The Art of Paul Klee

When I was about 15, I hung a reproduction of a Paul Klee painting of a head on the wall at the foot of my bed. Paul Klee shared my walls with Van Gogh and Marlin Brando but it was Klee that I saw the first thing in the morning and the last thing at night. The painting seemed simple enough, even childlike, but it continued to fascinate me.

Paul Klee was born near Bern, Swizterland. His father, a German, was a musician and Klee was drawn to both art and music and, though he ultimately chose art, he played violin for a time in the Bern Symphony.
Klee attended an art academy in Munich and then traveled throughout Europe where he saw the latest in art and thus was exposed to all the current art movements.

Primitive art, surrealism, expressionism, cubism, and children’s art influence the work of Paul Klee but he does not belong to any one movement. He has blended all these influences into his own unique art and he is one of a kind.

In 1914, Klee traveled to Tunisia where he had an almost mystical experience with the light there. “Color has seized me. I no longer need to pursue it; it has seized me forever, I know. That is the revelation of this blessed moment. Color and I are one. I am a painter.”

At first glance Paul Klee’s work seems very simple and can provoke statement like, “I could do that,” or “a child could do that.” But this simplicity is deceptive. Colors are layered over each other, juxtaposed, and re-arranged by sissors. Mysterious symbols, ransacked from conventional symbol systems like pictographs, diagrams, graphs, and cartoons, are yanked from their original settings to land mysteriously in a Klee work. Klee has said, “Art does not reproduce the visible; rather, it makes visible.” Works have whimsical titles like “Twittering Machine,”“Fish Magic,” and ”Dance, Monster, to my Soft Song.”

Klee was extremely prolific, producing over 10,000 pieces, most of them small drawings, paintings, or prints. He created new methods, often painting water colors on oil or chalk grounds applied to fabric or cardboard. He painted within oil transfer drawings applied to paper, sprayed watercolors around stencils, and combined oil and watercolor.

In 1933 Klee was teaching in Munich. The Nazis came to power and his art was declared “degenerate” and he lost his position and any possibility of exhibiting his work. He left Germany for Switzerland.
Klee died in 1940 of scleroderma.
When I was about 15, I hung a reproduction of a Paul Klee painting of a head on the wall at the foot of my bed. Paul Klee shared my walls with Van Gogh and Marlin Brando but it was Klee that I saw the first thing in the morning and the last thing at night. The painting seemed simple enough, even childlike, but it continued to fascinate me.

Paul Klee was born near Bern, Swizterland. His father, a German, was a musician and Klee was drawn to both art and music and, though he ultimately chose art, he played violin for a time in the Bern Symphony.
Klee attended an art academy in Munich and then traveled throughout Europe where he saw the latest in art and thus was exposed to all the current art movements.

Primitive art, surrealism, expressionism, cubism, and children’s art influence the work of Paul Klee but he does not belong to any one movement. He has blended all these influences into his own unique art and he is one of a kind.

In 1914, Klee traveled to Tunisia where he had an almost mystical experience with the light there. “Color has seized me. I no longer need to pursue it; it has seized me forever, I know. That is the revelation of this blessed moment. Color and I are one. I am a painter.”

At first glance Paul Klee’s work seems very simple and can provoke statement like, “I could do that,” or “a child could do that.” But this simplicity is deceptive. Colors are layered over each other, juxtaposed, and re-arranged by sissors. Mysterious symbols, ransacked from conventional symbol systems like pictographs, diagrams, graphs, and cartoons, are yanked from their original settings to land mysteriously in a Klee work. Klee has said, “Art does not reproduce the visible; rather, it makes visible.” Works have whimsical titles like “Twittering Machine,”“Fish Magic,” and ”Dance, Monster, to my Soft Song.”

Klee was extremely prolific, producing over 10,000 pieces, most of them small drawings, paintings, or prints. He created new methods, often painting water colors on oil or chalk grounds applied to fabric or cardboard. He painted within oil transfer drawings applied to paper, sprayed watercolors around stencils, and combined oil and watercolor.

In 1933 Klee was teaching in Munich. The Nazis came to power and his art was declared “degenerate” and he lost his position and any possibility of exhibiting his work. He left Germany for Switzerland.
Klee died in 1940 of scleroderma.

Photography Insights and Techniques

One might ask what photography is. What is the purpose of taking a photograph? For some, just a simple snap shot will do but, for others, there is more of a destiny to experience in the photograph. Photography captures a split second in time or, simply put, a moment captured in a blink of an eye. Photographers create illusions of realism which resembles the existent world with content and form that are inseparable. In effect, the photographer has generated a story all their own. 

Photography is made from anything perceived. Seeing is believing when the moment is captured on film regardless of the subject matter. No matter how many pictures are taken of the same subject by different individuals, the photographs will never be the same “style” because the subject is in the eye of the beholder. For example, you may like that shiny red 57’ Chevy in the front of the coffee shop, so you take a photograph. Your friend loves the seat in front of the coffee shop window with the reflection of the 57’ Chevy in the glass. There are two distinctly separate shots of the same subject but, emotionally, they are very different images. No two artists are identical and different viewers will never see the same photograph in the same manner. Photographs generate a mood that creates an emotion and they can be background or landscapes or nothing but a mere rust spot with texture. 

Photography not only captures that instantaneous moment in time but also captures a visual reality. Photography, when it was first invented, was used to represent the world accurately with little room or depiction of artistic ability. Thus, the photographer could have been anyone in the crowd, and that person brought forth the way things looked at the time—showing the world what is to be perceived. 

This is not the ways of photography in the 20th century. Photography is now a truly unique art form, and a photograph can hold two and three dimensional space, as well as a one point perspective. Photography gives us the opportunity for aestheticism our everyday world. Our attention is focused on what we would normally dismiss our attention focuses on seeing beyond the believable giving a visual sensation to our minds. A photograph can be captured in one-sixtieth of a second by the shutters of the camera. In effect, art happens in the “blink of an eye”. 

Since Kodak introduced the first hand held camera in 1888, giving photography a new mission and meaning, the world has never been the same. However, the technological advances have affected photography. It has strengthened the use of a camera and allowed the photographer far more precise subjective perceptions of the subject matter. According the book The World of Art, Life Magazine started publication in 1936, and American photography used photography as their tool of disclosure. “Pictures can be beautiful, but must tell facts too,” reveals the text. Photographers must include real life recognition with lines and rhythms of the surface because, without this, the photograph would be unresponsive. As an interesting insight, a horizontal photograph is peaceful; a photograph with less foreground brings dramatization and a photograph with more foreground shows nature connected with unity. 

Photography is different than other art medium, yet the classical compositions brought together by the artists of yesteryears are still used. Photography has many techniques and art forms that differ greatly. For instance, there is black and white photography that the photographer can develop easily in even a small amount of space. According to photographer and Professor of Art Mike Wonser, a dark room can be set up in a bathroom. The light must be blocked out, but the photographs can be developed in the bath tub! So, you do not need much space to work and it is magic to watch the photograph appear. Another simple technique was shared by George Jolokai. He stated “a photographer can carry a bottle of water to add shininess or reflections on the subject matter”. The magic of photography is endless. 

Another tool used in photography is the use of slow or fast shutter speeds. Slow shutter speeds can blur water, but the use of slow shutter speeds requires a tri-pod to prevent blurring the entire photograph. The water will blur because water is in constant motion but the background or other subject matter in the photograph remains still. 

Another form of photography is that of color photography. Color brings depth and musical rhythm and is a very powerful tool to the human senses. Color photography creates a complex interplay between form and content that can create dynamic color contrasts. The photograph process takes time because critical technical decisions must come from the photographer before the release of shutter that results in the capturing of an essence of time and mood on film. 

The basic elements of style, composition, and technique are the photographer’s tools for structure; it is the photographer’s imagination that leaves an impression embedded the minds of the viewer.

References 

Joloki, George (2004, Spring). Lecture Art 101, Central Oregon Community College, Bend< Oregon 

Sayre, Henry M. (2004) A World of Art (4th ed.) Pearson Prentice Hall. 

Wonser, M. (2004, Spring). Art History 203, Central Oregon Community College, Bend< Oregon

The Independent Film Scene in Eugene, Oregon

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The small, but active Independent film scene in Eugene, OR seems to be growing at the same pace as the bustling city itself. Even with a population of fewer than 150,000, Eugene is no stranger to the movies. The block buster comedy “Animal House” was shot at the University of Oregon campus, the Eugene celebration has just started the Best Film Festival to help showcase Oregon’s film industry, and the Bijou Art Cinemas continues to play fresh creative films on a daily basis. More activity is on the way.

The Oregon Screenwriters Group calls Eugene their home and meets at Eweb every month to share creative film works and help each other. Many of their members are film and television industry professionals who can offer invaluable help to newcomers. Their membership is free and open to anyone from writers, actors, actresses, filmmakers, producer, directors, camera folk, grips, to “Shakespeare’s ghost”. They are even working on organizing another Eugene Film Festival. Meetings are held the last Sunday of each month from 6-8pm and always at EWEB address: 500 East 4th Avenue Eugene. The Eugene Film Festival planning meetings are every other Thursday at 8:30 at EWEB, beginning Sept. 8th. Get involved!

The Eugene Celebration in 2005 will kick off the first annual Best of the Best Film Festival at the McDonald Theatre, 1010 Willamette St., in downtown Eugene. It’s goal is to showcase Oregon’s booming independent film industry and shed light on other exciting Oregon film festivals. Many different film genres and styles from animated shorts to full length features will be presented. The website to check out to stay up on all the latest happenings in independent film throughout Eugene would be the Eugene Indie. Other publication which would include festival information and screening would include the Eugene weekly, See the resources section for their websites and contact information.

If you want see the latest independent films all year round check out the Bijou Art Cinemas, an independent movie theater located between Mill and Ferry Streets, four blocks west of the University of Oregon campus. The “Spanish Mission” style building has been around since 1925, when it was designed by the first dean of of the U of O school of architecture. Besides showing film daily the Bijous is available for private movie screenings or celebrations. It has also been known to support local productions.

Homemade Baby Wipes

boston celtics baby clothes

One way to save money and keep your baby's skin healthy is to make your own baby wipes. Homemade baby wipes are easy to make, inexpensive, portable and convenient. All you need to make them is a roll of Viva or Bounty paper towels, baby bath liquid, water, and a container with a lid. 

Consider the savings involved: commercial baby wipes cost around $3.50 per package. They contain chemicals, fragrance, alcohol or other skin drying ingredients and water. A roll of Viva or Bounty paper towels runs about $1. You cut the roll in half, so each roll makes two refills of wipes. Baby bath liquid is about $1-2, and you only use 2 tablespoons per container of wipes, so it lasts a very long time. You choose the kind of baby bath liquid you will use, so you can get organic or all natural at your own choosing.

To make homemade baby wipes, first choose a cylindrical container a little larger than a quart container. It should be wide enough to hold a roll of paper towels cut in half the short way (a little larger than a roll of toilet paper). Be sure the container has a lid. Cut an "x" slit in the top center of the lid.

Take the roll of paper towels, and using a sharp knife, cut it in half so that each half resembles a roll of toilet paper. Place the paper towel half into the container so that the cardboard tube inside is in reach from the top of the container.

In a separate container, mix together two cups of water and two tablespoons baby bath liquid. Pour the mixture on top of the paper towels in the container and wait about five minutes for it to soak into the paper towels. Then, carefully pull the cardboard core out of the middle. The innermost paper towel piece should come up the middle with the core. Pull it through the slit you cut in the lid of the container and close the container.

When you need another wipe, just pull the paper towel through the slit in the top, and because it is perforated, it will conveniently tear off at the perforation, leaving the next wipe ready to pull through when you need it.

If you need portable wipes, just pull out the number you will want to take with you and place them into a zip lock plastic bag. Cut a small hole in the bag and pull through one end of the wipes. You may choose to put the bag of wipes into a small plastic portable wipes case to keep them protected from air. This way, your homemade baby wipes can come with you and your baby.

Natural homemade baby wipes are better for your baby's skin than commercial wipes, cost considerably less, and are easy to make.