raven traveling...

[thoreau]

Tonight was a shift at the bookstore - and I had a surprise qnetter sighting.... he was so nice as to buy an autographed copy of my novel. It was VERY busy in the store - I felt bad I didn't have more time to chat.

But - tonight was pretty cool. As a Christmas gift to myself - I ordered a copy the catalogue for art exhibit RAVEN TRAVELING: TWO CENTURIES OF HAIDA ART. It's a beautiful 200 page art book. Thank goodness for my employee discount - it wasn't too big of an extravagance.

The core of this powerful assemblage is an exploration of the extraordinary achievement of Haida art, as art. Interwoven throughout the text and the finely reproduced images is a skillful intermingling of key themes: the defining myths of origins; the structures of ownership and privilege; the relationship of the people to the land; the influence of the early master-carvers; the monumental achievements of Charles Edenshaw, Bill Reid, Robert Davidson, and many others; the Haida and colonialism; and hybrid tendencies in contemporary Haida art. From oral histories and genealogies to the breakout aesthetics of contemporary Haida work in many media, this book celebrates a great art in a contemporary context.

It's truly one of the most beautiful books I've ever purchased for myself...

Comments

[prisoncitybear.livejournal.com]

NICE! I am soooo going to request that from the library at the college!

You've seen my arm tattoos haven't you?
T

[low-fat-muffin.livejournal.com]

no. :) I"M guessing though that we both have Haida tattoos of some sort.

[low-fat-muffin.livejournal.com]

albeit i'm back from "evil magician" facial hairland - - this is the seawolf that I had tattoed for my 40th birthday.

[prisoncitybear.livejournal.com]

what's your email? I will send a pic of my totem.

[low-fat-muffin.livejournal.com]

robert@robertmcdiarmid.com

[geometrician.livejournal.com]

That really does look like a beautiful book. I like NW tribal art, and in my formal life as a silversmith I made quite a lot of jewelry derived from Haida work. For me, at least, NW tribal art stirs the soul.

[low-fat-muffin.livejournal.com]

You and your actorguy are great journals to keep in touch with. Besides being adorable - you both seem to really be in touch with the ethereal in your lives and have a yearning for something 'more' - which is really quite refreshing.

[geometrician.livejournal.com]

*blush*

You are very kind.

Here's a pic of my right shoulder:



I had this done the day after our wedding, in Victoria, BC. A local gallery let me take a photo of a piece of original art, and this is "black bear," an element of the painting, which was called The Frog People Running From Black Bear. We had spent a lot of the day wandering galleries to find a piece of original NW tribal art for a tattoo. Most of what I found that I liked was stuff you saw everywhere, so I was excited to find this one. I was really happy that they let me photograph it -- the original was $1200!

[low-fat-muffin.livejournal.com]

interesting how many of us are drawn to have ourselves marked with this particular kind of art. Prisoncitybear, yourself and me. ;) There are guys that have just come out of the woodwork with Haida tattoos since I first posted my 40th birthday tattoo.

Your wedding and subsequent marking for the occasion is pretty wonderful :)

[geometrician.livejournal.com]

That's a good point. I think the appeal is that, first, we (men) like geometric designs, but most of that is not organic in appearance. The art of the Haida, Tshimshian, Tlingit, and other NW tribes is geometric, but has a living feel to it. Elements are not centered, nothing is symmetrical, and the flow runs throughout each design, speaking of living things.

The painting I stole my tattoo from was by a Ka:'yu:'k't'h' First Nation artist, I think. I can't remember his name. Vancouver Island has lots of smaller First Nations, and interestingly, except for commercially printed cards, etc., most of the art there is from clans you've never heard of.

[apparentparadox]

Definitely looks like a beautiful book. The second job sure has come in handy in more ways than one!

[low-fat-muffin.livejournal.com]

yeah - ordering art books and THEN getting them at a discount? rocks!

[tupper26.livejournal.com]

This looks like an AMAZING book! I don't know much of anything about the indigenous art of the Pacific Northwest, but this intrigues me enough to start looking into it!