulders - that's life.

Thursday, February 12, 2009

Kelly Clarkson - Family and Early Life

Kelly ClarksonKelly Clarkson was born in FW /Fort Worth, Texas and grew up in the small town of Burleson, Texas, a suburb of Fort Worth. Kelly is the 3rd and youngest child of Jeanne Rose, a 1st grade teacher, and Stephen Michael Clarkson, a former engineer.

Kelly Clarkson is of part Greek ancestry. Her siblings include Clarkson's brother Jason, and Clarkson's sister Alyssa.

When she was 6 years old, Clarkson's parents split up after 17 years of marriage. As a result, Clarkson's brother went to live with Clarkson's father, Clarkson's sister went to live with an aunt, and she remained with Clarkson's mother.

She frequently moved around Texas while Kelly's mother managed several professions in order to support the family. The family settled in Burleson, where Kellys's mother married her 2nd husband, Jimmy Taylor.

Cezanne at the Kimbell Art Museum


The Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth TX is a relatively small museum with a relatively small collection. Yet it has great quality examples from Old Masters through Modern art painting. I remember that I posted one of each, a Fra Angelico 1429-1430 small painting The Apostle Saint James the Greater Freeing the Magician Hermogenes, and a late Henri Matisse from 1946, titled Asia. Both were featured in my post of December 31, 2008.


Today I'm going with one of two Paul Cezanne paintings I particularly enjoyed at the Kimbell. This Cezanne painting from 1895, Maison Maria With A View of the Chateau Noir, seems much like many of his others, yet the colors were brighter and the brushwork more impressionistic than his prototypical landscapes with their squarish blocks of color. See how you like it. https://www.kimbellart.org/Collections/Collections-Detail.aspx?prov=false&cons=false&cid=8645


You can see some of my 3-D paintings on my website at www.jayrolfe.com/.

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Kimbell Art Museum



In reviewing some of the paintings I saw on my around the USA trip last summer, I was struck this morning by the similarity of Gerhard Richter's seascape which I posted yesterday, Sea Piece-Wave, on display at the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, with Jacob Van Ruisdael's Rough Sea At A Jetty painted in the 1650's which I saw at the Kimbell Art Museum across the street and also in Fort Worth. Van Ruisdael is known chiefly for his landscapes. This painting shows his skill with a seascape. Here is the link to the Kimbell's website, https://www.kimbellart.org/Collections/SearchCollections.aspx?P=1&Focus=0#, and the image they display, and below is the photo I took. In real life, the painting doesn't look as yellow as my photo, and doesn't look as dark as their image, it's somewhere in between. I'm sure you get the idea.



Last summer was my first trip to Fort Worth TX. I had long wanted to see the collection at the Kimbell Art Museum, and it was all I had hoped for and more. The Kimbell was also showing a visiting exhibit called "The Impressionists: Master Paintings from the Art Institute of Chicago." Even though I had seen all of them at the Art Institute of Chicago several times, I was glad to see them again.


You can view images of some of my paintings at www.jayrolfe.com/.

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

Gerhard Richter "Sea Piece-Wave" at MAM Fort Worth

A dramatic painting I liked at the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth which I visited this past summer, is the large, about 6 1/2 feet square, Gerhard Richter painting Sea Piece-Wave painted in 1969. You can see a small image of it on the museum's website. http://www.themodern.org/f_html/richter2.html#top


You can view some of my paintings at www.jayrolfe.com/.

Monday, February 9, 2009

Warhol's "Self-Portrait" with the look of death


The permanent collection at the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth was, in my opinion, wide-ranging and of strong quality in painting. One of the well-known contemporary artists of whom it owned several canvases is Andy Warhol. I was struck by this Self-Portrait created in 1986, a year before his untimely death. The reason I was struck by it is it has the look of death, a ghostly look.
The painting is rather large, 9 feet square. Here's the link to the museum's website. http://www.themodern.org/f_html/warhol3.html#top

You can view some of my paintings on my website at www.jayrolfe.com/.

Sunday, February 8, 2009

Richard Serra at the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth



When I took an around the country driving trip with my wife Randy Rolfe last summer, we planned to visit about a dozen art museums. We ended up visiting even more art museums on our 25 day, 9000 mile trip through 22 states, plus 6 other museums, a zoo, 11 national parks, several national monuments, and many other sights.

The first art museum we visited was not one I planned to visit because I'd never even heard of it. We were heading for the Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth TX on the afternoon of July 18, 2008 and had just parked the car in the Kimbell parking lot when I saw an enormous sculpture across the street. We went to investigate and found Richard Serra's 67 feet 10 inch high cor-ten steel sculpture titled Vortex and made in 2002. The base is a little over 20 feet wide, and one can walk inside. It was sitting in front of the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth which I didn't know about. Here are 3 photos I took of it, two of them from inside. And here's a link to the Vortex page on museum's website. http://www.themodern.org/f_html/serra2.html#top

Then we went inside the museum and found a great collection of contemporary art nicely displayed in a stunning building. The Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth certainly deserves more press then it gets.
You can view images of some of my 3-D paintings on my website at www.jayrolfe.com/.

Saturday, February 7, 2009

Album baru MUSE ke 5 akan segera rilis???

Berhubung aku ngefans ma MUSE, aku daftar di muselive.com. Sebuah situs resmi MUSE untuk para penggemarnya selain situs Microcuts.net. Di situs muselive.com ini sobat bisa mendapatkan info terbaru dari MUSE, download mp3 live MUSE, wallpaper,dll. Barusan aku buka emailku dan aku dapat info dari album MUSE yang baru akan segera rilis dan sekarang lagi dalam tahap penggarapan...!!!

Duhhh..jadi gak sabar neh. Pengen tau gimana musik MUSE di album barunya. Dan aku yakin,pasti ada sesuatu yg baru yang akan MUSE berikan. Oya, kiriman newsletter dari muselive.com :Dari keterangan newsletter tersebut, diperkirakan album baru akan rilis pada September '09. Sekarang baru bulan Februari. Masih 7 bulan lagi. Lama juga,hehehehe... Tapi aku akan tetep bersabar menantinya,halah....

Apa beda theme dan template

Apa beda theme dan template?? Sering kita temui kalo untuk WordPress dinamakan Theme dan untuk blogger (blogspot) dan site dinamakan Template. Aku coba Googling tapi gak ketemu. Kalopun ada jawabannya gak memuaskan,haiah..

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Mungkin sobat bisa bantu??

Kecanduan merusak template

Lama juga gak posting. Bukannya males ngeblog tapi lagi seneng ma maenan baru nih. Maenan apakah itu?? yang pasti maen mobil2an,kelereng,hehehheee... Beberapa hari ini asik ngutak-ngutik template yang menurut aku bagus. Upss..merusak template, hehehehhe..

Tau neh,ada setan apa yg masuk hingga seneng "ngrusak" template. Aku sendiri gak tau apa itu html atau code2 yang ada di template cuma aku modif aja,haiah.. Entah itu post body nya aku kecilin atau aku lebarin. Entah itu sidebar nya yg aku modif.. Yuppzz..modif standar aja karena aku tau kemampuanku,heheheee... Dari Googling yang aku lakukan,banyak situs2 atau blog yang mengajarkan cara buat template atau modif template tapi aku kalo soal itu masih males dan belum berminat jadinya modif standar aja lah.. yang standar aja dah pusing,apalagi yang ekstrim,halah...

Untuk modifnya sendiri,blog yang aku jadikan kelinci percobaan adalah blog Review Web/Blog dan blog ku (blog ini mah jangan) yang lain yang menurutku aku males buat postingnya,hehehehee..(pertamanya aja rajin posting, seterusnya males..hahahahahhaa..) Hasil modif nya gak aku jadikan template blog. Kalo udah ngrasa puas, aku rusak lagi dengan template2 yang aku pikir bagus,hehehheee...

Demikian posting hari ini. aku ireng_ajah melaporkan secara live,hohohohohoooo...

An Introduction to the Snow

I'd forgotton how cold cold could be until I got here - and it was only minus 2° C! Thank goodness for central heating. It is warming up a bit - now 0° C and it was nice to get out this morning. It takes about 20 minutes to get dressed for the outside, something I'm not used to. Hat, gloves, two coats and boots but when we were ready, we ventured into the forest area at the back of the house.

The sunshine (what there is of it) really makes a pretty picture of the snow.

It was a little gloomier this morning in the forest at the back of the house. But we had fun throwing snowballs at each other!

A little story - apparently some hunters were firing their guns (I absolutely hate the thought of hunting beautiful wild animals, but there you go), and in the process they woke up a bear. This caused a bit of concern as a hungry bear in the middle of winter is not the best creature to have wandering around the forests. The hope is that it found something to eat and has gone back to sleep. It was woken up not too far from here!

No painting thus far, only photographs. Will get there a little later.



Friday, February 6, 2009

Kelly Brianne Clarkson

Kelly Brianne ClarksonKelly Clarkson with birth name Kelly Brianne Clarkson was born on April 24, 1982 in Fort Worth, Texas. She is an American Pop rock singer, songwriter, and occasional actress.

Kelly Clarkson made her debut under RCA Records after Clarkson won the highly-publicized 1st season of the tv series American Idol in 2002.

Clarkson was originally marketed as a pop musician with her debut album Thankful (2003). With the release of her multi-platinum 2nd album, Breakaway (2004), She moved to a more pop rock–oriented style of music.

Kelly Clarkson's 3rd album, entitled My December, was released on June 26, 2007. Clarkson has sold over 17 million albums worldwide. She has had 9 of her singles becoming Top 10 hits on the Billboard Hot 100.

In 2008, Kelly Clarkson joined VH1's list of 10 s_xiest women of the new millennium at #8. Clarkson also hit #28 on Vh1's Top 30 Hottest Rock Front Women. As of 2008 she is one of the 10 most played artists on adult contemporary radio.

Her 4th album titled All I Ever Wanted is due out on March 10, 2009. On January 28, 2009, it was announced that her latest single, "My Life Would Suck Without You", had advanced to No. 1 on the Hot 100, breaking the record for the largest leap to the position in chart history.

Thursday, February 5, 2009

Painter Louis Comfort Tiffany


I first encountered the paintings of Louis Comfort Tiffany, who is renown for his stain glass work, at the Charles Hosmer Morse Museum of American Art in Winter Park FL. The museum's website is http://www.morsemuseum.org/, They have a whole gallery devoted to Tiffany's paintings and about 15-20 are on display. Most of them were done before he became famous for his stain glass work. By the way, Tiffany's father founded Tiffany Jewelers.


When I visited the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington DC 10 days ago I saw a very nice painting by Louis Comfort Tiffany painted in 1873 and titled Market Day Outside the Walls of Tangiers, Morocco. I'll show you my photo of it since the colors are much truer than the image on SAAM's website at http://americanart.si.edu/collections/search/artwork/?id=24107.


You can view some of my 3-D paintings at www.jayrolfe.com/.

Wednesday, February 4, 2009

Raphael's "The Alba Madonna" at the National Gallery


My favorite types of painting are Impressionist, Post-impressionist, Modern, and Contemporary. That's what I usually focus on when I visit museums.


However, this time I visited the National Gallery of Art in Washington DC a week ago Sunday, I started with looking at the older art. One of the many knockout pieces was Raphael's 1510 painting called The Alba Madonna. Not only is it beautiful and colorful, it is round! Here's the image from the website of the National Gallery which shows it without its frame, and also the photo I took which shows it in a very beautiful gold round frame. By the way, the colors did look bright as in my photo.


You can view some of my 3-D paintings on my website at www.jayrolfe.com/.

Tuesday, February 3, 2009

Childe Hassam at the National Gallery


I visited the National Gallery of Art in Washington DC on Sunday a week ago. During that visit, I came to appreciate Childe Hassam, and American Impressionist, as an Impressionist artist. I had not been particularly impressed with his paintings that I had seen before. At the National Gallery I saw a number of his paintings I liked.


Today's image is Childe Hassam's The South Ledges, Appledore, painted in 1913 and on view at the National Gallery of Art.
You can view some of my 3-D paintings at www.jayrolfe.com/.

Monday, February 2, 2009

Cezanne Still Life


There are a number of fine Cezanne still life paintings at the Barnes Foundation where I visited last Friday. Here's one called Compotier, Pitcher and Fruit painted in 1872-1874. I particularly like this one for its profusion of fruit. Of course, the color and composition are typically Cezanne.


You can view some of my 3-D paintings on my website at www.jayrolfe.com/.

Sunday, February 1, 2009

Stig and Yoshi

A few weeks ago my sister did some housesitting for a family who lives in Steenberg. Diana (my sister) is a dog trainer and she gets these requests from people who mainly need to have their animals looked after. This particular family have just become parents to the most delightful little (monsters!) Pugs called Stig and Yoshi.

Their curiosity knows no bounds and when Diana brought them over for a visit on the way back from wherever they'd been, they had the cheek to bark at our Rottweilers! Jesse and Katie (the Rotties) couldn't believe their eyes - just as well there was a secur
ity gate between them!

Yesterday I had a visit from a Pug lover, Nancy and the Fatties (check it out - she is involved in Pug rehabilitation) and just for that I thought I would post the painting I did of Stig and Yoshi (Stig in orange, Yoshi in blue) - I'm starting to use bigger brushstrokes and layering paint and because I met these two, I so enjoyed this painting. Hope you do, too.