Postcard from San Francisco

I recently returned from a month-long stay in the San Francisco Bay Area. It was so great to leave the hot and humid weather of Tucson behind and enjoy the mild weather than the Bay Area offers. For me, there is nothing better than watching the fog roll in off the ocean and cool temperatures way down. I slept under the covers for the first time in months and would purposely leave my bedroom windows open to feel the cool temperatures all night long. I know, I am a bit crazy, but when you live in southern Arizona, you dream of cooler temperatures and sleeping under blankets.

While in SF, I went to an afternoon Giants game, and on another day, walked up Powell Street past the cable cars and on up to Union Square. My purpose, besides enjoying the unique atmosphere of The City, was to visit the brand new Apple Store, a large two story retail store. It was very different from any other Apple Store I’ve visited and is the model for all new Apple Stores. I have already written about it in my tech blog, if you care to read it.  

How does this relate to the image above? Well, I took the original photo that became this image image from the second floor of the Apple Store, when they had their giant windows wide open. As you may know, all my digital paintings and sketches originate with a photo. Using a unique art app called “Prisma,” I turned the photo into the image you see here. I call it “Blu City.”

Prisma works on both my iPhone and iPad. For this type of work, I prefer using the larger iPad. There are many choices of art styles in Prisma, but I chose this one as it appealed to me the most.  I’ve done a few experiments with this app and some similar apps to see the results. 

Many years ago, I pioneered the art of turning photos into digital paintings and sketches. I still do it. In the early days, it took many hours, sometimes days and weeks to produce a piece of art I could be proud of. I made a successful living selling my work in art shows all over the Western United States. My work was also featured in several art galleries. Like most artists, I was proud of what I achieved over the years.

But times change. Now almost anyone can produce nearly instant art using some of the available software on the market today. It makes me a little sad to see how easy it is for people to produce unique pieces of art with the cell phones. I used to sweat blood and tears to make a quality work of art.

But, time marches on as does technology and I can do nothing more than embrace the new applications. You might want to give it a try yourself. Prisma is currently free. But just a word of caution: even with these amazing new apps, the old rule of photography still applies…Garbage In, Garbage Out!

Postcard from Torino, Italy

The Palace

by Rudyard Kipling

WHEN I was a King and a Mason - a Master proven and skilled
I cleared me ground for a Palace such as a King should build.
I decreed and dug down to my levels. Presently under the silt
I came on the wreck of a Palace such as a King had built.

There was no worth in the fashion - there was no wit in the plan -
Hither and thither, aimless, the ruined footings ran -
Masonry, brute, mishandled, but carven on every stone:
"After me cometh a Builder. Tell him I too have known.

Swift to my use in the trenches, where my well-planned ground-works grew,
I tumbled his quoins and his ashlars, and cut and reset them anew.
Lime I milled of his marbles; burned it slacked it, and spread;
Taking and leaving at pleasure the gifts of the humble dead.

 
Yet I despised not nor gloried; yet, as we wrenched them apart,
I read in the razed foundations the heart of that builder’s heart.
As he had written and pleaded, so did I understand
The form of the dream he had followed in the face of the thing he had planned.
. . . . . . . . . .
When I was a King and a Mason, in the open noon of my pride,
They sent me a Word from the Darkness. They whispered and called me aside.
They said - "The end is forbidden." They said - "Thy use is fulfilled.
"Thy Palace shall stand as that other’s - the spoil of a King who shall build."

I called my men from my trenches, my quarries my wharves and my sheers.
All I had wrought I abandoned to the faith of the faithless years.
Only I cut on the timber - only I carved on the stone:
"After me cometh a Builder. Tell him, I too have known."

 

Digital Painting by J.R. Corkrum – “Entrance to the Grand Foyer”

Kings Hunting Palace in Torino, IT

Postcard from Washington, DC

 

I’ve been fortunate to visit many of the great art galleries of the western world…the National Gallery and the Tate in London; the Louvre and the Orsay in Paris; the Uffizi and the Galleria dell'Accademia in Florence; the Guggenheim in Venice; the Chicago Institute of Art; just to mention a few. Some of them I’ve visited more than once.

But, I visited the National Gallery in Washington DC only once, I am sad to say. It’s an absolute treasure house of art from around the world. When one visits a museum such as this, one becomes overwhelmed with the magnificent works in front of your eyes. You want to go back again and again to see them all. If it were possible, I would go every day and take in just one painting per day.

On this day in DC, I came across this well-loved painting by James McNeill Whistler…originally titled “The White Girl,” but later changed to “Symphony in White.” It is arguably his second most famous painting…the other being the painting we all know as Whistler’s Mother (I’ve seen that one also as it hangs in the Orsay Museum in Paris).

The White Girl was painted when Whistler lived in Paris. The model was his mistress, Joanna Hiffernan. He submitted the painting to the Royal Academy in Paris for inclusion in the famous annual Salon exhibition. It was rejected by them along with paintings by Manet, Monet, and several other famous Impressionist painters of the time. You see, the Royal Academy was quite conservative and did not consider most of these new works as being good art (read Ross King’s excellent book, “The Judgment of Paris,”to learn more about the end of neo-classism and the rise of the Impressionists and how the establishment fought this new kind of art).

Now about the photo: I call this one “Transitions,” as your eye must go through three rooms to arrive at the painting…each room transitions to the next. But, if you look closely, you will see I changed the second room to pure black and white. So you transition from color, to black and white, then back to color where the painting hangs. The beautiful doorways make the transitions even better. This is one of my most favorite works. Believe it or not, it was shot on slide film, then later scanned into my computer for post processing.

Some don’t, but many museums allow you to use your cameras while viewing the artworks. But be warned, you will not be allowed to use a tripod or flash in any of the museums. If you get caught doing it, you will be kicked out. So my advice is to bring a camera that has built-in anti-shake so you can capture those beautiful paintings. Be sure and take several exposures as even anti-shake cameras are not perfect, especially in low-light conditions.

What is somewhat amazing is that the camera that took this image did not have anti-shake (wasn’t invented then), nor did I use a tripod…the shot was hand-held. Sometimes you just get lucky.

Postcard from Canale

Spring – Concerto in E Major

From “The Four Seasons” Music and Poem by Antonio Vivaldi

Allegro
Springtime is upon us.
The birds celebrate her return with festive song,
and murmuring streams are softly caressed by the breezes.
Thunderstorms, those heralds of Spring, roar, casting their dark mantle over heaven,
Then they die away to silence, and the birds take up their charming songs once more.

Largo
On the flower-strewn meadow, with leafy branches rustling overhead, the goat-herd sleeps, his faithful dog beside him.

Allegro
Led by the festive sound of rustic bagpipes, nymphs and shepherds lightly dance beneath the brilliant canopy of spring.

 

Listen to “The Four Seasons” (Spring) while reading the poem. That will give it far more meaning.

Painting by J.R. Corkrum – “Spring Walk in the Italian Hills”

Postcard from Piedmont

Normally, when I send you a Postcard, I tell you the name of the town where the image was taken or painted or sketched. To be honest, I can’t remember the name of the little town where I found these churches. Piedmont is the name of the region in Northern Italy where this little town and many others exist. Piedmont is known for its sophisticated cuisine and wines such as Barolo. It is also home to many other small wineries that produce some of Italy’s finest wines.

I and my wife Susan stayed in a private home up in the hills near the town of Canale. From there we would venture out to the little hill towns that dot the landscape of this fabulous wine growing region. Here, towns and homes were built on hills rather than on the flat land where the wine grapes grew. We visited one town after another without a map. We could always see the towns in the distance and all we had to do was find the road to it. That was great fun!

We always purchased our lunch in the morning, including a bottle of local wine, from a delightful little deli in Alba, run by two women who spoke no English. They always sold us wonderful meats and bread for our picnic…and excellent wine at very reasonable prices. Then we would venture out to the countryside to see these wonderful little towns. That was a week both of us will always remember.

As I said, I found these churches in one of the little towns along the way. Churches are a major going concern in Italy…all Catholic, of course. And you find them everywhere, often in close proximity like these churches. Once in Torino, I would find a church on every block, sometimes across the street from each other…or close together like here.

I think this digital pastel-style painting turned out quite well. The vibrant colors may be a slight exaggeration (artist license), but those are the colors. I called this painting, “Three Churches,” because I can see three crosses on three different architectural styles (count ‘em). However, there may actually be only two churches. In Italy, you will sometimes see modern facades added to old churches. Actually I have seen a couple of those here in America.

But it was such a lovely scene that I had to photograph and paint it. I hope you find it pleasing.     

Postcard from Saluzzo, Italy

Cloister

by Charles Leo O'Donnell

" Show me your cloister, " asks the Lady Poverty of the friars. And they, leading her to the summit of
a hill, showed her the wide world, saying: " This is our cloister: O Lady Poverty! "
Well, that were a cloister: for its bars
Long strips of sunset, and its roof the stars.
Four walls of sky, with corridors of air
Leading to chapel, and God everywhere.
Earth beauteous and bare to lie upon,
Lit by the little candle of the sun.
The wind gone daily sweeping like a broom —
For these vast hearts it was a narrow room.

 

Digital Sketch by J.R. Corkrum – “Monastery Quadrangle”

Postcard from Minneapolis

Believe it or not, this is a football stadium. I know it doesn’t look like one, which was my first impression when I first laid eyes upon it. This is US Bank Stadium, the new home of the Minnesota Vikings. As much as I enjoy football, I look at this stadium more as an architectural wonder. I enjoy photographing architectural elements…you may be aware of that if you are a long-time reader of this blog. In this case, the element is the whole structure.

You may notice that it is not quite completed in this photo. Well, I took it just over a month ago, and from what I read it is now finished. As I write, the grand opening is in two weeks. The first Viking preseason game to be played there is on August 28th…with the first regular season game scheduled for September 18 against Green Bay on Sunday Night Football. It will also host the Super Bowl in 2018. 

Here are a few interesting details about it: Its a fixed roof stadium, with the roof made being a strong translucent plastic material spanning 240,000 square feet. The walls are also made of the same materials allowing fans to see outside, including views of downtown Minneapolis. There are also wall panels that open to the outside allowing people inside to experience some of the outdoor elements while being protected from rain and snow. If you look just above the elevated walkway, you can see the outline of a couple of these wall panels.

The truth is that the Viking ownership wanted to build an outdoor stadium, but state and local governments would only provide funds if it were an indoor stadium so it could host other events. I can’t image watching a Super Bowl in February if it were an open stadium.

The stadium sits on the site of the on the site of the now-demolished Metrodome. You may remember that stadium as it was also a covered but the roof was an inflatable fiberglass roof that was held in place by air pressure. In its latter stages, it was not well maintained and eventually became a safety hazard. On November 19, 1981, a rapid accumulation of over a foot of snow caused the roof to collapse, requiring it to be re-inflated. It deflated the following winter on December 30, 1982, again because of a tear caused by heavy snow.

The beginning of the end occurred on December 12, 2010 at about 5:00 a.m., the roof had a catastrophic collapse as three panels tore open. They continued to try and repair it, but it was not worth doing. Demolition initially began in 2014. It was the home for both baseball and football, but this new stadium will only be for football. The baseball stadium, Target Field, is only a couple of miles away. 

I didn’t get to spend a lot of time in Minneapolis, but I sure am glad I got to see this amazing piece of architecture. I look forward to seeing a football game on TV so I can see the inside of this place.