Art Studio KR

Every time I used to see a painting with a birch tree as ‘main subject’ or even as part of the background, I couldn’t resist a feeling of a cliche, something largely based on preconceptions regarding ‘landscaping standards’. A daub. Maybe not as obvious as a ‘deer on the heath’ or ‘swans in the pond’, but still a daub. Not even Jerzy Kossak, with his horse and birch-themed paintings could make me feel otherwise. Not even mentioning the Russian painters, who fairly often  incorporated the tree into their theme. Of course, its’ presence may as well be required by the realistic landscape: during an open-air painting session it is difficult to pretend that birch trees are not there. There were some landscapes, otherwise magnificent pieces, that were completely losing their value to me if there was a birch tree looming somewhere in the background. I always indetified it with sentimental crafting, of little artistic value. It seemed to be saying: ‘look at these lovely trees! If I insert ...

 There is a lot of guidance online regarding what to buy, how to buy, how to invest, and even how to start your own arts collection. But what about someone who would simply like to have an unusual decoration of their living room or office? The times of the communist regimes have passed, and with them their standard home interiors: a shelving unit, an arm chair and an otoman. Nowadays, there is plenty of choice. From floors to walls, there are endless possibilities of design, from less to more luxurious.  There is a variety of materials, furniture or other objects to compose an individual, boutique interiors. Very often however, what’s lacking is a unique element, that would highlight the prestige or the character of the space. This difficulty in creating a space that’s unique and one of a kind is known to everyone who ever renovated a house, an apartment or an office. We want to not only live comfortably, but also for our homes to give us a sense of pleasure and inspiration. W...

Gaia, Gaia, Gea is presented in Greek mythology ( Tellus, Terra - in Latin) as  the Mother - Earth that emerged from Chaos . She was one of the oldest goddesses (Protogenoi ) of fertility and motherhood. She appeared in various forms giving birth to cyclops, titans, giants .    Finally she got envolved with Tartarus – infernal abyss with whom she had a son Typhon, the most powerful monster of all time, which was defeated by Zeus after fierce battle. Anselm Feuerbach „Gaea” (1875), Academy of Fine Arts Vienna. As in Greek mythology, our planet, although beautiful and magnificent, is not always peaceful and safe. All the natural disasters we are not able to prevent show how dangerous it can be. I found in the history of art paintings and sculptures depicting Mother Earth. Nowhere, however, could I find a work describing the dark part of its "biography". It is often depicted as a mother taking care of her children or as a charming woman. Our Earth, despite floods, fi...

I wanted to write about the Earth ... How indinspensable it is in our life. About the fact that so far we have not found and probably for days or never we will  find another place where we could live. I could write about the beauty of our planet seen from space.  I could show you wonderful places, landscapes, unforgettable  shots, which are  easily available on the Internet. However, I am going to write about ... spring, about last year's memory.  I will show in the pictures what we do not see, what we pass by, what is hidden. After the spring thaws, I came across a stream which appeared out of thin air. I bowed over flowing, glistening in the sun water. Then the amazing perfomance began. The dancing colours arranged in abstract patterns. They changed due to sunlight, flowing water,  the distance and the angle. I was  fascinated looking at it for a long time. When the sun hid behind the trees, "the curtain came down". The photos I took  did not fu...

 For some time I wanted to write something about my hobby, that is, about  running on the art website.  However I couldn`t find common point. Probably someone will say that nothing is easier: paint a runner, a picture from a marathon, a drawing of athlet`s facial grimace of suffering  reaching the finish line. But that would be too easy. In addition, nothing will convey the dramaturgy of sporting competitions as well as a good photo or a film coverage. There are sport-related motifs in art history. For example in ancient art, especially Greek, sculptures and painting on ceramics. They can also be found later. Runners, Panathenaean amphora from 530-520 BC, collections of the British Museum. Art and sport were much closer to each other for some time. In ancient times and even in modern times, art competitions accompanied the Olympic Games. The winners received Olympic medals. After the Olympic Games in London in 1948, they were abandoned. It was found that contemporary...

 Recently I have found some notes from the past. I got intrigued by a bit in which I described the technique and the process of creation of oil paintings. These paintings no longer exist. That is for a simple reason - I killed them myself. I used them as a painting canvas. And though they all still live in my memory, in reality they don’t exist. I have my own thoughts about it. I don’t want to go into metaphors and present it as a symbol of human fate or, as some would say, other such trivialities. I am presenting a fragment of the mentioned notes: Something new has started to happen. I moved on from my interest in texture to a simple painting activity - working with colours. The rapacity, that I used to express with texture, now was about to be brought to life by colours. When I exhausted all means for the colours to fulfill my expectations, I enriched it using different raw materials. The result was a texture that could either enhance the appearance of the colour, or replace it e...

No one can be a painter unless he cares for painting above all else. It is not enough to know your craft - you have to have feeling. Science is all very well, but focus imagination is worth far more. (Edouard Manet) Edouard Manet (1832-1883) At 15 o'clock I got down to work. Original version: bottom - shining black, turning yellow in the upper parts, until completely white. Against this background represented in form of symbols   thrown up  hands. After sketching and applying the first layer of paint: banality, daub. I laid the canvas on the floor and I started  spilling the  paint on it watching carefully what was going on. It moved like a living being, like a human, it changed from second to second. Once it was dark,  and after a while its surface was a bit of white  again. I have never experienced such intense integration with a picture. At any moment, I could stop the growth of paint that was breathing and it  was  alive. Then I though...

 I was born in a small town with a population of 5,000 before the computer age. The first encounter with art took place in the church. It was there that you could see colorful paintings full of saints, angels, nice and sometimes scary figures. The sculpture of the humiliated Christ, nailed to the cross impressed me. But the most exciting adventure and the way to get to know the world and art were the post stamps. I bought different categories from near and faraway countries, as well as I exchange them with other enthusiasts. Some of them were real graphic works. You cannot imagine how much I could find out from such tiny masterpieces. Those from distant countries stimulated my imagination, made me look for the place of their origin and followed the distance they had to travel. Many times the picture they presented was the subject of profund study. Now, in the modern world, it's much easier.  Sometimes I was lucky to get colector`s items - very beautiful and mysterious stamps o...

Art Studio KR. Live and electronic music. Album „The Lighter Side of the Moon”: 1. Magdalena Music by Kazimierz Ratajczak, https://kazimierzratajczak.com Drawings: Magdalena Stefanni, https://monkeyseduction.blogspot.com/

 To all those concerned about my recent disappearance, do not worry, I haven't grown narcissist. It's just that I realized that with my online disappearance, there was something else that had disappeared a long time ago, something I have been trying to erase with premeditation. My face.     It  came to me as sudden awakening one usual day on the train, after many dazy nights dedicated to study and busy days committed to my both equally important jobs.    We have abandoned our faces, let them leave us embarrassed, and we've grown apart from them, like estranged family members. We don't look at them, we don't study them, although they are more ours than anything else, aand they are the last images able to remind us who we are. Our plain selves are not something we want to cultivate, as in comparison with beautiful images surrounding us, we want them to fade, to leave us alone, and stop reminding us of our imperfection. Our faces every morni...

 I will answer provocatively and without unnecessary introductions: understanding modern art is impossible. I would say  it is inadvisable. So what are these crazy artists all about? They invent strange things to bother the average viewer of art. And he/she feels more and more insecure. He often turns his back and says: it's not for me. On the other hand, those who want to be considered skilful art viewers and cannot cope with "understanding" say that the artists themselves do not know what they mean. There are others  more impatient who would ignore this. Finally, politicians who want to censor some works of art. The latter, however, is a topic for a separate entry. Now I will write something that can calm down, I hope, all these lost viewers of art. Understanding cannot be the only and main explanation of works. Science is a field which is guided by reason, for which the sense of being is understanding. Art, however, goes deeper, to the human psyche, which is guided by ...

 Defining the boundaries of creative search was not always the artist's sovereign decision. In the history of art, these borders most often resulted from the generally prevailing canon or the current style. In the art of the second half of the 20th century, the change of artistic trends and tendencies is gaining speed. These changes mainly concern new areas, expanding boundaries and giving them new ways of imaging. Each field of art is  a new boundary, a new area of ​​search is finally a new way of perceiving. Discovering and exploring the borders of art was one of the slogans of avant-garde artists. The most important was what was new. In the art so far, the avant-garde were individuals. Now every direction in art has become avant-garde. The creator became free from formal restrictions. It was the period of one big artistic laboratory.   Words, 1962, Allan Kaprow When creative freedom was won, it is difficult to talk about styles and directions. The artist is no longer i...

Quite often the reaction of the viewer standing in front of the painting is searching for references to real reality in an abstract form. As if apart from what you can see, there were no emotions, imagination, intuitions and all the complexity of human existence. Realistic imaging depicts a theme from real reality, the one we can see or the one we cannot see (dreams, surrealism, symbolism).   Piet Mondrian, Still life with a jar of ginger II Contrary to appearances, this problem looks similar in relation to the abstract form of imaging. Abstract painting often has its source in the real world that surrounds us, the one we register with our sight. It processes it down to abstract values ​​and signs. It also uses reality existing outside our sense of sight (e.g. feelings, emotions, everything that happens in the human psyche) giving him a real artistic sign. Sometimes it is a sign of exploration within the limits of the painting form itself. However, most works of art originate from ...

The history of art from Paleolithic to the present day points to a certain common point of painting. Regardless of the era, style and direction in art, the artists  focus on the chosen fragment of reality, or choose only the right specific way to explore it. The era in which they live predisposes them to this creative attitude. Often, ho wever, they set themselves the limits of creative search. This is particularly evident in the history of art from the late nineteenth century to the times closer to us today. It is during this period that frequent changes in styles and directions are the most radical. Impressionism - a direct, sensory perception of the variability of nature. There is no fixed landscape for this direction, depending on the lighting colors and even shapes of perceived reality change. We do not realize how this new perception of the world has also affected us at present. We live in a pictorial world, today man is able to see more media messages in an hour, more images...