Arts and crafts

I feel less and less like posting on PF, especially considering that the summer temperatures are ending and I'd like to focus on making art, practicing different techniques, etc. But there's this thread that I wanted to make for quite a while now and so I decided to make it now in case I'll go MIA during autumn lol An art thread, of course :)

I'd like this to be a general thread about art (paintings, drawings, sculptures, comic book art, digital art, photography, you name it) and handcraft (from handmade jewelry to furniture makeovers).

If you have any favourite artists or you'll stumble upon something you think is worth sharing then it would be cool if you guys posted it here :)

I'd like to start with an oil painter Gabriela Elgaafary from Lithuania. From what I managed to gather she's a stay-at-home mom with little kids who paints whenever she has time. I'm guessing that's why her paintings aren't very big - thanks to this she can finish them faster :) She paints still life - mainly yummy stuff like fruit, sweets and sometimes her kids' toys. I'd say that her paintings are a kind of "comfort art" for me - they make me feel good :))) She seems like a nice, warm person and I think this shines through in her art. A fun fact about her - she speaks Lithuanian, English, Russian and understands Polish and Arabic.

She sells her paintings on Etsy and here are some of them:

• 
  IMG_20240925_140318_.jpg
  
• 
  IMG_20240925_140528_.jpg
  
• 
  IMG_20240925_140939_.jpg
  
• 
  IMG_20240925_141136_.jpg
  

And some more:

• 
  IMG_20240925_140739_.jpg
  
• 
  IMG_20240925_150458_.jpg
  
• 
  IMG_20240925_150720_.jpg
  
• 
  IMG_20240925_150843_.jpg
  

I have a large oil painting of a peach in my kitchen that is so realistic that flies like to sit on it in the summer. They are particularly fond of one brown spot on the edge of the fruit, probably thinking it is rotten. 🙂

Beautiful.

I'm not especially a fan of photorealism however the skill that must go into that is incredible.

There's a craft with folded paper (not origami) which seems interesting and which I've thought of doing. Very English and apparently getting popular again after a long time out of fashion. Maybe some posts about it later, but not just yet.

@jon357, interesting, does that craft have any particular name? 🤔


lol That's funny :D
Do you know the name of the author of that painting, btw?

And another artist:

Nick Sider lives in New York and is a self-taught hyperrealistic painter who paints with acrylics, which makes his big paintings even more impressive, imho. He mainly paints big cats, but he can also paint other animals and humans. He wanted to be a painter since he was a little kid, but decided to do other stuff after high school. At the age of 25 he quit his job and decided to teach himself to paint - with great results, as we can see :)

From his website:

"Sider has always maintained a hyperrealistic style, attempting to create paintings that extend beyond what a photograph could ever capture, ."my favorite moment while painting is when a subject on my canvas begins to come alive." His main goal for his paintings is to use detail and color to create the illusion of life spawning from the canvas."

Some of his paintings (he must have a lot of patience to paint all that fur, damn! ;O):

• 
  IMG_20240925_153123_.jpg
  
• 
  IMG_20240925_153416_.jpg
  
• 
  IMG_20240925_153532_.jpg
  
• 
  IMG_20240925_153632_.jpg
  

It does, but I'm just back from work and am having a senior moment so can't remember.

The Women's Institute in the U.K. used to do it as a group activity. Usually people work from a pattern. Part of the charm is that it looks a complete mess with no clue about the end result until it's finished.

I'll google something later; right now it's the time for your photorealist artist. She's good.

@jon357, I agree, she's very good, especially considering the smaller size of her paintings :)

I've noticed that hyperrealistic paintings usually range from big to very big - I think the reason for this is that it's easier to paint all those realistic details on big canvas. Painters are restricted by the size of the smallest brushes available, so the bigger you go, the more details you can fit in and the more realistic the painting looks. 🤔

The signature is on the painting but illegible.

Agree that the skill is incredible, but I strongly dislike the finished product. I find it soulless. It doesn't really have anything to say.

I see, pity... That's why it's always better to give some basic info also at the back of the painting - the author, the title, the date, the technique... Maybe there's something at the back of that painting? 🤔


Wow, that's a pretty strong sentiment...


I'd say that Gabriela's art is saying "Eat me!" ;D And if it looks so edible then it means she did a good job ;)

I wouldn't say that her paintings are "soulless". I generally don't like dividing art like this. Every art style has its place, imho. Realistic/photorealistic art doesn't have to say anything. It's supposed to "wow" us. When I look at such art I marvel at the human artistic skill. And I personally like that feeling of wonder, especially that I know first-hand how much skill, practice, work, time, patience and observational skills such paintings require. Especially at the level of Nick Sider, for example.

@AntV, so what kind of art you do like? Do you have any favourite artists/paintings? :)

I bet he likes Rubens, like "The Madonna and the Child, with infant Saint John and Elizabeth".

Maybe Botticelli's "Birth of Venus".

AntV and Ironside always struck me as the type of guys that would be quite happy within a medieval monastery - brewing beer, and eating fat legs of ham.

However, I must agree with him - these photorealistic things really do not speak to me. What's the point?

@Bobko, as for "what's the point" - I kind of explained it in my previous post, I think... It's about marveling at human skills and it's a challenge. An art challenge :) "How realistic am I able to make it look like?" You know, pushing yourself, perfecting the skills... And those paintings are usually simply beautiful from the visual point of view.


OK, so what art does speak to you? This is what this thread is all about, after all :)

Btw, I've got to say I'm a bit surprised - I thought that people who aren't very much into art like/appreciate realistic/photorealistic art the most - that's one of the reasons why I chose those two artists for the start of this thread :) So that's an interesting turn of events for me - I'm intrigued now what kind of art you guys like :))

Maybe you are right, but instead me and AntV are "somewhat" into art.

The type of art you shared, I think I would classify as "interior decorating" art. I'm sure no such category exists, but you know what I mean...

I would expect to see that type of art in my plumber's apartment, or in a 3-star hotel. Maybe somebody is moving into a new rental apartment, and they went and bought some prints from IKEA or Zara Home.


I like lots of things. I like the sculptures of antiquity, I like medieval stuff, I like baroque era stuff (more the Dutch things, because I had enough of religious themes and like to look at common scenes),
I like modern stuff, I like post-modern stuff of most varieties - I like everything.

It's easier for me to say what I don't like.

I don't like almost anything that the Cubists produced, or Suprematists, or Constructivists (all largely Russian in origin - yes I know).

Goya speaks to me, but maybe less so Dali or Miro - if we discuss Spaniards. At the same time, Picasso does as well - even though I was talking sh*t about Cubism/Surrealism. His Guernica is one of the paintings which produced the greatest impression on me. The way he addressed war, industry, and the dehumanization of modern life - was much more effective for me than Dali or Miro, and much more like Goya who preceded them by a century.

Basically, I like everything, but not the photorealistic stuff you shared.

I agree. I just think that art has varying degrees of redeemability and value (to the human soul--not monetary).


I like all different types from all different periods.

I don't necessarily have a favorite artist, but if you put a gun to my head and forced me to choose, I guess I'd have to flip a coin between Cezanne or Ver Meer. Although, I very much like Bobko's references.


That's probably why I find it soulless, it's more commercial/advertising art.


:D So you wouldn't be shocked to know that I actually considered becoming a monk.

No, not at all.

I don't know if I told you, but I did too.

When I really didn't know what was up and what was down, I thought I had only two real directions before me - the army or a monastery. The third option, less considered, was likely prison.

I suspect most young men within a certain IQ range go through this period.

I'm over that now.

I did not know that.


Maybe over entering the monastery, but one is never over what one seeks in a monastery...even when one thinks he's rejected that which is sought in a monastery. ;)

Back then I was religious, and I thought the point of going to a monastery is to pay lifelong penance for my own and the world's sins. Also a way of escaping temptation, and finding true brotherhood in a circle of men of the same mind as mine.

Now I think it is retarded for a young man to consider he has any sins to atone for, let alone that he should do it for the world. Also, I like the brotherhood I found within my firm. Quite a bit more comfortable of a brotherhood, than within a monastery or within an army regiment.

Escaping temptation... I think a monastery feeds it more than it protects from it.

In the Western monastic tradition it is more about seeking communion with God. Atoning and confronting sinfulness is part of it, but it's more about confronting the obstacle which impedes one's union with God.


Which is certainly a good, but merely an ephemeral good. I'd be willing to bet the farm that a young man as yourself hasn't quite settled with absolute certainty the "is life ephemeral?" question.

Please... this is also true in the Eastern/Orthodox tradition.

I think Hindu priests and Buddhist monks have similar ambitions.

The main attraction, for most clueless "Joe Blows" out there - is precisely the idea of a "fortress".

Monasteries are maybe not "fortresses" (although many in Russia acted in that capacity, especially during the Polish invasion), but spiritual strongholds. A place of refuge, where one can shield himself from the sin and chaos of the secular world.

The dedication to prayer, contemplation, and the pursuit of holiness - it's all about forming a spiritual barrier against the forces of moral decay outside.

This is what irritated me then, and even now.

You cannot save the world by running away from it.

Yet, it seems the western monks did contribute to saving Western culture, as Eastern monks did to their cultures (disclosure: I'm not well educated on Orthodox history).


I may seem to be belaboring the point, but I think your distinction is upside-down. The dedication to prayer, contemplation, and pursuit of holiness in not put a barrier between oneself and the world, but the barrier is to provide an environment for one to pursue a life of prayer, contemplation, and pursuit of holiness.

If the monastery was about the former, I'd agree it's a stupid thing, perhaps I'd even call it anti-Christian. The latter, however, is of enormous value.

I'd argue that the monk doesn't enter the monastery to save the world, but to save his soul--that holiness then has a mystical effect on the world because we are inter-connected on some level.

Guys, that's so weird, because when I was a teen I was thinking about becoming a nun too ;D Although for me it was more about feeding starving children in Africa... you know... the Mother Teresa style... and having more time to read the Bible lol

@Bobko, it's similar with me, I guess - I like a lot of stuff too or at least I appreciate it... It's just I like realism a lot too and I appreciate photorealism/hyperrealism. I'd like to try painting such a photorealistic painting one day, even if only to see if I can manage. 🤔 Although I have to admit that I wouldn't be able to paint such art for the rest of my life - it would be too boring for me.


I see, I didn't know that.


Yeah, not my cup of tea either...


Ha, I love Vermeer! :) My favourite old master... I copied one of his paintings at an art school. I don't like Cezanne though (his still lifes are OK ;)).


Realistic still life paintings have been around for a long time and art was commercial back then too. Many of the old masterpieces we admire today were simply commissioned by rich people or the Church. For me that doesn't take away anything from them though.

"Still Life with Herring, Wine and Bread" by Pieter Claesz, 1647:

• 
  IMG_20240925_202537_.jpg
  

It's not the still life aspect, it's the technique. Again, it's incredible skill--just doesn't draw me...at all

Then that monk is doing overtime work.

I think in Russia there is one of the biggest populations of monks in the entire world, but still just several thousands.

In most of the West Christianity is dead, and I have never heard of anyone joining a monastery.

Maybe the crazy baptists and others would rapidly fill up all the monasteries, but unfortunately they are not allowed.

So a few thousand monks are pulling the weight of 8 billion people's sins.


What makes you such a gentle cupcake, that your brother has to get a second job, and your mom has to plan making a once weekly delivery of a "care package" to the monastery?

Your brother works a responsible job, for which he gets paid a salary - from which he shares with you. What exactly do you do?

"Ohhh, our Bob - you know how he is... We all need to focus our energies on him building a solid barrier from our world of sin - so that he can truly start flexing his Christian muscles!"

This pisses me off.

Why should everyone work to make your monastery experience a success? How is this different from the parasites that saddle everyone with their rehab bills?

Guys, could you take your discussion about monastaries and such to the Random Thread?

Honestly, it's the first day of existence of this thread and it's getting derailed already... ;/


Actually I'd say in a way such category does exist, but that's usually abstract art - at least for modern interiors :) It fits modern interiors very well and it can look great together with those interiors, but besides that, just like photorealistic art in your case, it doesn't do anything for me... Well, it can look pretty sometimes :)

Much the same.


Until Protestantism came along, they were often the only people outside a tiny tiny elite who could read or write and who had any sort of critical thinking skills. It was the monks who preserved knowledge and art. It was very much art rather than craft though. Craft was the art of the people and Gombrich wrote much about the perception that it's somehow inferior to fine art.


It took me a while on google but I found it. It's called Iris Folding. I might have a go.

en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iris_folding

Yes, sorry for that.

Great idea for a thread, here.

I hope you keep coming with stuff like this. It's a breath of fresh air.

@Bobko

Haha! I genuinely like your screed, but it is a caricature, not the reality of monastic life throughout the ages, including those that remain alive today. Ora et labora.

Christianity is not dead--shrinking, but nowhere near dead.


I'm out for rest of day, but we should.

I'm really going to like this thread :) Great idea Paulina :)


She's incredibly talented and her paintings are amazing but it's not really my kind of art. Wish I could paint that well though!


For me too. I'm not a fan of Cubism, Abstract art, Contemporary artists such as Damien Hirst, Tracey Emin etc the list is long......

I actually like a lot of Pre-Raphaelite and Renaissance art although I feel I'm in the minority. Doesn't seem to be very popular.

Thanks, it looks pretty cool and I'm guessing it's probably relaxing :)


:)))


I like those too. Maybe those are not the most favourite of mine, but defenitely high on the list :)

From contemporary artists Annie Stegg's art reminds me of those styles somewhat... Her paintings are beautiful, ethereal and very detailed. She's an oil painter and I like watching her video's in which she's painting those intricate little details :)

Some of her art:

• 
  IMG_20240925_215858_.jpg
  
• 
  IMG_20240925_220147_.jpg
  
• 
  IMG_20240925_220316_.jpg
  
• 
  IMG_20240925_220437_.jpg
  

And some more:

• 
  IMG_20240925_221812_.jpg
  
• 
  IMG_20240925_222055_.jpg
  
• 
  IMG_20240925_222209_.jpg
  
• 
  IMG_20240925_222331_.jpg