CatRutgers4Art

This Little Twirl

Posted on August 18, 2013 by CatRutgers4Art

Caught my eye. It was part of a proposed fund-raising package for a local not-for-profit, way back in my graphic-design days. Popped out from 1,637 other images found in a search for image, name contains, logo. And then took me on a trip.

Here’s part of that art-making excursion. They and their un-posted sisters make a cool Preview slideshow, but my perfunctory experiments with iMovie and the WordPress format indicate I’m not likely to fulfill their animation potential anytime soon. But that’s OK. A woman has to set priorities, doesn’t she?

During the creation of these images, a theory – not in the least bit scientifically investigated – came to my mind, and I wrote it down on the back of a handy envelope: evolution is not linear. It is full of twists, full stops, scrabbly complications, and seemingly useless points that don’t reproduce in a traceable line or satisfying conclusion. True for my artwork, too.

And yet.

A cul-de-sac doesn’t mean there’s no exit. The client didn’t like my promo idea, which was heartbreaking at the time. And my venture into graphic design never turned into a profit-making business. But it all was illuminating and gives me precious experience to be used along the winding way of my perpetually evolving aspirations. Cheers!

Posted in Revelations | Tagged digital art, evolution, graphic design | Leave a comment

Funkia!

Posted on July 15, 2013 by CatRutgers4Art

Here’s to the readers of CatRutgers4art! You all inspire me, you really do, e.g., Karen D, who brings memory and gardening together in a comment that sent me out to collect and photograph the leaves below: “My mother called them funkia, and it was years before I knew other people called them hostas. I love them and had what seemed like thousands of them at my little cottage in Highland. I remember my hands aching after cutting the stems off after the flowers bloomed. Ciao bella!”

They are beautiful, and they love to grow and grow and grow. Here are other things I know about the funkia: they like the shade; I have seven varieties, and all the leaves and flowers look different and they blossom at different times; if you cut the flower stalks after they fade, some of them will bloom a second time; the leaves are spectacular and great for flower arrangements; when they get too big, which they will, you can separate the plants and share them with your friends. And they, like all the growing creatures that grace our environment, can be transformed into “art.” Love, Cat

Posted in Revelations | Tagged gardening, green, hostas | Leave a comment

And, Now, a Bit of Green

Posted on July 9, 2013 by CatRutgers4Art

Let us harken back to the early days of the 2013 growing season, long before the riotous appearance of purple and orange and pink and yellow and red that currently, i.e., early July, festoons the gardens at Buckingham Road. Presented here, one newly emerging hosta, a plant that has many, many varieties, all named after the Austrian botanist Nicolaus Host and described as “any of a genus (Hosta) of Asian perennial herbaceous plants of the lily family with densely growing basal leaves and tall racemes of white or violet flowers – called also funkia, plantain lily.” Funkia, I didn’t know that! What a wonderful name. Thank you, as always, Merriam-Webster’s.

The hosta definition is from the 11th edition of
Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary © 2005.
The photo is by Catherine Rutgers © 2013.

Posted in Snapped | Tagged gardening, green, hostas | 6 Comments

Hot Fun in the Summertime

Posted on June 28, 2013 by CatRutgers4Art

Think Sly and the Family Stone. Think warm and rainy and sunny at the same time. But don’t think too much. Love, Cat

P.S. Just one pic here. Clouds from the sunset on June 26, 2009. See you in July!

Posted in Snapped | Tagged favorite photos, sunset, urban sky | 4 Comments

Ova (Part One)

Posted on May 23, 2013 by CatRutgers4Art

In the beginning, there is an egg. You, me, and a bajillion other fascinating creatures start with this. Wonderfully weird. These two are from neighborhood chickens and were refrigerated in a ruby-red bowl for more than a year because I loved their shape and color. Companion items—tiny pinecones, a red-plastic game chip, a peach-pink light bulb, coal-black styrofoam—were nestled in a bowl on my kitchen table. Tenderly balanced for their scanning session, and boldly transmuted in their close-ups, I now present an even dozen on the mysteries of origins and outcomes.