Catching up...

Now that the longer subbing gig is over, it's back to art and catching up. Three months behind in the monthly postcard exchange.  August....check!

A couple of versions of the carved pansies I just finally finished (although I started them in August!)

Note added a month later:  I pretty much decided that ain't no pansy.  Later versions are morning glories. As they should be! 

It's That Time Of Year...

...so I painted a pumpkin.  

Holy Crop!

Not my original title for this unique artistry....

Photo from Minneapolis Institute of Art 

Indeed, I must give credit to the article here which I found through Quipsologies here. (It's not called a web for nothin', folks.) The article explains how this artist planted (pun intended) his art in the middle of a field. Pretty dang spectacular, if you ask moi.

Here's a video of crop artist, Stan Herd,  explaining his project, Van Gogh's "Olive Trees,"  funded by the Minneapolis Institute of Art. The field was chosen for its location near the airport, camera-ready to departing and visiting travelers from the air.

Stan Herd, Of Us and Art: The 100 Videos Project, Episode 30 from Minneapolis Institute of Art on Vimeo.

This art institute is involved in several other quite unique projects you may enjoy as well:

Henning Mankell

As when any favorite author or artist dies, the recent death of Swedish author Henning Mankell saddened me.

Drawn from a photo on back cover of one of his books, 1998. 

Drawn from a video of a recent interview.
I drew on painted paper and regret the rather
ghoulish spots on Mr. Mankell's face. 

Probably is was the Steig Larsson trifecta that got me enthused about translated mysteries, but it was Henning Mankell's Kurt Wallender series that hooked me for good. Quite by accident, my first read was also the first in the Wallander series, Faceless Killers...and maybe that I read it while in Paris helped increased my  enjoyment with good memories attached. Or that the BBC series on PBS began about the same time. No matter,  I had to read them all. And then I sought out other translated mysteries and found so many more authors: Karin Fossum, Karin Alvtegen, Jo Nesbo, Ake Edwardson, Arnaldur Indridason, Jorn Lier Horst, Camilla Lackberg, Juddi Adler-Olsen, Häkan Nesser, to name a few. And, though written in English, Donna Leon's Venice mysteries always satisfy.

And, in case you are a nut like me, did you know that you can get uncut versions of the Swedish Steig Larssen series? Because they are subtitled, you have to pay attention but it's a great rainy night diversion, and the uncut versions have many more details from the book. And if you are a Kurt Wallander fan, Netflix and Hulu stream a Swedish subtitled series. Just sayin'. 

Choosing "Must"