Weathered shells

Another world

Shades of Pompeii

There are many remarkable features about the ruins of  Pompeii, the Roman city destroyed by the eruption of the volcano Vesuvius in AD79.  Countless volumes have been written and programmes televised about the remains  –  the streets, the buildings, artefacts, bodies frozen in time.

Among these ‘preserved’ remains were many wonderful frescoes that provide a detailed and,often, revealing record of life at that time.  Most of these have been transferred to the security of Naples Museum but a few remain in situ.  The colour in the frescoes is often incredibly beautiful  –  especially the reds.

But it is only comparatively recently that research has revealed that much of the distinctive character of these colours was a consequence of exposure to the excessive heat and the gasses produced by the erupting volcano.  Indeed, many of the exquisite reds were initially yellow!

 

Some of the frescoes were still under restoration wraps at the time of my visit.

Remnants

WordPress statistics tell me this is my 1000th post!

Abstract ‘Firewalkers’

Abstracts – Reflections

These images are reflections in  the windows of a derelict warehouse.

Just think about it! (24)

I enjoy creating and posting abstract images and often feel that it would be appropriate to attach the following extract from Kandinsky:

‘The spectator is too ready to look for a meaning in a picture—i.e., some outward connection between its various parts. Our materialistic age has produced a type of spectator or “connoisseur,” who is not content to put himself opposite a picture and let it say its own message. Instead of allowing the inner value of the picture to work, he worries himself in looking for “closeness to nature,” or “temperament,” or “handling,” or “tonality,” or “perspective,” or what not. His eye does not probe the outer expression to arrive at the inner meaning. In a conversation with an interesting person, we endeavour to get at his fundamental ideas and feelings. We do not bother about the words he uses, nor the spelling of those words, nor the breath necessary for speaking them, nor the movements of his tongue and lips, nor the psychological working on our brain, nor the physical sound in our ear, nor the physiological effect on our nerves. We realize that these things, though interesting and important, are not the main things of the moment, but that the meaning and idea is what concerns us. We should have the same feeling when confronted with a work of art. When this becomes general the artist will be able to dispense with natural form and colour and speak in purely artistic language.’                                                                                                                                                                                    (Kandinsky  Concerning the Spiritual in Art)

The girl in my garden

See also https://lagill6.wordpress.com/2016/03/21/the-girl-and-the-daffodil/

A quiet corner

Responding to colour

Please compare the image below with a previous post https://lagill6.wordpress.com/2016/04/08/abstract-266-colour-gridlock/.  The grid design is Identical;only the colours are different (inverted)

 

What mood change do you experience from one image to the other?

If the images represented people, what differences would you expect to find in temperament and character?

What type of musical instrument or sound does each suggest?

What type of tune might  be appropriate for each? What sort of rhythm?

Choose a word to define each.

The artist Kandinsky experienced sound in terms of colour  –  a phenomenon known as synesthesia.

Out of Africa 2

This photograph is a detail of a Zimbabwean sculpture.  The piece has been in my possession for  many years and ,unfortunately, I don’t have the name of the sculptor.

Abstract 266 ‘Colour Gridlock’

A feminine point of view!

Paestum vases

From around 360BCE Paestum became noted for the quality of its vase painting. Greek painters arrived via Sicily and at least two factories were established.  There are numerous fine examples in Paestum museum.

Tomb frescoes

In 1968 an Italian archaeologist, Mario Napoli, excavating a small necropolis about one mile south of Paestum, discovered a tomb decorated with panels, some of which are shown below.  They are now in the museum at Paestum.

To quote Wikipedia:  ‘Among the thousands of Greeek tombs known from this time (roughly 700-400BC) this is the only one to have been decorated wir frescoes of human subjects.’

 

 

 

 

 

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