Eye Imagine

Monday, May 14, 2012

Restoring a Past, Charting a Future, An Artistic Discovery of America's Whaling Legacy by the Dalvero Academy

Hi! The art exhibit Restoring a Past, Charting a Future, An Artistic Discovery of America's Whaling Legacy by the Dalvero Academy is officially open! I would like to invite everyone to come see the show at Mystic Seaport Museum. Below is a sample of my art for the show.

You can follow us on Twitter or Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/DalveroMystic
our website: http://www.dalveromystic.com
Mystic Seaport Museum: http://www.mysticseaport.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=home.viewPage&page_id=360A0590-1E4F-379B-6086D51DBF693D98

Restoring the Morgan

The Morgan is the last wooden whaling ship of its kind in the world. It is currently being restored at Mystic Seaport Museum, its home now. Documenting the restoration process has been an inspiring and learning experience.

The curved structural support called, knees, of whaling ships need to be built from live oak, a long lived short growing tree with strong thick branches. Mystic Seaport has been very fortunate to receive donations of fallen live oak from hurricane Katrina to renew the life of the Morgan.

To cut a piece of the live oak the restoration crew needs a team of people to use a pulley and position the live oak on the giant saw to cut it.

After the live oak is cut, it is hand finished to fit where the knee was originally. The carpenters use the previous knee as a template and choose the piece that's closest in shape to it. Then it is hand finished to match the old knee and fitted into it's spot. The Morgan is an organic puzzle with individual pieces that forms the ship. The process of restoring the Morgan requires the skillful labor of incredible craftsmen who and intimate knowledge of every inch of the Morgan.

Tuesday, April 10, 2012

Sea Chanteys

The first time I heard sea chanteys at Mystic Seaport, I was amazed by the beauty, rhythm, and sound of it. Sea Chanteys are working songs for maritime workers. The rhythm of the songs were meant to synchronize with the rhythm of the work they were performing on the ships and shore. The chanteys were especially helpful when teams of men had to work together. Each breath inhaled and exhaled would ease the strain of their laborious tasks. The robust voices of sailors singing of long lonely voyages out at sea, loved ones they left behind and sights they've seen are all very common chantey themes.

On one occasion while I was drawing at Mystic Seaport with the Dalvero Academy, there was a sea chantey festival. It was amazing to see these songs performed by what looked like everybody in the village of Mystic. The young and old would join their voices in the chorus with the performers and the swells of their voices would resound from the wall reminding us of the sea.

One of the songs I've always heard growing up, the Banana Boat song, was apparently sung by black dock workers who used to unload and load banana filled boats on the Mississippi. There are so many sea chanteys that we've always listened to an never knew were maritime songs. I hope that everyone will be able to share my wonderful experience with the music from the heart and soul of the people who ply the vast oceans for their livelihood.

Friday, April 6, 2012

Charles W. Morgan, the Last Wooden Whaling Ship

Hi! It's been a long time since I've last posted a blog. I'm happy to share this project I've been working on with the Dalvero Academy for the past two years. We've been documenting the restoration of the last wooden whaling ship in the world, the Charles W. Morgan, at Mystic Seaport Museum in Connecticut. Each artist from the Dalvero Academy has also developed individual projects that has lead to a collaborative gallery show with the museum. Here are some of my drawings from the many trips we made to the museum!

I am very excited to invite everyone to come see the show which will be opening the end of April at Mystic Seaport. The show is titled: Restoring a Past, Charting a Future, An Artistic Discovery of America's Whaling Legacy by the Dalvero Academy. You can follow us on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/DalveroMystic Twitter and our website: http://www.dalveromystic.com to get a preview of what the other artists are working on for the show.

It's been a wonderful experience! I hope you will enjoy the art as much as we've enjoyed working on it.

All art on this blog is copyrighted by Rosa Lee.

Thursday, August 26, 2010

Tour De France 2010

I was recently in Paris for a professional workshop with the Dalvero Academy! It's the first time I've been to Paris! As a young girl I used to imagine going there soaking in the French culture. To experience Paris through drawing made it an even more special experience. We drew at all the major "must see" sites! One of the class for this session was to draw the Tour De France! It was very exciting to imagine drawing this global event. My friends and I got up early to pick our spot to draw at, knowing there would be a large crowd as it got later in the day. Prepared to camp out at our spot we drew everything around us as Paris got ready for the Tour. As the crowds built, our little spot in front of the barricades grew smaller. Pretty soon the crowd had pushed us up against the barricades and I had just started to work on my large panoramic! I didn't know how I was ever going to finish my drawing! I had to work on it one piece at a time and continuously apologize to my two friends on each side of me as I elbowed them while I drew and the crowds pushed up behind us to cheer on their team or country! When the cyclists raced by, my hands and eyes raced alongside to catch this moment on paper! What an unforgettable experience! - Rosa

Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Look and Listen

Recently I was invited by my friends to go draw at the Look and Listen Festival. It was interesting to listen to the different sounds and think of them as music or even something that evokes other emotions & thoughts from us. I walked into the performance to the quiet hush of the audience and the sound of tearing paper. It was interesting how the audience contributed to making the sound become more significant. It felt like we were at a temple listening meditatively to the sounds of a deep bell ringing at regular intervals.

I really enjoyed the listening to the vocal group that performed. They were beautiful to listen to. There was also a musician who loved to make music on her baby piano. While she played on her red baby piano I couldn't stop thinking about Linus from the cartoon Peanuts! For those of you who are familiar with the Charles Schultz cartoon, you would remember that Linus would always play music very seriously on his baby piano.

The performance was held at a gallery with art on the wall and you really were there to "look and listen". Art and music both complement and amplify each other. I really enjoyed my night of drawing and I hope you can experience a little of that through my drawings!

Tuesday, May 4, 2010

Aura

There's a debate whether digitally created art is "art" and how it affects the idea of "original" art since it can be mass produced. Does it have an aura, energy, that extra ingredient that allows us to connect to a piece of art psychologically and emotionally? Yes. Art does not discriminate what form it takes, whether as a painting, drawing, photograph, installation, sculpture or even digital. It has the power to reach out from its physical form to touch us on every level of our being. It agitates our thoughts and has the power to provoke, suggest, and stimulate ideas. Artists create art with the intense energies of their thoughts, emotions and physical being. It is this "creative energy" that infuses a piece of art with "life".

What is "original" art? The idea of a special one of a kind piece that can not be mass produced. It is such a complicated idea that involves sharing art to reach the largest audience, how it's created and what physical form it takes. Art created by an artist with their ideas is "original" art because there is no one who thinks about things the same way, have the same emotional response to an idea and can produce a piece of art the same as that artist. I think the answer to what "original" art is is not a black or white answer of yes or no. Art is a sensory manifestation of an artists ideas that has taken a form that we can connect with. I think that is what makes a piece of art "original".

These two pieces are part of four digital pieces I created in response to these thoughts. Enjoy! - Rosa

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