An introduction to abstract art and painting: what it is, how it developed.

“Of all the arts, abstract painting is the most difficult. It demands that you know how to draw well, that you have a heightened sensitivity for composition and for colours, and that you be a true poet. This last is essential.” — Wassily Kandinsky.

Acrylics are fast-drying paints that can be used on canvas, board, or paper (almost any surface, in fact).

Acrylics are extremely versatile, fast-drying paints, and can be used straight from the tube like oils or thinned with water or a medium and used like watercolors. And a lot in-between. Here are a few tips to help you get started painting with acrylics.

Things you shouldn’t say when asked to critique paintings.

My first encounter with Berlin was back at uni when a group of us caught a flight to do a city trend report, and to sneak into the fashion trade show Bread and Butter; which we succeeded in doing.

The pictures from this post are from a visit when I was an official attendee of Bread and Butter, but don’t worry, it’s not a post filled with pictures of t-shirt graphics and jeans, but some shots from a free morning roaming the city before jumping on my flight back to London.

Here’s the end result:

Self Critique: I still have that nasty habit of crushing the blacks too far.
Translation into non-geek language: The image lost too much color information in the darker regions because I made the shadows too intense

Today marks the second annual National Dance Day.  To celebrate, I have listed my favorite dance movies of all time.  Enjoy!

10. Dirty Dancing (1987) – The late Patrick Swayze was wonderful as Johnny, the rebel dance instructor.  And remember, “Nobody puts Baby in a corner!”

9. Flashdance (1983) – If Alex (played by Jennifer Beals) can get into a prestigious ballet school after working as welder and exotic dancer, then anybody can!  Dancers everywhere wore cut-up sweatshirts after this movie.

8. Dancers (1987) – Mikhail Baryshnikov and Julie Kent starred as professional dancers making a film version of the famous ballet, Giselle.  The dancing was beautiful, and I still have my official movie poster!

7. White Nights (1985) - Mikhail Baryshnikov and the late Gregory Hines are featured in this classic.  Who can forget Hines’ brilliant moves, Misha’s famous pirouette scene, or “Say You, Say Me” by Lionel Richie?

6. Fame (1980) – Who didn’t want to be a student at the New York High School of Performing Arts?  I love how the film weaves the students together in their various genres.  And obviously, Debbie Allen rocks as Lydia!

5. Billy Elliot (2000) – This film shows how Billy, played by the unbelievably talented Jamie Bell, uses dance to find joy and overcome his obstacles.  It’s a fabulous story that you will never forget.

4. All That Jazz (1979) – This movie is the semi-autobiographical tale of the legendary Bob Fosse.  It’s a fascinating look into the world of Broadway.  The dancing is spectacular, and I absolutely love Ann Reinking as Kate.

3. Black Swan (2010) – This film was frequently advertised as a “psychological thriller”.  What a massive understatement!  The way in which director Darren Aronofsky uses the story of the ballet, Swan Lake, is genius!  Natalie Portman and Mila Kunis are both incredible, and the dancing is heartbreakingly gorgeous.

2. Center Stage (2000) – The love triangle between Jody (Amanda Schull), Cooper (Ethan Stiefel), and Charlie (Sascha Radetsky) is played out on stage during the big performance finale.  This movie gives a realistic view of the pursuit of becoming a professional ballet dancer.  The dance sequences are amazing, and the soundtrack is awesome!

1. The Turning Point (1977) – This film has an outstanding cast with Mikhail Baryshnikov as Yuri, Shirley MacLaine as Dee Dee, Anne Bancroft as Emma, and Leslie Browne as Emilia.  The story revolves around the sacrifices that must be made to become a professional dancer and the conflicts that arise on the way to the top.  The dance scenes are excellent with Emilia and Yuri, and the cat-fight scene between Emma and Dee Dee is unforgettable!

My daughter has recently become very curious about all things Harry Potter. She has caught bits and pieces of the first two movies on TV. Consequently, she asked to see the movies in their entirety. So, I borrowed all of the DVDs from a friend, and we began our Harry Potter movie marathon this week. We successfully made it through years 1 – 5, albeit with lots of pauses of the remote for explanations along the way. We stopped during “The Half-Blood Prince” because it became too intense for my daughter. But, she is totally hooked and plans to be Hermione for Halloween this year.

Watching all of the movies again reminded me of how many wonderfully magical details J. K. Rowling packed into her brilliant series. I thoroughly enjoyed reading all the books, so I want to do so again soon. I still love and feel connected to those characters who tug on my heartstrings … those like Hagrid, Dumbledore, Sirius, and of course, Harry himself. But, I also recalled the visceral reactions that I have to the villanous characters. Obviously, no one who enters the world of Harry Potter can help but loathe the Malfoys, Bellatrix, and Voldemort. But, I had forgotten until I re-watched “The Order of the Phoenix” just how horrible and infuriating Dolores Umbridge is!

Which characters from the Harry Potter series do you like and dislike the most, and why?

I will never forget August 9, 1995.  I was driving through Atlanta, Georgia with my mother.  We were on our way to Auburn, Alabama where I was about to begin my adventures as a graduate student.  A radio announcer broke in to say that Jerry Garcia had passed away.  I can not describe the reaction I had because it’s difficult to articulate how much Jerry and the Grateful Dead mean to me.    

You see, even though I was in my early twenties then, I had been lucky enough to see the Dead perform live a total of six times.  I was introduced to the band by a very special person.  He took me to my first show on March 1, 1992 at The Omni in Atlanta.  I saw five shows in Atlanta in 1992 and 1994, and one show at the Dean Smith Center in Chapel Hill, North Carolina in 1993.  All of these shows were while I was an undergraduate student at Clemson University.  So, you see, Jerry represents the carefree happiness of my youth.  Seeing those shows and listening to their music with different friends over the years are some of my most treasured memories of all time.  Jerry was a brilliant musician, and he was a beautiful singer.  Luckily, the Dead always allowed fans to record their shows, so “The Music Never Stopped”.

As a tribute, I hope you enjoy these lyrics from one of my favorite Grateful Dead tunes, “Brokedown Palace”.

Not you.

#5 : Over-done Karaoke Standards

Some of these are good, fun songs, and I have even sung them when I was a karaoke noob myself. This might be something that only bothers veterans, but here is a short list of popular songs that get done to death and become karaoke old hat. Including, but not limited to:
+ Bohemian Rhapsody; I know it was in Wayne’s World. I know it is fun to sing; I know Queen rocks. Queen has lots better songs though, srsly.
+ Black Velvet/Fever; if you are a bar skank you might not be able to chemically resist singing one of these. Try though.
+ Love Shack/Summer Nights/Picture; duets are tempting cause your buddy gets to join you, but these duets hurt my heart. You don’t do a good Fred Schneider, okay? No one does.

#4 : Too Long/Repetitive

Be mindful of the time. I personally think there should be a law against songs over 5 minutes but any song is going to seem longer when there is a monitor telling everyone about the 45 measure musical break. Shorter songs leave your audience wanting more, or at least with less time to think about your performance. Time isn’t the only factor: if you can’t think of more than one line of lyrics in a song, that might be because there are very few others. Turns out the only lyrics in I Know What Boys Like are “I know what boys like.” Over and over again.  Repeating the same thing multiple times can make a song seem hours long, as can the song actually BEING too long. That is why the worst thing you can do to yourself is to sing American Pie, trust me.

#3 : Downers

There are a lot of terrible songs in the world that will not be made better by amateurs singing them. But surprisingly there are a lot of pretty good songs in the world that make for awful karaoke. Of course, there is no accounting for taste and you might love Hotel California (even though it is complete shit) but doing it at karaoke has been proven to be no fun for anyone. Avoid the Downer! If a song on the radio ever made you tear up, then don’t inflict it on a room full of people trying to party. Slow, sad songs have their place, they can be beautiful and moving, but without fail they bore the pants off of drunks. Not literally, unfortunately.

#2 : Freestyle

Hopefully you have never had to experience this, but sometimes aspiring rap stars will sign up for a song and then freestyle rap over it. This always turns out the same way, which is boring and annoying. It is usually accompanied by some embarrassing peacocking and/or random shit talk on something, which can be scary depending on how drunk and how white trash the crowd is. There is another less forward way to freestyle, but I think even MORE annoying, it is to egregiously over-sing/add vibrato to the end of every line of the song. Both versions are teeth-grindingly bad and make the singer look like a total jackass.

#1 : Shy Guy

When I tell people that I do karaoke the response is always the same. First, “OH GAWD, DO YOU SING?!?” followed by, “I WOULD HAVE TO BE SOOOO DRUNK TO SING.” Of all the karaoke faux pas I have identified, arguably the hardest to watch is the shy-person-who-thinks-they-are-drunk-enough-to-sing/shy-person-who-is-drunk-enough-to-be-bullied-by-their-asshole-friends-into-singing. These shy guys start confident, but when the music starts and they are on, they suddenly go silent. They might mumble a line here or there, maybe speak up a little around the chorus. Other than that they spend the whole time thinking this works just like the National Anthem, moving their mouths but not actually singing anything. Wastes valuable yelling time if you ask me.

All these things can bring down a night of otherwise super fun, singing, drinking, and ROCKING. Notice that there is nothing on the list about not being a talented singer. This is because talent in singing is the least important factor of good karaoke. The key is to bring the energy and bring the fun! So if you think you don’t like karaoke, you might.  Try avoiding the above and combating them when encountered with energetic fun shit and yelling. Or, turn it around on a group of karaoke downers with what we like to call Asshole Karaoke. If you can’t beat ‘em, SEE HOW THEY LIKE IT.