A Smooth Jazz collection of songs that paint a vivid and emotional portrait of the night. Featuring twelve tracks from some of Smooth Jazz’s best-known artists and a brand new track produced by Brian Bromberg featuring up and coming trumpet player Tony Guerrero, “Smooth Jazz At Midnight” is a touching account of the passion, mystery, and serenity that can only be found after dark. Whether you are driving home late at night, or at home by the fire, this is the music of the night.

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Article by Brainwork India

An artist is known by his creative art that grows with time and is full filled only if one has the passion for art. Art is the expression of emotion that is designed wonderfully by an artist who put down his imagination on canvas or other surface. For an artist it very important to use good quality art materials so that their painting appears more beautiful and entice the onlookers.To write the thought writer need a pen with paper and to put the imagination on canvas artist need a paintbrush with color. Paintbrush plays a vital role in painting whether it is an oil painting or painting through watercolors. All the artists are aware of the different types of painting and colors, however, few painters prefer natural colors for painting as these are eco friendly. It is very important to use right kind of products for the painting as in the art exhibition we have noticed that the right kind of art materials speaks in volume through its imagination and the usage of the fine products makes the painting look more stunning and attractive.Every painting describes itself and spread the message through beautiful colors. The colors bring new charm in the life as well in the painting of the artist. The presence of vibrant colors makes the painting more alive. There are varieties of products available in the market that makes the piece of art more attractive. Moreover, one can easily avail the facility of online art supplies for the products like Mont Marte Woodless Watercolor stick, Mont Marte Gallery Series brush set, , Mont Marte Watercolor pencils, Face paint tool kit, Structure landscape set, Matisse struc sampler set, Art Spectrum oil paint set and much more.

Art spectrum oil colors give the artist colors that are brilliant, and intense. These oil colors are permanent, safe and improve the performance of the colors. The best way pigments are used and are stated on every tube. Moreover, there are lots more drawing, painting and watercolors accessories available in the market, depending upon the genre of painting.

With the growing popularity of art, everyone has become curious and wants to learn more about all type of art materials to gather as much information as possible and select the best one. You can browse through various online websites and avail the best quality online art supplies.

For More information kindly visit at Studio Art Supplies.

Article by David H. Urmann

Have you ever heard about drum sanders? Here’s a bit of information about drum sanders.

Did you know the secret of ideal woodworking? The secret behind this is the drum sanders! Different woodworking job requires the need of drum sanders that offer wide applications. A drum sander is considered as a very aggressive appliance. A drum sander can be well used to sand off old bonding agent or paint, or if the flooring are slightly cupped or warped. These drum sanders can outstand the other types of sanders because the drum sanders allow you to sand much deeper. A powerful machine demands total attention, like these drum sanders.

Drum sander can cause and leave channels in your flooring if it is not used correctly. When removing only old floor finish and the floor is not that badly scratched, damaged or dented it is recommended that you don’t use the drum sander. With the strength and power of the drum sander, it is therefore important to make sure that the job requires it.

There are many producers of the drum sanders. While you decide to buy one, make sure that it fits your budget. Look for drum sanders that come with service contract and lesser maintenance.

Drum Sanders are very expensive and you could start by checking for a used drum sander. Used Drum Sanders can be had from sales of used wood working mechanism. The may be presented on the internet or in trade magazines. Some times machines are out of corporation liquidation and priced for quick retailing. It is vital to look for experienced hands to aid you in selecting used woodworking machinery like drum sanders to allow you to purchase used woodworking machinery that is in good condition.

You could get in touch with known agencies on the internet or stores specializing in the sales of used woodworking equipment. It could be that not all of the machines may be listed on the web. And very often extraordinary sales by woodwork machinery producers may offer quite a selection of used and reconditioned piece of equipments like drum sanders. It would be significant here to look for brand names.

Testing the drum sander is always a great idea to check if it is finely tuned before you go in for the agreement. Through the planer and jointer you could operate a piece of scrap to see if it is good and square and flat. Under the drum try to place the plank and raise the table until it barely touches the board. Slide it across the table checking the dissimilarity from the bottom of the drum to the top of the board. A skillful craftsman should be able to see the workability of a second hand drum sander.

Floor Drum Sanders are the real workhorses for hardwood floor sanding. This enormous piece of equipment is so important that it requires two full grown adults to move it around. The drum sander composes of the sander itself, a large dust bag, and a drum on which you fasten large sheets of sanding paper.

Floor drum sanders are used to polish the floors down to the bare wood. The floor drum sander clears off the wax finish on top of the polyurethane even if the finish has worn through or if the floor has been stained or dented. It would be a good thing to purchase sanding paper at the device rental yard itself as you may not locate it your local Home Depot or hardware store. The rental yard workers will suggest at least three gradations of coarse, medium, and fine sanding paper. Be sure to acquire extra sanding paper, as most rental yards do buy back unused paper. But you may need to verify this first with them.

The floor drum sander cleans off the bad spots, the high spots, stained spots, blemishes, paint splotches in fact everything from the flooring. It really takes the floor down to bare wood. Unluckily, if you’re not cautious, you can carve unsightly, stable grooves in the wood. It’s easy to strip off a quarter inch of wood without even observing it. So the job involves careful concentration all the time.

This is the first RB video I ever made, go watch my other RB videos, they’re a hell of a lot better in every way possible. my current top score on this is 405000+ EDIT: 3000000 views as of August 13th 2008, awesome. yes, i’m a real life drummer, have been for years. the tape is there to fix the pads as they were shitty out of the box. if you comment saying “you play this too much/get a life”, this was my 2nd try on it, practically the day the game came out: so no, i did not practice this. ————————————————————————— TWITTER – twitter.com FACEBOOK – www.facebook.com RANTS & VLOGS – www.youtube.com LIVE STREAM – www.justin.tv BUSINESS EMAIL – azuritereactionbusiness@yahoo.com —————————————————————————

Article by Eugene Novikoff

There are a lot of people who have been practicing various forms of art and known as an artist. It is said that anything that is created with vivid imagination is an art. Art is actually a skill of delivering something of high definition. By high definition, we mean that art is not an easy task and not everybody can become an artist. The people with great creative instinct and ability can only create something in form of art. However, every art has its typical rules or techniques and the people with creative instinct in order to practice their talent in a more effective way, go to the art academy where a lot of art courses are provided.

These art academies provide both theoretical and practical knowledge of art to the students. In different parts of the world, the form of art is different and so are the techniques. However, but one thing is common in every form of art, from every corner of the world is the creativity. It is the basic requirement, without which art can’t exist. Art is a very effective form of communication that builds healthy relationships between or among the people sharing same kinds of interests.Painting is a very popular form of art where paint, pigment, color or other medium are applied to a surface. Usually, this medium is applied to the base with a brush where other objects may also be used. In the field of art, both the act and the result are described by the painting. Canvas, wood, glass, lacquer, walls, paper, clay or concrete are the various surfaces on which people do paintings. Though many paintings can be decorated with gold leaf, however some modern paintings incorporate other kinds of resources such as sand, clay, and scraps of paper.

Paintings are actually the modes of expressions. The painters are the experts in portraying expressions or thoughts into their canvas and thus, give it a new shape. In order to portray the significant and conceptual intent of the painter, certain aesthetics are used, such as drawing, composition or abstraction. Paintings can be of various natures, such as photographic, abstract, naturalistic and representational, with narrative content, symbolism, emotion or be of political nature. All these skills can be learnt at art academy. You can opt for art courses of your choice.

However, whether it’s painting or other form of art, it has been assumed by some people as it belongs to some social classes and thus, often excludes others. Here art is considered as an activity of the upper-class associated with wealth, as they have the capability to obtain art and the leisure required to chase or enjoy it to the fullest. Thus, it is that art is an expensive affair and only the rich can afford to it.Ultimately, we can say that art can imply a sense of skill or mastery of a particular medium that involves an act of expressing feelings, thoughts and observations in a creative way. In order to express meaning with immediacy or depth, it can also be described as the developed and efficient use of a language.

Artists For Haiti – We Are The World

Article by Lewis Harrison

There are so many different elements that make great art that it is hard to know where one can begin.

Did you know for instance that in the Renaissance many artists manufactured their own paint. In our modern era few artists, even those who paint realistic portraits in an “old school” style, would be expected to do this so time and environment has changed much of what takes place in the arts. Opera is one of the youngist of art forms and yet opera, though one of the most conservative of the great art forms, is also the most collaborative of art forms bringing together music, scoring, story, libretto, ballet, set design, and much more into a magnificent work of art.

Though there is much legend about the great artists being a loner some arts are collaborative by nature and some arts that were traditionally the province of the isolated artists have become collaborative by vision. An example would be contemporary experimental theater.

And then there is the always present question of just what is art. There are those who, to this day, question whether moving pictures or photography can be considered art.

Once, there was only fine art – art named as such because it has the ability to draw the audience towards the contemplation of the finer things such as aesthetic beauty, subtlety in shape or form, or anything that reflects an artist’s intention through discipline and skill to draw out or evoke previously hidden emotions in an audience, and/or illustrate abstract thought and its expressions.

In today’s world much of the design applied to functional objects may be viewed as art when created and lose that definition as function dominates the perspective concerning the creation. Art and design that remains together in some useful product is a cause for celebration for those who have an appreciation for great art and great functionality.

Years ago the celebrated French clothing designer Yves Saint-Laurent had his entire history as a designer/artist presented at an exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.

Now there is a new concept in the art, the concept of non-motivated art, including universal communication, a need to experience the mysterious expression of the imagination and symbolic and ritualistic functions. By universal communication I mean an art created as a vehicle by which the individual may express thoughts, words and ideas toward the world at its largest, smallest, and toward everything in between.

When I speak of the mysterious I am focusing on art that reflects the ways in which the mind naturally functions (see A Conversation on the Mind). The mind is drawn to anything that seems mysterious. This is partly why people enjoy magic, illusionists, mentalists, and the mystical and seek to explore the depths of the ocean and outer space. Through the creation and experience of art we are given a means to experience the mysterious within ourselves while connecting to the mystery of life that surrounds us. Art allows us to explore and possibly even learn who we are, authentically, in relation to the universe. This experience of mystery comes automatically through our appreciation of singing, dancing, sculpture, music or poetry.

Some dirty techniques to take down a real opponent. -For artist contact, written bios and more street artists check out concretebeat.blogspot.com
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Given the current economic climate people are less inclined to spend huge amounts of money in order to fulfil hobbies and pastimes. People are turning to different methods of shopping, including online shopping where supplies compete with high street rates, so you can usually find what you are looking for at a reasonable price. This is a convenient method of shopping given that you aren’t wasting time and petrol browsing many shops trying to find the best price. Many budding artists and professionals too are turning to online art suppliers to source their preferred art supplies. This allows for people interested in art or who are new to art to purchase art supplies at the click of a button. Finding art materials online is also useful for beginners who might require detailed information with regards to the mediums they might want to use and it is also handy for them to read over reviews and find products that are highly recommended by others.

Reputable art suppliers will endeavour to offer the art materials that best suit your talents, and most will offer starter kits, craft kits and craft supplies that will help any amateur to experiment with different mediums and sample different types and brands of materials. Buying art supplies online means you can plan your artistic ventures beforehand knowing your products will arrive at a certain time. It is advisable to choose a reputable art materials source that can be trusted, so you can go back time and time again and purchase your favourite items. They tend to supply art materials on all levels so again, it is just a case of reading through the information provided and choosing what you think might suit your ability and needs.

Art materials can mean anything from canvases, easels, field easels and craft kits to acrylic paint, fabric paint and any other hobby craft materials that you might require. The list is endless. Art supplies available online are also handy for anybody looking for a unique and personal gift for a family member or friend who might be interested in art. The craft kits available make excellent gifts for any aspiring artist who wants to experiment with new mediums. Of course like anything, the prices will inevitably vary and with art supplies, the difference is generally down to quality. That said, even the lower price brands still maintain high standards – and as you progress with your art, you can start buying higher quality art supplies to suit the professionalism of your work. This is, of course, so you don’t waste highly priced art supplies on experimenting or making mistakes. 

Ксения Симонова – Песочная анимация stb (5.06.09) FAQ : – full list of music (thanx to LikaFortuna): 1. Cirque du Soleil – Jeux d’Eau 2. В.Лебедев-Кумач – Священная война 3. Марк Бернес – Темная ночь 4. Apocalyptica – Harmageddon 5. John Williams – Auschwitz – Birkenau 6. Марк Бернес – Журавли 7. Apocalyptica – Nothing Else Matters – Words at the end: “You’re always near” simonova.tv – Kseniya Simonova official website
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There is a wide variety of aspects to consider regarding choosing cheap bass guitars for beginners. It is relatively straightforward to buy a top of the range make for lots of your money. These types of guitar will probably have an excellent action (gap of your guitar strings from your fretboard), the finish will likely be close to perfect, zero jagged ends and the entire body would have zero runs from the paint or blemishes about the edges. Nevertheless you shall be paying out a cost just for this, a cost as much as 4x. Also, it is probable that you are buying the standing of the company. Thus, how does one shop for cheap bass guitars for beginners? To start with, it is vital for you to get out there and actually hold and play one. There’s no alternative and you will probably just be sorry later on if you don’t make this happen. To really have the instrument with you you’ll need to visit the guitar store. The majority of areas would have some sort of guitar store and you’ll be allowed to wander inside and check out virtually any guitar they may have on hand. Here it could get appealing. I would personally not really propose that you get a guitar in the store, merely look at as many as you possibly can. By doing this you can find out which type you like.

The right way to pick up cheap bass guitars for beginners can be to look on the net for it. There are a variety of excellent guitar merchants on the net intended to help you get amazing bargains and also if you include the delivery will end up being far less expensive compared to the local music store. An effective way, and much less time consuming, is always to have a look at a guitar price comparison website. These web sites focus on the exact same principle as any industry and offer exactly the same service. They’ll generally have an overnight, or some use a real-time, update of all of the guitar and guitar accessory costs. This will show the best deals and you just have to view in one place instead of go through the many online guitar shops looking for the guitar you have chosen. I have done this many times and by the time you have found the best price and then gone back to the online shop, it has either sold out or you didn’t realise it was on a 4 week lead time!!

Therefore, to sum up, the way to purchase cheap bass guitars for beginners is to go out and get your hands on as many as you can from the local guitar stores. Take a notebook and write down the model or models that you would be more content to possess. Next return home to get onto some sort of guitar price comparison web-site intended to present to you today’s selling prices and, sometimes should they show up on the site they’ll be available. Then you’re able to proceed through into the web store and buy the guitar for the lowest asking price. Most of these on line instrument stores can even fix your guitar up to suit your needs free of charge, so do remember to inquire. That’s ways you can get good, usable equipment when you’re out there in search of cheap bass guitars for beginners.

View tabs at www.freeguitarvideos.com Left Hand Technique is a free video lesson by Russ Rodgers for beginning bass guitar. This lesson will teach you proper left hand form which will help you become a more efficient player. We will first cover the proper positioning of the hand and fingers and then move on to some exercises that will eliminate excess motion from your fingers.
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The right way to find cheap left hand bass guitars could be to look on the net . There are a lot of excellent guitar merchants on-line designed to bring you amazing bargains and also once you add shipment will probably be considerably more affordable as opposed to the neighborhood guitar shop.A wonderful way, and less time intensive, will be to investigate any guitar price comparison site. Such sites operate on a similar rule just like any other marketplace and give the exact same services. They should have an over night, or a few employ a real-time, up-date of all guitar and also guitar accessory selling prices. It will display the very best offers and also you just need to try looking in a single location as opposed to check out the numerous on-line instrument stores seeking the actual instrument you’ve selected. We have carried this out frequently and by the time you might have discovered the very best pricing then went to the web store, it’s frequently sold-out or perhaps you didn’t appreciate it had been on the 3 month lead time!!

Hence, overall, an easy method to pick cheap left hand bass guitars is usually to just go and put your hands on as many as you possibly can through the neighborhood guitar shops. Please take a note pad and get the exact type or even styles that you will end up being very pleased to have. And then go back home and find a good guitar price comparison online shop which can tell you the actual pricing and most likely whenever they show on their site they are going to be on hand. Then you can move through in to the webstore and get the guitar for the cheapest deal. Several internet guitar shops will even set the guitar up to suit you without cost, so do not forget to inquire about that. That is how you can get decent, playable instruments when you are out trying to find cheap left hand bass guitars.

FULL COURSE, TAB, JAM TRACKS: truefire.at More free guitar lessons – bit.ly On Twitter – www.twitter.com On Facebook – www.truefire.com Alrighty thennow that we know the basic blues chord progression and how to read and follow a basic chord chart let’s talk about different grooves, or styles of music. Its one of the wonderful things about music that the same thing can be played and interpreted in so many different ways, and convey totally different feelings. So lets start out playing example #2 with a straight 8ths groove. Straight 8ths means that we will be playing a steady stream of 8th notes with no syncopation. Well start just pumping out the root and then use the pentatonic scale to construct a bass line that will certainly sound familiar. Let your fingers do the walkin!
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Whilst this isn’t necessarily the case, it has taken a long time for the electric bass guitar to catch up with the standard electric guitar in terms of design and appearance – but that has been experiencing significant changes over recent years, with electric bass guitars packing a punch as far as aesthetics are concerned, and taking a firm stand centre stage.

The body of electric bass guitars has typically been made from wood – usually very hard wood, but in some cases graphite has also been used to create a strong, but very lightweight guitar. Where wood has been used there has always been much scope for variation, but the most typical woods used include alder for the body, maple for the strong neck, and rosewood for the fret board. Each of these woods is lacquered to within an inch of its life, and the natural gloss of the wood with the grain enhanced adds a striking effect to the instrument. However, where graphite has been used, a wide range of colours and paint effects has been used to create guitars in all manner of visual styles.

Graphite can help in reducing the weight of a bass guitar, but an alternative is to create a hollow bodies electric bass guitar. Normally the idea of a hollow bodied guitar is restricted to that of the acoustic guitar, but the hollow chamber achieves two things – firstly it lowers the overall weight, and secondly it can be used to help add a certain resonance to the notes, providing the guitar with a distinct voice.

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The electric bass guitar is a large instrument, and is usually significantly longer than the standard electric guitar. For this reason the fret board or neck is under considerable strain, and so the design has to take this into account. There is little surprise that even today, with the most amazing fabrics and materials available, often it is still premium hardwoods that are chosen for the essential parts of a guitar, and for an electric bass guitar the fret board is nearly always rosewood or maple. However, there have been graphite fret boards, and even ebony.

In some cases the design of an electric bass guitar has relied partly on the wood for the appearance and strength, but also partly on its very exotic nature, with companies like Alembic notorious for using exotic and unusual woods in the production of its guitars. Cocobolo is used very often by them to create the bodies of the guitar – not for any inherent quality that adds to the music, but because it has a wonderful grain that can be brought out and creates a wonderful visual effect.

Electric bass guitars were often the dark and rather bland instrument hidden at the back, alongside the drum kit, but today the electric bass guitar is a work of art, both musically and visually, with much of the work the credit of the trees which grow the grain in such a way that these instruments have a strikingly visual appeal that makes them stand out, and perhaps it is this fact that has contributed so greatly to the massive interest which they command.

Victor Epand is an expert consultant for guitars, drums, keyboards, sheet music, guitar tab, and home theater audio. You can find the best marketplace at these sites for electric guitars, hardwood guitars, sheet music, guitar.

Introduction:

          When it comes to Contemporary art, people will call out the names of European artists from the 20th Century including – Pablo Picasso, Henri Matisse, Georgia O’Keefe, and Marc Chagall. Sounds familiar? It is familiar because these names are mentioned when anyone is discussing his or her influence or admiration of a particular legendary artist. Those are the names of the artists from the Modern art movement. Contemporary art means the art of today. It arrived around the 1960s during the Vietnam War[1]. In this art movement, an artist adapts to the styles from previous or current art movements (i.e. Baroque, Italian Renaissance, Cubism, Pop Art) and uses his/her artistic abilities to tell a story.

          In my view, Contemporary Native American art is when a Native artist uses a combination of traditional and westernized styles of art to create sculptures, paintings, photography, and so on. Contemporary Native American art is known within art shows and other museum exhibits, though this is slowly changing. Contemporary Native American Art should feel appreciated by art critics and other artists because there is someone or a group of people who enjoys viewing them wherever they go.

          When people look at Native American art, many things will come into their mind and out of their mouths: clay or adobe pottery with Geometric and free flowing figures, weapons and other sharp objects, and photographs of the Native Americans who were giving European names while attending in English boarding schools. People will think of famous paintings on Native American history mentioned in books and schools including The Trail of Tears (late 1800s)[2], head portraits of Native American elders wearing traditional cloaks and headdresses, painted with acrylic or oil paint (i.e. Chief Sitting Bull), and children’s books in grade school such as Brother Eagle, Sister Sky.[3]

          One would ask these two questions about it: Why Contemporary Native American Artists use their artistic abilities to tell their stories and why the public’s attention draws to them in art shows and museum exhibitions? To answer these two questions, one would thought, “Why should anybody care about today’s Native American art?” Another person will answer this question – There are four main reasons. First reason: Native Artists want the public to hear their voice. Their stories – political, social, and economical – are either in writing, paint, photo collage, or in a series of photography.

          The second reason: Native artists enjoy telling their stories using art as a hobby. In some cases, these are the types of people anyone can find in American universities across the country or working in museums. Museums in Manhattan such as the Smithsonian’s Museum of the American Indian (located in Bowling Green, a couple of blocks from Ground Zero)[4] and the Museum of Modern Art (located a few blocks from Radio City Music Hall)[5] are two of the greatest examples.

          The third reason: the public is asking for excitement and activity within any art style, including modern art. The public is drawn to any artwork that looks cool, simple, vibrant, and colorful or just pretty enough to grab the attention-seekers. Unexpected, some artwork can carry a form of a shock value to the audience. That is the only time when a viewer’s jaw will drop to the floor in confusion, disbelief, and silence. There are key points on how a particular painting or piece would offend someone: controversial topics and personal issues.

           To stir up controversy, there are certain issues that are personal, but yet at the same time, considered a taboo to the majority of the American public including – domestic abuse, genocide, political, economical, and social issues that no one should mention, religion and its scandals (i.e. Catholic church and Televangelist scandals), and corruption within law enforcement from any particular state or the country as a whole. Here are two example of Contemporary Native American art dealing with issues that are considered a taboo, or forbidden.

          In 1987, Mohawk artist Alan Michelson has an installation piece titled Up-Biblium God, which deals with frustration and conflict between the Native Americans versus the English missionaries[6]. It’s a conflict with the Native American spiritual beliefs versus the Christian religion. To a Christian Fundamentalist viewer, this entire piece should offend this person or having him/her become critical to the artist and Michelson’s installation piece.

          Another piece deals with the issues of America’s portrayal of Native Americans within the mainstream. Seminole/Creek/Navajo artist Hulleah Tsinhnahjinnie created a photo collage in 1990 titled “When Did Dreams of White Buffalo Turn into Dreams of White Women?” which was in the Heard Museum, located in Phoenix, Arizona[7].

          If any controversy is started by any artwork or series of artworks by holding the most attention given by public, more articles are written in newspapers, magazines, or even broadcasted on radio or television. Articles on a particular exhibition or collection of artwork can range from good/bad reviews, mixed reviews, or just criticism of the artist and his/her artwork. It is a scary feeling to deal with, but it is worth seeing and listening. Finally, the fourth and final reason: Native artist use their artist abilities to make a living and to make it very useful. For example, there is an artist from Oklahoma named Harvey Phillip Pratt, who is a Cheyenne/Arapaho Native American artist, is making a living as a forensic artist in the law enforcement[8].

          This research paper will focus on four Native American artists including Jimmie Durham (Cherokee), Harvey Phillip Pratt (Cheyenne/Arapaho), Lee Marmon (Laguna Pueblo), and Jaune “Quick to See” Smith (Salish/French-Cree/Shoshone). A discussion of the artwork I selected is assigned to only two pieces from each artist. Also, thoughts and interpretations are included into a total of eight artistic creations made by Contemporary Native American artists.

Artists of Native American descent and their artwork:

          Cherokee artist Jimmy Durham is a native New Yorker who is a freelance artist and an activist for Native rights[9]. His works from the early 1980s to the present day were in art shows all over the world. Durham is known for using mixed media, installation art, and performance art to tell his stories with humor when approaching on serious issues or brief information about his life. His art piece “Self Portrait” is a mixed media sculpture created between in 1987. “Self Portrait” is also a humorous sculpture made with a mixture of nails/screws, marker, paint, braided hair and feathers.

          The hair and feathers were used for the Native warrior-like hair style; the face is painted in purple, blue, red, and a lighter shade of beige; The entire body (made with cardboard) is covered in screws and writings in black marker; A “heart valve” is located at the top left of the sculpture’s chest. To have a viewer laughing, the sculpture has male genitalia as well. The black marker writings are trivia discussing the artist’s life (Durham, of course). This entire sculpture is conventional piece, where the face is a portrait of Durham and the rest is a body made out of cardboard boxes and paper.

          “On Loan from the Museum of the American Indian.” is an installation piece made in 1985. It is a parody of an ethnologist collector’s journey exploring Native grounds[10]. First picture: the United States map is mostly covered in a dark color. From pictures 3 to 5, the dark color covering the map of the United States is fading away. It turns into millions of dots and they are moved to the left side of the map. Others show pictures show rocks, brushes, information on the lives of present-day Natives in the reservation and issues with land ownership.

          Harvey Phillip Pratt is a Cheyenne-Arapaho artist from Oklahoma. He is also a forensic artist who worked with high-profile cases including the BTK murders, the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing at the Murrah Federal building, the 1993 World Trade Center attacks, and the Oklahoma Girl Scout murders[11]. He also holds lectures on Forensic art and law enforcement. “We’re Still Here” is a painting which tells a strange, but an interesting story. It’s a painting of three skeletons dressed in tribal (Native American) outfits – feathered headdresses, rattles, staffs and decorative but colorful quilts. The decorations of the quilts show symbolism.

          Within many tribes across the United States and the world overall, skeletons and/or skulls are used for ceremonial purposes including: funerals, warriors coming home after a major but a successful hunt, winning a battle against “rivals”, festivals, and storytelling. First theory: the elders in this picture are probably humans who turned into skeletons. Second theory: the skeletons could represent spirits of the deceased elders. Religious fanatics (mostly Christian Fundamentalists) would assume that skeletons are a sign of danger, evil spirits, or a reincarnation of Satan. Others would disagree with this notion.

          “Guardian Spirits” is a sculpture made with bronze metal (copper and tin). The significance of this sculpture is that there is a convention and a twisted perspective. There are two heads that are identical with each other, one facing the front and the other facing sideways. “Guardian Spirits” is somewhat a resemblance of a Roman God named Janus, who’s known for having double faces – one for the old year and one for the New Year (hence the name “January”). The twin heads are portraits and the details of the faces are realistic.

          Throughout history, the bronze metal is more durable than stone or marble. For example, during the Early, High, and Late Classical period in Greece, bronze caste were used to create sculptures of gods, goddesses, warriors, and people of everyday life[12]. Large amounts of idealization were used as well.

          Lee Marmon, a Laguna Pueblo Native American from the Southwest is a legendary photographer taking pictures from people to landscapes. To the public, he is known as the “Blue-Eyed” Indian[13]. He started his photography career in the late 1940s and still continuing to this day. “Engine Rock” is a landscape photograph taken with a Pentax camera in 1985. The colors of this landscape photograph are vibrant and it looks like it’s from an oil painting or an acrylic painting. To capture the most vibrant and colorful painting like “Engine Rock”, photographers should adjust the F-Stop, light flashes, and moving the camera in different positions.

          Probably the most well known photograph Lee Marmon took is the “White Man’s Moccasins” in 1954. It was taken at the reservation at the Southwest. The story behind this photo: it is a picture of Marmon’s old neighbor and friend “Old Man” Jeff wearing contemporary Pueblo outfit and a pair of Converse sneakers sitting behind a rock boulder, looking up to the sky and meditating[14]. This legendary photograph is now on posters, T-Shirts and books on famous photographers. The reason why Lee Marmon gave his photograph this title is because White Americans are known in the 1950s for wearing Converse sneakers in the suburbs and in urban areas across the United States when those sneakers first hit the American market.

          Jaune “Quick-to-See” Smith is a Salish/French-Cree/Shoshone artist from the Flathead Reservation in St. Ignatius, Montana. Here specialties are mixed media, painting, collage, and drawing. Her art career started in the 1970s just before completing her M.F.A. degree at the University of New Mexico[15]. Jaune “Quick to See” Smith uses mixed media in her canvas paintings – a mixture of oil (or acrylic) paint and newspaper and B&W photograph collages.

          Made in 1992, the colors of her painting titled “Trade: Gifts for Trading with White People” are striking and intense[16]. Here, a large variety of shades of red cover the entire background and random thick brush strokes from different colors (yellow, green, black, blue, pink) cover the Black & White photographs and articles of Native Americans. The B & W photographs and articles range from the 19th century to the late 1980s (late 20th century). Most of the black and white photographs and newspaper articles were either painted over with a different color from the oil paint or left alone.

          Another feature for “Trade” is the merchandise hanging above. It is a collection of Indian items (feathers, braids, and arrows) and western items (caps,) Smith and professor/artist of the University of Colorado at Boulder[17] Ken Iwamasa created the Great Hall Floor at the Denver International Airport (located in Denver, CO) in 1993[18]. The material for this artwork is terrazzo. Terrazzo is a flooring material of marble or stone chips set in mortar and polished when dried. It’s mainly used for landscape projects and brick houses for decoration. There were two designs for the Great Hall Floor and both are in the fifth floor at the Jeppesen terminal.

Thoughts about Contemporary Native Art:

          After showing examples of Contemporary Native American Art, questions will appear: When is the next art exhibition in 2008 or 2009? What events can make native artists draw, paint, or photograph? The answers to these questions are unknown, but the Contemporary Native Artists would answer them immediately is when you meet them in person or reading an article or journal about them. In my experience as an artist and a college student, the easiest way to promote your artistic ability is to become an expert in other fields along with art (i.e. forensic art, museum curator, and author of novels and such). For Contemporary Native American artists, their artwork is under the radar to this day, but that will slowly change when people realize that Contemporary Native Art is still in its existence.

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

Fisher, Jean. “In Search of the ‘Inauthentic’: Disturbing Signs in Contemporary Native American Art.” Art Journal 51, no. 3 (1992): 44-50. (Accessed September 7, 2008)

Kleinder,Fred S. Gardner’s Art Through The Ages: A Global History. Boston: Thompson Wadsworth, 2008 (2009 Edition).

Lippard, Lucy L. “Jimmy Durham: Postmodernist ‘Savage’. Art in America (1993), http://www.findarticles.com. (Accessed September 7, 2008).

Rushing, W. Jackson III. “Critical Issues on Recent Native American Art.” Art Journal 51, no. 13 (1992): 6-14. (Accessed September 7, 2008)

Shiff, Richard. “The Necessity of jimmy Durham’s Jokes.” Art Journal 51, no. 3 (1992): 74-80. (Accessed September 24, 2008)

Harvey Phillip Pratt: http://www.harveypratt.com (Accessed on October 25, 2008)

Lee Marmon: http://www.leemarmongallery.com (Accessed on October 25, 2008)

ARTSTOR: http://www.artstor.com (Accessed on September and October 2008)

[1] “What is Contemporary Art”, http://arthistory.about.com/od/current_contemporary_art/f/what_is.htm

[2] “Trail of Tears”, http://www.nativeamericans.com/TrailofTears2.htm

[3]“Oyate – Avoid Brother Eagle, Sister Sky”, http://www.oyate.org/books-to-avoid/bro_eagle.html

[4]National Museum of the American Indian, http://www.nmai.si.edu/

[5] MoMA – The Museum of Modern Art, http://www.moma.org/

[6]“In Search of the “Inauthentic: Disturbing Signs of Contemporary Native American Art, Art Journal 51, no. 3 (1992): 47

[7] “Critical Issues in Recent Native American Art,” Art Journal 51, no. 3 (1992): 11

[8] About Forensic Art: Harvey Pratt, http://www.harveypratt.com/about_forensic_art.php

[9]“Jimmie Durham: Post-modern Savage”, Art in America (1993).

[10]“The Necessity of Jimmie Durham’s Jokes”, Art Journal 51, no. 13 (1992): 76

[11]Native American Artist & Police Forensic Artist Harvey Pratt, http://www.harveypratt.com

[12]Gardner’s Art Through The Ages: A Global History. Boston: Thompson Wadsworth (2008)

[13] Lee Marmon, Southwestern Photographer, and the Blue-Eyed Indian Bookshop, http://www.leemarmon.com/

[14]“Lee Marmon Gallery”, http://www.leemarmongallery.com

[15]“NMWA | Private Collection | Profile – Jaune Quick-to-See Smith”, www.nmwa.org/collection

[16] ARTSTOR, http://www.artstor.com (Accessed October 2008)

[17]“Photography: Ken Iwamassa”. University of Colorado at Boulder, http://www.colorado.edu/arts/photo/iwamasa.html

[18]Art on File, http://www.artonfile.com