August Bulletin 2016

The peachy hues and strokes of late summer

An American in Paris

 An American in Paris is a fun musical full of exuberant song and dance set to an exclusively Gershwin score. It stars the dynamic dancer, singer, actor, and choreographer Gene Kelly alongside impressively flexible Leslie Caron, who has a contagious ear-to-ear smile.

 The 17 minute ballet at the end of the film is the real stunner, as it brings to life the art of Van Gogh, Toulouse-Lautrec, Renoir, Utrillo, Rousseau, and Dufy in rhythm and vivacious sets and costumes.

 This storefront is so delightfully masculine, as was Gene Kelly's style of dance.

Notice all the vibrant stripes used against the simple leaf shapes.

 Gene Kelly even transforms into Toulouse-Lautrec's Chocolat in a hilariously wiggly dance!

 It is a riot of colour.

Magnifique!

Inspiration: Yellow

"Yellow is capable of charming God."
--Vincent Van Gogh

The Italian Doors

My friend Anni took this gorgeous photo in Tuscany, Italy. It reminds me of Van Gogh's Exterior of a Restaurant at Asnières; I adore its casual elegance.

Art Repros

I've been working on reproducing art from various movements, and I just wanted to share a few of the results! My versions are done in acrylic paint on 5'' by 5'' and 4'' by 6'' sheets of canvas paper. Through this project I've familiarized myself with different styles, and discovered a long list of artists' work I greatly admire.

Because of my love for textiles, of course, I decided to recreate a William Morris print from the Arts and Crafts movement. This one is titled Pomegranate and is originally from 1866.

I enjoyed replicating the bold architecture in Restaurant de la Machine à Bougival by Maurice de Vlaminck from 1905. Fauvism is one of the most bright and cheerful art movements!

I duplicated this Roy Lichtenstein work from 1963, Woman in Bath, as it is one of my favourite Pop Art images.

Finally, this is my reproduction of Exterior of a Restaurant at Asnières by Vincent Van Gogh in 1887. The bright yellow wall and potted plants make this Post-Impressionism painting so lemony and fresh!