Day 22 – One Shape Does Not Fit All!

I’m actually writing my blog early in the day today! Our schedule has been all over the place (yup, thanks to the move), so I decided to take advantage of a free moment in the morning to write. Also, sadly, I was unable to have any coffee this morning since our coffee pot was packed away already and I couldn’t sneak out to buy some. So today’s blog is brought to you by some tea I managed to scrounge up and drink out of a Styrofoam cup.

Today will probably be my last day on the subject of Greek Pottery, but I did not want to move on until I discussed the shapes a little bit. Ancient Greek Vases were not “one shape fits all.” As the Metropolitan Museum’s Article yesterday noted, “Painted vases were often made in specific shapes for specific daily uses.” (http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/vase/hd_vase.htm). I also found some information on vase shapes from an online Reed College study guide. (http://cdm.reed.edu/cdm4/studyguides/vases/intro-types.html). (No Wikipedia today, either! Go me!)

Examples of some different vase shapes and their uses are amphora (transporting food and wine), kanthoros or kylix (drinking water), lekythos (pouring libations), loutrophoros (carrying water for a bridal bath), and albastron (a tiny vase that could be tied to the wrist for carrying perfumes and oils). As you can see, the vase shapes are a mix of shapes for everyday uses and shapes for special or ritual occasions. This is a picture I found on Reed’s website that shows some of the different shapes:

Again, the complexity of these ancient traditions fascinates me. I’m not sure I can think of something similar today. In our culture, are there really any groups of widely accepted shapes for different purposes? The only thing I could really come up with is that we have different shapes of wine glasses for red wine, white wine, sparkling wine, etc. That doesn’t even come close to the complexity of the Greek Vase shapes. Am I forgetting something? Can you think of an analogous example in our lives today?

Finally, just because, here’s another picture of a Greek vase. This is an amphora shaped jar:

Xoxo,

Diana

Day 21 – Artists at Work: How the Ancient Greeks Made Pottery

So, I wrote briefly about the Orientalizing style yesterday, and while there is certainly much more I could research and write about that style, I want to go ahead and move on to Black and Red Vase Painting. When I looked at an overview of the Greek Styles of Vase Painting, this was my favorite. (Also, I’m getting closer to the end of the 30 days of the “Art” portion of my Coffee Bean Dreams Project, so I don’t want to get too bogged down on any one thing. I might still check out one more area of art before moving on to the next 30 Day Topic!)

Since I found an article on the Metropolitan Museum’s website about black and red figure techniques (http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/vase/hd_vase.htm), I decided to take a break from Wikipedia. (True Academics, rejoice!). I liked the article from the Met Museum a lot because it also actually described the process of making the pot. First, it was shaped on a wheel, and if it was a large enough pot it was made in sections. Once the sections had dried they were assembled with clay in liquid form (known as a slip), and then finally the handles were added. To make black figure vases, the figures were applied with a slip that turned black during firing the pots. Red figure vases were the opposite: the figures remained the color of the clay pot while the background was filled with a slip that turned black. The black figure style came first and was gradually replaced by the red figure style as the ancient potters realized the better design possibilities with the red figure technique.

After the pots were shaped and assembled, and the designs applied or filled in, the pots went through a three stage firing process: the first stage, oxidizing, allowed air into the kiln and turned the pot the color of clay; the second stage introduced green wood which reduced the oxygen supply and turned the pot black; and in the third stage more air was allowed in the kiln again which caused glossed areas to remain black but the rest of the pot to turn back to orange.

So, I don’t know if others find the pot-making process itself as fascinating as I do, but for some reason the idea of making pots has always appealed to me. Maybe I should try taking a pottery class one of these days- something about the idea of feeling the wet clay in your hands and then seeing it turn into beautiful vase just seem so wholesome and satisfying. I’ve never really considered myself an artist, but I think I could very much get into making pottery. (How that pottery would actually look is another story, but, you know…)

Ok, I’m off to do more moving related tasks (cannot wait for this weekend for the move to be over!!), but I’ll leave you with a few examples of red and black figure vases from the Met’s website. Notice the many different shapes of the vases!

Xoxo,

Diana

Day 20 – Lions and Sphinxes and Griffins, Oh My!

Next up in Greek Vase Painting is the Orientalizing Style. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pottery_of_ancient_Greece; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orientalizing_period). In the 8^th and 7^th Centuries B.C., the cultural mix in the Aegean and Mediterranean resulted in the Orientalizing style, which portrayed both real and mythological animals- such as lions, griffins, and sphinxes. You’re likely familiar with sphinxes thanks to the well-known Great Sphinx. (Just in case you’ve forgotten, sphinxes are mythical creatures with the head of a human and body of a lion). But, if like me, you’ve never heard of a griffin, you’ll be interested to know that it has the body, trail, and back legs of a lion, the head and wings of an eagle, and its front feet are eagle talons. Like this:

I really love the mythological creatures displayed in Greek art. It’s great that art allows the imagination to be portrayed in a physical form. These Greek vases give life to otherwise non-existent creatures, and I think that’s exciting to see! Here’s an example of one of these vases:

Ok, although there is definitely much more to say about the Orientalizing Style, that’s all for today. Short and sweet, but we’re moving this weekend and trying to get a move organized while taking care of a two month old is no joke. And we even have movers doing most of the work! I don’t know how people who don’t have movers do it… I’m very lucky! The next few days might all be bite sized blogs! J

Xoxo,

Diana

Day 19 – Ancient Greek Vases and Living Life on Purpose

So, this morning I read more about art as displayed on vases in Ancient Greece. First of all, let me say that I think vases are very cool, and I wish I could somehow have a vase from Ancient Greece to display in my home! A few years ago I spent two weeks in Antigua, Guatemala studying Spanish, and one of my favorite souvenirs from the trip is a vase I bought in one of the local stores. Vases can be so beautiful, and are a great way to brighten up a home’s interior.

In Ancient Greece, the Protogeometrical Period was the first expression of reviving civilization during the Greek Dark Ages. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pottery_of_ancient_Greece; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protogeometric_art). Decorations on vases from this era were abstract and characterized by horizontal bands and concentric circles. See an example, below:

Following the Protogeometric Period was the Geometric Period. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pottery_of_ancient_Greece; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geometric_art). Instead of just the circles of the Protogeometric Period, Greek pottery from the Geometric Period boasted new designs such as triangles. During the Geometric Period, figures such as horses, stags, goats, and more started to appear. Eventually, human figures begin to appear as well. The most exciting thing to me is that, towards the end of the Geometric Period, representations of Greek mythology start to appear. I have always been fascinated by Greek mythology, and seeing it portrayed on Ancient Greek vases is really interesting. See below for an example of a vase from the Geometric Period.

I also wanted to take a moment today to discuss how my “coffee bean dreams” project is going, since I’m just about 2/3 of the way through the first month. This has been both a very rewarding and very challenging experience. I have had people who I never would have expected contact me and tell me that they are enjoying my blog and enjoying reading about my daily art discoveries. I have to admit, that’s pretty cool. When I started blogging I thought I might just be talking to myself for the next 365 days, so it’s pretty cool to know that there are some people enjoying my journey.

How I feel about the project is an evolving matter, however. Some days, I’m very excited to drink my coffee and learn more about the art I’m researching at the moment. Other days, I just want to curl up in a little ball and not think about anything. However, I was inspired recently when I went to brunch with my friends Lauren and Hilary. We talked a little bit about mindfulness, and how important it is to, for lack of a better way of putting it, live life on purpose. Sometimes it is easy to just start going through the motions and let everything get stale. This blog is a great way to keep myself accountable to my goal of not letting that happen. I am so fortunate to have such a wonderful life- I have great friends, a great partner, a beautiful daughter, a great education, and great career opportunities. I don’t want to just settle into a routine. I want to take advantage of the life I have been blessed with and learn and grow. And this blog is my way of doing that. Some days I wake up super excited about everything. Other days I feel the drudgery of life’s daily routines weighing on me. But committing to spend my morning coffee time every morning on learning and growing gives me a feeling of accomplishment that is so gratifying, and  I’m very happy thus far with the project!

Xoxo,

Diana

Day 18 – Discovering History through Art

This morning I switched gears a bit to look into another ancient culture’s art – Ancient Greece. You may remember Doc Rose, who recommended impressionist painting to me. She mentioned that I should take a look at Ancient Greek vases because of the wide variety of shapes and techniques. After reading the Wikipedia page on Ancient Greek Pottery (I know, I know, Wikipedia again!), I can verify that this is definitely the case! (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pottery_of_ancient_Greece#Red_figure). The development of Greek vase painting is traced through several different styles: protogeometric, geometric, orientalizing, black figure, red figure, white ground technique, and the Hellenistic Period. Are your eyes glazed over yet?!? This is a lot to digest, and I want to spend the next few days looking at the different styles. The black and red figure style looks particularly interesting- check out this example I found on the Metropolitan Museum’s website:

Also interesting: the page mentions that, because pottery is relatively durable, the art on ancient Greek pottery has had a disproportionately large influence on modern understanding of ancient Greek society. This fascinates me- we know much of what we know about the ancient Greeks because of one of their art forms. I feel that art is often considered to be an unnecessary side pursuit in society. I admit I’ve rolled my eyes at art and the need to be “cultured” more often than once. But in the case if the Ancient Greeks, their art served quite a useful purpose – since centuries upon centuries later we can learn about their lives and history through that art. I think that’s pretty cool, don’t you?

Finally, before I sign off today - Happy Memorial Day! Thanks to all of the brave men and women who have given their lives serving in the U.S. Military.

Xoxo,

Diana