September 11, RIP San Bruno Victims

When I think about 9/11 all those people who, to quote my friend, "lost their loved ones in such an awful way," I feel like I don't even deserve to feel sad. I mean, compared to all the victims of 9/11, I really don't know what sorrow is. Tragic events bring about incredible reactions in terms of emotion, violence, change, and even art. Historical events or even news headlines, whether good or bad, have sparked some amazing thoughts in artists' minds that have led to mind-blowing statements and masterpieces. Creativity cannot be tamed, and inspiration, especially from tragic disasters, often lead to some of the most captivating pieces. Here are a few art pieces inspired by 9/11 that I found captivating:

9-11 by Barbara Perlmutter

September 11 by Joni McPherson

September 11 by Chawky Frenn

Recently, as you may or may not have heard, there was a massive fire in San Bruno, CA from an explosion due to a gas leak. Over 30 houses were destroyed and about a 100 were damaged. I was watching it on the news live and seeing those flames roaring in the darkness with newscasters and people just standing and watching, I felt so helpless. If the people right next to it couldn't do anything, then we just have to watch until help comes. That's the exact way I felt when I got up on the morning of September 11, 2001 and watched the destruction and horror of 9/11. 4 people have been confirmed dead from the San Bruno explosion/fire and 2 people (correction: 6) are still missing. To have something like that happen so suddenly, so spontaneously and spread and destroy so quickly is truly terrifying. You hear about these disasters all around the world but then it happens so close, and you think, wow, that could have been me. I felt inspired by the San Bruno fire so today I decided to dig through my garage, find some paint supplies, and paint what I saw when I thought about San Bruno. My final product was a simple watercolor painting of fire surround by darkness, infused with hazy gray smoke drifting up into the black hole of a sky.

RIP Victims of the San Bruno fire

To all the living victims of the San Bruno fire: My family, friends, and I are thinking continuously about you and praying for your recovery and help through however long this difficult and painful journey will last, whether it ends in finding a new place to start over, or move on from losing parts of your past.

Impressionism

Hello!

It has been much too long.

A few weeks ago, I saw a pretty spectacularly amazing exhibit of Impressionism paintings at the de Young Museum in San Francisco. All of the paintings were from Musee d'Orsay, an amazing museum in Paris. The paintings ranged from the incredibly realistic and wondrous works of Manet to the well known scatters of brush strokes of Monet. Only one letter different in names, but quite different and distinct painters and styles. I got to see Whistler's Mother, or so it is known as. It was a nice painting and I appreciated the simplicity and details, but I have to say, it was slightly boring. I would have to say that of all the paintings, numbering over 100, that I saw, Manet's Fifer and Monet's Magpie and Saint-Lazare Train Station would have to be my favorites. Morisot's The Cradle was also up there. And props to her for being, if I'm not mistaken, the only female impressionist painter on display. Well, maybe there was one other, but still.

The whole night really made me want to roll up my sleeves, get a little paint on my nose, and paint a masterpiece. Oh if only I was a painting prodigy. Oh well, at least I can appreciate the works of true master painters. It really is amazing how talented some of those painters were. So many, like Morisot, painted some of their most well-known works in their 20s. That is just incredible. In addition to seeing the masterpieces that truly blew me away, I got to learn a lot about Impressionism as well. I think the story of how it began sort of symbolizes the Impressionist movement. It began when one critic called Monet an impressionist painter after his painting Impression: Sunrise. However, the critic meant it in a derogatory way. But Monet did not see it as an insult, but as a compliment, and he and his fellow painters embraced the term Impressionist as they began their fantastic movement that greatly contributed to the history of art.

Well that's enough of an art history lesson for one day.

Here are the paintings I was talking about:

Manet's Fifer:

Monet's Magpie:

Monet's Saint-Lazare Train Station:

Morisot's The Cradle

Farewell for now,

artsy_brainchild