Author's posts
Aug 04 2022
Charley Harper’s Fresh Modernist Take on America’s Wildlife
Today is the birthday of American Modernist artist Charley Harper, born August 4, 1922 on a farm in Frenchton, West Virginia. He is best known for his unique self-described “minimal realism” artistic interpretation of American wildlife. After growing up on the farm, he went to the Art Academy of Cincinnati, where he met his wife, Edie Mckee, …
Jul 30 2022
Kate Bush – “Suspended in Gaffa”
Jul 28 2022
“Palm Valley” by Albert Namatjira
Jul 17 2022
Aleksandr Petrov, Master of Painted Glass Animation
Today is the birthday of Aleksandr Petrov, the Russian animator born July 17, 1957, in the village of Prechistoye. He is known for his unique technique of creating animations from pastel oil paintings on glass, using his fingertips to paint for added texture. Petrov’s first animation was made in 1988, Marathon, and was a tribute …
Jul 17 2022
Happy Birthday Disneyland! Here’s a Look at Some of the Events of Opening Day
Disneyland opened its gates on July 17, 1955, on a plot of land in Anaheim, California that previously consisted of orange groves. It cost $17 million to open the park, and its opening day was referred to as “Black Sunday” by Disney employees for years afterward because it had a bumpy start. Several rides were …
Jun 30 2022
Remembering “Mayor of Macdougal Street” Dave Van Ronk
Folk singer & songwriter Dave Van Ronk was born on June 30, 1936, in Brooklyn, NY. As a young boy enamored with the local jazz and folk music of his day, he learned to play the guitar, and when he was a little older, he played banjo in a group. He also played piano, possibly inspired …
Jun 29 2022
Soviet Film Wednesday: A Rainy Story
Inspired after seeing this at Soviet Visuals and Folklore Film Fest‘s #SovietFilmWednesday, this was the first Soviet film I shared a little over two years ago, and it is still one of my favorites. What can I say, I love rain and cats, and the illustrations are beautiful. A Rainy Story is about a cat who wanders …
Jun 25 2022
Joseph Eichler Brought Sunny, Stylish Housing to the Public
Joseph Eichler was born on this day, June 25, 1900, in New York City. He lived in a Frank Lloyd Wright home in Hillsborough, California for a while, and was so inspired by Wright’s new naturalist designs, that he founded a company that eventually created modern, innovative housing for the Greater San Francisco Bay and Greater Los Angeles areas, …
Jun 24 2022
Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark – “Enola Gay”
Jun 22 2022
Soviet Film Wednesday: The Scarlet Flower
The Scarlet Flower (Аленький цветочек, Alenkiy tsvetochek) is a popular Russian folktale based on Sergey Aksakov’s rendition of the classic fairy tale Beauty and the Beast. Similar to the traditional tale, it begins when a merchant father, Stepan Yemelyanovich, asks his three daughters what gifts they would like from his travels. The oldest daughter, Gordeya, wishes for …