Saturday Sharing (My Finds Are Yours)

You'll find here a lot to inspire you today, from "The Namaste Project" to a new site about Gustav Klimt's life and work, to a fabulous 3-D animation of Picasso's extraordinary 1937 painting "Guernica".

✭ Namaste ~ "The Light in me recognizes and greets the Light in you" or "I honor the Light in you" are two ways to consider this word. North Carolina painter Daniel Nevins interprets it though a series he calls "The Namaste Project". In oil and acrylic on wood, each approximately the size of a piece of copy paper, Nevins' paintings are composed especially for his patrons. Nevins describes in the video below what motivated him to begin his unique project. See his paintings here.

DN Namaste from Buster O'Connor on Vimeo.

Painting, as Nevins does, is one way to make a connection to another. Other inspiration might be found here.

✭ Did you know that drawing in a journal — visual journaling — can reduce heart rate, increase serotonin flow, and relieve stress? Go here to learn about this art therapy intervention. It's a cool thing to do, whether or not you consciously use it as a wellness technique. So is following the blog Art Journaling. 

✭ Many people put down computer games. Others can't get enough of them. And researchers? They're finding that games like Tetris can alleviate symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PSTD). Go here for a recent post about an Oxford study on gaming's benefits.

✭ Martinsburg, West Virginia, sculptor Carl Wright now makes his work in wood and stone available to rent or lease. On his Website, he explains the concept behind renting and leasing artwork, which I think is a wonderful way to enjoy art without breaking your budget. Wright writes about his artwork and exhibitions here. His FaceBook Fan Page is here.

✭ Gustav's Klimt's celebrated painting "The Kiss" (1907-1908) is among the most well-known and reproduced images in the world. A new Website, Gustav Klimt: His Life & Work, allows you to apply an electronic magnifying glass to that work and other Klimt paintings and drawings. 

✭ Picasso's "Guernica", hailed as modern art's most powerful anti-war statement, took its inspiration from the April 27, 1937, destruction by Germany of a small Basque village in Spain selected for bombing practice and the May Day protests in Paris that followed. Even today the painting, now in the Reina Sofia, Spain's national museum of modern art, stuns. As shown in the video below, Lena Gieska explores the painting in 3D animation. Fabulous! (Thank you to Escape Into Life for the heads up.)