The Lardner Report – Page 35 – Unleash your creative superpowers!

So What Does My Smog Check Have In Common With Michelangelo?

November 30, 2016 by Lonnie Lardner

(Pic #1) Detail, Creation of Adam, ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican, Rome, 1508-1512. Fresco by Michelangelo. Or is it?

Notice anything odd about the iconic Renaissance painting above?

Hey history buffs: Is it possible Italian master sculptor/painter Michelangelo stopped in to get his car smog checked just before he painted the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel? I mean, is it at all conceivable? Hear me out.

On my own recent mandatory visit to the Smog Shop, I found myself so hateful of having to be there, and stay there, that I took out my camera to “play” in the waiting room. My eyes fixated on these beautiful patterns and marks in the old painted, cracked, cement floor. All these gorgeous textures and colors — I was mesmerized. (Pics #2, #3, #4, #5). I suddenly realized why they were so meaningful to me: they were (unplanned) modern day recreations of background (sky) images in famous tramadol historical “frescoes” like those of Michelangelo.

So for the fun of it, with the help of Photoshop, I replaced the original crumbling sky in the “Creation of Adam” panel (Pic #6) with a shot of the Smog Shop floor. (Pic #2). So Pic #1 is a fraud.

I hope Michelangelo doesn’t mind my messing with his masterpiece — I suspect he’s cool with it — cuz after all, he’s the one who famously said, “I’m not a painter, I’m a sculptor.”

P.S. – Big fan of his in “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.”

(Pic #2) Detail, smog shop floor, waiting room.

(Pic #3 and #4) Detail, smog shop floor, cashier line. Yes, those are my toes.

(Pic #5) Detail, smog shop floor, restroom.

(Pic #6) Original image, authentic background, Creation of Adam, Sistine Chapel.

(Pic #7) Smog shop in Westlake, California.

It’s All About That Paint, ’bout That Paint, ’bout That Paint….

October 31, 2016 by Lonnie Lardner

(Pic #1) Defining focus: One of several dozen young artists expressing imagination though acrylic paints in South Central LA, Halloween 2016.

“If all you have is a hammer, then everything looks like a nail.” — Abraham Maslow

So the other day, in reference to something I can’t for the life of me remember, my husband threw out this old proverb. I had no earthly idea what point he was trying to make, and as I often do, I just filed the conversation somewhere inside my most underused medial temporal lobe.

Then over the weekend, Hope’s Nest (hopesnest.org) volunteers and artists held our annual Halloween art workshop in South Los Angeles. As always, it filled me with a sense of joy, and I quickly began planning our Christmas session. Suddenly, in celebrating the excitement of the moment, and the anticipation of the next, I had an epiphany. I realized that the bliss I experience from of these events, comes from the same source: putting kids together with paints.

(Pic #2) 9-year-old Leimomi showcases her work. Yes, her shirt says, “Always be yourself, unless you can be a unicorn.”

At that moment, I realized Halloween is not about candy, nor costumes; the treat in the “trick or treat” for me, is watching the little ones tap into a creative spirit that they almost never get to show off.

For me, I know now that Christmas is less about the presents, or even the spirit of the season, than it is about crayons and acrylics, the boundless sprinkling of glitter, and kids who rarely get to play with these materials.

And Easter? Easter is about resurrection, but it’s the rising of artistic energy from the kids — toddlers to teens — as they design their one-of-a-kind Easter eggs.

That’s when that proverb crawled it’s way back into my brain. I realized it applied to me. All I have, metaphorically, is a paint brush, so in a real way for me, everything looks like a canvas. That’s obviously an oversimplification, but the thought of it makes me smile. Wanna paint?

Check out a few of our favorite creations here:

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Yeah, Museums Are Cool, But…Brooklyn Streets Totally Crush It

September 30, 2016 by Lonnie Lardner

(Pic #1) Detail from an elaborate block-long mural in the Bushwick section of Brooklyn

The streets of Brooklyn offer miles and miles of eye-popping art and design — and it’s all free to see.

Last week I mentioned to the concierge at my hotel in NYC that I was a fan of really good graffiti, and he said, “Brooklyn has the best.” As an exceptional concierge should, he nailed it. There wasn’t nearly enough time, but he guided me through blocks and blocks of pure Brooklyn creativity. Wall after wall — covered with clever works of art — or, in some cases, freestyle vandalism.

Oddly, I find myself drawn to the layers of defacing as much as the beautiful renderings underneath. To me, the more “in your face,” the better. I was as fascinated by the trashed up doorways (see below) as I was with the well-planned, strategically designed, site specific ambien murals, like the one above. I totally love the way artists incorporate electrical boxes, window sills, air conditioners, and unkempt cables into their overall compositions. Sometimes, it’s even hard to tell what’s real and what’s not. (See “Trompe L’oeil”).

Bushwick has long been a working class neighborhood, and now it is suddenly cool. And colorful. Dozens of art studios and galleries pepper the neighborhood, and much of the public art you see on the street is created by the artists in “The Bushwick Collective,” an open-air gallery of street art centered at the corner of St. Nicholas Avenue and Troutman Street.

Check out the “walking tours” and self-guided apps — Brooklyn just may be the hottest place to see great art. Click here for more on the “Walking tour of Bushwick street art” Click here to view the “Self-guided (app) tour.” From poignant and political, to simply whimsical — prepare to be blown away.

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