The AnArt4Life Blog Turns 3.001 Today

Continuing on from yesterday's Birthday Post we are now one day into our fourth year of bringing you the AnArt4Life blog from DownUnder, in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. And what better way to celebrate than to welcome our first subscriber from Northern Ireland as K in Newtownabbey has joined us; and our first subscriber from Ohio as I in Columbus has also joined us.

Yesterday we shared some of the posts produced by Jane and Caroline and today we will bring you the world of art through the perspective of Julie and Anne.

Julie's selection of the past posts she has written commences with her seminal post which introduced us to the incredible multi-sensory effects achieved by the L'Atelier Lumieres exhibition she experienced when visiting Paris in 2019.

L’Atelier Lumieres: Paris
Bringing you stunning photos from L’Atelier Lumieres, Paris and an account of a personal visit during the summer of 2019 featuring paintings of Vincent van Gogh.

Staying with the French Connection Julie has a great love for the Impressionists and has written posts on quite anumber of them, represented here by a post on Julie Manet.

Julie Manet: a Box Seat View of the Lives of the French Impressionists
Learning a little about the life of Julie Manet, daughter of Berthe Morisot and niece of Edouard Manet. Includes images of paintings by Edouard Manet, Berthe Morisot, Pierre-Auguste Renoir and a photograph taken by Edgar Degas.

And we can enjoy once more a wonderful discovery Julie made this year in finding the amazing paintings and photography of American artist Ed Obermeyer from Virginia Beach.

Oh, my - Ed Obermeyer!
Ed Obermeyer is an artist and teacher from Virginia USA who uses his water and nature photography, and the experiences of his extensive travels to reflect beauty and movement in his inspiring paintings. Image: edobermeyer.com

Creativity
The most incredible aspect of being involved in the world of art is that creativity knows no boundaries. It encompasses all people without exception; it includes all forms of thinking, all forms of expression, all forms of opinions, all forms of acceptance.

We aim to bring you art in all its embodiments; from the well known to the hidden and forgotten. As Andrew from the Hunter Valley, NSW commented recently in an email: ... what a contrast between Hugh Schultz paintings of outback Australia and Jane's Magnificent Mansions from Russia, just shows that art has no boundaries.

From Anne's posts over the past year the photographs of subscriber Chris O'Brien from New York have been chosen to share with you. Chris has been with the AnArt4Life blog since it's birth and this post not only highlights his wonderful ability to capture Life in New York 2020 but reminds us of the reality that has been this year.

Chris O’Brien takes us to New York 2020
Chris O’Brien through his photographs brings us New York 2020. Although the streets are nearly empty of people there is a discernible heart beat waiting to bring back life to this wonderfully vibrant city.

And then we have the works of subscriber John Wylie who is an Australian naive painter from Port Elliot in South Australia. This year John produced a wonderful painting of Broken Hill in New South Wales which recreates the beauty of the Australian outback.

Gems of the Desert by John Wylie
Showcasing a wonderful painting of Broken Hill, NSW created by Australian naive artist John Wylie. The painting “Gems of the Desert” contains significant elements representing the history of Broken Hill. (Image: copyright John Wylie)

Community
John Wylie's painting also emphasises the threads which bind people of shared interests together. In Gems of the Desert John has a group of five men, sitting in the red dirt painting the landscape. This motif represents the famous Brushmen of the Bush who formed through a common interest in painting in the 1970s in Broken Hill. They went on for the next twenty years or so to have countless exhibitions around the world and to donate a substantial amount of money from their sales to many charities including the Royal Flying Doctor Service.

John Pickup OAM, a member of the Brushmen of the Bush, is one of our subscribers and we were thrilled to learn that, in the Australia Day Honours in January 2020, John received the Medal of the Order of Australia. The post celebrating this incredible achievement is given below as the highlight of our year.

John's OAM was awarded in recognition of his work as a broadcaster emphasising this is a man of many talents. But we know him as a painter who assists us as an advisor on various art topics and mentor for those subscribers who seek advice about their painting ventures through the blog email channel.

John Pickup OAM
Bringing you the news that John Pickup received an Order of Australia in the 2020 Australia Day Honours. The award was granted in recognition of John’s service to the world of broadcasting. Here is a summary of his broadcasting career.

And please read the post below explaining how John Pickup came to be part of the AnArt4Life team.

John Pickup says: Reports of My Demise are Premature and Unfounded
John Pickup- a member of the iconic group of artists known as the Brushmen of the Bush. With the death on Friday 22 March 2019 of Jack Absalom John Pickup is now the last surviving member of the Brushman of the Bush.

Through the AnARt4Life blog a community has formed, an on-line community across many countries, where we share a common interest in all things art. You the subscribers and followers across Twitter and Facebook are our community and we thank you for your wonderful suppport.

We will continue to strive to bring you challenging, fun, extraordinary and insightful topics for the coming year and we look forward to bringing you with us and receiving your valued feedback.

Jane, Caroline and Julie would like to take this opportunity to thank Anne, our Editor in Chief for her constant support and encouragement in not only allowing us to share aspects of art that appeal to us, but also broaden our minds to appreciate so many elements that link art to our lives and the world.