August 18, 2008

I finally joined a book club. Finally, because I’ve been wanting to do this since before seing the Jane Austen Book Club. Really. The first book is "The Witch of Portobello" by Paulo Coelho. I went and bought it this past weekend knowing nothing about its contents, being unfamiliar with the author’s work and from the title expecting some sort of fantasy.

I started reading and I realized right away that it was not a book about witches and wizards and magic with wands, though it does have a different kind of magic.

After the first 10 pages I was afraid I wasn’t going to like the book. After about 50 pages, I really didn’t like the main character, but now that I’m past the half way mark, Athena is starting to grow on me. I didn’t like her because I couldn’t understand her. I still don’t think that I understand her choices, but now that I know her better I can accept and like her as she is. I still think she’s silly and naïve. I like characters who show more reason and Athena is ruled too much by her senses and her heart. The way she meets people and the way she leaves her mark on them seems forced. I find it hard to believe that so many would like her and love her and follow her so easily. She hasn’t said or done anything that would have made me think of her as anything more than a "crazy lady".

I was surprised to see that parts of the book happen in Transylvania. And I like that the author did his homework and I didn’t cringe at any false facts. I also like the way the novel is structured and that it’s all told by different characters, where each of them understands and describes Athena in their own way.

Well, I still have a way to go before I form a final opinion on this book, but it is a page turner, so I am quite entertained.

August 9, 2008

To become a better writer, one reads a lot. To become a better artist, I continuously seek other artists and their art. I find that this is the best way I can learn new techniques and get new ideas. Here are some contemporary artists whose sites I've encountered recently.

Richard MacDonald - Sculpture/Graphics There are very few artists’ sites on the web compared to sites on other topics and there are even fewer sculptors’ sites. Richard MacDonald’s sculptures celebrate the beauty of the human body in a way I haven’t seen done since Rodin. His characters can be strong and tough and yet poses a lot of grace. The slideshows of sculptures on his website, I can watch over and over again.

Tom Haney - Sculpture/Artifacts I don’t know if I could call Tom Haney’s work sculptures. His art probably fits better in the artifacts category, but he does create 3D objects, so they do fit in the wider category of sculptures. He uses metal, wood, wires, electricity to create the most complex and ‘cute’ objects. Toys would be an appropriate word to describe them. They’re a show of creativity and ingenuity that’s rarely found. The best part is, they come to life too.

Ana Duncan - Sculpture Ana Duncan's sculptures are a show of beautiful simplicity of form and complex themes. The female form is apparent in most of her work, stretched and pulled by gravity displaying softness and strength.

Ralph Heimans - Painting When I look at his paintings I have to remember to breathe. Each of Ralph Heimans’ paintings holds so much beauty and emotion it’s hard for me to look away. They are not just paintings, they all have a story to tell and I have to stay and see it through.

Dan Krall - Painting Here is an artist who really knows how to have fun. Dan Krall’s art can be equally enjoyed by a younger audience and a more mature one. A child would be attracted by the cartoon like drawings and rich colors, an older person would find and ponder the hidden messages.

David Reeves - Painting For me, watercolors are a frightening medium, David Reeves is a god. I don’t remember seeing anywhere else so much control when it comes to watercolors as I’ve seen in his paintings. His paintings are an unbelievable show of mastery, but also of interesting and captivating subjects. He is a Canadian and his art celebrates Canada and its culture.

Ralph Goings - Painting I’ve never been much of a fan of realism. I’ve always thought that it would be easier to just take a photograph if the painting is not going to look any different, but on a closer look I cannot but admire the incredible skill and the patience involved in creating his paintings. Ralph Goings’ art embraces the American culture with its dinners and pickup trucks signifying freedom of movement.

Chris Buzelli - Painting I look at his paintings and I try to find the meaning, I think I understand what’s going on, but then I read the title and it’s like a bulb that goes on and I say "of course". Often I’m very close to the original intention. He seems to find the most creative and intelligent way to represent anything. Chris Buzelli’s paintings are captivating and what I really like about them is that there are so many ways one can look at them and understand them. In a way, they are very personal to the viewer.

Melissa Moss - Painting Melissa Moss’ art is simply beautiful. Her paintings float me away to a simple world where there are no conflicts just peace and beauty. There is a calming quality to her art. I can’t help but remember a perfect day floating on a lake keeping my hand in the water over the boat’s edge and listening to the wind and birds and nothing else.

Rafal Olbinski - Painting Rafal Olbinski’s art is my kind of art. His level is where I aspire to get. His art stretches the bounds of the imagination, creating a marvelous new universe.

Jovi Schnell - Painting Some of Jovi Schnell’s works look like drawings for a science project, one of those where a ball travels from one end of the construction to the other and on the way it sets off a triggers to light bulbs, open traps, pull levers, set off another ball. One has to stop and see where the maze ends. Her paintings have a poster like quality to them, being created with flat colors and simple lines, but they are also extremely inventive and wacky.

Duy Huynh - Painting I find Duy Huynh’s work to be darker than in general. His paintings often have a single person in them in a surreal landscape and to me they talk about the fact that we are all alone on our journey. We might get help at some point or other, but in the end, we’re by ourselves.

August 4, 2008

I am disappointed in the latest book by Stephenie Meyer. Breaking Down is simply bad. I am older than the average reader of the Twilight series, but just because a teenager likes a book that doesn’t mean that I cannot enjoy it too. Actually, I believe that a book that is read by a larger demographic is a better book. I have not read any reviews for Breaking Dawn yet, so I do not know what the general response is, but I found it boring. Stephenie Meyer is compared to J.K. Rowling a lot. A big difference is that J.K. Rowling thought about the Harry Potter series all the way to the last book, where the last book wrapped everything together nicely. The Twilight series, should have never been a series. I loved Twilight, the first book. I recommended it to my friends. I thought it was sweet and I cared about its characters. The books following Twilight are like movie sequels that are made only to grab money based on the success of the first one, never living up to the original.

With every book the main character Bella becomes less and less likable. I found it harder and harder to believe that Edward could still love her and stand her. She wines, she is unreasonable, she doesn’t care about anyone’s feelings. I struggled to understand her and have any compassion for her. I blamed it on her age. Truthfully she is very much a real teenager no matter what the author says that she's acting middle aged.

I was excited about the last book. I dragged my boyfriend to a bookstore at midnight to wait in line surrounded by screaming teenage girls. He wasn’t happy. I was lucky though. The Chapters’ employees were eager to get out of there, so they sold the books really quick and in half an hour I was out of the store with a copy of Breaking Dawn in my hand. I was six hundred pages in by 7:00 a.m. and extremely disappointed. I fell asleep at that time, but sometime in the evening of August 2nd I finished the book. I read it all, hoping that it would get better, that Stephenie wouldn’t let me down. Right now, I feel bad that I recommended the series to my friends. I feel embarrassed that I would tell anyone to read this book.

It feels as if Stephenie was afraid to upset her fans. I am not saying that she should have killed one of the main characters like J.K. Rowling killed Dumbledore, but nothing happens in 800 pages. I have just read an entire book about bliss. There are no challenges, no real obstacles, no struggles, nothing to make me care. There were occasions for great moments, but Stephenie avoided them, feared them and never went through with them. I would have even gone along with the preposterous plot if something would have happened in this book. Besides making me chuckle at how ridiculous it was in some places, I didn’t get much else out of Breaking Dawn.