Five Minutes of Art: Iris Scott

My wife, Kate, drew my attention to the following article about finger-painter Iris Scott. Now I know you think that finger-painting is child’s activity but I was struck by the vibrancy of her colours and the overall beauty of the works. Regular readers will know that I am not a fan of the photo-realist school of art whereby paintings and drawings are indecipherable from photographs. If that is the depiction, why not just take the photo? Iris Scott’s work conveys colour, mood and feeling along with the subject being depicted. 

I am posting the article, which is from the New York Post, in its entirety, along with the photos of some of her works, followed by a gallery of some more of her work . . . 

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Source:

https://nypost.com/2019/05/31/this-artists-mad-skills-prove-finger-painting-isnt-just-kid-stuff/ 

This artist’s mad skills prove finger painting isn’t just kid stuff 

By Raquel Laneri, May 31, 2019 

Iris Scott is a professional finger-painter. And her work is anything but child’s play. 

“It’s taken me years just to get the fundamentals down,” the 34-year-old artist tells The Post of the incredibly detailed, expressive tableaux that she creates using nothing but her fingers. 

She points to an 8-foot-wide oil painting depicting a winged goddess on a horse-headed boat sailing through the twilit ocean. “This took me a month.” 

Scott puts paint to canvas on a large work in progress. 

Her hard work is paying off. A decade after ditching brushes, Scott has her first solo gallery show, “Ritual in Pairing,” at the High Line Nine through June 6. “Ritual” includes some two dozen recent works: lush landscapes in swirling van Gogh colors, glittering Klimt-like portraits and some paint-splattered “wearable art,” as well as her astonishingly lifelike depictions of lions, birds and octopi. 

“Animals are just so important, it makes me want to cry,” says Scott, who likes to binge-watch “Planet Earth” and other nature shows late at night in her live-work space in Bed-Stuy. 

“What is missing in the New York art world is this wonder for the natural world,” she adds. “We need art that connects us to nature so we don’t burn it down.” 

Scott, the daughter of a carpenter and a piano teacher who grew up in a “forest” outside of Seattle, started painting with brushes. After attending Washington State University, she moved to Taiwan — it was cheap — and churned out small still lifes and cityscapes she sold on the Internet for $50 each. 

One day, while painting some flowers, she ran out of clean brushes. Feeling too lazy to clean them, she decided to finish off her painting with her fingers. 

“I was like, ‘Oh that’s actually very effective!’ ” she says. 

Ten years later, she’s still painting without brushes. These days, her paintings command as much as $45,000. 

And while she concedes that finger painting can be seen as a gimmick, she believes it’s the best vehicle for her honest, visceral and perpetually awe-struck view of the world. 

“I want art that kind of slaps me in the face and then gives me a hug,” she says. “That’s the feeling that I’m going for.” 

More of her work:

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Bonus gallery: 

“There are too many things I’d like to paint, and not enough hours. The question is which one gets to be painted next.” 

- Iris Scott 

Thought for the Day

Bytes and Pieces

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Sad Niagara Death: 

A man named Joseph Avery stranded on a log in the Niagara River after his boat sank, 1853. He held on for 18 hours before being swept over Niagara Falls to his death. The image is an early example of a news photograph. 

Background: 

July 16th 1853 - three men working on a dredging scow (barge) which was anchored in the Niagara River east of Goat Island decided to go to shore during the afternoon. The only way to shore was by use of a row boat. As the three men started rowing to shore, they soon discovered that the current of the water was much stronger than they had anticipated. Suddenly one of their oars broke. The small row boat entered the American Channel rapids and swept downstream. The rowboat capsized. Two of the men were swept to their death over the brink of the American Falls. The third man, Samuel Avery, was able to grab onto some tree roots growing from a rock just east of Chapin Island. Avery spent the night stranded in the cool fast flowing water. The sound of the rapids prevented any of Avery's screams for help to be heard. 

The next morning, Avery's plight was observed by several tourists. Efforts to rescue Avery began. Initial efforts consisted of releasing boats and raft from the Bath Island Bridge. None of the craft were able to reach Avery. Finally a boat which was tethered to the Bath Island Bridge was guided downstream and reached Samuel Avery. With little strength left, Avery was able to climb into the boat but the boat immediately capsized throwing Avery back into the turbulent waters. Throwing his hands up in surrender, Avery let out a final scream, fell backwards into the water and was swept to his death over the American Falls. 

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Sinkhole City: 

The city of Berezniki, in Russia’s Ural mountains, is slowly sinking into the earth. The city of more than 150,000 individuals was built directly on top of a potash mine, which was standard practice during Soviet times. After nearly a century of extraction, deep voids were left underneath the city. The ceilings of these huge underground caverns are supported only by walls and pillars of soluble salt. In 2006, when a freshwater spring began flowing into the mine some 720 to 1,500 feet below the surface, it dissolved the supporting pillars and the city came crashing down. 

A significant part of the residential districts and enterprises of the city are affected by the sinkholes, of which there are several in the city. The largest of them nicknamed “The Grandfather” is nearly four hundred meters across and more than two hundred meters deep. It threatens to engulf the only rail line which leads to and from the potash mines. Berezniki produces around ten percent of the world’s potash, and the mines are the city’s biggest employer. Closure of the mines would be damaging to the local economy. 

A range of high-tech instruments including video surveillance system, seismic sensors, regular surveys and satellite monitoring of the changes in altitude of roofs, sidewalks and streets, are now used in Berezniki to predict the formation of sinkholes. 

Federal officials and company executives are debating whether to relocate the entire city to the opposite bank of the Kama River, where the bedrock is solid. But engineers have assured them that the era of sinkhole formation is over, and no new holes will open as much of mine is now flooded. 

About 12,000 residents have already left Berezniki for stable grounds, but the rest who’ve decided to stay put will have to keep close watch. 

Gallery: 

Source: 

Amusing Planet 

https://www.amusingplanet.com/2019/05/berezniki-russian-city-swallowed-by.html?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=berezniki_the_russian_city_swallowed_by_sinkholes&utm_term=2019-05-03 

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Be Careful Where You Point That: A-ok Hand Gesture 

If you live in the United States, the A-Ok signal is given by connecting your index finger with your thumb as a sign for OK good thing. In the western society this hand gesture usually denotes positive feelings. This however is not a universal gesture, for it does not give the same message in other cultures around the world. The western culture encompasses only a small minority of the people of Earth and there is much to be learned. 

For those touring about the world, be careful when and where you give the ok gesture because it could range from being rude to downright offensive, possible even on the level of the middle finger. For example, in Venezuela and Turkey giving the ok to someone is like telling them that they are homosexual. This connotation comes from the hole in the ‘okay’ symbol that represents a widened anal tract. In France and Belgium it gives the impression of worthless or the number zero, so do not give people of these countries the OK sign, for it would be incredibly offensive. 

In Brazil it is the equivalent of the middle finger, an infamous example of this occurred in the 50’s when Richard Nixon visited Brazil and flashed the OK sign when descending from his plane; this simple act was effectively giving the middle finger to the waiting crowd, could you imagine a foreign leader doing this on national television. 

Not all different meanings are negative but some can hold either positive or neutral meanings; in Japan it means money. In Finland it could be used by personnel in the military to show that they have 0 days left to serve. 

Now the US isn’t too foreign, some other countries also apply similar meanings to the OK as many Americans. The gesture can mean well ok in countries such as Canada, Ireland, scuba diving (the thumbs up means you want to ascend to the surface), Italy, and young people in Japan. 

Source:

http://gdop26.expertscolumn.com/article/be-careful-where-you-point-ok-hand-gesture

Thought for the Day

Funny Friday

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It's been colder than a mother-in-law's kiss out there this week, this is a selfie I just took . . . 

No, not true, but it is time to bring some laughter and warmth into your Friday, so here we go . . . 

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On their first date, Joe took Rose to the carnival. When he asked her what she wanted to do first, Rose replied, "Get weighed." 

So Joe took her to the man with the scale who guesses your weight. He looked at Rose and said, "One hundred and twenty pounds." Since Rose weighed in at one seventeen, she collected a prize. 

Next they went on the roller coaster. When the ride was finished, Joe asked Rose what she wanted to do next. "Get weighed," she said. So they went back to the man with the scale, who of course guessed Rose's weight correctly. Leaving without a prize, they went for a ride on the merry-go-round. After they got off, Joe asked Rose what she wanted to do next. "I want to get weighed!" she said again. 

Now Joe began to think this girl was quite strange, and decided to end the evening quickly. He left her at the door with a quick handshake. 

Rose's roommate was waiting up for her return and asked how the evening went. 

"Wousy!" Rose replied. 

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Johnny is visiting the zoo with his mother. They go to the elephant exhibit, where a big old bull elephant is taking a leak. Johnny points to the pachyderm's privates and says, "Mommy, what's that?" Mommy, seeing the huge member, turns bright red and says, "Oh, that's nothing. Never mind. Come along now." 

A few weeks later, Johnny is at the zoo with his father. Johnny grabs his dad by the hand, and pulls him over the elephants, saying he has a question. Once there, Johnny points to the elephant's member and says, "Daddy, what's that?" 

Dad replies, "Didn't your mother tell you?" 

"Yes, she told me it was nothing." 

"Well, your mom is spoiled, son." 

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Joe has always had an uncontrollable twitch in his left eyelid since young. Fred has a splitting headache and asks Joe to go get some aspirins. Half an hour later Joe comes back with a dozen packets of condoms. 

"I asked you to get me aspirins, not condoms." 

"Yeah, I went to a dozen drug stores, but have you ever tried asking for aspirin with a tic in your eye?" 

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Limerick of the week (also from the vault): 

A rabbi from far-off Peru 

Was desperately trying to screw. 

His wife said, “Oy vey! 

If you keep on this way 

The Messiah will come before you.” 

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From the vault: 

The Indians asked their Chief in Autumn if the Winter was going to be cold or not. Not really knowing an answer, the chief replies that the Winter was going to be cold and that the members of the village were to collect wood to be prepared. 

Being a good leader, he then went to the next phone booth and called the National Weather Service and asked, "Is this winter to be cold?" The man on the phone responded, "This Winter is going to be quite cold indeed." So the Chief went back to speed up his people to collect even more wood to be prepared. 

A week later he called the National Weather Service again, "Is it going to be a very cold winter?" "Yes", the man replied, "it's going to be a very cold Winter." So the Chief goes back to his people and orders them to go and find every scrap of wood they can find. 

Two weeks later he calls the National Weather Service again: "Are you absolutely sure that the Winter is going to be very cold?" 

"Absolutely," the man replies, "the Indians are collecting wood like crazy!" 

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Gallery:

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Corn Corner: 

My wife always prefers the stairs, whereas I always like to take the elevator. 

I guess we are raised differently. 

My girlfriend was at court today. She walked over and started giving counsel a lap dance. 

Ended up getting charged for sliding down a barrister. 

My wife is really mad at the fact that I have no sense of direction. So I packed up my stuff and right. 

3 unwritten rules of life... 

1. 

2. 

3.

Quote for the Day

The KISS Principle and Occam's razor

From the vault (May 22, 2010). . .

Name: 

The KISS Principle and Occam’s Razor (also written as Ockham's Razor) 

Description: 

The Kiss Principle refers to the acronym for Keep It Simple, Stupid or the more polite version, Keep It Short and Simple. 

There are various explanations as to what the principle actually means, but all have the key message that simplicity should be the goal and that unnecessary complexity should be avoided. 

Others have formulated similar concepts and expressed similar ideas in the past: 

Albert Einstein: 

“Everything should be made as simple as possible but no simpler.” 

Leonardo Da Vinci: 

“Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.” 

Antoine de Saint Exupery: 

"It seems that perfection is reached not when there is nothing left to add, but when there is nothing left to take away". 

There is a similar, but not equivalent, principle to Kiss known as Occam’s Razor, which is usually summarised as “The simplest explanation is usually the best one.” In medical circles this is sometimes expressed as “If you hear hoofbeats, think horses, not zebras.” 

Just as there are a number of formulations of the Kiss Principle, so there have likewise been numerous formulations and reformulations of Occam’s Razor, including the following: 

"If you have two theories that both explain the observed facts, then you should use the simplest until more evidence comes along" 

"The simplest explanation for some phenomenon is more likely to be accurate than more complicated explanations." 

"If you have two equally likely solutions to a problem, choose the simplest." 

"The explanation requiring the fewest assumptions is most likely to be correct." 

That is not to say that complexity should always be avoided as an explanation. The more complex explanation may actually be the correct one. However, where both a complex solution and a simple solution are possible and reasonable, the simpler one will usually be the correct one. 

Although there is an overlap between the Kiss Principle and Occam’s Razor, they are not the same. The Kiss Principle says to aim for simplicity and avoid complexity; Occam’s Razor says that the simplest explanation is usually the correct one. 

Examples where Kiss not used: 

It is easier to show examples where the Kiss Principle has not been applied. 

One example of the opposite of the Kiss Principle are the cartoons of Rube Goldberg (such as the one above). A Rube Goldberg machine is one which performs a very simple task in an over-engineered, complex fashion, usually by a chain of motion events. There are numerous example on YouTube of people who have built Rube Godlberg machines. 

Other examples contrary to Kiss are: 

"instruction creep”:

where instructions increase in number and size over time until they are unmanageable; 

“function creep”:

where an item, process, or procedure designed for a specific purpose ends up serving another purpose for which it was never planned to perform; 

“scope creep”:

where a project’s scope is increased so that more tasks must be completed, without an increase in budget or time; and 

“creeping featurism”:

where systems become more complex over time as more and more features are added to the original device, plan etc. 

(So who works the VCR, DVD etc at your house? And how many functions do you actually use on your mobile phone?) 

Practical applications: 

Some practical applications of the Kiss Principle: 

- Break tasks into smaller tasks and deal with them as smaller ones. 

- Likewise break problems down into smaller problems and address the smaller ones. 

A related aspect: 

There are numerous interviews with the Great Randi on YouTube. Randi is a professional magician who is renowned for debunking paranormal claims and pseudoscience and who came to prominence for exposing spoonbender Uri Geller. He is also a founder of various skeptic associations. 

In one interview I saw, Randi stated as a principle that where two explanations are possible for something, one explanation is consistent with known laws and principles of the universe and the other requires you to suspend belief in those laws and principles, then the former should prevail until the other is proven. Thus when a child wakes and finds presents at the foot of the bed on Christmas Day morning, it could be that they were left by his or her parents during the night or it could be that they were left by Santa Claus. The former explanation should prevail until the later one is proven. Or if someone talks to the dead: either they are con artists (Randi has duplicated all such feats with simple trickery) or they really do talk to the dead. 

To see the memorable clip where Oz Tonight Sow host Don Lane threw a hissy fit with Randi for suggesting that Lane’s favourite, Doris Stokes, didn’t really talk to the dead, click on: 

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

Another interesting website to visit is that of the Australian Skeptics: 

http://www.skeptics.com.au/

By the way:

In philosophy, a razor is a principle or rule of thumb that allows one to eliminate ("shave off") unlikely explanations for a phenomenon, or avoid unnecessary actions, or they are guides to explaining things.

Quote for the Day

Green and Gold Malaria

Some dated references and somewhat bogan but I like it . . . .

Green and Gold Malaria

by Rupert McCall

The day would soon arrive when I could not ignore the rash.
I was obviously ill and so I called on Doctor Nash.
This standard consultation would adjudicate my fate.
I walked into his surgery and gave it to him straight:
`Doc, I wonder if you might explain this allergy of mine,
I get these pins and needles running up and down my spine.
From there, across my body, I will suddenly extend -
My neck will feel a shiver and the hairs will stand on end.
And then there is the symptom that only a man can fear -
A choking in the throat, and the crying of a tear.' 

Well, the Doctor scratched his melon with a rather worried look.
His furrowed brow suggested that the news to come was crook.
`What is it Doc?' I motioned. `Have I got a rare disease?
I'm man enough to cop it sweet, so give it to me, please.'
`I'm not too sure,' he answered, in a puzzled kind of way.
`You've got some kind of fever, but it's hard for me to say.
When is it that you feel this most peculiar condition?'
I thought for just a moment, then I gave him my position:
`I get it when I'm standing in an Anzac Day parade,
And I get it when the anthem of our native land is played,
And I get it when Meninga makes a Kiwi-crunching run,
And when Border grits his teeth to score a really gutsy ton.
I got it back in '91 when Farr-Jones held the Cup,
And I got it when Japan was stormed by Better Loosen Up.
I get it when Banjo takes me down the Snowy River,
And Matilda sends me waltzing with a billy-boiling shiver.
It hit me hard when Sydney was awarded the Games,
And I get it when I see our farmers fighting for their names.
It flattened me when Bertrand raised the boxing kangaroo,
And when Perkins smashed the record, well, the rashes were true blue.
So tell me, Doc,' I questioned. `Am I really gonna die?'
He broke into a smile before he looked me in the eye.
As he fumbled with his stethoscope and pushed it out of reach,
He wiped away a tear and then he gave me this stirring speech:
`From the beaches here in Queensland to the sweeping shores of Broome,
On the Harbour banks of Sydney where the waratah's in bloom.
From Uluru at sunset to the Mighty Tasman Sea,
In the Adelaide cathedrals, at the roaring MCG.
From the Great Australian Blight up to the Gulf of Carpentaria,
The medical profession call it "green and gold malaria".
But forget about the text books, son, the truth I shouldn't hide.
The rash that you've contracted here is "good old Aussie pride".
I'm afraid that you were born with it and one thing is for sure -
You'll die with it, young man, because there isn't and cure.'

Anzac Day march

Mal Meninga

Alan Border

Nick Farr-Jones

Better Loosen Up wins Japan Cup

A B (Banjo) Patterson, The Man From Snowy River

Waltzing Matilda

Opening ceremony, Sydney 2000 Olympic Games, Cathy Freeman

John Bertrand and Alan Bond with trhe America's Cup

Kieran Perkins