Mar 5 2020 - Incredible? The Mona Lisa

What is incredible these days?  Is it different than in previous times?  Incredible means something that is impossible to believe.  I expect we have so much captured in photos that a great deal of what happens today is credible rather than incredible.   But something that caught my attention was the Louvre re-opening.  The New York Times says it isn't providing guards in the Mona Lisa room to keep order. Thousands visit every day.  The measure is to protect guards, but leaves the public to decide for themselves. I realized that I find our fixation on the Mona Lisa an incredible thing. I was shocked to see in when I visited the Louvre.  Dark, dingy, small.  I was dismayed to see this famous painting.  But wait!  Here's the introduction in the Britannica HERE that speaks to my wondering about this painting's elevated status: "Five centuries after Leonardo da Vinci painted the Mona Lisa (1503–19), the portrait hangs behind bulletproof glass within the Louvre Museum and draws thousands of jostling spectators each day. It is the most famous painting in the world, and yet, when viewers manage to see the artwork up close, they are likely to be baffled by the small subdued portrait of an ordinary woman. She’s dressed modestly in a translucent veil, dark robes, and no jewelry. Much has been said about her smile and gaze, but viewers still might wonder what all the fuss is about. Along with the mysteries of the sitter’s identity and her enigmatic look, the reason for the work’s popularity is one of its many conundrums. Although many theories have attempted to pinpoint one reason for the art piece’s celebrity, the most compelling arguments insist that there is no one explanation. The Mona Lisa’s fame is the result of many chance circumstances combined with the painting’s inherent appeal."   And then the article goes on to outline all the interesting circumstances over the centuries that makes it famous. Another article outlines 7 mysteries that make the work mysterious - it is HERE. The part that fascinates me is da Vinci's relationship with his work: "Leonardo da Vinci worked on the painting for four years, and possibly at intervals after that. He always took it with him when he travelled, and he never signed or dated it." That seems to find incredible for me - Leonardo Da Vinci's passion and fixation for this painting lives on through us.  I found myself an artist to follow the other day on Redbubble.  Love the yellow lily they chose.  Here's a collage.

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Floyd Elzinga Extraordinary Artist

The Artist's Vision

Floyd Elzinga's Vision Floyd Elzinga is a sculptor in metal. He lives in Beamsville with his studio on Mountain Street. The natural world is his subject. Here's his Artist Statement from his website  http://www.floydelzinga.com   "Rotten stumps, broken branches, invasive species, ravaged trees as well as polar opposites and dysfunctional objects; these are the things that excite Floyd Elzinga. He has made a career out of highlighting and glorifying these through three dimensional sculpture, relief work and environmental installations for over 15 years. Current themes in his work focus on broken landscapes, portraits of trees and the aggressive nature of seeds." I asked Floyd's permission to photograph his work and to be able to publish my images. He is very receptive to this as his work is three dimensional sculpture, so the original work cannot be replaced or reproduced.  This allows me to to pursue my interest in pattern, line, texture and saturated colour with extraordinary subject matter - subjects of the artist's eye that incorporate the natural world and urban materials.