The Unbalanced Chronicles: art

Connor is constantly telling me a story. Nine times out of ten I just nod my head ‘yes..mmmm...ok, that's good’. There isn’t a time when he isn’t telling me something, so I tend to tune him out. Today he told me the entire plot for a movie he wants to make while I mopped the floor.

The problem is Connor’s writing skills haven’t caught up to his mind yet, but when they do the world better watch out for his storytelling ability. Today while Carlee napped I sat down with him, printed off 10 famous works of art, and typed vigorously as he told me about them. He seemed to enjoy my undivided attention, and needed no encouragement from me to develop a story.

I promise you I didn’t change any of his wording (and as you read you will understand that I wish I could on some).

The Birth of Venus by Sandro Botticelli

depicting the goddess of Venus.

C: "This is called Angel World. It's about this bad guy who takes away the gold and the angel has to get it. The prince tries to fight the king, and he wins and the gold is given to the angel."

(me) What is that she is standing on?

C: "Oh she is standing on the lily pad with her family. They are happy she found the gold."

Mona Lisa by Leonardo da Vinci

C: "I think she is a specialized predator. She is the boss of the airport. She is going on vacation at the airport. When she gets back from vacation she helps the G.I. Joes. She is called in to jump out of the helicopter before me."

Water Lilies by Claude Monet (250 oil paintings)

depicting Monet's own flower garden

C: "This is Jaws part eleven. This is where the action takes place and the creatures are under the water about to attack."

The Night Watch by Dutch painter Rembrandt van Rijn.

It depicts a city guard moving out, led by Captain and his lieutenant.

C: "This is called Regional River. Here people are battling over the river. It is a special golden river and people are battling who gets to have it."

The Scream by Edvard Munch,

depicting an agonized figure

C: "This is Frankenstein, he is moving his head around hunting for a guy...no one is allowed on this bridge because he is hunting. He stays on there for days and days until the towns people end up with plan."

The Girl with a Pearl Earring by Johannes Vermeer

C: "This is a girl who dreams of dancing in the opera."

me: what happens to her?

C: "Oh she starts to dance and she wins in a competition."

The Sistine Chapel ceiling, painted by Michelangelo

depicting the biblical creation of Adam

C: "This is Magic Mike."

me: What do you know about Magic Mike!!!?

C: "I saw the commercials on tv and we talk about it after school."

me: really, you talk about it?

C: "Yes"

me: well don't talk about it anymore. I think this painter wanted to show that this is Adam and this is God.

C: "I think Adam needs some tightey whiteys (insert Connor's hysterical laughter)."

Guernica by Pablo Picasso

depicting the tragedies of war and the suffering on civilians

C: "This is called Swamp Creatures. Its a scary movie. A man goes out in the street and is attacked with ten or nine people. They are attacked. There is one boy and one girl left at the end who throws a firecracker at the bad guys and they all blow up."

The Last Supper by Leonardo da Vinci

C: "This is an old Jaws movie. This where they are thinking of how to kill the shark over dinner in the movie."

me: Does this look like Jesus from the bible stories to you?

C: "Oh yes, Jesus is talking about how to kill the shark over dinner! That dinner is good."

The Starry Night by Dutch artist Vincent van Gogh.

C: "This is called “Skylanders”, jets and planes and helicopters are about to come out all over the village. You can’t see them because of the clouds."

Connor got mad I didn't show him any helicopter pictures so I found this one for him, I'm not sure if its real, but it is certainly a cool picture.

Battle Shark By Connor

C: "There was an army team getting ready to fight. They were getting ready for battle when a shark team was called to go in with with them. They were up against a bad helicopter shooting off bombs, so they had to be as quick as they can.

The army knows this man is in the water. The Army comes and rescues. But when the army man goes down the shark almost rips him up, but the helicopter pulls up in time."

This week the family needed an Italian food fix, so we went to Coppolas Restaurant. When you walk through the door there is a framed printed photograph on the inside of the wall- American Girl in Italy. Connor always thinks it’s a picture of me. He always says ‘look at that picture of you mom’, ‘why do they have a picture of you?’, 'where were you?'. Now given, the only thing I have in common with the woman in the photo is maybe her dark hair. She is actually a slender 6 foot tall woman! But for whatever reason, there is something in that picture that reminds Connor of me, so I’ve always liked it. Monday this famous photo turned 60 years old!! Here are some interesting facts I learned (and copied) from the media. It will probably make you look at this print in a different way.

Ninalee Criag in Italy, with her orange shawl

-The woman in the photo is Ninalee Craig who traveled as inexpensively as she could through Europe which was rare for a woman of this time.

-She was staying at a hotel right on the Arno River in Florence where she could stay for $1 a day. She met another solo female traveler, Ruth Orkin, a 29-year-old photographer.

-Both women decided to wander around Florence for about two hours and shoot pictures of what it was like to travel alone as women, this is where the famous photograph was shot.

-The shawl she is wearing is bright orange.

-The photo was not staged. The men were just there but most were unemployed. Italy had been trying to recover from the war and had been devastated. Ruth Orkin did ask her to go back and repeat the walk once.

-The photographer, Ruth Orkin, describes the photo as a celebration of a strong, independent woman who isn’t afraid to live life. (Ruth died in 1985).

-Ninalee Craig did not feel frightened in the photo. Though the men in the photo appear to be leering and lascivious, she insists they were harmless and none of them crossed the line.

- The man committing the gesture toward his crotch was often airbrushed out because it was considered an image people should not see.

In my opinion, Ninalle Craig looks as beautiful today as she did in the photograph (and she is wearing the same orange shawl).