Thanks for reading Putting Your Body on the Line
Before I begin today’s post, I want to say thank you to everyone who read and forwarded my last post - Putting Your Body – and Life – on the Line. Over 300 people have clicked on the link to the video in just a few days – I don’t know if they’ve watched the entire 10 minutes, but they’ve at least looked. And maybe a few donations will have trickled in to the Fannie Lou Hamer Statue Fund. I know it’s a tough time to ask for money, especially when we’ve all just donated to Haitian relief. I sent a donation to Doctors without Borders, an organization that is already established in Haiti and certainly critically needed right now. But I think we can all squeeze out just a little bit more, especially with the stark reminder Haiti has given us of just how lucky we are. Tomorrow morning Ali and Allie, the two seventh-graders who made the video (they are now in tenth grade) will be showing it at the Martin Luther King Community Breakfast and later at the youth luncheon. I’m really proud of them. Especially in this photo, which was on the last post:
Mississippi Civil Rights Veterans with Ali and Allie
They are centered in this photo taken in Mississippi at the Mississippi Civil Rights Veterans Conference.
Pants on the Ground
One more item before today’s post. Did everyone watch Pants on the Ground? The American Idol audition of 62-year-old “General” Larry Platt who wrote this little ditty because he was tired of seeing kids with their pants hanging around their knees? It turns out he’s a civil rights veteran who marched with Martin Luther King and others! I love this guy. We’re all going to be singing Pants on the Ground, and there are some terrific remixes out there already.
Graceful Bodies, Bodies of Water
We finally made it to today’s post! Still working with the Creative Every Day theme of Body, I extended the theme a bit to bodies of water. Leah said we could interpret it broadly! I’m fascinated with water – the patterns in water, colors, and I’ve been wanting to do a collage using water. One thing led to another, and I came up with this.
I painted the background on canvas using acrylic paints. The rectangles and squares are from photos taken in Mazatlan, Pismo Beach, Cambria (both in California) and a fountain at Disneyland. Most of the paper is glossy but some, such as the long strip on the bottom, is Epson Velvet Fine Art Paper (I do all my printing myself). I got all that arranged to my satisfaction – after several days of looking, walking away, changing something, etc. But I needed a focus and grabbed that Japanese Print book we were discarding. I have a feeling that a whole series of collages is going to come out of this book. So I found the perfect images in color and shape, and they lent such grace to the collage. So we have Graceful Bodies, Bodies of Water.
I am particularly fond of this because it reminds me of some of the quilts my mother has made. Hers from cloth, mine from water (figuratively). It’s very poignant to think of my 86-year-old mom and her quilts as she still goes out to the studio and moves around blocks of cloth, but her memory isn’t there anymore and she can’t sew or quilt. None of us are sure, but I don’t think she realizes that she doesn’t actually quilt as she’s moving around cloth and planning what to do next. So in the best scenario, she’s still getting pleasure from it. For the rest of us, it’s quite poignant.
World Cup as Art
06.14
Tags: commentators, patterns, shadows, soccer, world cup
Posted in Art, Photography | 2 Comments »
Waaayyyy too early (My granddaughter puts lots of extra letters in words these days. It’s the style.)
My first World Cup adventure was going down to Sandrini’s Bar at 7:00 AM to watch the opening game. I admit, it was lots of fun, but it was waaayyyyy too early for me. I’m usually lucky to be ready to leave the house by 10! But I wanted the experience, and I wanted to watch South Africa play on their own turf.
United States and England
However, we turned on the United States/England match at a more civilized hour, and the first thing I noticed were patterns. It was amazing.
I guess the lighting was just right to cast those shadows. I could barely watch the game, I was so intrigued with this. The players look like they are on skis. Crossed skis going up and down the field.
I knew the shadows had to stick with the players, yet I still expected them to stay behind when someone moved. I’d never quite noticed what a unit a person and his shadow is.
You see why I have the photos. I bolted for my camera and tripod because I didn’t want to miss anything, and once I started – well – I could have shot the entire game on the television. Even the poor resolution was interesting – because the players look like they are outlined – an effect I think they offer on photoshop.
The most amazing things happen by accident. The players are almost in a semi-circle in front of the semi-circle. Don’t you just love this? I haven’t seen shadows like this on any of the games since.
These were great – with two players so close, their shadow skis criss-cross. I was still waiting for someone to walk out of his shadow – my mind still wanted it to happen while knowing that was ridiculous.
Reminds me of a photo I had fun with of my granddaughter and grandson looking at the Kern River, which I called Shadow Skiing. I loved their shadows. I think it’s in my art gallery. I have to say, I am not a photo shopper. I’m quite sure I could not recreate this.
I think I captured one of the big moments in the game by accident…
…judging by the look on this spectator’s face.
I put the camera on black and white to check that out.
It almost looks like a moving tick-tack-toe game.
Another double cross, and the guy on the left standing on the circle has one of his shadows obscured. Well, I could go on ad nauseum, like I do with the clouds, pointing out how each shadow is different from another – but I won’t.
Commentators
The English commentators are so interesting. I don’t watch soccer on television (I’ve watched plenty of soccer on the AYSO fields) so I don’t know what commentators usually sound like. I’m used to them practically screaming commentary in great excitement, like in Olympic skiing. But these guys are more measured. And they have a better vocabulary.
In saying something about the Paraguayans, the commentator called them “obdurate Paraguayans.” Have you ever heard a sport’s commentator say the word obdurate?
They described the play of the Italians in the European cup: “They looked like dinosaurs.”
After Paraguay got the first goal today, all the players were jumping up and down, and the commentator said, “the Paraguayans are absolutely frothy.”
One more – the television focused on a fan in the stands in some sort of outfit – a mascot maybe. The commentator said, “It’s not mandatory to come to World Cup matches in disguise.” It’s worth watching the matches for the commentary, even if you don’t like soccer.
Leaving you with shadows
End of post. Shadows and patterns. Can’t wait for Portugal and Ivory Coast tomorrow – with Cristiano Ronaldo, one of the best in the world playing for Portugal, and Didier Drogba, an amazing player and humanitarian playing for Cote D’Ivoire. At least I hope he plays – he has a broken arm.
I’ve posted these shadows before, but apropos of nothing, here’s a little Robert Louis Stevenson poem along with grandchildren and their shadows. But you’ll notice that they are about to leave their shadows behind. Stepping our from behind their shadows.