Friday, October 28, 2005

Rhythmism meets the Force. These are two images I recently painted in a crib.


I recently painted this mural in the bedroom of twin boys whose desire was to have this done. Their father was all into it and their energy flowed through me in each effort. Superhero artwork is very challenging to do. That is why so many "artists" stay away from it rather be embarrassed by coming up short. Using the human form and established characters doesn't allow one to hide behind "personal style" or interpretation. It takes talent, knowledge, skill, and restraint to modify your style and get it done right. I really got off doing it. ZOOM! Done!! The guys were all around me while working and were very insightful art directors. I hope more folks find me with this type of thing in mind. Rhythmism does it again!


Wednesday, October 12, 2005

Future Primitif Visual Art


"Armed" Sustah-Girl copyright Turtel Onli 2005


Did you ever think about the role of art in our universe? How it expands across time and shows up everywhere. How it speaks to us through our collective genetic memories in the forms of fashion, paintings, illustrations, cartoons, logos, photographs, digital images, and words. How it binds us to our roots. Our shared roots. Our common roots. Did you ever think about the fact that it is all proof that we have so much in common. This includes art for commerce, history, appreciation, healing, education, and expression. We are all so powerfully similar at our root.

I am looking for those reflections. Sharing those thoughts. And posting images that I call Rhythmistic Art. This is about fine or applied visual art that is rooted in a future-primitif context, full of technique, energy, and ideas. Not to mention varied levels of patterns, symbols, icons, and concepts. Visit the Rhythmistic Museum via the link below. It is a work in progress supported by the Web Institute for Teachers of the University of Chicago. This curriculum web is a teaching learning tool for the visual arts.

http://cuip.net/~tonli/wit2002/Hopepage%20for%20the%20Rhythmistic%20Museum.htm
The following link is to the site of a Rhythmistic practitioner who specializes in elegant knitwear and wearable art. Her name is Rebekah Younger. http://www.youngerknits.com/

I thought you might want to know about a prolific Rhyhtmistic writer who recently set up a site so that sustahs of the world could commune and share information. Her name is Cassandra Washington. By day she is an assistant principal at a very productive elementary school in Chicago. By gift she is taking screen writing classes. She is the creator-publisher of the "Grammar Patrol" educational comic book and co-created with me the graphic novel, Sustah-Girl, Queen of the Black Age. We often talk about producing more books such as "Knowso and the Alphabet Forest" and a updating of Sustah-Girl. We exchange ideas about public school education too since I am a high school art teacher in Chicago. We like to say, "we have done, therefore we can teach". You might dig dropping in on her at http://sustah-girl.com.

Word!