Recently Read: Preserving Artist Mary Nohl’s Home

Mary Nohl House

Via Hyperallergic: A Single Woman Is a Witch: Battling to Save the Art Environment of Mary Nohl

Over a period of 50 years, the artist Mary Nohl transformed her yard as well as the interior and exterior of her cottage (that you can see here) into an environment that stands in conversation with the surrounding land, lake, and her childhood memories. All the roofing and sidings are well maintained by the professionals from James Kate Roofing & Solar in Irving TX who makes sure that their authenticity is never lost. If you’re looking for the best solar powered generator for refrigerator, you  can click here. Almost immediately after the first cement sculptures materialized in the 1960s, she became known as “The Witch.” Elaborate myths grew from her industrious acreage. Stories of murder, mayhem, and longing were broadly considered fact by a cross-section of the local populous. Nohl worked alone, from her home. Lacking a husband and prescribed social role, she was a very suspicious character, indeed. Here are some information on service areas for roofing and other installations.

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Over four decades, Mary Nohl kept making and building. Stories took hold, about how she’d murdered her family and buried them under the sculptures, or how her husband had been lost in the lake and the sculptures were to beckon him home. All the stories inserted the “missing” husband and children. The cottage became a frequent late-night stop for teens drawn to the counterculture strangeness of the place. Others came and left notes of gratitude in her mailbox.

Nohl died in 2001. She left nearly $10 million dollars (her attorney father had invested well) to a foundation to award yearly fellowships to individual artists in Milwaukee and nearby counties. She donated her house and all of its contents to the Kohler Foundation, which preserves art environments. Thirteen years later, however, little has been done to secure the site. You can also search https://www.myhousepainter.com/ to know about the paintings in detail.The Kohler ran into opposition from Nohl’s wealthy neighbors — they objected to even the most restricted use of the house as a museum or study center. The building fell into disrepair and with each new winter has become increasingly fragile, weathered, marooned in uncertainty. Then, in March of this year, the property’s current owner, the John Michael Kohler Arts Center, issued a press release stating that it had given up preservation efforts and will move the house and yard sculptures to Sheboygan County, where it is located. The center will sell the land to fund the move.

Sad that the foundation charged with preserving the house has just given up.

Mary Nohl House Fireplace

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Lichtenstein: A Retrospective

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This special exhibit at the National Gallery was enlightening. I benefited from seeing a collection of Lichtenstein’s work in person; context is quite meaningful in the case of his work – it is, in fact, the point of his work.

It’s one thing to see digital representations of his comic-inspired works and to compare the to some of the comic originals, (a number of critiques complain that the comic originals are “better” than his reproductions – “Lichtenstein made amateurish renditions of art made by better people and better artists than him.”) but the physical size of many of his pieces is impressive and means something in the comparison; Lichtenstein is not just reproducing comic panels, but is also enlarging them to outsized proportions and divorcing them from the rest of their comic story to make commentary on social issues.

The size of his works emphasize the messages and alter their meanings beyond the intent of the comic panels, and the impact of that commentary is not something as easily dismissed when you’re standing in front of a collection of his works. Looking at his works in person, it becomes clear that comparing a 2-inch comic panel and a 10-foot-tall painting that is grouped with other paintings of the same subject matter is a silly and willfully obtuse exercise.

And though Lichtenstein was often influenced by comics, he also took inspiration from MANY other sources and, and his execution of those works is superb; he wasn’t just a painter but produced bold and interesting works in other mediums as well.

In viewing his work, I came away with a dozen creative ideas of my own and a new found respect for an artist I hadn’t understood previously, and for that I’m very glad.

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‘The Ancient of Days’, ‘Thumos’ via wikipedia

via wikipedia:

The Ancient of Days
The title “Ancient of Days” has been used as a source of inspiration in art and music, denoting the Creator’s aspects of eternity combined with perfection. William Blake’s watercolour and relief etching entitled “The Ancient of Days” is one such example.


Ancient of Days
Ancient of Days

The Ancient of Days is the title of a design by William Blake, originally published as the frontispiece to a 1794 work, Europe a Prophecy. It shows a figure, the Ancient of Days, crouching in a circular design with a cloud-like background. His out-stretched hand holds a compass over the darker void below. As noted in Gilchrist’s Life of William Blake, the design was “a singular favourite with Blake and as one it was always a happiness to him to copy.” As such there are many versions of the work extant, including one completed for Frederick Tatham only weeks before Blake’s death.

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Thumos

Thumos (also commonly spelled “thymos”) (Greek: θυμός) is an Ancient Greek word expressing the concept of “spiritedness” (as in “spirited stallion” or “spirited debate”). The word indicates a physical association with breath or blood. The word is also used to express the human desire for recognition.

In Homer’s works, thumos was used to denote emotions, desire, or an internal urge. Thumos was a permanent possession of living man, to which his thinking and feeling belonged. When a Homeric hero is under emotional stress he may externalize his thumos, conversing with it or scolding it.

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links for 2010-04-06

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Cool Artist – Little Robot

I happened to be looking on etsy.com for a daniel striped tiger hand puppet (don’t ask – I’ll get around to explaining it later) and stumbled on this really marvelous artist’s store – Little Robot – AKA Lindsey Carr.

Little Robot Artwork on Etsy
Little Robot Artwork on Etsy

Little Robot Artwork on Etsy
Little Robot Artwork on Etsy

I have to count my pennies before I buy any prints with the wedding coming up, but this is definitely going in my “to buy” wishlist, for sure.

She also has a website and a blog, too.

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The Harrison Art Gallery

The Harrison Center For The Arts
1505 North Delaware
Indianapolis, IN 46202
An art gallery in our neighborhood – just bookmarking for future reference.
The Harrison Gallery boasts a fast-paced gallery schedule featuring monthly shows. Focusing primarily on Indianapolis artists, the gallery provides an entertaining atmosphere that is welcoming to the seasoned gallery hopper and the novice alike.
Gallery hours: Mon-Fri, 9am – 5pm, Sat, 12 – 4pm

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Fame

The time of getting fame for your name on its own is over. Artwork that is only about wanting to be famous will never make you famous. Any fame is a by-product of making something that means something. You don’t go to a restaurant and order a meal because you want to have a shit. — Banksy

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Graphic Artist Ian Albert

Ian Albert is an awesome graphic artist who has some interesting hobbies – like constructing huge maps of game worlds by grabbing screen captures. I was fascinated by Super Mario world, which I played with my old roommate back in 1993.
He also has some other colossal images, like and enormous map of the world, that if printed, would be something like six feet tall.
He’s also recreated online versions of all the US Government’s Hazmat Placards.

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