User Comments

1. 

   6/02/09

   hatingtherain

   I love the Clan of the Cave Bear Books...
   
   Gerry and the Pacemakers
   
   Motley Crue

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2. 

   6/02/09

   Hels

   Funny you should say that I love late Victorian art and Orientalist art but was always afraid to say so because they were considered too realistic, too chocolate boxy, not political enough.
   
   Now the Victorian era is being reassessed and I can come out of the cupboard, at last!

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3. 

   6/04/09

   Rivy

   Comic book art has been a life-long interest. But selective in the field. As a child - 1940's - my favorite was Batman and Robin (Robin let me imagine I too could be part of the grown-up world.) But I quickly lost interest when E.C. Comics entered the fold - horror, crime, science fiction, suspense, and THEN the war comics - coming out at the start of the Korean War. 1950. I was 12. And by that age addicting to drawing "grown-up" comic stories of my own.
   
   I didn't pursue the comic art world. I had no art classes as a child, but joining the army at age 17 and being sent to Europe for a 30-month tour, I encountered "Fine Art". Enthralled. I knew I wanted to be an artist.
   
   After the army I entered the academic world of art and remained for the next 10 years. But the style of comic panels, the art of story telling, making social commentaries never left, and by my mid-30s I had abandoned the Fine(er) Arts and started simply drawing and coloring and writing - not in a commercial format - but for my own needs. Filling sketch journals one after another. Jotting down quips, a thought for the moment, doing my iconoclastic twists on society at large. With humor. And story telling. Which I do still, only now focused primarily on blogging and posting previous images onto the web.
   
   I retain connections with academic arts - Andrew Wyeth, Norman Rockwell, the German Expressionists, American realists of the 30's and 40's, etc. And still touch base in my work.
   
   Literature? I am a Steven King fan. I browse experimental writing in small presses. I re-read "The Day of the Locust" now and again. I like Henry Miller. The "Tropic of..." books particularly. I tackle Joyce now and then. The Beats. Any book by and about them.
   
   Good topic. Don't know how far the forum will go. I hope so. I like learning others' takes and tastes of the art/literature world.

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   1. 

      6/15/09

      davedol

      Rivy,
      Comics sparked my imagination as a child as well. And look how these “simple” cartoons shaped our popular culture. How many billion of dollars in movies and merchandise have been inspired by these comic books? It really is remarkable. Comic books are our modern mythology.
   2. 

      6/22/09

      boytrotters

      I don't think comic art is valued very highly in the arts or in the wider mainstream, to be honest with you, but I regard it highly. I have long appreciated the carooning genius of Tove Jansson, Osamu Tezuka, and especially Charles M. Schulz. But as soon as I talk to anyone else about these great artists, they have no idea who I'm talking about. It's a shame.
4. 

   6/04/09

   BetsyIckes

   This might sound odd, but when I use to teach 9th Grade CCD at Saint Mary's church, the students would come up with some good essays and journals. Sometimes I would get more out of their "stuff" then any book I would read.
   Maybe it was because of their fresh views on life.

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5. 

   6/04/09

   nothingprofound

   I like everything that's fun, light-hearted and free-wheeling in art. Can't stand the stuff you're supposed to take seriously. I like early, silly rock n roll, the sillier and more trite the better. I love the Dada people, John Cage, Walt Whitman, Mark Twain, Chaucer, Rabelais, the Fauves, Zen art and haiku, philosophers like Diogenes, Voltaire, and Montaigne.

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   1. 

      6/15/09

      Hels

      oyyy nothingprofound
      I didn't realise that a passion for Fauvism was something to hide. I proudly and defiantly admit to loving Matisse, Derain, Vlaminck, van Dongen, Dufy, Rouault and Braque etc.
6. 

   6/04/09

   lingoslinger

   I love Henry Miller and can identify with him in many ways. My writing often repulses people, where as others really enjoy it. Depends on how comfortable they are with their perception of the world around them.
   
   I love Ellen Hopkins. She wrote Crank, Glass, Burned, Impulse and a few others. Usually always relate to addiction and the underbelly of society.
   
   The best artists IMO are the ones that evoke strong emotions and opinions, regardless of how favorable they are.

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7. 

   6/04/09

   jafabrit

   I never felt a need to hide what I liked but I remember getting hell from a lot of people for not liking what was popular.

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8. 

   6/15/09

   freeatlast

   I have no problem admitting my love affair with Henry Miller. And I'll be honest... I read the "Twilight" book and watched the movie all in a 12 hour period... and though I could criticize it until I'm blue in the face, I still got totally sucked in.

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9. 

   6/15/09

   amybyrd21

   I like all kinds of music. My hubby doesnt understand why I listen to certain kinds. He puts the music down that I listen to because it is not like his., I listen to his too but I enjoy others.

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   1. 

      6/22/09

      BetsyIckes

      I like all sorts of music, lately it has been Patria Kaas, a French Singer.
10. 

    6/15/09

    praning5254

    I love to listen to all westlife songs...

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11. 

    6/22/09

    MylissaAriana

    J.K. Rowling and Marilyn Manson...

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12. 

    6/22/09

    Bassagirl

    Ok, here it is: As a teenager I loved V.C. Andrews - 'Flowers in the Attic,' 'Garden of Shadows,' - The whole Doppelgange Family. I loved them for their Gothic qualities, their campiness, their way too intense melodrama. I don't know what I'd think about them today, but I still remember parts of those books that could make me cry right now. My favorite was one outside of the series called, 'My Sweet Audrina.' I actually bought it again a few years ago when I went on vaction and found it in a used bookstore. I feel kind of embarassed to read it now but I'd be interested in what I thought about it today.
    
    As far as films are concerned, I loved Danish film maker, Lars Von Trier's, film, 'Dogville,' starring Nicle Kidman. The humor in it was so dark, the set so intentionally horrible, his displays of how despicable the human condition could be actually made me laugh out loud during the film. It was so over the top! He was critiquing to some extent what he thought about the U.S. though he has never set foot here before but sets many of his films in America. It is not an easy film to watch and will stick with you for awhile. Not at all for the feint of heart. I have nearly lost friends over me liking 'Dogville.' I also loved, 'Dancer in the Dark,' starring Bjork, too. I found this one moving, especially since it was about the awful fate of a nearly blind woman working in a factory in 1950's Washington - set to music. Both very disturbing films.
    
    As for art, I love Dave Mckean's art for the cover's of Neil Gaiman's, 'Sandman' as well as his collaboration with Neil Gaiman on
    'Punch and Judy.' Anything he does with Neil Gaiman is great. He's also great on his own, too.
    
    I love Daniel Clowes comic book work. 'Eightball' is excellent and I hold a special place in my art for 'Like a Velvet Glove Cast in Iron.'
    
    Lastly, I really like the 'Airplane' movies, 'Naked Gun,' and yes, even 'Scary Movie.' I'm a huge fan of the Wayan's Brother's 1980 something hit, 'I'm Gonna Git you Sucka!'

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13. 

    7/16/09

    dududulala

    I like progressive rock like Dream Theater and soft music such Kings of convenience. I can't chose which one i like most, coz they're both awesome.

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14. 

    7/16/09

    MountainSage

    J.D. Robb's Death Series are my favorite. J.D. Robb is a pen name for Nora Roberts.

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15. 

    7/17/09

    Hels

    In the last 10 years or so, I have developed an embarrassing love for British crime novelists, particularly Ruth Rendell, PD James and Minette Walters.
    
    I wait until everyone else is asleep, then I crawl into bed with a tiny book lamp. Noone else knows this shocking secret - only you, my blogcatalog friends.

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