Life Done Right™

© Christopher Peterson
Writer Daniel Alarcon wrote an interesting article for Salon back in 2005. He was invited to a fundraiser dinner, the kind that dominate the social scene in most major cities across the country. In order to get donors to throw a few greenbacks their way, institutions are placed in the position of organizing [...]

© Sothebys
Sotheby’s (London) upcoming photography auction, being held on November 12th, 2007, is offering a Lewis Carroll cabinet card of Xie Kitchin, the daughter of one of Carroll’s contemporaries. What makes the photograph interesting is the gaze of the girl. It’s so direct and confrontational in its nature for a young girl. Whether one needs [...]

Carol Channing is performing at the Hollywood Bowl this weekend. She was asked what’s on her reading list. The answer: Integrating the Arts: An Approach to Teaching and Learning in Multicultural and Multilingual Settings. You see, you’re never too old to learn or…give back.
Pushy Questions for Carol Channing

Carol Channing at the Hollywood Bowl

© Marigelaffa
Photographer Marigelaffa is from Udine, Italy. She snapped her great grandmother’s hands resting on her knees. I like the contrast between her spotted hands and the pattern of the fabric on her sleeves. There’s also a subtle play between the newness of the fabric and the age of her hands. Bravo!

© Alexandra Catiere
Photographer Alexandra Catiere flits from Paris, Minsk, and New York in search of compelling images. Here’s two great shots that depict age in enlightening situations.
Alexandra Catiere

© Michael R. Schuhmann
A good photograph requires an aesthetic eye that composes an image that transcends its subject matter. Here’s a good example. Michael Schuhmann has an older couple sitting in two chairs at what looks like a hotel lobby. Its the mirroring of the pose in the two framed prints on the wall that [...]

© Gap
Choreographer Twyla Tharp, 66, is featured in the fall Gap ad campaign going under the pitch “Classics Redefined.” Gap’s sales continue to slide in the face of multiple competitors selling a more hip notion of what’s in fashion. This ad campaign is more of same failed strategy Gap has used in the past to [...]

© Annie Leibovitz
Queen Elizabeth supposedly was bitching about Annie Leibovitz’s request to remove her crown during a recent photo shoot for her 80th birthday. Why this woman hasn’t stepped down so Prince Charles can have a go as King of England is beyond me. Power seems to have its own needs. Looking at Annie’s portrait [...]

Designer Paul Budnitz founded Kidrobot in 2002 in order to bring you limited edition art toys that merge urban street trends with pop art. The dunny above is part of the Colette Series and was created by Craig Robinson. It stands all of 3 inches tall. So what do you do with a dunny…I dunno [...]

© Joyce Tennyson
Now here’s a good coffee table book: Joyce Tennyson’s Wise Women. It’s described as “a celebration of the power and beauty of women in the third phase of their lives.” Her photographs make you feel like you’re an invisible guest sitting inside the temple of an Egyptian queen. Stunning!
Visit Joyce Tennyson

Joyce Tennyson [...]

© Shen Wei, Jackie
Shen Wei is a Chinese photographer born in Shanghai. His images skew toward Diane Arbus morbidity, but fall just short of complete freak show. This image is entitled “Jackie.” Remember, beauty is in the eye of the camera holder.

Weekends usually mean a trip to museums or galleries, so enjoy this romp through art history by watching a series of female subjects morph from one painting to the next. A frivolous way to waste a minute in the name of art history.

No idea who made this silhouette of a some fairies and the wise old man. But it’s lovely to admire.

Edouard Manet, French (1832 - 1883), The Old Musician, 1862, Oil on canvas, 187.4 x 248.2 cm (73 3/4 x 98 in.), Chester Dale Collection, National Gallery of Art
A mezzogravure of Edouard Manet’s painting, The Old Musician, painted in 1862. According to the National Gallery of Art, “The seated musician has been identified as Jean [...]

Source: Steve Bartrick
Rembrandt’s Portrait of an Old Woman from 1895. This is a photogravure. Study that face. Does she look like a happy woman to you? Rather grim and practical to me. I’d sure hate to be late for dinner as a kid in her house.

Sometimes the Fountain of Youth is more than dream, it’s a chalky reincarnation on a sidewalk in New York. Like everything else in New York, it comes with a price tag attached. In this case, Aveeno sponsored the art for the guerrilla marketing angle.

Cover art for old magazines, especially science fiction and murder mysteries usually provides instantaneous titillation and gotcha kind of story hooks. This cover was done for Imaginary Tales, a science fiction magazine, by H. W. McCauley. Don’t you just miss those days of a well-placed bobber and the long hair of a mermaid!
Source: Datajunkie

The life of an artist begins and ends with the struggle to make great art. The motivation for doing it, instead of say becoming a lawyer or doctor, is intimately tied into feelings of empathy that are so intense they can’t be ignored. They demand to be expressed one way or another.
Madeline Falk is [...]

© National Maritime Museum
Oprah has been pushing a hokey book called The Secret lately. The central idea of the book is that those who believe, 100 percent, in their own success achieve it. If you allow any doubt to enter into your psyche, then chances are you’ll end up a pathetic loser who sabotages your [...]

© Mhemeturgut
Sometimes a favorite uncle makes for a good artistic model! According the artist Mhememturgut, this image is based on his Uncle Ismail and Basri. Hairy blokes, them. I wonder if Brad Pitt met these dudes at the Fight Club…