Grzegorz Wrobel

I read a lot of art blogs. If I like an artist I'll write down their name and go back eventually to look at the rest of their work. Today I read Parka Blogs (one of the best resources on art books) who did a profile on Polish artist Grzegorz Wrobel. Wrobel is an architect so his paintings are often of buildings and cityscapes. The moment I saw his work, I not only wrote down his name but I went out looking for more of his work. I think I'm in love.

Watercolor is one of the hardest mediums to work in. It's unforgiving of mistakes and there is a certain loss of control you have to accept with it. Colors bleed into each other. That just makes Wrobel's work all the more amazing. These are watercolors. And they are so detailed and precise that I'm left shaking my head as to how lovely they are.

Now normally modern cityscape paintings leave me cold. But these are magical. There is an unearthly quality to them. The soft colors and focus makes everything stand all the more for me. It makes me look a little harder at what would have been an ordinary street scene. His palettes are perfect for the scene he is working on. And the details make the images seem all the more real and unreal at the same time. I was blown away by his work.

As with any artist I write about, I recommend you go out and take a closer look at the rest of the artist's work. I only choose a couple of images that strike me. All of this man's work is magical.

Wrobel's website. Sadly my Polish is not so good.
His Deviant Art site.

Tom Kundig

Three weeks or so ago, I saw an article in the Wall Street Journal that caught my eye. The cover of the Personal Journal had the image below. I was instantly captivated. I'm a fan of architecture of all sorts but lately I've noticed that I'm becoming more and more of a modern architecture fan. There is something about the glass and metal that draws me. Perhaps it is the sparseness of the places. But I am particularly a fan of the mixing of modern architecture with the natural world. And this house (The Pierre) designed by architect Tom Kundig does that beautifully.

Kundig works for Olsen Kundig Architect firm in Seattle Washington. This sod-topped private residence is located on San Juan Islands, WA. It is a beautiful setting and the house blends in perfectly. So much of the house is worked into the rocks.

After finding this house I went looking for more of Kundig's work. And I found the room below. This is The Brain, a work studio created for a Seattle-based filmmaker. This is not the house, just the studio. The lights are suspended on pulleys so they can be raised and lowered to a desired light environment. With the glass walls and the bookcases, I am infatuated with this studio. I can't imagine a more perfect place to create.

I really enjoy Kundig's simple lines and use of natural materials. Below is the Delta Shelter, a cabin in Washington that is available for rental. If I had the money, I'd be the next on the list.

 And last there is the Chicken Point Cabin in Northern Idaho. This one is also available for rental. With a wall and a view like that, sign me up.

Folds

It's been quite a while since I last wrote about an artist I'm interested in. That used to be a weekly feature but since I've been posting only twice a week or so I've been cutting them out. So today I thought I'd share the utterly amazing work of Simon Schubert.

I found Simon's work through Lines and Colors, a blog that I have been in love with ever since I found it. Simon works in the medium of paper. Or more to the point he folds paper. He creases, he smoothes, and he creates intricate architectural masterpieces on single sheets of paper. There are no lines drawn on the paper above. That is all shadow and fold.

I love how he creates these architectural scenes that are all so structured yet he's also playing with perspective. They look vaguely 3-D. It's breathtaking in it's construction and elegance. They look so much like drawings, yet the are done one painstaking crease at a time. I wonder how long they take to created. And how often he has to take a step back to look at the full sheet. He manages to make a very simple medium, incredibly complex. If I haven't mentioned it, I'm in awe of this man's work.

Simon also does sculpture although I would say that it is not for everyone's taste. His sculpture has an interesting mix of disturbing and intriguing though. It's the kind of thing that I want to examine closer but I know I'll have nightmares later. If you like oddly creepy sculpture check it out. Otherwise, you need to see the rest of his elegant paperwork at his website above.

Why Build Square Buildings?

I'm in the mood for something fun and silly. I had an amazing weekend filled with friends and family and then promptly spoiled it by going back to work. Today's not been my greatest day ever. I'm spending too much of my time at work thinking. I've been a little fragile about both my physical therapy (yes I'm somehow still going) and my work situation so I figure that I need to distract myself. If I distract myself long enough, the problems go away right?

And what better way to distract myself than to look at pictures of interesting buildings online? Or am I the only one who does that? Actually what got this post started was a building that was featured on Neatorama. The image below is Waldspirale (or Forest Spiral) an apartment building in Darmstadt, Germany. The building has no straight wall, forms a gigantic U shape, and has a forest planted on the roof. So it's pretty much my dream apartment building.

It's not only the lack of straight walls that fascinates me, check out those windows. I love that each one is unique and the difference adds something of a Seussian quality to the structure.

Looking for pictures of the Waldspirale led me to this building, Krzywy Domek or The Crooked House in Sopot, Poland (pictured below). I'm not sure what is housed in this building but I love the crazy whimsy of the place. Be careful when looking up images of this one, after about ten or so pictures I started feeling a bit sick. Apparently this one crosses the boundary between fascinating architecture and too much for my little brain to spatially organize. Still an incredible structure.

I realized that in all the time I've been writing this blog I haven't discussed my fascination (bordering on obsession) with Antoni Gaudi's buildings in Barcelona. How can you not love a building that looks like it was designed for hobbits? The Casa Batllo, which used to be an apartment building in Barcelona, includes such unique characteristics as a dragon-scale roof, round doors, mosaic tile walls, and spiral ceilings. It is the place of dreams. I would recommend checking out the full photo gallery on the building's website.

Gaudi created a number of buildings and parks throughout Barcelona, Spain. His style is focused on rounded walls, whimsical additions, stained glass, and plenty of oddness. I've been dreaming of going to Barcelona for years in order to see Casa Batllo, Park Guell, Casa Mila (pictured below), and perhaps Gaudi most famous work, Sagrada Familia.

An image of Sagrada Familia. This church was unfinished at the time of Gaudi's death in 1926 and is still under construction since his full design for the building was not known at his death. Consider it the longest construction project ever.

Eugene Galien-Laloue

I've been reading Hans Bacher's fabulous blog, One1More2Time3, for at least a year now. His mix of animation art and unusual artists makes it one of my favorite blogs to visit mostly because I always find something to inspire me. I've been introduced to tons of great new artists and find daily inspiration in some of the most beautiful backgrounds to ever grace an animated cartoon. I'm constantly amazed at how much work went into the early cartoons and how much that tends to be missing from the more current ones.

Recently Hans showed some images from one of his favorite artists and the man has quickly become one of my favorite artists as well. Eugene Galien-Laloue (1854-1941) was not a name I'd heard before but his work has been sought by collectors for years. He was an impressionist painter living during the turn of the century in Paris, a time known as Belle Epoque. His work focuses mostly on typical Parisian street scenes and are beautiful in their use of color and detail. Galien-Laloue was a mostly gouache painter, which I find even more fascinating. Not a lot of artists use gouache regularly since it tends to be less enduring. But I find that is offers much richer colors than most of the watercolors or oils even. It is Galien-Laloue's use of color and focus on architecture that drew me to his work.

Most of the work I've seen of his focuses on the winter and fall seasons. But he was not a plein-air (outdoor) painter. It is believed that he took photographs or used postcards as inspiration for much of his work while his painting was done in the studio. I am fascinated with his use of lighting to create such warm and welcoming environments. I find myself wanting to be drawn into the paintings and walk the streets of Paris at that time. The focus on architecture is not unique for that time but I find it intriguing. Parisian architecture, particularly turn of the century, has always been some of my favorite styles of architecture. And Galien-Laloue renders the buildings with so much detail. The people in the foreground may be blurred but the buildings in the backgrounds are as crisp as if I were standing on the street. This gives a great impression of movement and bustle. Add in the colors and I'm completely in love. I know that I currently could not afford any of his work but that's something to look out for in the future. I would love to find a piece of my own. So beautiful.

Intermission

I'll try to get a real post up sometime this evening. Until then enjoy the visual madness that is a Gaudi building. He's my favorite architect although I'm pretty sure he was on some seriously good drugs. (Full name Antoni Gaudi, and no this is not where the word "gaudy" comes from, although it sometimes looks like it.)

People in Glass Houses....

I have a confession to make. I bought my townhouse for the windows. Yeah the place is nice and the location is mostly quiet but it was the windows that made me fall in love with it. There are only three but they are wide and expansive and look out over a forested area. I remember touring the place, thinking I could possibly live here, until I saw the master bedroom window. And I was in love. We bought in August so it was lush and green outside and the nearby creek was just too pretty. When I open the windows at night I can hear the sound of the brook. 

What got me thinking about all this was a recent article in Dwell magazine. I occasionally pick up home magazines because I love residential architecture. And I particularly love two different (and I mean very different) styles. The first is the cottage. Small, cheerful, warm, and bright. The second is modern. Sparse, cool, simple, and... well bright. I've realized that what I love abut both of these styles is the windows. In fact, in 95% of the pictures I pull out of these magazines, the windows are what captured my eye. The other 5% are outdoor living spaces. I am clearly infatuated with mixing the indoors and the outdoors. 

The article in Dwell was covering Mies van der Rohe's Lafayette Park in Detroit. This was a planned community in Detroit filled with modern apartments, townhomes, and condos. And they're almost all glass. Here is a picture of the townhouses. 

My first introduction to Mies was in college. I went to Drake and started my career in the school of journalism. That was before I realized that intense daily deadlines and I do not get along. But the school of journalism was held in an interesting glass building. Every outer classroom was floor to ceiling windows. I was in heaven. The building, interestingly enough was designed by Mies van der Rohe. It was a source of pride for the school. And a source of happiness for me. 

Meredith Hall-Drake University

So I think I could possibly live in a glass house. I love the remoteness of the houses and the idea of constantly being surrounded by views of trees, animals, and nature. Mies created some of the greatest glass and steel skyscrapers around. But it is his glass house, the Farnsworth House, that I love the most. If price wasn't an issue, I'd live there.  

The same with this goethermal house in North Carolina. 

I'm not sure I could live in the Philip Johnson glass house but that's mostly because it is just for tours. 

But I'd love to live with those windows. I just have to remember not to throw stones.