Art Notes by Dana Levine: Fireworks over San Diego Bay

9/17/23

Now that concerns about Covid are fading from my mind, I have been venturing out with my camera.  One trip was a night shoot to photograph a fireworks display.  Every year, during the Labor Day weekend, the San Diego Symphony performs Tchaikovosky’s 1812 Overture.  If you want to hear Tchaikovosky's concert again, here is a link. 


The performance ends with a fireworks display set off over San Diego Bay. I photographed the event in Coronado, capturing the new outdoor music venue and surrounding downtown buildings, the light show, and reflections in the water.

Here are a few of the images I captured, standing 3/4 mile away from the venue.

If you would like to purchase a print on paper or metal, please contact me. My email is danalevineart@gmail.com



Fireworks Over San Diego Bay 1

Fireworks over San Diego Bay 1

Fireworks over San Diego Bay 2

Fireworks over San Diego Bay 2

Fireworks over San Diego Bay 3

Fireworks over San Diego Bay 3

Fireworks Over San Diego Bay 4

Fireworks over San Diego Bay 4

Fireworks over San Diego Bay 5

Fireworks over San Diego Bay 5

 


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Art Notes by Dana Levine: Del Mar Race Track. A Photo Essay

4/13/23

Racing to the Finish Line



Racegoers:  from onlookers to mavens to kibbitzers to bettors to women in hats

Looking over the odds
Taking over the Race
What Horse Should I Bet on?
Women in Hats


The Paddock


Thoroughbred and Trainer
Walking around the Paddock
Owner and Jockey
Getting Read to Go on the Track
Del Mar Paddock


Jockeys

Two Jockeys
Jockey in the Paddock
Winning Jockey
Dismounting after the Race


The Race


The Race 1
The Race 2
The Race 3
The Race 4


The Winner's Circle


Winner's Circle 1
The Winner's Circle 2
The Winner's Circle 3
The Winner's Circle 4
 


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Art Notes by Dana Levine: Quietude and Contemplation

5/20/22

The writer, Henry Miller once said,  "The moment one gives close attention to anything, even a blade of grass, it becomes a mysterious, awesome, indescribably magnificent world in itself."

I have been photographing things that I see during beach walks.  If you look closely at the crumbling, sandstone cliffs backing up to the beach, you can find small marine critters and little rocks wedged into crevices.  I've given a few photographs names that make me think, not of rocks, but of that Henry Miller quote.  They evoke quietude and contemplation.  Here are two examples.    

The Secret Sharer
Things Known and Things Unknown
On a recent trip to Mission San Juan Capistrano - built in the late 1700's by indigenous Native Americans converted to Catholicism by Spanish missionaries and restored many times over the centuries - you are reminded of the layers of history and the passage of time embedded there.  The textures of the brick and stucco walls of the mission buildings, the riotous color of the flowers in the garden and the deep blue of the lily ponds are incredibly beautiful .  Here are two examples

Mission San Juan Capistrano
Lily Pond
Visit my upcoming exhibitions at the La Jolla Art Association (June and July), Gallery 21 in Spanish Village (July) and Mission Trails Regional Park (September and October).

La Jolla Art Association:  6811 La Jolla Blvd., La Jolla, from June 4 though July.  Monday - Friday 9 -5 pm.  858-459-0831.  Reception on June 4th from 4 - 6 pm 

Gallery 21, Spanish Village, Balboa Park, 1770 Village Place, San Diego.  July 5 - July 18, Monday - Sunday 11- 4 pm.   Reception on July 9 from 1 - 4 pm

 


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Art Notes by Dana Levine: High Anxiety or Serenity?

6/8/20

I recently did the cover of a book of poetry for a friend.  
Words Bursting in Air, by Janice Alper, is filled with wonderful poems.*  
The cover image titled, Woman in a Net, made me realize that for the 
past several months I have been experiencing feelings of anxiety.

Woman in a Net
Woman in a Net

* For more information and to purchase her book,
contact Janice Alper, by email: janicealper@gmail.com.



Since March, I, like many others, have been at home almost
all the time.  In the last month or two, I have been looking 
through my past photographs to select and work on those 
that I think might become works of art.  Almost all of them 
have something in common with Woman in a Net; that is, 
they feature images of someone confined or trapped.  

Man in a V
Man in a V

Red Heads
Red Heads


A further search through my images showed more works 
that I created within the last few years containing figures 
entangled in their surroundings.  A psychologist might tell 
me that creating art provides a way for me to express my 
uneasiness.

Entangled
Entangled

Figure in the Mist VI
Figure in the Mist VI



Once I came to this realization, I did an about face 
and looked for images that instill the opposite effect.  
In my collection of photographs of sky, water, and reflections 
I found calmness and serenity.  For the last few weeks, 
I am now creating new photographic images that convey 
a sense of beauty and peace. 

Serenity
Serenity

Multnomah Falls
Multnomah Falls

   

Whether you are dealing with high anxiety or seeking serenity, 
you can discover both in visual art. 

Please visit my website to see more of my images


 


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Early Morning Workout at Del Mar: A Photo Essay

10/9/19

Early Morning Workout at Del Mar Thoroughbred Horses
Behind the Scenes at 7 am

Behind the Scenes Del Mar Racetrack 7 am Thoroughbred Horses
Taking a Shower, Thoroughbred Style

Del Mar Racetrack Thoroughbred Horses Stable Yard
The Stable Area, Abuzz with Activity

Del Mar Racetrack Stable Yard Grooming ThoroughbredHorses
Bond of Trust and Affection between Handler and Horse

Del mar Racetrack Stable Yard Thoroughbred Horses
Moving onto the Track for the Morning Workout

Del Mar Racetrack Early Morning Workout Thoroughbred Horses
A Trainer's Life: 12 Hour Days, 7 Days a Week during Racing Season

Del Mar Racetrack Early Morning Workout Thoroughbred Horses
Slim Legs Support 1000 lbs of Muscle, Sinew and Bone

Del Mar Racetrack Morning Workout Thoroughbred Horses
Eager to get on the Track

Del Mar Racetrack Morning Workout Thoroughbred Horses
Born to Run

Del Mar Racetrack Morning Workout Thoroughbred Horses
Speeding Past my Camera in a Blur of Motion

Del Mar Racetrack Morning Workout Thoroughbred Horses
They're Flying Down the Track

Del Mar Racetrack Morning Workout Thoroughbred Horses
Higher Power, Winner of the 2019 Pacific Classic, is Aware of the Admiration

Higher Power, Pacific Classic 2019, Thoroughbred Racehorse
Early Morning Workout at Del Mar Racetrack

 


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Art Notes from Dana Levine June 2018

5/2/18

Consider the Human Form:  Everything Old is New Again

An artistic genius who "breaks the mold" presents the world with a revolutionary 
visual concept. Each one shows us a new facet of nature or the human condition in 
paint, stone or other medium.

Easter Island and Middle Period Egypt images

But are their revolutionary ideas entirely new?  

Consider three artistic endeavors:

·        Sculpting the human form on a solid surface

·        Interpreting the theme of Mother and Child

·        Creating three-dimensional space on a 

         two-dimensional surface.


Greek Hellenic sculptures

Centuries after the creation of the 

Easter Island monoliths and the stoic 

Egyptian deities, Greek artists during the 

Hellenic period sculpted lifelike 

human figures.


Sculptures by Verrochio and Rodin
What the Greeks had accomplished, 

and the Romans copied, was all but 

forgotten until the beginning of the 

Renaissance, when artists dissected 

cadavers and learned how to chisel out 

realistic human forms in stone or bronze, 

as we see in Verrochio's David. 

Rodin's towering, emotion laden, 

suffering Burghers of Calais in 

the 19th Century was the culmination.  




Sculptures by Lipshitz and Giacometti
With their abstract representations of man 

less than forty years later, artists like Jacques 

Lipshitz and Giacometti reference us 

back to the silent figures of 

the ancient world.

Precolumbian art and Medieval Art



Artists' interpretations of 

Mother and Child evolved 

from small, squat, Precolumbian 

stone figures to medieval, 

two-dimensional paintings

of the Madonna and Child 

shimmering in gold leaf.  Serenity

and silence are what the artist 

chooses to show us.


Michaelangelo sculpture and Marry Cassatt pastel

During the Renaissance, 

Michaelangelo lets us marvel at his

Pieta.  Over the course of the next 

four centuries, realism prevailed

and brought us to impressionism 

and Mary Cassatt's charming pastels. Here, again,

we are witness to the artist's insights into the

subject of Mother and Child.



Henry Moore, Mother and Child

And by the 20th Century, 

artists rejected lifelike images 

and instead, we now confront 

the abstract human form, as in 

Henry Moore's massive sculptures.



Cave painting Lascaux


How does an artist make a 

three dimensional painting 

on a two dimensional surface?  

In the cave paintings of Lascaux, 

primitive man relied on curved 

lines of varied thickness and 

intensity to bring the animals to life.   


Chinese and Japanese paintings



Japanese and Chinese artists 

used line to impart sensuality 

and a suggestion of form and 

movement to their inked 

and painted figures. And though 

the figures are flat and lack

solidity, we glimpse their character and

get a look into everyday life.

Giotto and van Eyck paintings




In contrast to Asian art, 

in the religious paintings 

of Giotto in the 14th century 

and van Eyck's painting of the 

Arnolfini marriage, the figures 

occupy space but are frozen in 

time and place, silent and pale.

Ruben and Vermeer Painting



Later, during the Baroque 

period,  we see Rubens 

lush and exuberant lovers

overflow his canvas with the pleasures 

of the flesh.  And we see Vermeer's 

young woman standing in a

light-filled room and imagine we

might walk in to join her.


Ingres painting
By the 19th century,  Ingres is 

once again celebrating line in his 

portraits of beautiful young women.  

Matisse, the post-impressionist,

turned to color and curved 

embellishments in many of his 

paintings. He outlined this woman 

in black and she becomes part of 

the wall decoration.


African mask and Picasso painting


At the turn of the century, Picasso, 

inspired by African tribal masks,

shocks the art world when he

presents flattened images of nude 

prostitutes in a brothel.

Gauguin and Lichtenstein painting
When Gauguin went to Tahiti, he painted
 
large, simplified forms, reflecting an island 

life far removed from European culture.
 
And, by mid-20th century, the pop artist
  
Roy Lichtenstein compares people in
 
American society to comic book
 
characters. Both artists' women
  
almost fill their canvases, recalling

Giotto's saintly figures who are 

right up against the picture plane.

 


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Art Notes from Dana Levine March 2017

3/2/17

I have been thinking a lot about portraits lately because I will be giving a talk on the subject at UC San Diego in June.  A good portrait is a revelation; it gives us insight into the heart and personality of a person.  But.... my premise for the lecture will be that it also reveals much about the artist. 

Velazquez
Velazquez went to Rome in the mid 1600's seeking a commission to paint Pope Innocent X.  He waited months for an interview.  During this time, he painted a portrait of Juan de Pereja, his slave and assistant.  The portrait conveys an overwhelming sense of human dignity. Pareja is treated with the same respect and solemnity as a royal portrait.

Velazquez Juan de Pareja
Picasso
Picasso was famous for injecting his personal feelings into his work.  We are seeing someone through his eyes and, at the same time, we are seeing Picasso by the way he presents his subject.  For example, for his famous portrait of Gertrude Stein, he was criticized for not depicting her as she was.  He responded that he painted her as she would become. And indeed she did grow into her portrait! At the beginning of his relationship with Dora Maar, his lover is shown with brilliant colors, "which joyously convey the radiance of her youth".  Later, at the end of their relationship, her anguished feelings leap out at the viewer in his painting, The Weeping Woman.  Similar colors, but entirely different expression by the artist of his subject.

Pablo Picasso Dora Maar
Pablo Picasso Weeping Woman
Toulouse Lautrec
 Toulouse Lautrec painted the can-can dancer, Jane Avril, many times.  Lautrec wasn’t simply interested in her as a figure from the world of dancers and prostitutes; he found in her noticeable eccentricity a correspondence to his own physical defects.  Here, Jane Avril stares out at the world with confidence; her gaze demands our attention  As one contemporary remembered, "She was proud. She didn’t know how to cry, nor beg, nor apologise."

Toulouse Lautrec Jane Avril
Otto Dix
Otto Dix, the 20th Century German painter, was so supremely self-confident that he painted himself in the same pose as Durer's self portrait. Dix didn't just emulate an Old Master, he depicted himself as an Old Master.  When the Nazis came to power, Dix was labeled a degenerate artist and he lost his teaching job. And when Nazi Germany collapsed, he was drafted, promptly captured, and ended the war in a French POW camp. A later self portrait as a broken old man shows him without a trace of arrogance.

Otto Dix Self Portrait 1947
Richard Avedon
The photographer, Richard Avedon, claimed, "My portraits are more about me than the people I photograph."  His beloved younger sister, Louise, died at an early age and, afterwards, his photographs of slim, dark haired women permeated much of his work.  Including, Audrey Hepburn.  She was Avedon's muse in the 1950s and 1960s; the likeness and reference to his sister is readily apparent.

Richard Avedon Louis
Richard Avedon Audrey Hepburn
Arnold Newman
 Arnold Newman chose to photograph Marilyn Monroe just seven months before her death, not as a glamorous Hollywood star, but as a confused, intoxicated woman. "She was a very troubled woman, and I knew it immediately.....She was pouring her heart out with all her troubles to Carl (Sandburg) ....I start taking pictures of her, and then she said she couldn't sleep... She couldn't sleep at night."

Arnold Newman Marilyn Monroe
Francis Bacon
Francis Bacon painted wounded and traumatized humanity. His subjects were distorted, isolated souls imprisoned and tormented by existential dilemmas. About his series of paintings called the "screaming popes,"  Bacon says, “I’ve always been very moved by the movement of the mouth and the shape of the mouth and the teeth. People say that these have all sorts of sexual implications . . . I’ve always hoped in a sense to be able to paint the mouth like Monet painted a sunset.”

If you have read this far, then you are probably wondering why and what I choose to portray.  My vision can be found in Street Photography around the World, an exhibition  I am having with the photographer Arthur Lavine.  I love taking candid photographs of people going about their daily business, unaware they are being observed and preserved.  I hope you will be able to see in my work gentle humor and my take on the human condition.  Here is one of a dancer on a rehearsal break.

Dana Levine Trolley Dancer #3
Please come to our exhibition!

 


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Art Notes by Dana Levine, Nov., 2016

10/31/16

Yellow Orchid
Yellow Orchid


John Valois and I are having an exhibition in Balboa Park in November.  It will feature paintings, digital photographs and digital compositions. 

Because light and color are two exciting and essential ways for visual artists to express themselves, we decided to concentrate on summer and autumn.

For many years I resisted using the color yellow in my art. Recently, I concluded that my dislike for the color was irrational and decided to concentrate on yellow.  In this show, I've brought many images where yellow is the dominant color, such as, Late Summer Meditation, shown below.  Here, I have placed it next to a rich blue.


Late Summer Meditation
Late Summer Meditation

 
As many of you know, purple is the complement of yellow on the color wheel.  I have used a shade of blue which is two steps removed from purple.  According to Itten, whose book, The Elements of Color, is the sine qua non among colorists, choosing color harmonies where one color is matched to another that resides two steps away from its complement, are most pleasing to the eye.  When you see this painting at the gallery, let me know whether you agree.

Here are the details of the show.  Please visit Balboa Park and stop in to see our work.  If you cannot make it to the reception, the exhibition will be on view for almost  two weeks.

Summer Light, Autumn Color
an exhibition by Dana Levine and John Valois

Gallery 21, Spanish Village, Balboa Park,
1770 Village Place,  San Diego, CA 92101


Nov. 9th through Nov. 21, 2016
11 am - 4 pm daily

Reception:  Sunday, No.v 13th from 1 - 3 pm

Straw Hats and Lantern
Straw Hats and Lantern

I've also included a favorite image taken in St. Augustine, Florida, at one of the earliest settlements in the United States.

 


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Art Notes from Dana Levine: Alaska

8/16/15

Alaska Mountains II
Art Notes from Dana Levine:  Alaska

I recently returned from Alaska.  And, although I do not normally photograph nature and the weather was mostly drizzly and the small ship cruising the waterways of the Tsongas National Forest gently rocked, nevertheless....... I did manage to capture some incredible natural beauty in this part of the world.  I've put some of my favorite images in a new gallery on my website to share with you.  Tell me what you think.

 


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Art Notes from Dana Levine - March 2015

2/28/15

Double Exposure: Coming and Going
Art Notes by Dana Levine

 


 

I am honored to have one of my photographs, Double Exposure: Coming and Going, selected for the exhibition, San Diego Dreaming, at the Oceanside Museum of Art. 

 

I often use my photographic work to create a story.  The image is mysterious, with a still,  solemn, classical quality.  Each figure occupies its own column of space, never to communicate with one another.  The artwork began with two photographs taken at the  2013 Trolley Dances at the Monarch School (a charter school for homeless children in downtown San Diego).  They were later manipulated with Photoshop to generate the final image. 

 

If you are in North County, please visit the exhibition.  The show opens on March 7 and will run until June 21.  See the museum's website, www.oma-online.org, for directions and the days/hours they are open.  The exhibition reception is Saturday, March 7th from 6 - 8 pm.

 

 


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What a beautiful composition! Invites the viewer to compose a variety of scenarios. Congratulations!
-- Angela Rodin, 3/9/15

Previously published:

All 16 blog entries

Thank you for visiting my website, www.DanaLevineArt.com.  To purchase a work please contact me at DanaBet@yahoo.com.

All images and content contained within this website are copyright protected and should not be used without specific permission from the artist, Dana Levine.



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