Quoth the Raven

Whats new? A fresh look at Artist, Stephanie Hargrave

I have made mention of Stephanie Hargrave in the past, but cannot express enough just how much I admire her work. Her latest exhibit, the Onion series, as seen here, is bold and richly textured. Her work is truly unique. Her work includes painting, sculpture and ceramics, what better way to exhibit a piece of art than to use it for entertaining purposes?

I will be meeting with Stephanie in a couple of weeks to view some of the pieces in her gallery. I wil then give you a first-hand account of her work...I may even go all out and purchase some of her work? (shhhh don't tell Joel I said that, hang on, it may be hard to hide a painting?)

For now you can visit her gallery online.

Arghhhhhhhhhhh....

The 'Scream' may have been stolen from Norway Museum, but no one can silence the silent scream that is welling up within my soul......

Oh, faithful web followers, those who have been with me from the beginning, know that Edvard Munch's
Scream is one of my favorite art pieces. So today I am mourning the loss of this wonderful painting. While reading the BBC News online I was dismayed to find that thieves have stolen my painting, again!!

If you have read the article, you will notice that it is dated August 22, 2004. I am suffereing a delayed reaction to the trauma incurred on that dreadful day. I went into denial and just assumed that my painting would have been returned to the Museum, just as a baby longs to return to the arms of a nursing mother. I cannot let denial rule any longer........please, dear thief return my painting to its rightful place!

I feel a hollow, a void in my heart since you went away. My denial turned into mourning, but now anger is beginning to well up within me. How could you do this, you dirty rotten thief! To have the audacity to steal my painting, in broad daylight! How could you? Why would you take one so young, one so fragile, one so beautiful? To think that I may never see my painting again. To imagine one day standing in the Munch Museum, only to stare blankly at a vacant space......a space where my painting used to hang.

Innocence

I happened to stumble across this website and fell in love with this photo. The baby appears so calm, so at ease with life; living in a world full of possibilities and without a care in the world........

For more images from this photographer see Lloyd Erlick

The Nameless Nude

"A great artist....must be shaken by the naked truths that will not be comforted. This divine discontent, this disequilibrium, this state of inner tension is the source of artistic energy." Goethe

I am now the proud owner of an original art piece. I would love to tell you the story of how this piece came into my possession........

I could tell you of my casual stroll into a wonderful gallery in New York, London, or even Sydney, anywhere actually? How I saw a particular piece and was totally in awe. I would love to tell you how I did not hesitate but purchased the original, right then and there. Walking out of the gallery, with a grin from ear to ear, knowing that within a couple of hours, that amazing piece would be hanging proudly on my wall. I would love to tell you all this, but I cannot. I can tell you that I have walked into many galleries throughout the world, stood in awe before many fine pieces of artwork. Only to find out the value of a particular piece that I may be attracted to, and then to wonder why I keep tormenting myself by by even looking?

My story begins here. I love to find a bargain. But I don't always like looking for a bargain, if you know what I mean. I have been to many a thrift store in search of books, and at times I even come across books that end up on my book shelves. The only problem being, it is both tiring and mentally draining to search through so many 'pebbles to find just one priceless gem'.

This one saturday I happened to check the listings for garage sales, not that I thought I would go to any, but I like to be aware of what is going on around me. I just so happended to spot one that is only 5 mins from my home. So off we go. It just so happens that we end up in the basement of a lovely woman's home, viewing shelves of books. Yes, I know I am talking about my original sketch, but I cannot pass up the opportunity to add some books to my collection. We are just about done, as my arms were already full of books, when I notice there is another area with more sale items. That is when I stumbled onto a wonderful print by Degas of 'A Seated Woman Drying Herself'. Actually, I did not know alot about this artist, and I must say I was more taken by the wonderful frame (only $35). I kept walking, as my husband was beginning to get impatient. It was at this moment that I noticed the charcoal/crayon sketch of a nude woman. Now I have never really cared about nudes, as they are typically sketches of plump models, which does not really inspire me. Gee, if I want to see a plump nude I can stand naked in front of a mirror! So as I was about to walk away, the dear lady mentions that this is an original piece, and that she has another couple of pieces (oil/charcoal sketches) upstairs (unfortunately these were not for sale). She is about to move to New York and cannot fit everything into the new apartment. Well, I am still not convinced by the nude, and head home with my trunk full of books. Of course it is a woman's prerogative to change her mind, and my mind changed as soon as I arrived home. But it was too late as the garage sale had ended for the day and would not be open until tomorrow......of course tomorrow was the day of my 'half marathon' so I would not be able to get back to the garage sale until 11.30am! Will the sketch still be there? I decided that I would just have to wait, and buy which ever piece was available, if any?

Well, you already know the ending to this story. Really, do you think I would be telling you all this, only to finish up by telling you how wonderful the sketch was - that someone else now owns? Of course not! I managed to convince my husband to rush back with me after the race (well, I admit he was a little more exhausted than me, being that I walked 3.1 miles, and he ran 6.7 miles). We also had to battle traffic due to the Seattle Gay Pride Parade just starting. But love makes you do crazy things. I loved the sketch enough to do whatever I could to own it, and my husband loves me enought to help me get what I want. (To tell the truth, I was even tempted to drive down after my race and check for the sketch, and hope that my husband had not finished his before I got back. Yes, call me slightly obsessive, if you will).

So to cut a long story short, the garage sale was still on, the wonderful Owner was still there; and even happy to see us again. I told her that I was interested in the naked lady, and was she still here? Yes, yes, yes, my sketch was still hanging on the wall, alone, all she was wearing was the $20 price label, casually taped to her body. The Owner was so happy that she offered to take me upstairs to show me the other pieces done by the same artist, Hilary Taub. They were breathtaking! We then went downstairs to pick up the 'nameless lady' who will drape my wall.

What a perfect day! Hey, if that wasn't enought, the lady offered me both pictures for $30. Only $30 can you believe it!! So that is how I managed to become the proud owner of the 'nameless nude'.