Category Archives: art

the arts of peace.

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not me, nor my garden

but he and i have similar attitudes

and this warmer weather

really has me wanting to get my garden going

then just stand back

and take it all in. 

(hello to claude monet, at giverny gardens in 1923, perhaps thinking about painting it)

“to plant a garden is the chief of the arts of peace.”

~ mary stewart

‘trash has given us an appetite for art.’- pauline kael

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A New York garbage depot holds a secret collection of weird and wonderful refuse.

The Treasures in the Trash Collection

On the second floor of a nondescript warehouse owned by New York City’s Sanitation Department in East Harlem is a treasure trove—filled with other people’s trash.

Titanic. The Exhibition

– DMV

Titanic. The Exhibition

Most of the building is used as a depot for garbage trucks, but there’s a secret collection that takes over an entire floor. The space is populated by a mind-bogglingly wide array of items: a bestiary of Tamagotchis, Furbies; dozens of Pez dispensers; female weight lifting trophies; 8-track tapes; plates, paintings, sporting equipment and much more.

The Treasures in the Trash collection, was created entirely out of objects found by Nelson Molina, a now-retired sanitation worker, who began by decorating his locker. Collected over 30 years, it is a visual explosion, organized by type, color, and size. Atlas Obscura had the chance to visit the collection with the New York Adventure Club, take some photos, and revel in the vast creative possibilities of trash. Unfortunately, this isn’t a collection that keeps regular hours; drop-ins are not allowed. For more information on the occasional organized tours, email tours@dsny.nyc.gov. Sanitation workers are welcome anytime.

“uncommon thinkers reuse what common thinkers refuse.”

-j.r.d. tata

 

 

source credits: atlas obscura, dylan thuras, new york adventure club

collection location: 343 East 99th St., New York, New York, 10029 usa

 

 

tangerine dreams.

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wh0 wouldn’t love to have a tangerine cat?

“our holiday food splurge was a small crate of tangerines, which we found ridiculously thrilling after an eight-month abstinence from citrus. lily hugged each one to her chest before undressing it as gently as a doll. watching her do that as she sat cross-legged on the floor one morning in pink pajamas, with bliss lighting her cheeks, i thought; lucky is the world, to receive this grateful child. value is not made of money, but a tender balance of expectation and longing.”

-Barbara Kingsolver

Barbara is a Pulitzer Prize-winning American novelist, essayist, and poet. Her widely known works include The Poisonwood Bible, the tale of a missionary family in the Congo, and Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, a nonfiction account of her family’s attempts to eat locally. Lily, mentioned above, is her daughter, now also an author and an environmental scientist.

 

 

image credit: pinterest

the language of hands.

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“look, i made a map! and it goes right to my house!”

 

‘the most expressive part of the body when it comes to art. 

for a child, their hands often become their voice.’

-the art of creativity

white on white.

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the kinder painted

using play feathers and real fingers

and colors they mixed and made

 one

chose to paint

only white on white paper

 to see what it would look like

 it was a beautiful painting

all nuance and shade and texture.

“renoir said once that nothing was so difficult, and at the same time so exciting, to paint, as white on white.”
– ambroise vollard

hot pizza.

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Pics: Archaeological Park of Pompeii

The image is believed to be a pizza predecessor; a focaccia-style bread covered with fruit such as a pomegranate and dates, and a type of pesto.  – Courtesy Archaeological Park of Pompeii

 

A 2,000-year-old painting uncovered in Pompeii could show a “distant ancestor” to the modern pizza, archaeologists have said.

The art was discovered on the wall of an ancient house during an excavation – but the food it depicts looks slightly different from your Friday night takeaway.

Iconic ingredients such as tomato and mozzarella are nowhere to be seen, and it appears the flat focaccia bread has been seasoned with spices instead.

And while a goblet of wine placed on the silver tray might be more familiar to 21st-century pizza lovers, most of us would choose a side of garlic bread over dried fruit.

The painting was discovered just 14 miles (23km) from Naples, where the traditional art of pizza making has been granted UNESCO protection.

Pompeii was destroyed by an eruption of Mount Vesuvius almost 2,000 years ago, but the site was not discovered until the 16th century.

Since January, there has been a burst of archaeological activity that is designed to halt years of decay and neglect.

The painting was discovered in the hall of a house that had a bakery attached to it.

“Pompeii never ceases to amaze, it is a casket that always reveals new treasures,” Italian culture minister Gennaro Sangiuliano said.

Gabriel Zuchtriegel, the director of Pompeii’s archaeological park, believes the artwork reminds us of how far the humble pizza has come.

“How can we fail to think, in this regard, of pizza, also born as a ‘poor’ dish in southern Italy, which has now conquered the world and is also served in starred restaurants,” he said.

Almost a third of Pompeii remains buried under ash – meaning there will be countless other hidden gems that are worth quite a lot of dough.

 

“pizza makes me think that anything is possible.”

-henry rollins

in honor of national pizza week

 

 

credits: sky news, connor sephton

humanity.

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our class of 3’s-4’s

met with their learning partners

a 4th grade class

and together

they read a book

learned about what Dr. King

stood for and fought for

in his own peaceful way

talked about

what love, fairness, equality

meant to them

then created

a lovely art piece together

each to become a square

in a large paper quilt

created by the whole school

a beautiful collaboration.

 

“make a career of humanity.

commit yourself to the noble struggle for equal rights.

you will make a better person of yourself,

a greater nation of your country, and a finer world to live in.”

-Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.  – March for Integrated Schools, April 18, 1959.

snowflake.

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2500 hours across 5 years – “The Snowflake,”

featuring more than 400 snowflakes, all in relative size to one another.

photography by *don komarechka

*Don Komarechka is a nature & landscape photographer located in Barrie, Ontario, Canada. Born and raised in Sudbury, Ontario, Don is no stranger to cold winters. From auroras to pollen, insects to infrared, much of Don’s photographic adventures reveal a deeper understanding of how the universe works. Snowflakes are no exception.

Don began studying the science of snowflakes the same day he first photographed them, nearly four years prior to the publication of this book. Since then, snowflakes have been a non-stop passion.

Each one of Don’s snowflake images is photographed on an old black mitten at his home. Barrie, Ontario is known for higher levels of winter precipitation, making it a great location to capture hundreds of beautiful specimens.

Always science-minded but never formally trained, Don uses photography as a way to explore and understand the world around him. Photographing something unusual or unknown is the perfect excuse to learn something new.

“nature is full of genius, full of the divinity; so that not a snowflake escapes its fashioning hand.”
-henry david thoreau

collage.

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my class, getting into the collage style of art

not me, but very similar to how my house l0oks

when i’m happily immersed in my favorite way to create art,

collage.

“collage is more than just an art style.

collage is all about bringing different elements together.

once you form a sensibility about connection,

how different elements relate to each other,

you deepen your understanding of yourself and others.”

-bryan collier, american writer and illustrator

tribute.

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during the wake

we all gathered inside

close together

to talk, eat, laugh, cry, listen to music, tell stories, remember

celebrate a life

the children from 4-10

all played together

went outside

chalk in hand

 wrote a beautiful welcome to all who would come

and loving tributes to the one who had left.

“tears are words that need to be written.”

-paul coelho