Movies – Linda C. Everson

Modern Samurai

Linda — Thu, 25 Apr 2013 01:04:05 +0000

Mormon Bishop with Samurai Sword Runs Off Attacker. Not too many people wielding those Samurai Swords today…. but they’re still fascinating! Apparently it’s the first time this bishop needed to use the sword in 30 years (other than his martial arts class).

Because very little land was good for farming in Japan, wars over land ownership influenced the rise of the Samurai. In the feudal system, Samurai or “those who serve” were subject to a lord or daimyo, and were very devoted in their support.

Bushido or “The Way of the Warrior” was an important unwritten code of conduct for the Samurai. Seven Virtues of the Bushido Code were: Rectitude, Courage, Benevolence, Respect , Honesty, Honor, and Loyalty. Freedom from fear, duty, discipline, morality, self sacrifice, and sometimes vengeance were also common traits of the Samurai. Many of these codes are still practiced today in modern martial arts.

The Samurai used lots of different swords. The Katana sword was a curved blade sword. In my Arborglyph monoprint below, I used an aspen tree bark marking that vaguely resembles a Samurai figure with the Katana sword. You also see seven circular shapes that could represent the Seven Virtues of the Bushido Code. Text in the background reiterates the various attributes of the Samurai and their codes.

The Seven Samurai, a classic 1954 Japanese movie by Akira Kurosawa, was a favorite of mine in college and it influenced not only my artwork, but endless other famous movies and Spaghetti Westerns. Again… the number Seven!

Life of Pi – Artwork

Linda — Tue, 08 Jan 2013 05:35:25 +0000

I recently saw the Life of Pi movie by Ang Lee twice. I had read the book by Yan Martel several times, and since I loved all the spiritualism and symbolism in the story, I created a colorful Arborglyph monoprint on that theme in 2005.

Just a FEW WORDS in my artwork that convey all the THOUGHTS, FEELINGS, AND VISUAL IMAGES that I got from that incredible Life of Pi story are: sink, ship, swells, shelter, sunshine, sharks, selfish, sacred, sacrifice, security, religion, reality, reason, routine, passage, predator, protect, fear, fish, fight, hope, horizon, zebra, zoo, alpha, omega, animal, instinct, illusions, illumination, meerkats, map, world, wet, waves, wind, weary, wish, will, deprivation, danger, delirium, determination, dignity, dolphins, death, darkness, think, threaten, territory, trials, tiger, teamwork, taming, and … TAMING THE TIGER!

The multiple levels of humor and seriousness, life and death, animal instinct and spirituality, god and man, fear and wonder, reality and illusion, self-determination and guidance; are all explored in the book and the movie. You can read or watch Life of Pi many times, questioning, wondering, and gaining more insight.

For a humorous example, the hero, Picene Patel was named after a swimming pool (picene) and in grade school was constantly ridiculed over his name… ‘Pissing Patel’. Cleverly, he changed his name to Pi, a mathematical symbol, which shows you how bright he really was in a challenging situation. His curiosity often got him into major trouble, but also enlightened him with the best attributes of three religions. His beliefs in both multiple gods/one god provided strength for him while stranded at sea for an eternity. Like the Pi symbol whose decimal representation never ends, his lifeboat experience goes on and on…

My use of the Arborglyph – P symbols in my monoprint is reminiscent of both Pi’s name and also the CHI RHO CROSS. I wanted to convey both a sense of mystery and a spiritual element. Interestingly, the Chi Rho Cross was supposedly used by Constantine in a major battle over territory and helped him accomplish a difficult win over his enemy. Another account “credits his victory to divine intervention”. In the Life of Pi, Pi (Picene) is also faced with major hurdles to survive in a small territory that both he and his enemy (Richard Parker the tiger) want to claim. Was it self will power or divine intervention that helped Pi survive? While Constantine saw his Chi Rho symbol in the sky, Pi also saw wonders of the almighty maker through the beauty of the sea and the sky, which was superbly portrayed in the Ang Lee movie. The turquoise waters and the rust colored tiger stripes were gorgeous! It’s a beautiful story told in many ways… a book, a movie, a piece of artwork.

Graffiti art – StrassenKunst show

Linda — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 00:24:09 +0000

From August 27 – Sept 19, 2010, one of my Arborglyph monoprints is in an international exhibit called StrassenKunst at Artspace Gallery in Richmond, VA. The theme of the exhibit is artwork INSPIRED by graffiti with 59 artworks chosen. There are photos of graffiti, paintings with graffiti images, jewelry and sculpture scratched with graffiti-like symbols, and so on.

Graffiti art isn’t just street art, nor is it always gang related. While graffiti today is often thought of as destructive and a form of vandalism, it has helped arhaeologists decipher interesting cultural practices and has brought history to a forefront.

The first graffiti art was created over 30,000 years ago at Lauscaux caves, and a few summers ago I visited that wonderful site. I have a penchant for cave art, rock art, petroglyphs, and pictograms, and those sites are inspiration for my Arborglyph monoprints. My graffiti inspiration is the from the markings on aspen tree bark in Colorado by humans, animals, or nature’s own scarring. In the American west, many trees were first engraved by the Basque and Hispanic shephards and the term Arborglyph (tree with a glyph) was born.

Apparently, the term “graffiti” came from the Italian term “graffiato” which means “scratched”. Graffiti generally means any writing on a public place, and it has been done over the centuries by the Greeks, Romans, Mayans, Vikings, and Celtics, to name a few. I was in Pompeii this summer, and the archaeologists had unearthed some interesting graffiti on walls there. In China, Mao Zedong was known for publicizing everything, including a 4000 character graffiti slogan on a wall. Throughout history man has yearned to “make a mark”.

Although their are many controversaries over some artists such as Bansky from England, graffiti has become more accepted in some fine art circles. Artists such as Keith Haring and Jean-Michael Basquiat did graffiti in subway stations and in the streets. Later they both became famous by showing in fine art galleries in the early 1980’s, and numerous videos were made of their lives and art. Interestingly, Basquiat in his early graffiti years left his “tag” SAMO in many places. The symbol I use in my art title in the StrassenKunst exhibit is SAM. I wouldn’t claim that I use “tags” in my artwork, but I do use symbols in the titles that are my own “alphabet”.

A “tag” is the most basic writing of an artist’s name, it is simply a handstyle. A graffiti writer’s tag is his or her personalized signature. Tagging is often the example given when opponents of graffiti refer to any acts of handstyle graffiti writing (it is by far the most common form of graffiti). Tags can contain subtle and sometimes cryptic messages, and might incorporate the artist’s crew initials or other letters.

Subsequently there are many graffiti INSPIRED artists and art exhibits today. I personally do not condone defacing public property with art. However, photographing graffiti art (on trees) has proven to be an interesting subject matter for me.

The Pillars of the Earth

Linda — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 16:03:40 +0000

Tonight on Starz is the beginning of a 8 part mini-series based on Ken Follett’s novel, The Pillars of the Earth. This epic story deals with conflicting elements: building and destruction, love and war, good and evil, religion and royalty, family and foe, feast and famine, joy and misery, and so on. Although the fight for the crown in feudal England is a central theme, the evolution of building a massive Romanesque church to building a soaring Gothic cathedral in medieval 12th century England intrigued me more.

How does this story about architecture relate to me and my experiences in life? Like Tom the Builder and Jack, my father, grandfather and many uncles were builders. They built everything! Commercial buildings, houses, furniture, cabinets, outdoor sculptures, and extravagent bird houses. Building is part of my roots!

In college, I had to take art history classes where I studied Romanesque churches, Gothic cathedrals, flying buttresses, cornices, naves, and so on. At the time I found it a bit mundane. Since then I’ve been fortunate to travel to Europe, and now find that those classes were very valuable when visiting various architectural sites. As I read the novel, I found myself intrigued by all the building practices of the time.

Although I’m not a builder, I now have a penchant for photographing ancient walls. While in Andalusia, Spain, I toured lots of Moorish architecture and photographed the walls and crumbling arabesque ornamentation. Those images were used as background textures in my Arborglyph and Arabesque monoprint series. I worked on this series for an exhibit in Kuwait in 2007.

Calligraphy is an important art form there. My Arborglyphs (calligraphy-like glyphs that have NO particular meaning) provide a visual link between cultures.

Arborglyphs and Arabesque: (2 symbols 1, 3) Ancient Rust Walls

Seraphine, the movie

Linda — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 23:32:08 +0000

One of my favorite past times is watching art movies and foreign films. Recently I saw a wonderful movie, Seraphine, at the local art movie theatre, Chez Artiste. This movie has won 7 French Academy Awards (Cesars) including Best Picture and Best Actress. The movie received great reviews.

Yolande Moreau is remarkably skilled at playing the real-life Seraphine, a lowly housekeeper in the daytime and an avid artist at night. Her guardian angel inspired her to become a self-taught painter (naive art), and she made her own “secret” colors from various natural ingredients in the French Senlis countryside. Her various rituals in life: housecleaning, shuffling through the woods in search of paint ingredients, singing to the Virgin Mary while painting by candlelight late at night; all are craftly portrayed in this poignant film.

In 1912, Seraphine was discovered by Wilhelm Uhde, an art critic, dealer, and early collector of such famous artists as Picasso and Rousseau. The story is of their relationship as artist and her sometimes benefactor, both with trials and tribulations, both with an excessive love for their art. It is a touching story of an artist’s perseverance through the harshest of circumstances.

I thought the movie Seraphine was beautifully photographed. In keeping with the theme, the director used “no warm colors” except for the ‘colorful paintings’ by Seraphine; no special effects, just great camera angles. It was a sobering , yet extremely inspiring film. How can anyone truely creative have any excuses for being non-productive after seeing the intensity of this artist who had many problems.

Below are a few quotes from an interview of the director, Martin Provost.

There are often people who are not erudite, who were not born in favorable circumstances, or close to culture, but who carry within themselves this incredible creative capacity, irrepressible and disturbing at times. These artists are like deep-sea fishermen, far from artistic evolutions and turmoil, with no teachers or disciples, and they don’t always get the recognition they deserve.

He also emphasized that rituals were a way of disciplining one’s life.

Z for Zorro

Linda — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 17:24:37 +0000

It’s all in your name!

When I was at an art festival last summer, I had a viewer look at my artwork for literally 30 seconds, and he exclaimed “I have to buy this!” A decision so quickly! Why?

It turns out that the monoprint he was enamored with had a huge red letter “Z ” slashing across the top of the image. And it so happens my client’s nickname is… “Z”. Sometimes art hits you between the eyes just like that!

Arborlyph: Z Zorro

“Z” also stands for Zorro, who was the masked character created in 1919 by Johnston McCulley in series The Curse of Capistrano. Zorro quite often slashed the letter “Z” as his signature. He was a cult hero in multiple magazines, comics, books, films, TV, stage, music, computer and video games. His name lives on…