Saul Bass

One of my favorite designers from the 60s is Saul Bass. I can't help but elp but hear that 60's 'modern' jazz when I see this poster shown above. I also hear the James Bond theme song because he designed some of the Bond movies as well.

I do feel he is responsible for that famous "shower scene" in the thriller, "Psycho," because it is part of Bass's signature style. If you look at the "Cape Fear" title sequence, you will see that comparison as well as the original cover for the book title, The Shining and the movie with the same title. All these were done by Saul Bass and it's that dramatic flare for cropping that makes his work so unique for his time period. I also love how he adds a sense of drama to each poster with the simplest of colors and artwork. He must have saved his clients a fortune!

Saul Bass is truly a genius when it comes to the concept of "Less is more."

The Mysterious Dr. Byrd

The Mysterious Dr. Byrd

Write up on ebay:

"What is he up to this time? The mysterious Dr. Byrd creates quite a questionable stir, staying up late in his laboratory working on secretive experiments. Is that a chart of a human or bird on the wall? Is he making humans into birds or birds into humans?"

The original painting for this print was inspired by many things: my love of vultures, my love for Sci Fi, and my love for the macabre.

I'll address each one of these muses separately...

 

Vultures have always fascinated me. When I was younger and a group of us were driving to Mexico for Spring Break, we came across a group of vultures picking away at a carcass in the middle of the highway. They were so bold they would not move for us. The driver had to slam on the breaks to stop from hitting them. I wanted to take a picture of them but they wouldn't stop long enough for me to get my camera out. The driver screamed at me, "No way am I stopping! Vultures are nasty!"

Vultures have been called "nature's environmentalists." Imagine how messy this world would be without vultures. The ancient Egyptians believed that the vulture brought your soul to heaven. They probably drew this conclusion by seeing a group of vultures picking away at a carcass and then flying up into the sky.

 

A black vulture is featured in this painting, much like the ones an Egyptian would find in the desert. I've dressed him up in doctors' clothes to reference Dr. Frankenstein, one of my all time favorite books. Mary Shelley was way ahead of her time, like many science fiction writers and I've mentioned her famous book before. (See my writing on Edvard Munch.) Dr. Byrd also represents Dr. Moreau. I love H.G. Wells and "The Island of Dr. Moreau" is my favorite of all his works.

 

Monsters make great horror stories. They are symbolic for the unknown and the mutant. Many monsters in stories are the cause of humans' wrong-doings which gives the monster a relationship to our own societies. I believe those are my favorite monsters although I do love the legends of Bigfoot and the Thunderbird. I would like to think there are still species this large that we have not discovered. 

This print is available on ebay:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/251721323031?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649

Skyscrapers

The Skyscraper

(photos by dianne curtis / all rights reserved)

The Skyscraper

...was America's contribution to architecture. Did you know that in order to invent the first skyscrapers, we had to invent the elevator first? That makes sense...right? The Romans could have invented skyscrapers but buildings that were taller than 5 stories were not logical for everyday business practices.
You're looking at one of Houston's most famous and distinguishable buildings now called Heritage Plaza. It was finished in 1987 when Houston was suffering from the oil crunch, unemployment and premature over-expansion so it stood as one of the last, tallest buildings to be built in Houston for over a decade. The main architect behind the design, (M. Nasr) was inspired by the Mayan step-pyramids he visited in the Yucatan.

Another building with a bit of a "Dutch-Gothic" revival located in Houston is the Bank of America Center designed by Philip Johnson and John Burgee.
Like many of the modern skyscrapers in Houston, these buildings are so distinctive, the skyline in this city has become famous and easily identifiable all over the world...
but Houston has been criticized for not paying attention to the ground level of these beautiful towering entities that dwarf anyone walking under them. We don't really have the elaborate gargoyles or Baroque arabesques that other cities do along the east coast but it can be argued that Houston is a more modern city simply because it developed at a much later time period in history.
When the first skyscrapers were designed the idea of using nothing but reinforced concrete, steel and glass seemed disastrous. It wasn't until the perfection of steel manufacturing. stronger glass and reinforced concreted that allowed architects to solve all the weight distribution problems that are included with a huge skyscraper. This is why older cities like New York and Chicago have masonry work on the first few stories, this was the only solution for handling the weight and gravitational problems with building so high. As we perfected these challenges, our buildings became prettier. One architect who taught everyone how to really "dress up" up a building was Mies van der Rohe...but we'll talk about him on another day.

Leni Riefenstahl

Leni Reifenstahl was the icon for controversy and blind ambition during Hitler's glory days. She had the artistic eye and angle to make even the most deviant villains appear heroic. I really think Hitler knew this when he hired her to create one of the most famous of all propaganda documentaries, " A Triumph of Will." (or Willen) She used such a strong camera angle to make the people appear like insignificant, minute ants while Hitler appears 'larger than life.'

It must have been too tempting for her, a woman in a man's field of film and photography, to turn down an offer by a charismatic leader that seemed to be such a promise of hope at the beginning of his political career. With the odds stacked against all women in the arts and gorgeous looks that made her look like she shouldn't be working at all, she siezed the offer to create one of Germany's most inspiring and famous movies.

After the war, she was never able to work for pay again. She continued on with her own film documentaries, inspiring new innovations in photography and generally shocking the public with never-before-seen pictures of natives in remote islands without clothing, behaving naturally and uninhibited before the camera lens but she never could shake the brand she earned by associating herself with Nazi-Germany. What kind of person makes a choice that determines their fate for life?
Did she know these choices would determine her fate?