And though she be but little, she is fierce.

Last read: I Am Legend by Richard Matheson Currently reading: All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr

[-circa]

[noelbadgespugh]

[themaidenofthetree]

[second-breakfast-club]

Me in the apocalypse. 

[yourangelonline]

[cassercole]

[openinkstand]

Inky paw prints presumably left by a curious kitty on a 15th century manuscript.

From National Geographic.

[egirldeathdrive]

Being unconditionally polite, kind, and compassionate in a society that values and finds “deeper meaning” in aloofness and cynicism is subversive and thus punk

[heartlessharless]

hufflepunk

[thebestoftumbling]

scottish people twitter…

[euo]

my blog is great but have u seen my ass

[carolxdanvers]

So somebody on my Facebook posted this. And I’ve seen sooooo many memes like it. Images of a canvas with nothing but a slash cut into it, or a giant blurry square of color, or a black circle on a white canvas. There are always hundreds of comments about how anyone could do that and it isn’t really art, or stories of the time someone dropped a glove on the floor of a museum and people started discussing the meaning of the piece, assuming it was an abstract found-objects type of sculpture.

The painting on the left is a bay or lake or harbor with mountains in the background and some people going about their day in the foreground. It’s very pretty and it is skillfully painted. It’s a nice piece of art. It’s also just a landscape. I don’t recognize a signature style, the subject matter is far too common to narrow it down. I have no idea who painted that image.

The painting on the right I recognized immediately. When I was studying abstraction and non-representational art, I didn’t study this painter in depth, but I remember the day we learned about him and specifically about this series of paintings. His name was Ad Reinhart, and this is one painting from a series he called the ultimate paintings. (Not ultimate as in the best, but ultimate as in last.)

The day that my art history teacher showed us Ad Reinhart’s paintings, one guy in the class scoffed and made a comment that it was a scam, that Reinhart had slapped some black paint on the canvas and pretentious people who wanted to look smart gave him money for it. My teacher shut him down immediately. She told him that this is not a canvas that someone just painted black. It isn’t easy to tell from this photo, but there are groups of color, usually squares of very very very dark blue or red or green or brown. They are so dark that, if you saw them on their own, you would call each of them black. But when they are side by side their differences are apparent. Initially you stare at the piece thinking that THAT corner of the canvas is TRUE black. Then you begin to wonder if it is a deep green that only appears black because the area next to it is a deep, deep red. Or perhaps the “blue” is the true black and that red is actually brown. Or perhaps the blue is violet and the color next to it is the true black. The piece challenges the viewer’s perception. By the time you move on to the next painting, you’re left to wonder if maybe there have been other instances in which you believe something to be true but your perception is warped by some outside factor. And then you wonder if ANY of the colors were truly black. How can anything be cut and dry, black and white, when even black itself isn’t as absolute as you thought it was?

People need to understand that not all art is about portraying a realistic image, and that technical skills (like the ability to paint a scene that looks as though it may have been photographed) are not the only kind of artistic skills. Some art is meant to be pretty or look like something. Other art is meant to carry a message or an idea, to provoke thought.

Reinhart’s art is utterly genius.

“But anyone could have done that! It doesn’t take any special skill! I could have done that!”

Ok. Maybe you could have. But you didn’t.

Give abstract art some respect. It’s more important than you realize.

[satanstrousers]

[boredpanda]

15+ Rare Photos Of Victorians Proving They Weren’t As Serious As You Thought

[tuba-terror]

They were just the same as us, but since it took so long to take a picture, it was easier to keep a stern face for as long as it took for a picture to be taken.

[princessamericachavez]

Honestly, after getting past a lot of internalized misogyny, I aim to be exactly the kind of girl society had demonized. 

The girly girl. I want unapologetically pink stuff, and flavored coffee, and pop music, and sunglasses, and cute clothes, and perfect nails, and lipstick, and selfies. 

The tough girl. I want the black clothes, the sharp smile, the silver tongue, the fearless laugh, the no bullshit attitude. 

The smart girl. I want to learn everything that makes me curious, I want to enjoy my classes without being mocked, I want a book, a cup of tea, a comfy sweater, a night in at home.

The party girl. I want the short dresses, the girly named drinks, the tall high-heels, the loud music, the long nights.

The ambitious girl. I want full agendas, and the power walk through the hallways, I want to go after what I want and show I’m the best at it, I want the power and money only men are promised, I want the success I’ve been told kills love.

The dreamer girl. I want hope, to believe in the good in people, to believe in love, to not put myself in a cage of realism and pain because I’ve been told being that girl is dumb.

I want all of it, and I’m sure as hell gonna get it.

[lnnocentflower]

[humansofnewyork]

“I grew up in a small town in North Carolina. Only five people in my graduating class even left the town. And I left but I haven’t done anything. I feel like: ‘Yah, I had this dream, but it was bullshit.’ And now there’s nothing to say about me. When people ask what I’m doing, there’s nothing to say. Back when I was in college, I could say that I was a student. I was majoring in film and television. But now I’m just doing an unpaid internship and working at a grocery store. And it bothers me to tell people that. I’m actually afraid to meet new people. And I don’t know why. Because everyone who works with me is nice and educated and has dreams. And I don’t judge them for working at a grocery store. Yet it bothers me to tell people that about myself.”

[wheresmybubble]

[jeanqrey]