Art and Beauty

What makes this picture beautiful to me is how simple it is.  It is a regular green vase with a minimal assortment of flowers.  The flowers look to be fresh cut and two of them look as though they effortlessly fell on the table.  It looks so natural and a typical scene that a person may find in a house.  Especially in this picture, the colors are so harmonious and attractive to look at.

love is a beautiful thing

When you google 'Beauty' you get pictures of women and nothing else. I find that everything has beauty, nature, life, people, words, everything is beautiful if you chose to see it. The most beautiful thing to me is love. Its pure and wonderful and out of it so much more beauty is made. The Beatles had it right when they said "all you need is love" because without love, and i don't just mean between couples, how would we survive? Without love we wouldn't be able to see the beauty that is all around us.
-Molly

Beauty through Sadness

Beauty is something that one person or group can look at and be immediately struck by it. It gives a person a feeling whether that feeling be good or bad, there is an emotional attachment to beauty. Whether the picture be of something so great or bad it can still be beautiful. My choice for something beauty to me is the World Trade Center buildings rising high above the New York Skyline. This is beauty not only because its a great picture of the towering giants, but because it tells a story as if the sun was setting on the two buildings before what happened. It his everyone with a sense of sadness but shows beauty.

What is beautiful?

Beauty is such a limitless concept. To each person it encompasses a different aspect of life or art. To me beauty means that something that creates inner happiness to an individual. This piece has beauty to me because off the colors and overall mood of it. I also think that the natural aspect is beautiful in its own right. I also happen to love the way the colors look together and overall the feeling that this beautiful image gives.
-Michelle

Beauty in Art

I think Dance is one of the most beautiful forms of art. People can use many different forms to express emotions or a story. The fact that a person can use their body to symbolize something, brings it from ordinary to extraordinary. This particular piece that I chose, titled Addiction, was by contemporary choreographer Mia Michaels and it appeared on So You Think You Think You Can Dance. This dance represents an addict (the girl) and the addiction (the guy) and the battle that the addict goes through in order to fight the addiction. In the end, the addiction ends up winning.

Art and Beauty

This incredible picture has many beautiful aspects to it. It represent freedom, peace, nature, conquest and just life. I find it absolutely fascinating. The man is standing on what looks like a small peak, but is in fact an enormous mountain overlooking the endless ocean. Although its not vibrant in color, its neutral colors are extremely calming.  .

Beauty in Art

What is beautiful in art? This question can be confusing or even frustrating when someone thinks about it but personally, I believe that the most beautiful things come from something so simple that it is often overlooked: Life. Pictures of newborn babies,sculptures of animals, murals of forests,or a picture of a funeral with mourning loved ones can all portray an aspect f life that is being celebrated or recognized. Life is beautiful and that is why so many artists try to capture the essence of it. Life is filled with love, happiness, passion, pain, anger, confusion, darkness, and light so having the ability to express all of these intense emotions in one piece of art is and always will be the most beautiful part of art.

natural beauty

This Picture is a photograph by one of my good friends Joseph Cucciniello.  It is a picture of a rose bud that was taken after it was covered in ice during a storm. I think this is a prime example of refreshing our vision of the world and showing it to people in a new way. He captured and brought attention to this image that most people would not even notice.

Beauty in art

Personally, I think beauty comes from nature. I love the colors that are naturally created because they are so vibrant and beautiful. I tend to be drawn to pictures of summer and the beach because that is my favorite time of year. I took this photo in Capri, Italy and I absolutely love it due to its vibrant colors of the ocean. The water was crystal clear and everything portrayed beauty in my eyes. Beauty to me is something that is pure and colorful. I love things in nature and paintings or sculptures of nature, such as flowers and landscapes.

Dana-Lynn Waggner

Beauty in Art - Lighthouse Scenery

The image I chose to use for this post is a photograph of a gorgeous lighthouse/ocean scenery. This picture depicts beauty to me because ever since being a little kid growing up with the beach being a big part of my life, I found sights like this to be absolutely amazing! You have the ocean, which is an unpredictable form of nature, being calm and content at one moment then vicious and wicked at the next. Then one of my most favorite parts about this picture is the lighthouse, a structure that is a sign of beauty, guidance and strength all at the same time! That is why I find images like these to be beautiful in every way.

-Fonz

Beauty in Art

Although I would not personally get a tattoo, I think they are very beautiful. They aren't "typical" art on a huge canvas or piece of paper, but that is what makes them so special. It takes a lot of time and skill to draw such detailed designs on a person's skin. Tattoo's  usually represent something significant or have a lot of meaning because of their permanence. I especially like the one in the picture because I think fleurs de lis (french lilies) are beautiful. They are emblematic, heraldic and artistic.

-Allison Towle

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder

I chose this particular painting called "The Swing" because it's something that I find to be really beautiful. I think beauty completely depends on what your own definition of it is. Beauty comes in all forms and some people find very different things to have beauty. Personally, I'm not sure if I can actually define what I find beautiful but I think as far as things like this painting go, art that has elaborate detail and is really something interesting to look at is usually what I can find beauty in. Most paintings from the rococo era such as this one are very beautiful to me.

-Leah

My Vision of Beauty

I can't think of one other person who exemplifies beauty as much as Marilyn Monroe. Ever since I was little, I have been infatuated with this American icon. I went through a stage when I rented all of her movies and made my sisters watch them with me. It seems impossible for anyone to keep their eyes off her when she is on the big screen. I have always been captivated by the beauty of Marilyn Monroe, which is why I chose her for this particular post.

- Melissa Mastrorilli

The Scream

Beauty can be found in many shapes and forms, especially in art. The Scream by Edvard Munch portrays anguish and hopelessness. This is not a stereotypically beautiful scene, yet it is still a striking piece of work nonetheless. The bold brush strokes and unique style of the artist really catch the viewer's eye at first. However, there is something compelling about this painting that keeps the viewer from looking away. Perhaps it is the man's ghostly face, or the turmoil shown in the sky. Whatever it may be, this painting is hauntingly beautiful, and often times its the ones that aren't so picturesque that leave a lasting impression.
- Sarah Mustafa

The Beauty Of Food

We all love food, we all need to eat, but does anyone see the beauty in food. In a moments notice it could be just a pile of bones on a plate eaten to satisfy our hunger. To truly behold the beauty of an object that sustains life and is a product of a chef's hard work you must restrain the hunger within you. Take a moment and absorb the colors, curves, and presentation. Observing food as a piece of art and controlling are emotion to dig right in and consume it is what most of us ignore. This image of a standing pork loin roast is as adoring to me as the Mona Lisa.

Beauty in Art

This image of the North Rose window at the cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris is my interpretation of beauty. It's depiction of the New Testament allows sunlight to shine in at certain times to allow the scenes to illuminate beautifully upon the congregation.

M Rizzi

To me beauty changes with every person and is never the same. I think it depends on the persons personality and how they see things in the world. This picture is taken from the Almalfi Coast in Italy. It's so beautiful to look at even if you're not there in person; it makes the viewer realize that there is beauty everywhere including just where people live. Not only is this picture beautiful and probably breath-taking in person, the architecture of the buildings and the roads are made with amazing detail.
-Rose Migliara

John Marchetti - Beauty in Art

 These two paintings are called Frescos. Frescos are special because they are painted directly on plaster of a wall. This is important because unlike normal paintings, they last hundreds of years. The fact that an artist was able to paint them directly on a wall with all their details is simply beautiful. Their beauty is clearly shown here. When I look at them it reminds me of angels or guardian angels in heaven, looking down and watching us from above. They are truly breathtaking.

- John Marchetti

Beauty In Art

I think the most important theme in art is that it's subjective-- everyone thinks differently about what is beautiful. In my opinion, this photo is very beautiful; it's simple but says so much. I think it's important to feel what the artist is trying to portray in any work of art. They want to relate and see emotion from those viewing their work. This shows the love between a child and mother, something that is usually portrayed in art more vividly, yet still just as inspiring.

-Alexis Swoyer

Beauty of Art

I chose this painting by artist Salvador Dali because of its interesting detail, color and use of the butterfly.  I would consider this a beautiful piece of art because to me color is one factor that can depict beauty and Salvador Dali really expresses the color of each butterfly. As well as color, the use of the butterfly as the sails of the war ship gives it a less brutal sense and more of a calm happy feeling which in my opinion is aspects of beauty too.

The Beauty of a City Skyline

One of the most beautiful things to me is the New York City Skyline.  In particular, The Empire State Building is extremely remarkable.  The Empire State Building was constructed in 1931 and held the title as the tallest building in the world through 1971.  The construction of this building symbolized money, power, and innovation at the time.  The ESB was the world’s first tallest building and New York became known as “The World’s City.”  Today 27 of the world’s tallest 100 towers are located in The US and this truly reflects much on our progressive culture.  Architecture and real estate are two of my favorite things.  To me, city skylines are beautiful pieces of artwork and just like a canvas painting, tells a deep story.

Beauty In Art

This piece of mixed media art, entitled Evolution is by Lisa Ferrante, an artist who is featured in the Main Avenue Galleria in Ocean Grove. I find her art to be beautiful, especially this piece, because of the use of color and imagination. In this piece, I see a butterfly forming in the woman's hair which is fitting because a butterfly is a symbol of evolution. The butterfly and woman suggest a synthesis between people and nature. I find beauty in pieces that I can get lost in and continually notice new things about. I often find that beauty is tied with emotion. This piece emotes excitement, which I find to be beautiful.

Beauty in Art

I believe beauty can be found in art in other ways than just paintings and sculptures. This is form of art amazes me with both talent and beauty. I think the fact that beautiful artwork can be preformed using a basic item such as same is neat. I think this video in particular is beautiful because not only is the artist making these detailed drawings out of sand on a lighted background, she is also telling a story while doing so.

My Vision of Beauty

The Great Wave is one of my favorite pieces of artwork. I genuinely believe that this displays true beauty. For me I consider art to have beauty when I can see intensity within the piece. Though it does not have vibrant colors and may seem muted and dull, I see it as a powerful  painting. This may be an extraordinarily beautiful piece to me, but everyone sees beauty differently and may not enjoy this artwork as much as i do. -Michelle Ketcham

Beauty in art

 I really like this piece of art  called "Farmer and Bird" and I think it shows the beauty in human nature.  When you quickly look at the picture, you think "that is a rough looking guy- he is not what one would think of as beautiful" but when you look closer, you see in his hands how gentle he is cupping a baby bird, the baby bird that the mother is looking over his shoulder at.  In all, what I get from the picture is the message that one shouldn't judge others based on their appearance because outward appearance does not necessarily mirror that person's inner beauty. He is being especially careful and gentle with the baby bird and that is why I find this piece of Normal Rockwell's work especially endearing and beautiful. It is a universal message about human nature.

NJ Schoolgirl's embroidery sells for over $100 Million

I just came across this news and thought it related to our discussion today about types of art that are valued more than others (craft vs. paintings).
This embroidery of a farm scene was done in 1807 by a schoolgirl in New Jersey named Mary Antrim. It was just sold at Sotheby's auction house for $1.07 million!

Beauty

I believe that what a person finds as beautiful depends on what that person enjoys.  I absolutely love the beach and find any depiction of my "perfect" beach as beautiful.  I chose this painting to represent my idea of beauty because it is a painting of something I enjoy.  The attention to detail and the vast array of colors used in this paintings reminds me of my favorite times at the beach.  When something makes me feel this way I think it is beautiful.

The Need for Art People

I chose this picture because it makes you see the world in a new way.  This is an ordinary side walk transformed into an extraordinary illusion.  Art should be looked at multiple times and at different viewpoints, and this certainly makes the viewer do a double take.  This sidewalk art forces us to look at life in a different perspective and hopefully changes people's view of the world.

Emily

I chose this image of Muhammed Ali underwater because this image captures more than just what is happening in the actual picture. It shows Ali's true dedication to the sport and all the hard work and effort that he puts in. I find this image to be very insperational as well because it shows if a person puts in the effort they can too possibly be the greatest in the world just like Ali was, but you really have to go the extra mile if you want it. o capture this all in one single image is truly a masterpiece by the photographer.

These two images are good examples of ordinary objects being turned into extraordinary versions of art.  Kevin Van Aelst was able to take an apple and turn it into a map. He also took a roll of tape and turned it into two ships sailing at sea.  Its amazing what a creative mind can create with such simple objects.

-Lex

I chose this really cool Mona Lisa collage because it is actually made with filled coffee cups. The ordinary coffee cups most of us have everyday, were turned into this masterpiece. The cups have different amounts of coffee and milk and so creating this beautiful collage. Mona Lisa is so important because it helped us learn and symbolize a bit of history during its time. This work helps us realize that really anything can be turned into art.

The category I choose for "The Need for Art" was to refresh our vision and see the world in a new way. I chose this piece of street art for several reasons. Because the artist is in this case anonymous, it leaves the focus on the very clear message being sent. By taking a seemingly harmless "addiction" that so many people have to Facebook and placing it alongside the very real addiction many have to cigarettes, the artist makes the audience question their activity and thus see our habits in a new light.

-Michelle

One purpose for art is to create places for human purpose. The idea of making people come together giving them that magical fairy tale feeling. People in this situation gather here to symbolize happiness and to gather memories from their childhood or other times in their life. This art creates a symbol of happiness and almost peacefulness. This is Cinderella Castle in Walt Disney World the symbol for 41 years of Disney and generations past, present, and future.

The Need for Art

I chose a time-lapse video from a photographer Randy Halverson. I believe the video represents: extra-ordinary versions of ordinary objects, record and commemorate, to give tangible form to the unknown, and to refresh our vision and see the world in a new way. The video show us the workings of the universe. Only if one is in a place where close to no bright lights are around in close perimeters, such as NYC, then they would never be able to see the same views as the ones in the video. The video could make one think of how small we are compared to the rest of the things in the universe, such as the wonder of the Milky Way. When I first saw these video, I was basically awestruck. I had never seen time-lapse videos of nature before and it was breathtaking.This is actually the first one I've ever seen.

 -Tara A.

 

Photographers Alex Cherney  and Terje Sorgjerd also have some really great time-lapse videos also.

Hey! I'm Melissa Mastrorilli

Hey guys, my name is Melissa Mastrorilli and I am a freshman at Monmouth University. I am currently a Health Studies major striving to become a Nurse Practitioner. I live in a small town called Spring Lake, New Jersey. Art has always interested me and I love to sketch. I am looking forward to this class and can't wait to truly appreciate the art pieces that are shown to us.

This dress shows how “artists create extraordinary versions of ordinary objects”.  The haute couture dress, made by Versace, has an elaborate design with a very different form then most dresses take.  The dress could have taken the form of a straight piece of up and down fabric for the sole purpose of clothing, but this dress is a piece of art.   

Creating extraordinary versions of ordinary objects

I chose to select a piece of art in the category Creating extraordinary versions of ordinary objects. This piece of art is made out of an everyday object that most people use to maybe create art but don't see it as a piece of art itself, pencils. Artist Jennifer Maestre puts a group of scraped, carved pencils together to create a small picture as you see here. Its a different way to not only use ordinary pencils to create art but show that pencils can be used as a form of art as well.

giving tangible form to feelings and ideas

Artists give tangible form to feelings and ideas. The gift of
red roses represents someone's affection for you. DIfferent 
flowers represent different emotions and feelings towards another individual. Some examples of this are, red rose
represent love and passion, whereas yellow roses signify friendship. Each color and type of flower gives tangible form to these different emotions and feelings that are trying to be portrayed. 


-Dana-Lynn Waggner

Extraordinary Versions of Ordinary Objects: Hand Paintings

    The works of art I am using in this post are ones of creating extraordinary versions of ordinary objects. As you can see, the objects being used in these pictures are just your ordinary, regular, everyday hands human beings. Now what makes these ordinary hands so extraordinary is their appearance of very common, realistic looking birds. Both so extremely detailed and magnificent, but the one that catches my attention the most is the American Bald Eagle (top picture). The way that both hands are used in combination to create such an intricate and beautiful result of an eagle spanning out it's wings is just truly an amazing sight to the eye.                          


                        - Alfonso                  

I chose to represent extraordinary versions of ordinary objects. These are people and objects made out of only paper. As you can see by the hand in the lower right picture, the paper is extremely small so it takes a lot of hard work, patience and time to create such intricate objects. The details that are put into the chess pieces and table are amazing. They even curled the hair of the man and woman. Paper is so simple and can be overlooked because it is used everyday, but it can also be used to create magnificent displays like this one.

-Allison Towle

Creating extraordinary visions of ordinary objects

Whimsical chair of exclamation

Glass window made into a picture frame.

I chose these two objects to demonstrate the creativity of ordinary objects into ones of the extraordinary:   The first is that of a chair, created into the display of the element of exclamation or of "horror" that one would sit upon it.

The second is the recycling of a glass window into a picture frame with matting of the photos utilized.

Jackson Pollock’s No. 5, 1948 is a great example of how art gives tangible form to feelings and ideas.  Pollock was well-known for being an abstract expressionist, which gave him the motivation to create the many paintings that we may consider to be quite interesting as there seems to be nothing tangible being depicted.  Interesting note of this painting, it sold for an estimated record of $140M.

Mike Rizzi

Hey everyone, I’m Mike (the little guy next to the "Tony Soprano of politics").  I’m a senior criminal justice major.  I haven’t had an art class in about 8 years, back when I was in eighth grade.  I am hoping to expand my knowledge in art through this class, in order to better understand what is seen around us in many venues.

Extraordinary Versions of Ordinary Objects: Water Bottle Shadow Painting

This piece of art represents creating extraordinary versions of ordinary objects. It is a picture of an ordinary man's face, but it is created by aligning different types of plastic bottles and the use of their shadows. The artist, Rashad Alakbarov, creates shadows pictures on walls by using everyday items. People see shadows everyday when they are around light, whether they are inside or outside, but we are so used to seeing them that we rarely think of using shapes other than our hands to create art.
-Rose Migliara

Coffee Mona Lisa

I was on Tumblr when I saw these pictures. Instantly I thought, "this is a perfect example of creating extraordinary versions of ordinary objects!" 4,000 cups of coffee were used with varying amounts of milk in each cup to create this image of the "Mona Lisa." As an avid coffee drinker, this application of the drink made me chuckle. Although I drink coffee on a daily basis, I would have never thought to re-create a painting with it. The idea is simply wonderful; one cultural staple (coffee) used to create another cultural staple ( the Mona Lisa). 

 - Sarah Mustafa 

           

           

The theme I chose to explore was "creating extraordinary versions of ordinary objects". This piece of Mount Rushmore created by Scott Wade, also known as the "Dirty Car Artist", was literally made from the dust on a car window. Believe it or not, Wade actually cleaned the window, and then used a blow dryer to create an even layer of dust. More of his work can be found on dirtycarart.com

-Gabriella Sorrentino

John Marchetti

This piece  of art represents to record and commemorate. I chose King Tut because I went and saw his exhibit and this stuck out to me the most. The fact that there are so many details in this piece and the number of years ago it was created is truly remarkable. This was made for King Tut's funeral, which shows that it was made to commemorate his life and his power as a king. Just by looking at this piece you can feel that it was made for someone as important as King Tut. Even to this present day, we can see just how influential he was.
- John Marchetti

Post It Notes Are Beautiful

Post-It Notes are something every college student has come in contact with at some point in their lives. Some students, like myself, seem to find a trail of them all around their room of important reminders to do throughout the day. Never did i once think i would see a phoenix made out of these simple pieces of paper with a sticky strip on the back. This is a perfect example of creating extraordinary versions of ordinary objects. This goes to show that the simplest of things can be made into beautiful pieces of art. 

I love this piece of art work because it is so colorful and  is made of one of the simplest stationary supply ever. I always seemed to take these Post-Its for granted, but now i can see the beauty of these colorful squares that seem to cover my room.