A R T . I S . W O R K
And this 20 mural, that's a very precise painting and not a print out (as your eyes might have you think) is a perfect example.
Here are the specs.
New Mural For NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory Project Formulation Building
Acylic on Canvas 20 x 6ft
Copyright © Eric Nyquist
Like many impressive things, this mural started in a garage. Eric's garage, where painted and lined up the three panels to create the 20 foot mural combining the graphic language of mission planning graphs and flow charts with the shape of a spacecraft headed to Jupiter in the near future.
A thing of beauty can haunt you forever.
I’ve watched The Searchers more than most people my age, and it’s because every time I do I notice something else in its deceptive simplicity.
The red sandstone rock formations in Utah’s Monument Valley capture beauty, danger, and majesty all at the same time. The juxtaposition of groups of people against the great expanse. The movement of men on horseback across the screen. The fact that it garnered not one academy award, although since that time it’s continuously offered up as one of the greatest films ever made.
David Lean watched the film repeatedly while preparing for Lawrence of Arabia to help him get a sense of how to shoot a landscape. Martin Scorsese's film Who's That Knocking At My Door features an extended sequence in which the two leading characters discuss The Searchers. Sergio Leone mentioned The Searchers as one of his favorite films and referenced it in a key scene of Once Upon a Time in the West. In Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, the burning of Luke Skywalker's home parallels visually and narratively the burning of the homestead in The Searchers.
Perhaps the newest lesson researching the Searchers has taught me is this quote from John Ford on editing.
"I don’t give ‘em a lot of film to play with. In fact, Eastman used to complain that I exposed so little film. I do cut in the camera. Otherwise, if you give them a lot of film ‘the committee’ takes over. They start juggling scenes around and taking out this and putting in that. They can’t do it with my pictures. I cut in the camera and that's it. There's not a lot of film left on the floor when I’m finished."
P O S T M O D E R N
I use them for everything. Stuck on my door to remind me to pick up laundry. To earmark a recipe in a cookbook. For sketching an idea, jotting down a quote, or leaving a note to a friend. They're my favorite analog office supply, and their bright colors make work seem less like work. The best part? Peeling off a post-it who's task is tackled.
S M A L L W A R S
Rare film posters, bejeweled Middle Eastern daggers, scrimshaw, ivory, African masks, and pre-Columbian Aztec carvings. These were the kinds of things my grandfather collected. Oh, and toy soldiers. Seven years after his passing, my grandmother is still going through these collections--deciding what to donate, what to keep, and in some cases how to display it.
Today we unearthed a series of magnificent toy soldiers, as she's planning to have boxes made to display them in her den. From a Samurai on foot who's holding the head of an enemy to Buckingham palace guards who appear to be wearing couture, there is something either fierce or stoic about all of them. Toy soldiers make little boys feel enormous and in control. And sometimes I think real wars aren't very different, especially in terms of the contrasted scale between a decision maker and a foot soldier. In any case. I am fascinated by these painted metal figurines, who've withstood the test of time in the same way real war heroes do. The same way my grandfather's collections inspire and charm me (the way he did) long after his passing.
G R E T C H E N
Grandmothers are wonderful creatures. But I would venture a guess that more often you love them for baking cookies instead of climbing to the top of the acropolis with you. My grandmother, Gretchen, is the most stunning and energetic woman I know. She collects Manolo Blanik shoes, plays competitive tennis, runs a production company, keeps a meticulous garden, tries new things, checks her email, and looks fifty when she's seventy-five. Perhaps it was being a small child during the depression that gave her a little extra grit, but I'd suspect it's the whole tapestry of her life that's made her who she is. And this makes me think about the minute dread I occasionally feel when I think about turning 30. It makes me pause because Gretchen is in many ways, in her prime. So I don't mind the idea of aging so much, when I have such an elegant example.
C O R I T A
Maybe you've heard of her. Maybe you haven't. You may know her as an ex-nun, a pop-artist, a pioneer in screen printing, a teacher, or a poet. Corita Kent was certainly all of these things but arguably something more. I think looking at her work tells everybody something. What it told me stuck. What does it tell you?
