Adult coloring books, though available in print, are increasingly being offered digitally, via ebooks, digital apps, and coloring pages that can be colored online or downloaded.
Contributing to the popularity of e-coloring books are their de-stressing, relaxation effects and the fact that users’ work-products can be saved and shared. …
A friend of mine, Cynthia, was one of the artists in this one – Coloring Creative Characters: Fun Coloring Pages with Personality. ($12.99)
The Museum of Islamic Art, Doha has a special exhibition right now called Qajar Women.
“… artwork of the Qajar period in Iran (1785-1925). … ”
A unibrow was considered very fashionable. Very beautiful.
That’s not so odd. They are still popular in Tajikistan.
But some ladies added facial hair. Moustache and/or beard. That I find strange.
Granada’s most famous street artist is Raúl Ruiz (better known as El Niño de las Pinturas). I took a walking tour to see some the work in the Realejo quarter near his home.
In 2013 Granada named a small plaza just outside his house after Joe Strummer of The Clash, a long-time admirer of the city and a regular visitor in the 1980s and ’90s. Ruiz spray-painted a mural.
The high resolution versions of all my photos are on Flickr.
related – Granada’s street art
Loved it.
HUGE. Sprawling. Impressive.
There are millions of tiny details to notice. Like this one.
Click PLAY or watch a 1-minute overview.
Alhambra (lit. “the red one”) … is a palace and fortress complex located in Granada, Andalusia, Spain. …
Alhambra’s Islamic palaces, as we know them today, were built for the last Muslim emirs in Spain …
After the conquest of Granada by the Reyes Católicos (“Catholic Monarchs”) in 1492, some portions were used by Christian rulers. …
After being allowed to fall into disrepair for centuries, the buildings being occupied by squatters, Alhambra was rediscovered in the 19th century by European scholars and travelers, with restorations commencing. It is now one of Spain’s major tourist attractions, exhibiting the country’s most significant and well known Islamic architecture, together with 16th-century and later Christian building and garden interventions. Alhambra is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and the inspiration for many songs and stories. …
Washington Irving’s Tales of the Alhambra … is a collection of essays, verbal sketches, and stories. Irving lived in the palace while writing the book and was instrumental in reintroducing the site to Western audiences. …
Click PLAY or watch The Guardian’s lyrical edit on YouTube.
Seville is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville, Spain. …
municipal population of about 703,000 …
Its Old Town, the third largest in Europe with an area of 4 square kilometres (2 sq mi), contains three UNESCO World Heritage Sites: the Alcázar palace complex, the Cathedral and the General Archive of the Indies. …
Seville is approximately 2,200 years old. …
Following the 1492 Christopher Columbus expedition to the New World … all goods imported from the New World had to pass through the Casa de Contratacion before being distributed throughout the rest of Spain. …
Click PLAY or watch highlights on YouTube.
Very popular in southern Spain are free (by donation) walking tours. Here’s my excellent guide – Honey Bee.
The modern (2011) Metropol Parasol project impressed me too. It’s the the world’s largest wooden structure.
The Plaza de España is gorgeous.
I spent a few days catching up with my long time friend. Staying with his family.
Mike and I hadn’t seen each other in over 20 years.
Having lived and taught in many nations, Mike has settled down. An artist, they live not far from the Prado.
This kid – Mike’s newphew – has been thrashing me at various games over the weekend. 🙂
From Madrid I’ll travel southern Spain for a couple of weeks before flying out to Scotland October 18th.
From 60 applications this year organizers selected 15 soloists and 7 doubles teams. The winner in each category in Parksville is sent on to the World Championship of Sand Sculpting the following year in Atlantic City.
The theme this time is ‘heroes and villains’.
I probably should have voted for Batman and the Joker.
Instead I voted for a more complex sculpture featuring a monster who wanted to be a hero. But who couldn’t. The artists were there explaining the concept. Respect.
Last year, more than 91,000 people passed through the gates to see the sand sculptures. Since 2000, the society has donated more than $350,000 back to community groups from the money it raised during the exhibition.
Parksville hopes to host the World sand sculpting championships sometime soon.
October 2010 officially marked 1000 years since the establishment of the city. The Hanoi Ceramic Mosaic Mural is a 4 km ceramic mosaic mural created to mark the occasion. …
Impressive. Billions of tiles.
Steve Jobs was a complete jerk. But he done good with Pixar. 🙂
… Pixar began in 1979 as the Graphics Group, part of the computer division of Lucasfilm before its spin-out as a corporation in 1986 with funding by Apple Inc. co-founder Steve Jobs, who became its majority shareholder.
The Walt Disney Company bought Pixar in 2006 at a valuation of $7.4 billion, a transaction which made Jobs Disney’s largest shareholder. …
Inadequate sales of Pixar’s computers threatened to put the company out of business as financial losses grew. Jobs invested more and more money in exchange for an increasing portion of the company, reducing the fraction of ownership by the management and employees until after several years he owned essentially all the company …
Steve admired and respected John Lasseter as an artist. He could not say NO to the guy.
