The St. Louis Art Museum and the St. Louis Art Fair

The picture attached to this post is not from the St. Louis Art Museum.  It is a picture that I took at the St. Louis Cathedral Basilica, which  is another post for another day....

We live 5 minutes from the St.Louis Art Museum.  Housed in a Beaux Arts-style building constructed for the 1904 World's Fair, this great museum is a buffet of the arts, where visitors can sample as much as they like of the displays from around the globe and from virtually all time periods, from thousands of years BC to the current decade.  (www.slam.org)

After getting my goodies from the Greek Festival on Labor Day, I went about 3 blocks away to the St. Louis Art Museum.   This museum is free to all.  Have you ever been face-to-face with relics that are thousands of years old, and are literally priceless (not counting relatives! he he he)  Have you ever had the honor of standing in front of a Pablo Picasso or a Vincent Van Gough painting?  I am in awe every time I stand before a canvas that one of these timeless great artists had included their masterful touch.

This building includes 3 floors of treasures.  The top floor is Modern Art.  Among the many paintings and sculptures on this floor resides the Picasso painting, and a huge photo-realistic painting by Chuck Close.  This artist is 70 yrs. old, and due to a spontaneous spinal injury of a collapsed spinal artery, he is confined to a wheel chair.

Here is a photo of the HUGE painting by Chuck Close, with people standing in front for perspective.  Keep in mind that these are paintings,and not photography:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chuck_Close

Here is Chuck Close, himself:
http://tinyurl.com/CloseSmall

On the main floor of the museum are Rembrants,  Rubens, Van Goughs - many artists from the Baroque, Neo-Classicism, Romantiscism, Realism, Symbolism, and Impressionist style.  Most people live their entire lives only having read about these artists while in grade school or high school.  I can stand before them and admire their work any time I feel the urge.

In the basement are American Indian beaded work, Indian (Hindu) sculpture and other works, as well as stained glass and furniture galleries.  Who ever tought of furniture in an art museum?  :)

You can stand before a Frank Lloyd Wright designed chair, or a man hole cover (yes!) designed by his mentor, Louis Sullivan.

More furnishings:  There are entire vignettes set up as several period rooms with17th, 18th & 19th century furnishings. One room has a 'spinet' piano, which is more like a small harpsichord from the 1700's.
There are display cases filled with vases, cups, saucers, plates, bowls, salters, and many more home furnishings.

You can take a virtual tour by clicking on this link, and going to each collection to see individual items.
http://tinyurl.com/ArtCollections

 It is best, however, to go and stand face-to-face with the works by these inspiring artists.  I have been to this museum many times: The detailed works by artists that most people on read about in school are immediately before me.  Every time I leave the museum, I am a changed person - and it is a better change.

The St. Louis Art Fair (http://www.culturalfestivals.com/slaf_home.html)  is the biggest annual Art Fair in the St. Louis area, and is often rated as the #1 art show in the country.  The Taste of Clayton is also happening at the same time / same place.  Local restaurants have booths set up on both sides of the middle of the street selling everything from Artichoke dip with chips to Hank's Cheesecakes to grilled pizza....to lobster bisque.  I don't believe there is an item on the menu for over  $6.  One of my favorite fall rituals is to get a glass of wine or a cocktail from a booth, make the difficult decision of which morsel I want to munch on...then find a place to sit to watch a few minutes of the band on the Main stage.  There are 2 stages at this event.  There are 8 surrounding blocks with artists lined up back-to-back in the middle of the streets.  You won't find any ducky-goosey cow cut-out crap at this event.  There are no candles in jars, or silk flowers!  16,000 artists enter the event, but only 165 are accepted .

Time, space and fairness limit my posting of favorite artists.  But ...here are a few award winners from past years that were invited back this year:

This man's work is impossible to capture in photography.  These are large shadowboxes with thousands of hand-made objects for each scene depicted.  The only tools he uses are:  a special potato dough, a tooth pick, his fingers and paint!  Photography doesn't do his work justice, but click on the galleries of his home page:
http://www.retablosnicario.com/

Betsy Yongquist is another favorite of mine. She dues surreal sculptures with found objects, especially beading, artificial eyes, etc:
http://www.byart.com/
or
http://tinyurl.com/ByArtCom (Click on the rabbit, for example!  There is no paint involved - the rabbit is completely covered in beads!)
A sample video of Betsy Youngquist:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SD7gY8KeRT0

One more artist that is going to be at this fair / show:  John Petrey

Look at these dresses!  They are made up of yard sticks, poker chips and playing cards - and ANYTHING but fabric.  They are not wearable - they are purely art.  Click back to the "Home" page for a closer view of a couple dresses.
http://tinyurl.com/TheDresses

- Michael

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1.03.01

Do it while you can. Regrets are a bitter pill to swallow!

I do not take anything for granted, and I live in the "here and now" - in the moment.


I worked at an average public job until I was forced to take disability due the compound effects of both age, wear-and-tear, and multiple birth defects.


What to do with the spare time?  WHAT SPARE TIME ?!?  I practice in my music studio 3 - 4 hours every day, I take care of the 5 family pets, and I am an advanced knitter.  Historically, men have been some of the best knitters.  While I had the opportunity, I bicycled back and forth across the state of Missouri 3 times - a total of 511 miles per trip.


I am blind in one eye, I have an artificially fused ankle, and my right arm is more than 4” shorter than my left arm.  That did not stop me from becoming a photographer (www.MichaelJKellerPhotography.com), having 25 musical instruments in my studio,  and bicycling over a quarter of a million miles before becoming disabled.


Even though I work hard daily to hone my talents and abilities, I do consider them a gift that was given to me. A deal was struck: “I have taken an eye from you, there is severe nerve damage in your right arm, and you will soon be in a wheel chair.  These things have been done to you to open up your mind and spirit to the rest of the world.  In return, I will give you a zest for life.  I want you to try every cuisine on the planet.  Go to every Fine Art Show.  Go to as many local festivals as you can get to, and see  twice as much of this world with one eye as those around you do with two.  The other people that surround you have been given able bodies, and ample means to do the same thing.  That is THEIR gift. If they choose  not to use them, or if they choose to abuse these gifts, they will be held accountable.”  The other part of the deal:  I cannot wish ill on others. 


My mind was given to me to create, to live and to explore - not to waste on people who never deserved it in the first place.  An example:  Jude Judy.  If two litigants on her show start talking to each other, she will stop them and say, “Don’t talk to each other. You had the chance to do that while you were OUT of my courtroom.  It is now MY turn to speak - don’t talk to each other!”  I will do my best to  avoid wasting energy on these people - I will let them talk to The Judge!  I have other things to do with my time and energy.  With the lone exception of  watching only first-runs of the Martha Stewart Show (I have met her 3 times),  the television in my home is not turned on until 7:00 PM, and at that time, I always have a knitting project in my hand, or my lap-top computer on my lap in the living room.  I never ‘sit and watch TV’.  What a waste of life! Time and energy are both limited, non-renewable resources.  If you waste them, you will never get them back.  You should be held accountable for any waste incurred. 


Live your life as if it is a contact sport.  Life is not a spectator sport. I many relatives who have the view that life is, indeed, a spectator sport.   This is not a dress rehearsal, people.  If anybody has ever came back from the ’beyond’ to tell you what life is like over there, you need to make an appointment for me, and direct them my way. Once it is over, it is over!


Here is the intro to “I Am What I Am” by Gloria Gaynor.  It is the more rare spoken intro:


“It takes a lifetime to become the best that we can be…We have not the time or the right to judge each other… It’s one life, and there is no return and no deposit..  One life, so make sure you LIKE what is in your closet!”


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MnGouhet2HQ


Hear!  Hear!


- Michael

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1.03.01

My Labor Day Adventure (Labor Day ritual?)

I had a busy Labor Day weekend, and wouldn't have had it any other way.  On Saturday, first attended the Japanese Festival at the Missouri Botanical Gardens.  One glass of good sake goes a long way!  WHEW!  Later in the evening, we parked our car in a Metrolink parking garage, and took the train to the Laclede's Landing area by the Arch for the Blues Festival where Booker T & The MGs played a set.  I will post more on Booker T later.  Riding the Metrolink is a good way to avoid walking long distances after find a distant parking space!  The Station that we board in the Brentwood area is just a few feet from the free parking garage, and the main stage of the Blues Festival was visible less than a block away from our destination, the Laclede's Landing Metrolink station.

Sunday was a day off, and I got caught up on my hobbies.  Mark had to work on Labor Day, itself, so I continued my Labor Day ritual by myself. I went to the Greek Fest in the parking lot of St. Nicholad Greek Orthodox Church, which is directly across the street from Forest Park (the zoo, etc). 

I had delicious Spanakopites (sheets of filo dough alternately layered with savory spinach and cheese filling), my obiligatory mixed Greek Pastry tray, and my customary frozen Ouzo drink.  Mark hates anything licorice flavored, but Ouzo at the Greek Fest and Sake at the Japanese Fest quickly became a yearly tradition.  After the Greek Fest, I bicycled through Forest Park and ultimately decided to go to the St. Louis Art Museum in Forest Park. More on the Art Museum later.

- Michael

Who IS that man (Bird!) behind the curtain?

With the cool breezes blowing, the calender has rolled into early September and the local cultural events line-up kicking off,  I am reminded that Fall is just around the corner.  The back half of our home consists of a fairly large great room, with two sets of glass sliding patio doors.  When I am at home, and Mark isn't looking, I will often keep these doors and their screen doors open so my babies (dogs!) can come and go when they feel the need. 

Conrad, my 15 yr. old African Grey, also lives in the same room.  You can see videos of myself and Conrad on YouTube by going to the following link.  There will be 2 pages of search results - be sure to check out both pages:

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Tattookub&aq=f

A quick primer on African Grey Parrots:  They have the cognitive sense of the average 4 year old child, including the same language and logistic skills.  While it is true that SOME species of parrots are mimickers, you must understand that African Grey parrots do, in fact - know what they're talking about.  Please review this video of "Alex, The Grey", who could identify what matter something was made of, quantity, qualities such as hot and cold, and much, much more. If you still have the assumption that Grey's are "just bird brains|", then my attempt at this clarification has failed.  While you can find more videos of Alex on YouTube and other sites, please be aware that there is another "Alex" out there, and while she is exceptionally talented, she is not the same fella as in the following video.  In another video with an extended interview, Dr. Pepperberg, his 'main trainer' said that every time she left the lab, Alex always told her "Good Night" in a different way.  One way was, "Good night.  Will you be in tomorrow?"  Dr Pepperberg answered, "Yes, I'll be in tomorrow."  Alex replied, "OK.  Be good.  I'll see you later - I love you!"  I can't watch this video, at the end, without crying when Diane Sawyer said, "Somewhere in Parrot Heaven, the angels are wondering, "What hath God Wrought?"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sqPvsB9-_J0

Back to Conrad:  African Greys in the wild in Africa were studied, and one flock was discovered to have mastered the entire repertoire or 9 different species of birds, and two species of bats.  Since Greys more-or-less don't have a language of their own, they used these other bird 'languages' appropriately to express their needs to each other.  Conrad is no exception.  He has the entire repertoires of robins, sparrows, blue jays, starlings, crows and Cardinals, just to name a few - in addition English, which he speaks fluently, Spanish - a couple words! - and **every** possible household sound.

For example, a robin.  Conrad knows a spring robin that is defending his territory, a happy mother robin announcing that her clutch has hatched.... the baby robins begging for food, and male robins sparing over a territory.

Even though we live 8 minutes from downtown St. Louis, our back yard is busy with at least two Blue Jay families that have taken up residence there, and several Cardinal families.

One day last fall, Conrad thought it would be amusing to sound like a male Cardinal - knowing very well from his own observations by looking out his window that it would attract the female Cardinal.  It's a simple cause-and-effect process, really.  He noted that when the male Cardinal made a particular sound, the female Cardinal would join him.  The screen doors were open in the sliding doors, leaving a clear path into our Great Room.  I was practicing in my music studio, when I instinctively ducked!  A bird almost clipped my head!  I noted that it was a female Cardinal.  Just seconds before, Conrad was in there calling her - with his male Cardinal voice!  Then, I head him doing a wicked human belly-laugh!  Basically what had happened was that he was calling to entice a female Cardinal, and when he achieved his goal, he cackled at his little joke! 

That poor bird was frantic when she flew into a strange space, looking for her husband - only to find an entirely foreign species doing odd things!  This event happened twice over the course of a couple weeks.  The first time Conrad played tricks on her, I was able to shoo her out the same door she came in.  The second time, she was too frantic to understand what was going on, and I had to corner her, and gently capture her with a bath towel.  I couldn't resist. I maintained a gentle grip while peeling back layers of towel to reveal a beautiful creature.  If you have never seen the color of a Female Cardinal's bill up close, let me tell you that the color is amazing.  Her bill isn't red or brown, as it seems from any distance, but rather a very soft 'petal pink'.  I'm sure there the cosmetology market has several shades of pink in lipsticks and nail polish that are extremely close to this color of pink, but if they don't, they should take a clue from Mother Nature, and go forth and duplicate!

- Michael

In The Beginning.....

My life is as diverse and varied as I can possible make it - I encourage you to do the same with yours.  The subjects that I will discuss in this blog will range from my many hobbies and interests to issues and concerns about society, diversity and personal relationships.

My hobbies include, but definitely are not limited to: Music, tour bicycling, knitting (yes, men knit, too!), my pets - 4 dogs and a mouthy African Grey parrot, sampling as many different cuisines from the world as possible, and going to 7 nationally recognized outdoor art fairs in my area.  I also go to seasonal festivals such as the Festival of Nations, The Pagan Picnic, The Japanese Fest - the largest Japanese celebration in the USA -  and the Greek Fest - it's all about the food!  I know I forgot some hobbies, but I will add them as they pop into my mind.

Today, it's all about the music, I will cover the other hobbies, one per day over the next few days.

I own 26 instruments, and the exception of an ocarina, an acoustic guitar, an electric guitar and a bass guitar, they are all keyboard instruments.  Three of those are Hammond organs, and two of those have Leslie speakers attached to them.

  Many people view an organ as this thing that a starchy little old lady sits at either on a Sunday morning in a small church, or when her family is politely gathered around on Christmas morning.  Her face is stone cold, and focused on the sheet music in front of her. 

As for classical or theatre organ music, I beg and beseech each of you to go to YouTube and search "Cameron Carpenter" or "Virgil Fox".  They should relieve you of any images you might have of a little old lady sitting at an organ, playing 'trompy, starchy music.

Hammond organ is the most widely used and recognizable sound on the music scene. Almost every music genre, including blues, rock, country, Gospel and Jazz, to name a few, heavily utilize this instrument to this day, and most major bands still tour with this instrument. It is the same organ that Steve Windood plays, Paul Schaffer from the Tonight Show with David Letterman, Keith Emerson, Greg Allman, and many, many other artists play.  You can look up Hammond organ on YouTube or Wikipedia.com for more information.

My taste in music spans every music genre, including ethnic / world music from countries across the globe.  even though I think modern music styles (Hip hop / rap, etc) consists of repetitious, over-mixed souless money-making music that has long since lost the value of a real musical instrument, there are some songs in those genres that I like.  Although I will defend to my death a person's right to play these styles of music, I have a bit less tolerance for extremely heavy metal rock, or heavy rap.

For 36 years, I have played keyboards 'by ear'.  I have never had formal music lessons, and could barely read the simplest of music that was written for a child.   A year and a half ago, I decided to teach myself to read music.  While I an far from reading complicated pieces by site, I have grown by leaps and bounds.  I learned the full version of "The Entertainer" by Scott Joplin, and I have just started (GOD HELP ME!) on one of his more difficult pieces - "Maple Leaf Rag".  On a daily basis,I play 30 - 40 songs, from probably 100 lbs. of music books.  The moral of this story:  An old dog will learn new tricks until the day he dies.  An old human that thinks they don't have to 'learn another damned thing as long as they live" will do just that.

At any rate - my musical instrument collection insists of:
* A huge MIDI set-up (6 keyboards) attached to a dedicated computer.
*  1 Kawaii II synthesizer
*  1 Korg MS-20 modler / controller
*  one 1969 Hammond E-100 organ with a Leslie 122 speaker purchased at an estate sale for $350. Retail value: $4,000
* one 1963 Hammond A-100 (self-contained B3) with a Leslie 122 speaker
* 1 solid state early 1980's "Hammond Composer" spinet
* One 1888 reed organ
* 1 hand-pumped Indian Harmonium in perfect condition (portable reed organ) - bought at a flea Market for $25.  eBay value: $300 - $1,600, depending on the model
* one 1966 Wurlitzer Electric piano (not digital!) - Think  "Dreamer" by Supertramp.  Here is a video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SfEyTIRsMFY
* one Casio Privia digital piano that is my practice piano and the work horse of my music studio
* one early 1970's vintage, rare Baldwin Synthasound synthesizer
* two toy pianos (check out this video - the intro is a toy piano:
(Coin-Operated Boy from the Dresden Dolls)

and

* two J Chein player toy pianos - they read and play real piano rolls that were made for this piano:

I intend to add to this collection an acoustic piano, a Rhodes Electric piano, a Harpsichord, a Clavinet, and a pianet - and anything else that might cross my pass unexpectedly.

My music studio and my brain cells awaits me.   I cannot possibly impress upon you the importance of learning as much as you possibly can - every day!  You should learn a new language, play an instrument, a good craft or a fine art form.  Not only does this activity keep your mind sharp, but it will make that razor's edge even sharper.  Learning more about the world around keeps you mentally and physically malleable.  In a future posting, I will definitely cover the dangers of mental contractures.  Limiting your mind not only cheats yourself, but can also lead to imposing those limitations on vulnerable souls around you.  I have specific examples that I will discuss in future postings, and I will also discuss the more benefits to working your brain and your body.

- Michael