Ragged Cloth Cafe, serving Art and Textiles

Many of us are aware of the “pop art” women of Roy Lichtenstein. But, Lichtenstein actually copied these images from romance comics of his day. And, before Lichtenstein’s portrayal of comic book women, there were the women of Matt Baker.

Little is known about the legendary artist Matt Baker. He was famous for his images of the “good girls”. This was a classification given to glamorous heroines who were like pin-ups. He was one of the first major African-American comic book artists.

He was born in 1921 and had rheumatic fever as a child, which weakened his heart. He died from a heart attack at the early age of 37. He was considered a really stylish dresser and was never married. Baker would say “Why make one woman miserable when I can make many women happy?” He started his career out at Iger studios before he was handed Phantom Lady, his best-known subject. He was mainly a freelance artist and worked for a succession of other comic book companies throughout his career. Baker’s career was predominately centered in the “Golden Age” of comics, which lasted from 1938 to 1955.

Continue reading ‘Matt Baker, by Joanna van Ritbergen (guest contributor)’

Optical illusions happen at the intersection of art and science. There is a physical reason for the illusion. It’s not ‘magic’ but instead a trick that the eye plays on the brain.

Once one understands how the eye sees things and how it misinterprets what it sees, the artist is free to appropriate the phenomenon into her own art. For example:

M.C. Escher, Relativity, 1953

And a ‘Relativity’ made from Legos:

Andrew Lipson, “Relativity” Out of Legos

Continue reading ‘Optical Illusions in Art, The Continuum, by Sandy Donabed’

Hi all,

While Terry is dealing with carpenter ants, moving, and kerfluffle of all sorts, I thought I’d give you a different art fix.

On A&P today I’ll be continuing Kristin’s exploration of the Archie Bray Foundation — with an eye toward a personal query rather than the place itself. We visited it last Wednesday, with temperatures just above 0 fahrenheit and a 25 mile an hour wind. We were the only tourists! But it’s a fascinating compound, the ceramic art is fabulous, and the studios equally so. And the question that it raised in my mind really resonates for textile work.

Here’s the place to click for Art and Perception.

[Editor's note: Sandy Donabed, our good friend and correspondent, sent a post for this Wednesday after Christmas, but June failed to be able to enable it for publication on WordPress. The post below was cobbled together hastily by a turkey-filled Underwood, feeling humbled by her failure but comforted by cranberry sauce.]

This is a post-Christmas maunder via Corita Kent’s rules (see the Ragged Cloth post for last Wednesday, Dec. 19) and an artist residency. The maundering is mediated by a bit of confabulation.

Rule 1: FIND A PLACE YOU TRUST AND THEN TRY TRUSTING IT FOR A WHILE.

Basin, Montana, pop 257, where I am ensconced in an old bank building, was not at all what was expected. It was to be An Adventure, hence necessarily uncomfortable and surprising. And so it is.

Continue reading ‘Confabulation and Rules, by June Underwood’

Our Sunday contributor says her blog was eaten by a four-legged creature with a big red nose and some suspicious antlers; she (our colleague, I mean) will return next month, after the elves have left her home and she’s able to find the computer again.

In the meantime, if you are really really hungry for some blog talk, check out Art and Perception. Last Friday I posted a long tome on one of my residency projects. It’s painting, not textiles, and it was a failure, but an interesting one. And even if you don’t want to read my usual extensive maunderings, you might like the photos.

So enjoy yourselves, don’t eat and drink too much, but do eat and drink just the right amount. Tip the barrista (Maggie and her cat) and in general have yourself a merry one.