loving art, science and creative kids
5/28/2022 1:50:07 PM
Renaissance Woman
She focuses one eye to the world and the other to her thoughts.
The Depth and Breadth of Renaissance Minds
Leonardo da Vinci was not only a painter and sculptor, he was an animal lover who challenged the morality of consuming meat and was probably a vegetarian. When a child, he would purchase caged birds and set them free. He is also described as an accomplished singer and composer who was talented on the lyre. As though that was not enough to fill his plate, da Vinci worked as a military architect and engineer for Cesare Borgia. After moving to France at the age of 60 due to political upheavals in Milan, his days were consumed with scientific projects.
Da Vinci was not a self-promoter, an oligarch, or a politician. He pursued knowledge for its own sake and was a jack of all trades, mastering them all. His accomplishments were incredible for having been born an illegitimate child, though recognized by his father, Se Piero, a wealthy Florentine notary. As a boy, his education was spotty, and though he learned the basics and taught himself Latin, much of his learning occurred after the age of thirty when he devoted himself to mathematics. Da Vinci's busy mind was often occupied with scientific research and engineering to the exclusion of art.
Leonardo da Vinci is considered the first Renaissance Man, a concept that defines a person as being multi-faceted and able to see the world in ways that are beyond the minds of those locked in a single focus. Thinking about him always makes me wonder where his thirst for knowledge came from and who might be compared to him today.
Elon Musk is among those suggested as contemporary renaissance men. As an internet-savvy youth, he co-founded x.com, a company that transitioned into PayPal. But instead of staying with making online innovations, he founded Space-X a privately-funded rocket that put a satellite in orbit and docked the Space-X Dragon with the International Space station. Musk founded Tesla Motors and is credited with the initial idea for SolarCity, the largest solar provider in the U.S. Musk is concerned about three existential threats to humanity; falling global birthrates, artificial intelligence going wrong, and the rise of religious extremism. As an entrepreneur and innovative engineer, he likes to be known as a patron of the arts. He put out a call on Twitter for his new Tesla Factory in Germany. However, since he is not a master of the art himself, I don't consider him and true Renaissance Man.
In my search for Renaissance people, I investigated individuals who look through fractured lenses to see the world in its multi-faceted complexity. These people embraced a lifelong practice of learning that leds to excellence and mastery in a variety of fields. Their special blend of physical, mental, and emotional skills produces extraordinary self-knowledge. They are people who dared to follow their dreams and live life fully.
Following are a few of my favorites.
Albert Einstein remained an individualistic thinker throughout his 80 years. As a brilliant scientist and mathematician, he was responsive to society and the causes of humanity. Einstein transformed our understanding of Nature on every scale, both large and minuscule. The Theory of Relativity, consider his crowning glory, and years of work at Princeton, provided the underpinning for advances in electronics, nuclear power, and space travel. But science wasn't his only interest. He was an accomplished violinist, a philosopher, a poet, and had a strong interest in politics. Einstein is recognized as having been a "true citizen of the world…who reminded us that the teaching of the humanities was more important for the preservation of our culture than just dry specialized knowledge." Einstein wrote, "Whoever undertakes to set himself up as judge in the field of Truth and Knowledge is shipwrecked by the laughter of the gods."
Noam Chomsky, born in 1928 is sometimes called the father of modern linguistics. He is also an analytic philosopher, cognitive scientist, historian, social critic, and political activist who wrote more than 100 books on spacing topics from linguistics, war, politics, and mass media. He says his path started by improvising the sounds of his favorite piano composers. He believes that the arts should be part of everybody's education. He gives an excellent YouTube lecture about Artistic Creativity.
Mae Jemison known as a physician, engineer, entrepreneur, writer, and teacher, is also an artist. In college she choreographed a performing arts piece called Out of the Shadows, bringing attention to the African American experience. Early in her medical career, she worked with the Peace Corps and later started her own practice. She was the first African American woman to travel to space as a Nasa astronaut and later appeared on an episode of Star Trek. After leaving NASA she taught environmental studies at Dartmouth and directed the Jemison Institute for Advanced Technology in Developing Countries. Jamison is a person who learns from everywhere. In 1990, after moving her work to Cornell University, she wrote her first children's book, Find Where the Wind Goes." Jemison gives an inspiring TED talk on YouTube about teaching the arts and sciences together. She stresses the necessity for both creativity and scientific investigation in our lives.
Before his death, Steve Jobs wrote, "You can't connect the dots looking forward, you can only connect them looking backward. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something--your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life."
I agree with his thoughts. Trust what you love and find the thing or things that make your heart sing. Bring art and science together for a rich life.
________________
Please share your thoughts on my blog site about those you consider to be Renaissance Men and Women. Renaissance Woman is 43" by 23", three-dimensional mixed media with acrylic paints available for $785.
Art is always for sale. Go to marilynne@eichingerfine art with your questions.
_________________
References:
Stewart, J. & Cole, M. (2022) 14 Facts about the Original Renaissance Man, Leonardo da Vinci, My Modern MET. retrieved from https://mymodernmet.com/leonardo-da-vinci-facts/.
Website" Einstein-HyperHistoryretrieved from EINSTEIN
Connolly, M. (2021) 5 Key Values of a Modern Day Renaissance Woman, Is This You? Neways. Women in Leadership. retrieved from WOMAN.
Morgia, L. Mae Jemison: the power of developing multifaceted Skills. Ness Labs. retrieved from JEMISON.
5/21/2022 10:36:20 AM
The Rhino-A face a mother can love
Tigers, Rhinos, and Elephants—Oh my!
It had been months since I was last at the zoo, but though the day was cool, it was fair, and I decide to take a walk there this week. The animals were alert rather than asleep as they usually were when I visited during the summer, which made watching them more interesting. My first stop was observing a tiger walk around his compound rather than sleeping under a covering near the back. He spent his time walking in circles coming toward and away from me. He was beautiful and looked to be well cared for. He put a smile on my face as he pulled at my heartstrings.
Tigers are among the favorite animals visitors seek out when visiting zoos. But seeing them in captivity always makes me wonder if it is fair to keep them in a compound. Most animals in a zoo don't need as much space as tigers who like to explore. I wondered what this powerful beast thought about while penned in instead of running wild in nature. It wouldn't be about catching his next prey for his food was provided.
About 5,000 tigers are in U.S. zoos, private backyards, and private breeding facilities. Only 3,500 remain in the wild. In East and Southeast Asia, nearly 8,000 live in tiger farms where they're raised for their skins and body parts.
Should they live as captives or be left alone to survive as they can. Unguarded, they are losing ground to poachers and loss of habitat. In zoos, there are breeding programs to preserve the species. WildAid, a conservation group to preserve threatened animals, thinks zoos are valuable."Zoos play a positive role in sensitizing people to conservation…the actual experience of seeing a physical animal is nothing like seeing one on a TV screen."
Born Free USA, believes otherwise. They write that "the tiger is a perfect example of the way that zoos are missing the point about conservation. Money spent on zoo tigers should be redirected to protecting habitat for aid tigers if we want the real thing to survive and not just a shell of the beast we call the tiger."
The question, of course, is where is there enough habitat to let them roam freely? The only place they are doing well is in Eastern Siberia, an area sparsely inhabited by human beings.
Until we find space for them to roam, zoos will have to do. As good caretakers, we must ensure their happiness and well-being. Tigers need larger enclosures with greenery and things to play with. At the Minnesota Zoo, tigers are given fake carcasses-fake moose they have to wrestle with in order to get the meat inside. They love it.
Further on in my stroll, I observed another first by seeing a rhinoceros run. The guide said they can run thirty-five to fifty miles an hour, as fast as a horse. This particular rhino was pacing anxiously for his mate to be brought to his pen. But his caretakers were hesitant, wanting to make sure the resulting calf arrives in warm weather sixteen months later Poor Daddy Rhino has no free will when it comes to sex in captivity.
Rhinoceros in cave paintings show there was a time when they roamed through Europe, Asia, and Africa. At the start of the 20th century, there were 500,000 rhinos, a number that dwindled to 27,000 today. Few survive outside of national parks and reserves. Three species are critically endangered. Prized for their horns in Asian countries, they are prey to hunters for their supposed medicinal powers and status symbols of wealth. Those using rhino horn to cure ailments really believe it works. Tens of thousands of people worldwide have died because of their mistaken beliefs according to Save the RHINO, a non-profit organization. Zoos are praised for bringing back the white rhino after it was considered extinct.
As my stroll continued, I didn't want to miss my favorite—the elephant. Fifteen years ago, I spent time at a Kenyan wildlife preserve researching elephants in the wild. It was exciting to see young elephants climb over one another at play and watch their mothers scold them if they ran off. They spent a great deal of time around pools hydrating themselves and would then roam as much as 50 miles in a day, Female elephants sleep in a circle with their babies in the middle. After 45 minutes to two hours, the matriarch starts them on their next trek. They need to walk for the soles of their feet act as pumps circulating blood to the heart.
Do they belong in Zoos? Critics say they are never given enough space to be housed properly, but proponents believe they are better off in captivity than in the wild where they are decimated by disease, drought, habitat loss, poaching, and conflicts with people. The debate is a complicated tug of war. In 1971, 1.3 million wild African elephants were alive, while today there are fewer than 500,000. In the wild, they travel in kinship groups while in zoos, babies are often separated from their mothers and sent to other facilities. Advocates say funds would be better spent by supporting wildlife preserves in their native lands rather than building costly outdoor and heated indoor facilities with concrete floors that foster foot infection.
My thought is that zoos are wonderful assets to a community if the prime concern is the well-being of the animals and not those who come to gawk. The animals may be more difficult to see if they are given adequate space but that will help people feel like they are on a safari. As guests, they begin to understand what it takes to be a caregiver and why their natural habitats should be preserved.
References:
World Wildlife Fund website. 5 things Tiger King Doesn’t Explain about Captive Tigers. retrieved from https://www.worldwildlife.org/stories/5-things-tiger-king-doesn-t-explain-about-captive-tigers
McCarathy,S. (2008) Tigers don’t belong in Zoos, But where can they go? Salon. retrieved from https://www.salon.com/2008/01/05/tigers/
Save the RHINO website. https://www.savetherhino.org/rhino-info/threats/poaching-rhino-horn/#:~:text=Rhino%20poaching%20is%20being%20driven,to%20display%20success%20and%20wealth.
Shaw, E.(2017)How fast Does a rhino run? Sciencing. retrieved from https://sciencing.com/how-fast-does-rhino-run-4586507.html
Cohn, JP (2006) Do elephants Belong in Zoos. Oxford Academic.retrieved from https://academic.oup.com/bioscience/article/56/9/714/262884.
Adminisrators (2020) Let Sleeping Elephants Lie—How Elephants Sleep! HERD. retrieved from https://herd.org.za/let-sleeping-elephants-lie-how-elephants-sleep/
___________________
Please share your thoughts about zoos. Should animals be kept in captivity or not? Comment on my blog site at www.eichingerfineart.com/blog.
Art is always for sale. Contact me at [email protected]
The Rhino is a 30” by 20” acrylic painting on canvas, $495.
5/14/2022 8:35:43 PM
Mystery
We commonly put laws in place without analyzing the consequences. Vigilantism, bounty hunting, and denying women the right to manage their own health are likely to wreak havoc beyond most people's imagination.
Bounty Hunting
The Texas law that bans abortion includes a measure to ensure that the law is enforced. If an abortion takes place after six weeks of pregnancy, residents can sue clinics, doctors, nurses, and even those who drive a woman to get the procedure and receive 10,000 or more dollars for doing so. As Sonia Sotomayor said in her Supreme Court descent, “(Texas) deputized the state's citizens as bounty hunters, offering them cash prizes for civilly prosecuting their neighbors' medical procedures.”
Though a great deal has been said about the horrific impact of abolishing Roe vs. Wade, little has been mentioned about what bounty hunting laws do to citizens. Last week, a friend described what it was like to live in a country where citizens turn neighbors over to the authorities in exchange for money. He had just returned from Rwanda where police had barged through the door and shot his uncle while he and his relatives were visiting. His shocked family was threatened not to mention the incident or they too might disappear.
In 1994, with genocide at its height in Rwanda, the government encouraged citizens to take up arms against their neighbors. Over 800,000 people were killed, and though the practice is not as common today, unsavory practices do continue. A 2021 UN Human Rights report claimed that Rwanda still has unlawful and arbitrary government killings, forced disappearances, torture, arbitrary detention, and political imprisonment. Freedom of expression is censored, websites are blocked, journalists are threatened, and restrictive nongovernmental laws are in place. Neighbors, tribal dissidents, and family members spy on each other in the hope of collecting a bounty payment.
The Texas law is a wake-up call that what is happening in Rwanda could occur here. We already have vigilante groups and militias that take the law into their own hands. That Texas has deputized all citizens and encouraged them to spy on one another over abortions is only the beginning.
What happens when states stop protecting the rights of the LBGTQ community? What about Hispanics, Jews, Blacks, and those of Oriental descent who are targets of vigilante groups. Will government continue to deputize citizens so they will turn people in if they have backgrounds an elite group decides are unsavory?
Vigilanteism and bounty hunting are on slippery slopes that can easily separate people and make them fearful. Such activities are pushing Americans into groups of like-minded individuals. Looking to find fault for the things they don’t like and the end up hatful and fearful of those who are not part of their tribe.
Dr. Seuss understood what could happen when he wrote his children’s poem, The Sneetches.
“Now, the Star-Belly Sneetches
Had bellies with stars.
The Plain-Belly Sneetches
Had none upon tears.
Those stars weren’t so big. They were really so small
You might think such a thing wouldn’t matter at all.
But because they had stars, all the Star-Belly Sneetches
Would brag, “ We’re the best kid of Sneetch on the beach.
With their snoots in the air, they would sniff and they'd say
“We’ll have nothing to do with the Plain-Belly sort!
And whenever they met some, when they were out walking,
They’d hike right on past them without even talking…”
Then, Sylvester McMonkey McBean, the Fix-It-Up Chappie, came along and made stars for the plain bellies so the two groups would look alike. The original Star-Bellies decided to get rid of theirs so they’d be different and “better” again. A competition arose to see which group was better. All the while Sylvester McBean was making money. He surmised, “They never will learn. You can’t teach a Sneetch. “
“But McBean was quite wrong. I’m quite happy to say
That the sneetches got really quite smart on that day,
The day they decided that Sneetches are Sneetches
And no kind of Sneetch is the best on the beaches.
That day, all the Sneetches forgot about stars
And whether they had one, or not, upon thars.
I hope we can learn from Dr. Seuss to put aside differences and celebrate our common humanity. Whatever we believe, however we act, let’s not stoop to so low and be so narrow that we turn neighbor against neighbor and can’t tolerate diversity.
I imagine you have a lot to say on the subject. Please comment below on my blog site.
Art is always for sale. Contact me for information [email protected]
Mystery is a 19" x 24" framed acrylic painting on canvas. available for $425.
Resources:
Picchi, A. (2021) Texas abortion ban turns citizens into "bounty hunters. CBS News. retrieved from https://www.cbsnews.com/news/texas-abortion-law-bounty-hunters-citizens/
Rwanda events of 2021. Human Rights Watch. retrieved from https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2022/country-chapters/rwanda?gclid=Cj0KCQjw4PKTBhD8ARIsAHChzRI9iAICmhJpBsulXYOtZ64spja_OfCjDxvYYOk0QPDseEiBuC97cAUaAnjoEALw_wcB#
Dr. Seuss (Theodor Geisel) Before You Read. The Sneetches. elements of Literature. retrieved from https://www.hanover.k12.in.us/cms/lib/IN01001361/Centricity/Domain/2242/Sneetches.pdf
5/8/2022 12:14:19 AM
Strength
The ability to love when it doesn’t seem possible.
Mothers are strong. They have to be to manage the challenges that come their way each day. Handling careers, children, house cleaning, and paying attention to their husband or partners isn't for the weak at heart.
Mothers are soft. They hold children in warm embraces wiping tears off their faces when they fall or are hurt by something or someone.
Mothers are funny They make you laugh with their jokes and silly ways. They show you how to enjoy life even when you don't feel like it.
Mothers are patient. For eighteen or more years they see to their offspring's needs before their own. They read to them when young, attend school plays, drive them to play dates, watch soccer games, and see to their health.
Mothers are flexible. They must be if they are to adapt to the unforeseen circumstances life throws in every family's way.
Mothers are creative. They bake, cook, sew and decorate their houses, turning them into welcoming homes. Mothers garden, paint, do scrapbooking, decorate Christmas trees, and light incense candles, adding color and good smells to rooms.
Mothers are loving. Even when they don't approve of their children's actions, their love is unshakable.
My mother was all of the above, and though she is not alive, I think of her fondly, knowing a part of her inside me.
To all who mother children with your love and compassion, have a Happy Mother's Day filled with good thoughts and wishes.
Do share the memories you have of your mother below.
Art is always for sale.
Strenth is a 20" x 16" acrylic painting on deep canvas. $395.
for information contact [email protected]
