German architect and author Ernst Neufert (1900-1986) did. In 1919 Neufert attended the Bauhaus and was one of Bauhaus founder Water Gropius’ first students. Having been a bricklayer and a student of the “Baugewerbeschuile” (German school of construction) prior to his enrollment, Neufert was familiar with building, construction, and design principles. Modernism, industrialization, and mass… Read More
Mike Disfarmer (1884-1959), estranged from family members, was a loner who owned and operated a portrait studio in Herber Springs, Arkansas. For pocket change, locals would pose for a photograph to commemorate just about anything. Individuals and groups sat for formal or informal portraits—all of which had an honest, stark austerity about them—unlike portraiture of… Read More
If you see faces in these two objects, you are experiencing pareidolia. By definition, pareidolia is the tendency to perceive a specific, often meaningful image in a random or ambiguous visual pattern. Last November, in this blog, I shared my pandemic pastime of picking up scrap metal while riding my bike back and forth to… Read More
Recently I was introduced to the work of Rex Brasher (1869-1960), the little known bird painter, who as a boy vowed to paint every bird in North America. Brasher worked from life and painted birds in their natural habitats. Without any formal art training, Rex painted 3,000 individual birds which included males, females, and juveniles.… Read More
Yelp reviewers are notoriously harsh in their reviews of anything, any service, or any place. The service industry is terrified of receiving a bad review posted on Yelp which could drive their business into the ground. Surely no one would expect Yelp reviewers to verbally trash our national parks. Well, they did and illustrator/designer Amber… Read More
There is little doubt that this pandemic has affected all of us in some way, shape, or form. Many of us have been profoundly affected by various types of insecurities and loss. Isolation has exacerbated our reliance on the Internet for entertainment and made “doomscrolling” a popular new pastime. Fortunately, in contrast, many of us… Read More
Was it easier to ask for forgiveness rather than permission? Sculptor Arturo Di Modica must have thought so as he and 40 friends loaded a 3.5-ton bronze bull into a truck and drove to Wall Street. Under the cover of darkness—and without permission—the crew deposited Charging Bull outside of the New York Stock Exchange. The… Read More
The first weekend of 2021 revealed a rare sight along the Potomac River just outside of Washington, DC. A male Painted Bunting—native to Florida, Louisiana, Texas, and Central and South America—was spotted on a rainy dreary day in a Maryland park. Once the word was out among birdwatchers, hundreds of enthusiasts ventured out to witness… Read More
2020 sure has been stressful, and, like most people, I’ve sought out pastimes to serve as a distraction from the day-to-day mayhem. Some of my chosen pastimes have been typical — like running, biking, and gardening. Gardening has always been one of my favorite distractions, however this year, getting dirt under my nails and watching… Read More