I’m am not an artist but I sure know what I like about art! Art is different for every person and we see the emotions of the artist in each piece.
I love all types of art and can appreciate each for the passion the artist puts behind it even if I don’t care for the style.
This is as close to what I would call an art piece for me, it’s a photograph I love to play with, and this one came out just funky and bright enough for me.
My favorite piece of art is in the Courtauld Gallery in London by Edouard Manet called Bar at the Folies Bergere.
What do you love about art and what is your favorite piece of art?
Here’s to all the artists around the world and in each of us!
From 1870 to present day The Strasbourg Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art (frequently referred to as MAMCS) is one of the only museums in France to curate their collection exhibit in a manner that is representative of western European art from 1870 to present day. The 13 000 m2modern museum building is nestled between the river Ill […]
When planning a trip I look for museums in the area and off the traveler’s path for small treasured museums or galleries outside of area. I’ve been fortunate to stumble across Gallery Night on several trips.
I was a fan of Wyland long before seeing his gallery, the paintings on the side of buildings in several large cities including Dallas where I lived made him a household name. The memories of that night in Hawaii were priceless, the galleries were serving wine, creating a festive mood. Walking up to the Wyland Gallery I question if anything was in my price range.
There were jaw dropping Bronze sculptures of mermaids with perfect patina on the tail. The original paintings were more real than any scuba dive, you fall into the painting, is it real? Glancing around the corner I felt goose bumps a Whaletail piece in my price range. This piece was the icing on a great vacation.
Wyland 1990 (c) 471/750
The Artist
Wyland: Art, Community, Conservation
Renowned marine life artist Wyland changed the way people think about our environment when he started painting life-size whales on the sides of buildings in the 1980s. Wyland always thought big. And he never stopped.
Today, the Wyland name has become synonymous with the new generation of awareness about environmental conservation. Through his unique marine life paintings, sculptures, and photography, Wyland has inspired a generation about the importance of marine life conservation. His life, like his art – can find him anywhere around the world, at any time, from the Antarctic ice shelf on a photo expedition to document climate change to a grassroots journey down the Mississippi River on a mission of conservation.
The multi-faceted artist, scuba diver, educator, and explorer has hosted several television programs, including, “Wyland’s Ocean World” series on the Discovery Channel’s Animal Planet Network, “Wyland: A Brush With Giants” and “Wyland’s Art Studio,” a series for national public television. His mission of engaging people through nature-themed art and a more environmentally friendly lifestyle has led to strategic alliances with such notable organizations as the United States Olympic Team, United Nation Environment Program, and Walt Disney Studios, to name a few.
Wyland’s 100th and final Monumental Marine Life Mural, Hands Across the Oceans, a 24,000-square-foot, half-mile-long series of canvas murals with student artists from 110 countries, was displayed in October 2008 at the National Mall in Washington, D.C., and honored by the National Park Service, Smithsonian Institution, White House Council on Environmental Quality, and the U.S. Department of the Interior. In May 2010, the United Nations released six Wyland images for an international stamp issue celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission.
Since 1993, the non-profit Wyland Foundation has set the standard for environmental outreach. In partnership with the United States Forest Service and National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Wyland is actively engaged in teaching millions of students around the world to become caring, informed stewards of our ocean, rivers, lakes, estuaries, and wetlands.
The enormous extent of Wyland public artworks (it is estimated that his murals are viewed by more than a billion people every year), his award-winning art galleries, and community service projects have made him one of the most recognized and beloved artists in the nation. He is considered one of the most influential artists of the 21st Century, with artwork in museums, corporate collections, and private homes in more than one hundred countries.
For more information, contact 800-WYLAND-0
Here are a few of his works.
Moonrise Wave
Breach
Whale Tail
You can find all of his work and projects on Wyland
I’m talking with Cynthia Maniglia from Sand Salt Moon. Please visit her blog, Cynthia’s work is fantastic, she really captures each subject. Although Cynthia hasn’t been very active for the past year, here archives are worth searching thru.
Sorry for the font issue today, WordPress is being finicky!
Did someone teach you to color as a child? Did you color in the lines?
Coloring in coloring books was a big thing for me and my generation when we were younger. I suppose it still is today with kids, and I know it’s become a big thing with adults as there are many adult coloring books on the market. I used to color with my girlfriends – we’d sit or lay on the carpeted floor and color all afternoon. If we went visiting, we brought our coloring books and crayons with us. We were all around kindergarten/first grade or so age, so at that time we were coloring in school with our classmates and art teachers or classroom teachers. I would say we learned from each other, although I did have a slight little advantage. My dad. He was an artist – so I grew up with paints and paper and art around me. My father was never educational about it at that age, simply encouraging. He brought home paper and paints for me to play with in my playroom. I colored in the lines, but I also liked to draw and color what I drew. I always enjoyed art. It was always a fun thing for me to do as a child.
How did you discover your artistic skills? What age were you?
In school, I noticed that I did well in art class (my teachers and grades affirmed that), and I enjoyed the projects I did in the Girl Scouts (we did lots of arts and crafts). In college, I pursued writing but wanted to drop out and go to art school, which I wished I had done instead of continuing with my degree in English Literature. My artistic skills really came to the fore when I discovered craft shows in my late 20’s/early 30’s. I used to make handmade brooches and they were a big hit in the 80’s with career women and their women friends; my crafty pins made great gifts and sold like hot cakes! My mom was my best critic – she’d tell me what was good and what wasn’t, and then my dad chirped in with his opinion. They were both brutally honest and at the same time encouraging. Eventually, I stopped selling the pins, which I was doing for extra money, when the craft show circuit started dwindling, and I moved onto selling handmade cards to retail shops. The cards sold for $7 wholesale and $15 at high-end retail shops in Los Angeles, California (on Rodeo Drive) and at Longwood Gardens Gift Shop in PA, to name a few prominent locations. I did that for a couple of years for fun. It was a hobby I ran as a business on the side of my day job/career. Those crafty endeavors were just a hobby, but they were certainly a good way to gauge and hone my artistic skills. I would say it was in my 30’s and 40’s that I found out my artistic ability was marketable and I could be successful with it, and when I was in my teens, it was just something I was “good at and had fun with” rather than a career path. I’m glad I pursued writing for my career, however, because I did well with that and was able to retire early. Now, I have art in my early retirement to pursue and have fun with, and I’m never bored.
What advice would you give an artist just starting out?
Decide if art is something you want to do for fun, as a hobby, or as a career. It can evolve and be all three, but if you want to make a career of it and be successful, there are definitely some disciplines and things you may want to focus on in order to give your path positive direction, rather than just being willy-nilly about it and “seeing where it goes.” There’s a lot to be said about developing your own style and having natural talent, but nothing replaces hard work and discipline as well as a good understanding of “basics” concerning mediums, drawing, and other learnable skills in the arts.
Another blogger on WordPress, actually, had a Society 6 shop, and so I looked into it. I have a scanner and can upload high quality images of my art to Society6, which is easy to do. Then I promote my work via social media, and most importantly gift items from the site with my artwork on it to friends and family! I have a few things from the site that I bought for myself (a shower curtain, a bath mat, and a few of the zippered canvas bags).
Your favorite or favorites piece of art and why?
I’m going to have to say anything done by Monet and Van Gogh. I really enjoy looking at their brush work. If you mean my work … well, I’m too critical of it to think it’s a favorite – I always see what’s wrong with it!
Doyou want to grow into other mediums?
I’m interested in finding more clarity in my painting. I scrumble a lot and am not as good of a line artist as I’d like to be. I want to have fewer strokes, be more definitive with my lines and choice of color, and rely less on mistakes. It’s that discipline thing I was talking about earlier that they teach you in art school that I lack. I’m not really interested in oils, but I would like to do more with pastels as I enjoy drawing.
You mentioned painting is therapeutic, do you see other applications for therapy?
Art as therapy to me means a chance to quite my mind and be in the moment. It’s peaceful and meditative. Or it can allow me to work out stress and emotions. Often, I rip up or throw out art created out of negative emotions, and I still get something out of the experience that is more positive. I turn it around inside myself or let something go then. If I am creating out of positivity, I find the resulting artwork is something I want to share. No matter what, I turn to art as a form of expression and gratitude. I find it soothing to be in my art space creating or even just reading, if I. Am frustrated or stymied and don’t know what to create next.
Cynthia, I’ve enjoyed talking about art with you. It’s up from here. I look forward to following your progression and finding more favorites.
Started or founded by Mr Louis Daguerre and first celebrated in 19 Aug 1837, this day has its roots in the invention of Frenchman Louis Daguerre in association with Joseph Nicephore Niepce in FRANCE World Photography Day is an annual celebration of art, science, and history of photography. It is observed every year on August 19th to pay tribute to the […]
The Pandemic has changed everyone’s life’s in so many ways that I wanted to check in with Cindy and see how she is coping with the Pandemic and how it has had an impact on her travels.
I’ve updated the post to include a few more of my favorite photos.
A little about Cindy’s background.
Cindy is a psychotherapist by training and had a thirty-year career as a therapist and mental health director. She retired early to travel and that is when she started paying more attention to taking photos. On Cindy’s first trip to Africa, I took photos as usual with those throw-away cameras you could buy in drugstores.
My husband was the family photographer and had a decent, but not pricey, Canon camera. He looked at my photos, said they were better than his, gave me his camera, and showed me how it worked…… That is the extent of my photography training.
How has the Pandemic, from a time and photography standpoint changed your life?
The pandemic has dramatically changed my life as it has for everyone. Going from traveling 4+ months every year, to being mostly housebound, and taking care of my two-year-old twin grandsons while their parents work, is quite a change.
How many publications have you been published in and which ones?
My photos do end up all over the place, but I don’t keep track of where. People/magazines and even businesses are good about asking if they can use my photos and I am always pleased when they do. I don’t enter contests or submit to professional journals. Actually, that’s not entirely true, I did enter The Nature Conservancy photo contest about a decade ago when I first started taking photos and made it into the finals which shocked the bejeezus out of me. I was using a really cheap camera!! 😉 Most of my photos are taken with a sony HX 400 which costs under $300.
Have you traveled stateside lately?
We did some limited stateside traveling after we were vaccinated and before the Delta variant messed everything up. We traveled up the California coast and into Oregon. We stayed in the desert. We are renting a beach house at the end of the month with the kids and grand twins, but no travel by plane or out of the US. I miss traveling viscerally.
How many future trips do you have planned at this time? What are some of the locations you are traveling to?
Antarctica is still on the books for a return trip in January. It was canceled this year. It looks very unlikely that we will go due to delta, and the fact that many of the countries we would be traveling through are being overwhelmed by covid. I do wonder if/when life will ever return to the way it was before.
Has COVID changed your life?
I am certainly much closer with my grandsons than I would have been before the pandemic. My daughter and son-in-law relocated their family from The Bay Area and bought a house close to The Holler, and this has been a very positive change for all of us. But there is a lot we all have given up. Just going places locally without considering crowds, distance and safety is a thing of the past.
I am glad I live in The Holler because we are surrounded by nature and open space and that is a balm for me.
The pandemic has dramatically changed my life as it has for everyone. Going from traveling 4+ months every year, to being mostly housebound, and taking care of my two-year-old twin grandsons while their parents work, is quite a change.
Previous Interview
Cindy Knoke has traveled the world, to the most unusual off-the-beaten-path places you can imagine. Her photography is a window to the world. I ask Cindy a few questions to learn about her photography background and how she plans for the monumental trips.
At what age did you pick up your first camera? Did the world look different thru the lens?
My first camera was a silly Swinger Polaroid camera which I got at around age 6. It had a jingle associated with it which I loved and remember verbatim today, “Meet the Swinger. Polaroid Swinger. Only 19 dollars and 95! Swing it up. It says Yes! Take the shot. Rip it off.” This was the essence of my photographic knowledge!! Laughing……. Here’s the jingle starring Ali McGraw:
I had family members growing up who were talented photographers but I never even thought to be one of them and never had any cameras. In adulthood, my husband, Jim, was our photographer and had good cameras. I used to buy those throw-away cheap plastic cameras at drugstores for trips since I liked taking different photos than he did.
When we retired, we started dedicated chunks of travel time. Jim looked at my photos from the cheap camera, compared them to his, said, that I had something “special,” and gave me his camera a Canon, and showed me the basics on how to work it. That was my introduction to photography and it has been a serious joy in my life ever since. Jim is the person who encouraged and guided me to it for which I remain very grateful. He still encourages me to this day. I am not a trained photographer by any means, definitely self-taught and a hobbyist, not a professional.
What type of camera and software do you use now?
I use two cameras a Sony HX400 and a Sony RX10 V. I use the 400 the most due to its variable zoom up 1200mm equivalent. I also have a Sony underwater camera which I hope will have a chance to use during our upcoming trip to the Cook Islands.
What software package do you use for editing?
I use Sony Play Memories Home and Windows Photos.
You travel extensively, how do you plan for each trip?
Jim and I discuss, propose, and agree on where we want to go. We use the internet to do all the research and planning.I propose an itinerary and Jim tweaks it. We devise the modes of transport together although Jim takes the principal role here. I book the accommodations and Jim books the transport. Half of the fun we have in traveling is in the planning. When we are not traveling, we are planning!
How do you get access to the amazing Cathedrals and the intricacies of others visited?
We use the internet extensively. We research online before we go, and while we are traveling. Whilst traveling research for each specific locale is key to finding unusual places. Blogs are excellent travel resources leading us to interesting out-of-the-way places. Travel is so much more fun when you plan a trip according to your particular interests, and internet resources allow everyone to do this!
Thank you, bloggers!! Your posts improve my travel, and my life too, of course! Bloggers Rock!
The important thing to know for all the photographers “Which is more satisfying factors” This is a quite difficult question to answer. There are end number of photographer with their 1000s of amazing photograph collection but still they are little confuse about their photographs, which photography factors satisfy them? In the beginning of my photography […]
It’s close to a year since I talked with David Kanigan about photography and wanted to do an Add On interview to catch you up to date. So much has changed in David’s life with regard to photography.
I interviewed David Kanigan right after he bought his new camera which was about the time COVID hit the area hard. A link to the original interview is included below. Be sure to check out his blog at www.davidkanigan.com.
I’ve included some of my favorite recent photos of David’s below. You can check out his Instagram account for the full display at https://www.instagram.com/dk25ct/
What was the first day you went to Cove Park with your camera and what were your first photos?
My first day was May 5, 2020. Here is the link for the shots I took that day: https://photos.app.goo.gl/7FGMsWaQQrw5bBnk6. I believe I used a small pocket Sony camera. Outside of the goose, shots were uninspiring! And I’ve gone from 12 shots that day to 75-150 shots a day today. And on May 5, 2020, I ran to the Park. Today, I take my car and walk. 😦
Now that you’ve had since May 2020 to visit and shoot at the park every day, what have you learned? You’re top three thoughts.
Top 3 thoughts. 1) 458 days in a row. I can see the streak being broken next month for a family visit. Makes me sad that this day is approaching. 2) I am shocked at how few “rainouts” there have been. 3) Not every single day, but most days, I am awed by something I have seen. I especially love the twilight “light” in the morning. I have gone back to the back at midday to the park, it’s a totally different (and crowded) place -and I find that I am less inspired to shoot at any other time but twilight.
How has the Pandemic, from a time and photography standpoint changed your life?
Photography has injected balance into my life, one that was focused on Work and Family. And it enabled me to start my day from an inspired, natural position. Rather than jumping into my email queue and working that down.
What is next for you and photography?
What’s next for me and photography. I haven’t framed a single photograph of mine. My Son is a fine photographer and has created a number of spectacularly beautiful prints. I’d like to try this. I would like to acquire Photo Editing and Video Editing proficiency. I’ve dabbled here, and I can see this is a significant investment of time. And I would like to try to use my camera’s video-taking capabilities. Finally. if I could learn one new function on my camera a week, I would still not figure it all out in a year. I would like to benefit from all that it can do.
For the Love of Art 
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