DARNG DALI

 SALVADOR DALI 

I did not know much about Dali until this challenge but researching his life and his artwork helped me separate the artist from the absurd man behind the bizarre madness of his work. I learned who the artist really was and what seemed like bizarre turned out to be nothing but dreams and visions!  

So many times we judge the artist without knowing who or what or where their divine inspiration comes from where it ends up on the canvas. Knowing the artist for who they truly are helps one understand the desires and motives behind the art and its meaning. 

Yes, he was eccentric, extremely eccentric, pushing the envelope further than any other artist, crossing boundaries that no other artist at this time had crossed. He was renowned for his crazy antics and ostentatious behavior.  

The Art Director of one of the Museums where Dali had an exhibition once said, " Dali's conduct may have been undignified but the greater part of his art is a matter of dead earnest". 

If people did not care for his public displays of madness, they did, however, care about what he put on canvas. So much so that his crazy "clownishness" was almost ignored.

"Each morning when I awake, I experience again the supreme pleasure, that of being Salvador Dali."

He had no care for a professional reputation or what anyone, including the critics, thought of him and his work.  He lived his life bold and daring, painting whatever he pleased with no worries of criticism or doubts that his work was not good enough for the public. 

He found life as an adventure, to be studied and explored, with no rules or limitations to his lifestyle, his imagination, or his style of painting.

 Even his famous mustache became an iconic symbol as to who Dali was in personality and character. 

Dali once said, "The only difference between me and a madman is I am not mad."

He was known as a Surrealist Painter and his paintings were mixed with surreal images along with the style of Classicism, and Cubism. He was also heavily influenced by the modern advancements of science, calling his work, Nuclear Fusion mixed with Geometry. He used the influence of Sigmond Freud and his famous psychoanalysis theories tp incorporate his dreams and subconscious thoughts into his artwork. This would explain the bizarre images he used in his work.  These images were also used as symbols of the subject in Dali's paintings. This led to many different interpretations of his work by critics but only Dali knew what their meaning was. He once said that the bizarre images he used in his paintings were of "dreams and nightmares".

He said this about his work, "The secret of my influence has always been that it remain secret." Dali wanted his motives for painting the bizarre images in his art to be his own secret. A mystery. His own mystery. The secret he had only to himself...the artist.

"Intelligence without ambition is like a bird without wings."

"A true artist is not one who is inspired, but one who inspires others."

"Surrealism is not a movement. It is a latent state of mind perceivable through the powers of dream and nightmare.

Another famous quote of Dali's as he tried to explain his incongruous style of living and the bizarre images of his paintings, 

"I am not on drugs. I am a drug!"

"Take me, I am the drug, take me, I am hallucinogenic."

It has been said that Dali was the greatest painter of Surrealism in his time. He was a huge success and widely accepted in the art world. His flamboyant personality drew people to him as they were equally fascinated by the mystery of his "strange" artwork.  I do not think any one person ever really knew or saw inside Dali's mind or his imagination nor could completely understand the motives behind his work. That he reserved only for himself to know. Dali enjoyed the mystery that surrounded his work but his real delight came from the repugnance of his art to certain people and what kind of reaction it evoked. 

He said this of his childhood, "At the age of six, I wanted to be a cook. At the age of seven, I wanted to be Napoleon. And my ambition has been growing steadily ever since".

Something very sad that I found out about the artist is that there have been allegations that when Dali became ill and was dying, he was forced by his guardians to sign blank canvases that could later be used in forgeries.  As a result of those allegations, art dealers tend to be wary of the later works of Dali.

He once said, as his life was coming to a close, "When you are a genius, you do not have the right to die because we are necessary for the progress of man."

After many health complications. Salvador Dali passed away in 1989. He was 85 years old. His great artistic contributions to Surrealism influenced and inspired many artists who came into the art world after him. Because of Dali's daring spirit, they had the courage to also paint their "dreams and nightmares" and became a Surrealistic Success in today's art world.  

"Life is too short to remain unnoticed."

This is our last Challenge for the Theme of Surreal, Abstract Painters for this month. Your challenge is to bring out the Dali in your artwork! Think bold and daring and toss your inhibitions to the wind! And if you need further inspiration...grow a long, skinny MUSTACHE!

I also posted a page with more of Dali's artwork for you to see! Check it out!!

I cannot wait to see what you will come up with! 

Here Is Mine:

 

Digital art created from a background from Pixabay, Itkupilli's Digital Kit Steampunk Fantasy,  and Miriam's Digital Kit Scraps

GRANDIOSE GEORGIA

 GEORGIA O'KEEFFE

AND HER 

LARGER THAN LIFE PAINTINGS. 

Georgia was a great American Modernist Abstract Artist. She used nature's simplest and smallest things to create large versions of what she saw in great detail. Cow skulls, bones, flowers, just to name a few.

She once said, "I decided if I could paint that flower in a huge scale, you could not ignore it's beauty"

She studied art in Chicago where she met Alfred Stieglitz, who she fell madly, passionately in love with, and later married. They have written that he became her mentor. His guidance and formal training helped her to succeed as a professional artist.  I strongly disagree!!

Alfred had the connections that she needed to get her where she needed to be in the art world but Georgia was strong and confident enough in her talent and capabilities that her work would have been noticed regardless of his influence. Her life with Alfred was an ill-fated life as he was not faithful to her and the biggest reason why she left Chicago and moved to Taos, New Mexico where she set up a studio and continued to paint, but on her own terms. 

And yes, she dressed in nothing but black after she moved to New Mexico, partly, I assume, because she mourned the death of her life with Stieglitz. Her heart was broke but yet, she continued to paint, and paint gloriously! 

Some would think that moving to a deserted place to paint would be a career killer for any artist but not for Georgia. Her fame grew more once she was away from society and discovered her true self as an artist by the inspiration of her natural surroundings. Her style of painting grew and evolved by seeing the immense world of nature around her and capturing what she saw on canvas, painting to please her inner self.   

"I realized I had things in my head not what I had been taught - not like what I had seen - shapes and ideas so familiar to me that it hadn't occurred to me to put them down. I decided to stop painting, to put away everything I had done, and to start to say the things that were my own."

And saying or painting what was her own is exactly what she did. She paid no attention to the critics and painted where her paintbrush led her without any doubts. A very gutsy, brave thing to do in a time where so much depended on what the art critic's view was toward an artist! She did not care but had only pure intentions to bring out the beauty of things that had no beauty.

"The bones seemed to cut sharply to the center of something that is keenly alive on the desert even tho' it is vast and empty and untouchable and knows no kindness in all of its beauty." 

But her best quote is, "Art is a wicked thing. It is what we are." 

I like that.

So the theme is to express yourself through your art as Georgia did. And as she would have put it, "To make your unknown known. That is the important thing". 

You can represent her as you see her as an artist or create your own modern, abstract art of what you see and identify with that inspires your own individual style of creating art.  

Also, look at the Georgia Page I created with photos and some of her most famous paintings that you are welcome to use in your artwork. 

I do apologize as I have been very lax in keeping The Artist Showcase up to date with the Themes! I updated that this weekend!! Finally! See if your creations are in The Artist Showcase! I bet you will find your artwork there! 

***From last week's Theme on Frida for an extra treat and inspiration: Go check out Carole Jones and her Craftilious Blog, also a fellow DT at Gecko Galz, to see her Mini Frida Book!! It is stunning! Here is the link: https://cjcrafty.blogspot.com/2025/01/formidable-frida.html

Here are my creations: 

I cannot wait to see what wonderful creations you will come up with this week!

FORMIDABLE FRIDA

 

FRIDA IS MY FAVORITE ARTIST! 

We all love Frida! We all know the story of Frida, The pain and sorrows of her life. Her tragic accident that left her crippled for life, her many miscarriages, her philandering husband whom she loved above everything else in her life, and then there was her paintings. She poured out every emotion she had om the canvas. I would imagine that her talent for painting probably saved her many times over as she used art as a way to express her feelings about the troubles she had in her life. Art was how she coped with the pain and sorrow. But it is her Strength her Courage her Audacity, and her Great Resilience that I have always admired and loved the most about her! 

No matter what she went through, she maintained such a sense of style in her appearance and her warmth and love of life towards others. She never gave up in spite of her obstacles but fought for what she believed she could become and did become a world-renowned artist. She was stubborn and outspoken and sure of what she wanted for her heart and for herself as an artist. 

The clothes she wore was not the style at the time, but she carried it off with so much flair! Every picture you see of her, she is dressed beautifully, make-up flawless, jewelry from head to toe! She was a magnificent creature. I believe she also presented herself as a work of art of her own making in how she dressed and especially how she wore her hair. The flowers she wore in her hair are symbolic to who she is. She was genuine in everything she did! There was no one else like her!

But I think what Diego said about her sums up who Frida was: "Her work is acid and tender, hard as steel but fine as a butterfly's wing. Lovable as a smile, cruel as the bitterness of life. Never before had a woman put such agonizing poetry on canvas as she did."

Frida said this of herself, "I don't paint dreams or nightmares I paint my own reality."

So, with the theme this week, create your own version of Frida and how you see her life and her work. I posted a page of Frida's portraits, her paintings, and many photographs. of her life. You are welcome to use them in your artwork this week

Here are my Frida Creations:

         "I leave you my portrait so that you will have my presence all the days and nights that I am away from you."                                                                  ...Frida Kahlo

TWILIGHT ZONE WITH VAN GOGH

  I decided that the Month of January we would continue to create art with an abstract, surreal theme each week. 

This week has us creating art with the Theme:

 "Twilight Zone with Van Gogh". 

When you create your art this week, think of Vincent's style of painting and his masterpieces. Incorporate into your artwork what your interpretation is and create your own masterpiece!

Here are a few of Van Gogh's painting to inspire you!

Try to use texture and lots of color in your art piece but also give it an abstract, surreal effect.  See how in some of these paintings his images are a bit out of kilter and somewhat skewed. Use that effect in your artwork as well. And as always, let your imagination be your guide, dark or otherwise.

I cannot wait to see what you will create this week with your vast creativity and wonderful talent! 

Here are my: 

"Twilight" Creations:

Digital art created from Gecko Galz Dreamweaver ATC Set, Surreal Gems Collage Sheet and Pixabay

THROUGH A MIRROR DARKLY

 Our Theme this week is about Mirrors and Reflections in an abstract way as to distort time and imagery of another place or another time. A world not in the real world.

Use your imagination to bring about an image that does the same. Create a reflection beyond the realm of time that hovers between what is real and what is imaginary, making what is real an image of the surreal. 

                             Here is mine:

Digital art created from Gecko Galz Collage Sheet Gothic Nights, background from DreamFusionPrint, Mairiam's Digital Kit Scraps, and Pixabay