Miro's latest work garners Smithsonian attention

Above is a photo of one of Miró’s (Airecraft Carries Me Home) recent works. It's not surprising that art this innovative, yet classic should gain attention in a national forum. Reading the analysis below, you will be struck by how well the critic understands dog art when he writes of taking "color by the throat."

In the December issue of Smithsonian magazine, critic and painter Peter Plagens writes that the artist "took color by the throat, but his chroma is not French or perfumey, like that associated with Monet or Matisse. It's stark, harsh... but not unpleasant." He notes that the orange and blue colors found in the work  "register not only as beautiful, but as awesome in the literal, looking-out-at-the-Grand-Canyon sense of the word." He compares the work to a three-act play: "There's an introduction, with that orange 'character' getting your attention; a white-on-gray transition to the black, meat-of-the-matter second act; then a white climax [the bone of the matter, so to speak] followed by a black [and blue] denouement."

Plagens concludes, "The effect is a stunning first notice, a rhythmic horizontal read and then a deep plunge into the [installation's] inner structure."

I couldn't have said it better myself.

The artist at work.

(Go to the embedded Smithsonian link for more--not to mention real--information.)

Outdoor decor

While walking the dogs between rain drops this morning, I passed a nearby corner house with two or three dozen plastic Easter eggs strewn around the base of a large tree in the center of the front yard. You'll have to imagine the bright jelly bean colors--pink, blue, yellow--against the dark green lawn below the evergreen branches because I don't carry the camera on walks and somehow it didn't seem right to photograph someone else's house for my blog. It was a cheerful sight on a gray morning.

Then I saw the additional decoration. Around the perimeter of the yard, nestling in the grass, were at least six large doggie poop piles left by the household's Laborador.

Several questions arise. Were the poops left there to prevent people from walking in and stealing the eggs? Was the dog just clever for confining her poops to the perimeter?  Or maybe the people were not so clever for not cleaning up?