A point where two rivers converge

As I have mentioned before, last week my class had the fortune of visiting the Two-Rivers Art Gallery, and it was a wonderful experience. I visit the gallery often, usually with a friend, and I have always thoroughly enjoyed myself. But this time was different. This time I was there as a perspective teacher and my eyes were opened to the possibilities that were available there for me to share with my students. I knew that one could bring a class to the gallery, but I had never known that the gallery would come to my class. This is great news, for as much as I love art my talents in the area of creating it are somewhat limited. And I know that it is not about the finished result, but having a good sample for the students to model themselves off of and clear artistic feedback from a trained professional would be invaluable, especially for those students who are more artistically inclines. I plan on taking full advantage of these service when I become a teacher.

So next time you are in the area, visit the Two-Rivers Art Gallery. I guarantee you will not be dissapointed.

Excelsior!

I finished my last post with the exclamation "Excelsior" and I realized that many people may not know what that alludes to. Excelsior is the calling card that the immortal Stan Lee left at the end of all of his letters to fans when he was the Editor-in-Chief at Marvel Comics. And that brings me around to the topic that I want to talk about. Comic books.

To some, comics are children's books; books that have pictures for those who cannot read "adult" books. It is unfortunate that that mindset still exists, but I am grateful that the world has opened up to the idea that not only can comic books be great works of literature, but that they can also be great works of art. And such a variety of art. I came to the comic book world later in life than some, but there are artist names that even I recognize as being connected with great stories. Not just great art, but through that art great stories. Jim Lee, for example, who with writer Chris Claremont created the classic X-Men #1 (vol 2) that is still the best-selling comic book of all-time with sales of over 8.1 million copies. The number of people who have seen this man's artwork and have been inspired by it is mind boggling.

X-Men #1 (vol. 2)

A fellow Canadian, Todd McFarlane is a cartoonist, artist, writer, toy designer and entrepreneur, best known for his work in comic books, such as the fantasy series Spawn. McFarlane is the ultimate artist in the world of comics, with his imagery being turned into toys and movies. When he broke away from big business and created his own title, Spawn #1 sold 1.7 million copies, which is still a record for an independent comic book.

Spawn #1

So while artists like Picasso and Rembrandt may have their place in current history books as artists of great renown, I believe that future history books will have a place for comic book artists like Lee and McFarlane between their covers.

The art that time forgot...

Isn't it unfortunate how the wonderful world of art can sometimes take a backseat to other, more pressing matters. That is botht the nice and the unfortunate thing about art. It can wait. There is usually no pressure to draw that picture or play this song; it is something that fills up your in between time whenever you have a free moment. But then, sometimes you really want to enjoy it, talk about it, write about it but you just cannot find the time.

For example, last week I visited the Two-Rivers Gallery with my class and I had a very interesting time. There were two great shows going on and I was inspired to write about what I saw and felt. Yet life seemed determined to get in the way. I worked, and I had large assignments due for every other class. Every time I had the urge to post I had other more pressing matters. And that makes me feel that it is easy to undervalue art. Because you know that it is always going to be there, waiting for you, never judging the amount of time that you spent away, it is easy to take art for granted. But I don't want to take art for granted. I want to share my thoughts, my ideas and my opinions about the different artistic things that have struck my fancy. So prepare to be blown away as I unleash the posts that have building up in me but have only n ow had the opportunity to be released. Excelsior!