Today I am truly inspired by these amazing works of art by Chinese artist, Hung Liu, that are so deep not only in subject, but in technique. If you can, spend some time going through her vast collection of paintings. She is so talented and prolific and what really impresses me is how large each of her pieces is (and that she can produce so many works at this scale). http://www.kelliu.com/

“I have Dalinian thought: the one thing the world will never have enough of is the outrageous.”

Brilliant, gifted, eccentric, controversial, insane, charismatic, larger-than-life, arrogant… these are just a few adjectives that can be used to describe one of my all time favorite artists, Salvador Dali. I am lucky to have seen his masterworks in person and today I celebrate his wildly creative spirit and joy for life. Feliz cumpleaños to the world famous Spaniard Surrealist painter who made us think, question, laugh and have a new perspective on so many things.

I’m always amazed that humans continue to forget that we really are one tribe at the core. There are so many similarities between cultures, religions, creation stories and myths and it’s always baffling why we can’t stop fighting about them and just respect one another. The tree of life is just another example of this. A symbol that connects the earth, heaven and the underworld and is sometimes called the World Tree, it has been present in Egyptian, Ancient Greek, Celtic, Chinese, Native American, African, Norse, Germanic, Middle Eastern, and South American cultures. It is a symbol used by Pagans, Christians, Buddhists, Jews, Mormons, Bahá’í and Rastafarians. An archetypal symbol in every sense.

From an artist perspective this fascinates me, so today I am looking at the many representations of the tree of life in art. Arguably one of the most famous versions is Gustav Klimt’s, but there are other versions such as Keith Haring’s and many offspring (no pun intended) influenced by those.

“The most Colombian of Colombian artists”, Fernando Botero is known around the world for his paintings and sculptures featuring a style some call, “Boterismo”– proportionally exaggerated and whimsical caricatures of people. His work depicts people of all walks of life in disproportionate size, but it is also layered with social criticism and humor.  Though he has also done still-life and landscape painting, these figures are what he is most recognized for.  In recent years his work has become more dark and political featuring images of violence by drug cartels and  the Abu Ghraib prison.