But Who Is Art?

by


Let’s go to the arts festival! Everyone loves a good festival, right? Apparently. Have you noticed a certain proliferation in seasonal street carnivals? Everyone wants a piece of the action, with predictable results. There seem to be fewer juried events and more tented shopping malls that might generously be called flea markets. There are fewer arts and crafts for one to truly covet and more substandard tee shirts for one to quickly bypass. But I don’t mean to sound like a snob. I always appreciate a good reason to get out and mingle on a pretty day.

Buy the new book, "Beaucoup Arlo & Janis!"Today's "Arlo & Janis!"

52 thoughts on “But Who Is Art?”

  1. Heck, I will join you sounding like a snob about arts and crafts and juries events. Totally agree. Back in 1982 I opened the first such retail store in Houston, a novel concept there at the time. Idea was to sell the best and get us out of mud and hail storms.

    You should have been the one who got pitched the crocheted yogurt containers by people who were neither artists nor craftsmen and got REALLY angry when politely told our group accepted no one because it was juries and selected and invited.

    We ended up selling as much as my select group could turn out, so taste won out, at least for awhile. And we got out of the weather.

  2. I have been told that when viewing artwork that just does not ring one’s artistic chimes, and asked by the artist for one’s opinion, the proper comment is “That’s an interesting piece.”

    And I always appreciate a good reason to get out and “girl watch” on a pretty day. 🙂

  3. I am sadly disappointed in Janis that she appears not to know that shrimp shells and tails may be used to easily make shrimp stock for cooking use.

  6. Just able to check yesterday’s comments. Debbe, Glad you enjoyed the cartoon. Anon,Jackie,
    Dr. Hook is a local group from Baton Rouge. I absolutely love that song you put in and a bunch of others by them. My favorite is “The Cover of the Rolling Stone.” I’m sure you’ve heard it.

    God bless us every one.

  7. Yes. Being from Louisiana I love Dr. Hook and all their music. Cover of Rolling Stone is my favorite too and Shell Silverstone wrote it as well.

    And Dr. John, love Dr. John, from Nawlins. Is there a doctor in the house?

  9. My sister is an artist, but I really don’t appreciate works of art. I enjoy watching her create it and respect it and don’t mind funding it, but frankly some art is so strange it is hard to support all of it.

    I enjoyed going through the Vatican as much of the artwork told a story. The Pieta took my breath away. But call me and ask to go to an art exhibit???? I’d rather catch a ball game. But to each his own.

  10. Debbe, we went camping in the late 90’s on August 23rd in Indian River MI (Big Cross in the Woods). It was cooler than normal, but we did not expect 29°. Of course when I go to Weather Underground, I can’t seem to locate the exact date, but I distinctly remember hearing that the temperature was below freezing! Not a memory issue.

  11. Steve from Royal Oak, MI. If you are in Tulsa, see the Gilcrease Museum. It has art, military and Native American artifacts, pre-Columbian artifacts and a great set of gardens. Jackie took me there on my recent visit following the cat relocation. Sometime I hope I can go back and give it the time it deserves.

    https://gilcrease.org/

  13. Another of the displaced orphaned cats showed up this morning, a big gray and white long hair. Beautiful cat.

    Mark, I will have to come help you catch the rest of your mama’s cats since you have my live traps. What woman doesn’t show up with her own traps?

    Seriously, we will plan one day at Gilcrease and one at another museum, the Philbrook. Tulsa oil money brought a lot of beauty to Oklahoma.

  16. I went to Maine in mid-June some years ago. The weather was what this Southern Boy considered “late winter”. The lobster rolls featuring lobsters that had been hauled out of the Atlantic the day before went a long way to make up for the weather.

    I went to the beach there, only to find someone had apparently scooped up the sand and replaced it with large boulders. Weird, but very scenic.

  17. We went to sail on the Mary Day tall ship. From Houston where I had gotten sunburned playing tennis in a strapless dress. Our first stop off plane was to buy clothes to keep from freezing. The locals were all lying out on grass with white legs and arms “sunning” because summer had arrived. It was mid June and “season” was beginning.

    I have gone north many a time with what we consider winter clothes only to freeze. There is a reason so many people from almost Canada are rounded. They need some insulation and then they add huge quilted clothes on top of that.

  18. Don’t let PETA hear you say that, ole boy, or the whack-a-doodle’s will be hopping up and down so hard their lettuce leaf bikinis will fall off.
    On second thought ……

  20. PETA…I thought that was People Eating Tasty Animals.

    Not that I would ever disparage any organization responsible for making bikinis fall off.

  21. I met a transplanted Englishman in St. Maarten while on honeymoon. He runs a butterfly farm there. His advice for visiting England was to go during warm weather. According to him, the English don’t believe they have poor heat in their buildings, only that you have inadequate clothing.

  27. The comments about Tarzan’s loincloth and a vine remind me of a joke I can’t tell here. But believe me, it was considered hilarious back in junior high school.

  35. I made a big mistake… Started reading a delightful, funny book. I have been giggling… Now time to stop, get calmed down, and get sleepy. I shall play so e solitare to wind down. 6:15 comes too early!

  38. GM Debbe
    Sometimes I think they just take a notion not to lay that day.
    Or ALL the birds non production average day happened just then.

    Or did you give them a pep talk and tell them the inspection team was on the way
    – sort of like “Chicken Run”

    B’ugs

  41. Today’s (5/19/16) A&J is so true! That kind of conversation always seems interesting – in a cartoon, even – but certainly in real life. Maybe it is just my habit of watching the family funds….

  42. Good morning Villagers…

    Sitting here in awe of the full moon peeking through the trees. Sun will be rising soon…..Amen.

    So many videos, so little time. Old Bear, I had seen that video before, but, if I remember right, it showed more of the orchestra, the facial expressions….especially the guy trying to whistle at the end and got to laughing….I always wanted that “wah, wah, wah and whistle” as a ringer on my cell phone.

    198 cases yesterday…..yeah!!!! And yes, I did go out and speak to “Golden Boy”…told him he better step up to his job….he wasn’t there just for his good looks.

    Gal, I like to play a little solitaire in the morning…just a few games, about ten minutes worth….want to see how lucky my day is going to be (just kidding)…..takes my mind off of the upcoming events to play out the day.

    Steve…and another thing about Michigan….it’s so flat. My relatives live around Flint.

    Ya’ll have a blessed day….

  44. E.S. George Reserve, WSW of Pinckney, MI, has an esker running through it, and UP’s Porcupine Mts. aren’t flat either.

    Today’s TIP BlogSpot
    http://thatispriceless.blogspot.com/

    Porn was ok in the 19th c., as long as only the rich could afford it. Maybe it was ok in France anyway, though some were horrified at ‘Luncheon on the grass.’

    Peace,

  45. Ghost: I think JJ wrote today’s strip with you in mind…

    Debbe: Funny that you should say that. I grew up in Fort Wayne and except for some of the lakes, the land is pretty flat, but you go south of the 40 and you get some rolling hills. The same holds true for Michigan. You get up to the upper Lower and the Upper and you get similar hills like you have in southern Indiana. Now those hills have nothing in comparison to the US west of Denver, but they do make travelling in the winter treacherous.

    My wife grew up in Grand Blanc and it is still a nice suburb. Flint started to go downhill in the early 80’s and has been in a depressed state ever since. The water crisis can be summed up with a very old saying: ” Success has many Fathers while failure is an orphan.” The issue was caused by the failure of many on both sides of the aisle and the solution needs the support of both sides. Unfortunately that still hasn’t happened yet.

  46. I thought Jimmy was looking in MY windows or at least my lingerie armoire?

    Do you know what it costs to lose weight and replace all your underwear?

  47. Debbe,
    Sorry to correct you but this Saturday is the Preakness Stakes, the second crown of the Triple Crown of horse racing. It is run at Pimlico. The Belmont, longest of the three races, is the first Saturday in June. Just a little trivia for the day.

    God bless us every one.

  49. The Belmont is actually June 11th. The Preakness is 2 weeks after the Derby and the Belmont is 3 weeks after the Preakness. I would love to see Nyquist get a hat trick. Maybe we can throw and Octopus on the track (Detroit Hockey tradition)

  51. Wondering about the times shown on the comments — it was 12:05 in NH when I posted that, but shows an hour earlier. Mississippi time?

    Or those Villagers who are retired have gone back to sleep. Jerry, how is the trip going? Has the weather warmed up out there? Did you bring enough warm clothes?

    Jackie, sad that your post disappeared. Are you doing all this on your phone? It’s easier to get everything right on a desktop computer, which I use (have no smartphone) or even a laptop I suppose. Great gardening photos you’ve put on Facebook!

  52. Charlotte, Jimmy put up a new retro cartoon about arts and crafts shows and some comments there. Thanks for compliments. My stone mason and his truck driver brother get a lot of credit.

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