Pursuits : Elizabeth Thomsen » Art

Fruit Crate Labels from the Boston Public Library

Elizabeth Thomsen — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 02:08:19 +0000

Produce Crate Labels — The Boston Public Library has added some more great fruit crate labels from the 1920s, ’30s and ’40s to their Flickr account.

There’s a lot of social and cultural history in these labels, and they’re also a study in marketing psychology. What kind of images do you think would sell fruit? Maybe those that evoke tradition, power and majesty, like this image of Queen Victoria with oranges, from the Victoria Avenue Citrus Association in Riverside, California. Or maybe the romance of the Scottish Highlands, like Tartan Brand lemons from the Corona Foothill Lemon Company, Corona. And then there are the patriotic images, like Golden Eagle oranges, the exotic ones, like Miracle Brand oranges, and cartoon labels, including an Up n’ Atom Brand carrots label featuring a Bugs Bunny lookalike.

RIP Michael Mazur, 1935 – 2009

Elizabeth Thomsen — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 03:00:46 +0000

In 1976, I went to the Brockton Art Center. I don’t remember what the specific occasion was, but my then-husband, a musician, was playing there that evening, and I remember being excited to go with him. We had a baby and I didn’t get out much at the time.

I wandered around alone looking at the exhibit, Michael Mazur, Visions of a Draughtsman and remember being struck by the dark, powerful prints and studies from his Closed Ward series. And when I say struck, I don’t mean I thought “oh, how interesting.” I mean I was dumbfounded, shocked, dismayed, fascinated. These prints and drawings were based on Mazur’s observations of patients when he volunteered at a state mental institution, as I had done at Worcester State Hospital when I was in high school. His works brought back the emotions I had felt there: fear, sorrow, helplessness and just a little pride for forcing myself to come back week after week and act like it didn’t bother me. Looking at the patients in Mazur’s prints, I experienced the same surprising sense of tenderness toward these fragile, vulnerable men and women, and felt myself torn between not wanting to look at them, but being unable to look away. I bought the exhibition catalogue that night, and and have looked through it many times through the years. I still see the sorrow but also the humanity in the patients whose images he captured.

Since that night, I have followed Michael Mazur’s career through books, articles and exhibits, feeling connected to him by what I rather illogically think of as our shared experience. Michael Mazur died on August 18, and though I never met him, he touched my life, and I’ll miss him.

Michael Mazur; artist reinvigorated monotype; 73 — Obituary by Bryan Marquard from the Boston Globe
The Art of Michael Mazur — Sideshow from the Boston Globe
Michael Mazur, 1935-2009 — Obituary by Lloyd Schwartz from the Boston Phoenix
Artwork from the Late Michael Mazur — Slideshow from the Boston Phoenix
Michael Mazur — Official website

Denver’s Big Blue Bear

Elizabeth Thomsen — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 19:18:03 +0000

The Democratic National Convention is about to open in Denver, and I feel like I have a role in the event…not politically, but artistically.

A couple of years ago, I was at a conference in Denver, and I stepped outside between meetings and took a couple of photographs of “I See What You Mean,” Lawrence Argent’s sculpture of a big blue bear that peers through the window of the Convention Center. Not great photographs — I was rather disappointed at the time that the blue came out looking darker and duller than it really is. But I posted them on Flickr anyway. Good librarian that I am, I included the name of the artist and the sculpture in my description, with a link to the Denver city government’s page describing the work.

Over the past two years, the one seen here has gotten quite a few views, gradually working its way into my most-viewed photographs, hovering at about number twenty. When Flickr introduced their Stats program, I could see where the views were coming from — nearly all came from search engines. People were searching for Big Blue Bear Denver or Blue Bear Denver Convention Center or variations on those terms. Not a lot of traffic, really — to be honest, it doesn’t take thousands of hits to make it into my most-viewed photographs. Just a steady stream, a few every week.

Until recently — as the Democratic Convention was approaching, the Colorado Convention Center has been in the news, and the most striking aspect of that building is that big blue bear. My photographs started getting more hits, gradually moving from a few a week to dozens a day. Most still come from search engines, but an increasing number come from links in e-mail messages, forums and various other webpages. The photograph has a Creative Commons license (attribution, non-commercial, sharealike) and it’s been used on a few websites. It’s now my most-viewed photograph of all time, and, at the moment, if you do a Google search on Big Blue Bear Denver, this photograph is the first search result.

I must say that I enjoy this. I like thinking of all those people looking for information about this and finding my photograph. And it’s not that my photograph is the best one. It’s not…it’s not even the best one on Flickr. It’s generic — just the standard view of this, one duplicated with slight variations by hundreds of tourists and convention-goers every year. I can’t even identify my own photograph except by close examination to see the red truck reflected in the window.

But for most people just Googling around, my photograph may be all they need, good enough, and that’s good enough for me.

So I’ll be watching the Convention coverage on TV, reading the news sites and following the blogs, but while I am watching the delegate count, I’ll also be checking my Flickr stats to see how my Big Blue Bear is doing!

Chet’s Diner : Northborough, Massachusetts

Elizabeth Thomsen — Sat, 24 May 2008 23:11:41 +0000

Last Tuesday I participated in a professional meeting at Tower Hill Botanical Garden in Boylston, Massachusetts. It’s a beautiful place, and I enjoyed walking around outside during the breaks to take a few pictures of flowers and statues.

But after the meeting, I headed off on a quest to get the picture I really wanted, a shot of Chet’s Diner in nearby Northborough. I have been wanting to get this one for my collection, but I seldom seem to be in that part of the state.

It was closed when I arrived, but definitely worth the trip. I never know whether to be happy or sad that a diner is closed when I visit. I hate missing the opportunity to see the interior and experience the food (and especially the coffee) but I do find it easier to photograph the exterior without cars parked in front and people coming and going and making me feel uncomfortable.

Chet’s Diner is a bit unusual, an oversized diner, in the Worcester Lunch Car style but built onsite in 1931. I couldn’t really picture it from the photographs I have seen. It has a homely simplicity and truckerish quality that I found rather charming, especially the big CHET’S DINER painted across the front. I liked the neon outlining the roof, and especially the neon Chet’s sign in fancy red cursive.

I Google it when I got home and found a couple of interesting things:

Chet’s Diner, Northborough MA — This is a brief (and probably unauthorized) video clip of the diner from Channel 5, WCVB-TV
Chet’s Diner — But this was the real delight — the Framingham Views blog has several wonderful old photos of the diner, taken around 1940. They are smoky night shots, inside and out, that look like something straight out of an old movie — very cinema noir! Amazing.

New Flickr Group: Bela Lyon Pratt

Elizabeth Thomsen — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 11:44:50 +0000

I’ve started a new Flickr group for photographs of the work of American sculptor Bela Lyon Pratt, 1867-1917.

Pratt’s best-known works include the statues of Art and Science outside the Boston Public Library in Copley Square, the statue of Nathaniel Hawthorne in Salem, Massachusetts, and the statue of Edward Everett Hale in the Boston Public Garden.

Bela Lyon Pratt — Here’s the link to the Flickr group

Bela Lyon Pratt Links

Bela Pratt — Wikipedia article
Bela Lyon Pratt — Artcyclopedia article
Bela Lyon Pratt: Overlooked Designer of Two Underrated Coins — Article by Ed Reiter on the Professional Coin Graders website

Scarecrows at the Hamilton-Wenham Public Library

Elizabeth Thomsen — Mon, 01 Oct 2007 00:55:05 +0000

My local library had a Scarecrow Fashions program yesterday, great fall fun. The kids brought the old clothes, the library supplied the hay, they served cider and doughnuts, and by the end of the day, the Children’s Garden was filled with creative, colorful scarecrows.

This my favorite kind of art program for kids. There’s no stress or perfectionism, since scarecrows are supposed to be funny-looking. The outdoor display is an impressive display. This is a great chance for kids to participate in creating public art, something that changes the environment, and causes people walking or driving by to stop and take notice.

There are no fancy art supplies or complicated techniques here, reminding me again of how much fun kids can have just with stuff like markers and paper bags. (Well, I guess the hay could be considered a “fancy art supply,” not being something you’d normally find around the house, and it was a nice touch, but I’ll bet the kids would have had almost as much fun without it.)

This is a seasonal display, and one that self-destructs in a relatively short time. The paper bag heads don’t look after it rains a few times, and the carefully-drawn faces run, fade and pretty much wash away within about ten days. But that’s OK. It’s a fun project, and a glorious display for however long it lasts!

Giant Squid Kinetic Sculpture

Elizabeth Thomsen — Sun, 15 Jul 2007 18:32:56 +0000

I love the strange and wonderful work of sculptor Nemo Gould, who makes kinetic sculptures using found materials. My favorite is the Giant Squid, which you can see in all its moving glory on this YouTube video.

Sólfar: The Sun Voyager

Elizabeth Thomsen — Fri, 15 Jun 2007 03:30:52 +0000

Sólfar is a sculpture in Reykjavík, Iceland. This semi-abstract work by Jón Gunnar Árnason represents the original Viking settlers arriving in longboats.

I first saw this work in November, 2000, on my first visit to Iceland. I took a few photographs of it, like most tourists, but I can’t say that I really liked it. I thought it had a rather odd and awkward appearance.

When I returned to Iceland in the summer of 2003, I took a few more pictures of Sólfar, including the one seen here. I still didn’t really like it, it just seemed like one of those obligatory photographs. I remember walking around it, carefully choosing the best angle, and taking a single shot. I was happy with the result. I’m still happy with it. I think it’s a perfectly adequate picture. I added it to the Reykjavík article on Wikipedia, and that’s exactly what I think my picture is, a dull and dutiful, accurate picture of the subject.

When I joined Flickr, I started exploring other people’s photographs, and sought out pictures of my beloved Iceland. Of course, Iceland being so amazingly photogenic, I found hundreds of wonderful pictures, by both tourists and photographers fortunate enough to live in Iceland, including many of Sólfar.

I quickly learned that many people took pretty much the same view that I did. It’s the standard shot, safe and simple. But I was surprised at the variety of photographs I discovered. So many people had taken much more imaginative and interesting photographs than mine. Rather than framing this careful and making sure they got the whole piece into the picture, many of the most interesting photographs were from different angles, and captured only part of the sculpture.

I set up a Flickr group called Sólfar: The Sun Voyager as a way of bringing these works together. There are now over 160 photographs by over 80 different photographers, an impressive assortment that capture many different aspects of what I now see as a beautiful and unique work of art.

What I love about this group is that it seems we’re never finished. Just when I think I have seen every possible picture of Sólfar, someone posts something new.

The most recent addition to the group, for example, shown here, called Shadowy reflection of a long sailed ship from a departed imagination by Flickr user Olikristinn, captures the reflection of the sculpture in the wet pavement — possibly the only photograph in the group’s pool that doesn’t actually show the sculture itself. It’s a beautiful and unique addition to the group.

Chihuly on Flickr

flickr — Tue, 17 Apr 2007 19:32:36 +0000

Dale Chihuly is one of the most celebrated artists of our time. His dazzling glass works of all sizes are widely exhibited, and can be seen not only in museums and galleries, but in permanent and temporary installations around the world.

With so many artworks available in so many public locations, it’s not surprising that Chihuly’s work is so frequently photographed. But I was rather amazed when I did a search on Chihuly on Flickr, and found over 42,000 hits! Sort by Flickr’s “interestingness” formula and you see a pretty amazing collection of photographs of different aspects of Chihuly’s work:Flickr Chihuly search by Interestingness

The photograph above is Boat of Blue Lilies by Van Swearingen, photographed at Chihuly’s “Gardens and Glass” exhibit at the New York Botanical Garden, and the one to the right is Chihuly by Thomas Hawk, taken at the Bellagio Hotel in Las Vegas.

Photographs like these are really creative works of art in their own right, and Chihuly’s works, in all their size and complexity and with the interplay of light that’s inherent in photographing glass, and the incredible variety of images on Flickr is something I can’t imagine seeing in any sort of exhibition, book or single website. Exploring these Chihuly photographs has really heightened my interest and appreciation of Chihuly’s work.

Chihuly Links:

Chihuly Art — A Flickr group for devoted to Dale Chihuly’s work
Chihuly — The artist’s official website
Chihuly, Inc. : Inside the Glass Empire — A special report from The Seattle Times
Gardens and Glass — From the New York Botanical Garden website