Monday 12 December 2011

Secrets of Life and Death

"Secrets of Life and Death 1" - encaustic collage including Leonardo da Vinci's "Fetus" (70x50cm)

Birth and Death - enigmatic events which science never will totally decipher I think.
And there is no day without us being confronted by both ( more by death when you watch the news...), and no day without me thinking and fantasising about these topics.

I have been fascinated by the genius of Leonardo da Vinci for a long time.  Two years ago I visited a brilliant exhibition in his manor house in Amboise (Loire/France), where he lived until his death. They reconstructed many of his engines and inventions, and huge semi-transparent posters showing his drawings were hanging from the trees in the surrounding parc.
Leonardo da Vinci (1452 – 1519) was an Italian Renaissance genius: painter, sculptor, architect, musician, scientist, mathematician, engineer, inventor, anatomist, geologist, cartographer, botanist and writer.
As a successful artist, he was given permission to dissect human corpses at the Hospital of Santa Maria Nuova in Florence and later at hospitals in Milan and Rome. From 1510 to 1511 he collaborated in his studies with the doctor Marcantonio della Torre. Leonardo made over 200 pages of drawings and many pages of notes towards a treatise on anatomy.

11 comments:

Cate Rose said...

I love this encaustic collage, Sue. I think it's you're best lately!

Carole Reid said...

Leonardo da Vinci was a genius!
Love your "Secrets of Life and Death"!

Sue said...

Connie Rose, Carole - thank you so much for your kind comments.

Rebeca Trevino said...

beautiful work. your encaustics are terrific.
i too am a hug admirer of da Vinci and his work and his life.

thank you for stopping by.

Sue said...

Rebeca, thanks for stopping by and joining my blog. You're right - da Vinci was a genius; at the moment his drawings are especially inspiring to me.

franswazz said...

Sue, my turn to discover your blog and wonderful artwork. I love your encaustic pieces (something I am determined to try) and the richness of your colors, beautiful! As the Terminator said "I'll be back"!

layers said...

Your encaustics are very interesting.. with some education too.
very nice! and happy holidays too.

M said...

Hi Sue,
I'm so behind on my blogging and only now getting around to visiting all the new faces on my posts. I see you're enamored with encaustic too. Isn't it a wonderful medium for experimentation. I quite like what you're doing and it is so great to have some information provided which helps to interpret the work on a deeper level.

Gaby Bee said...

This is awesome, Sue. LOVE IT!!!
Warm Christmas wishes to you and yours! Health, Happiness and may all of your dreams come true for 2012!

Hugs, Gaby

Trace Willans said...

And now I have found you too. Would love to join up but blogger wont let me. But I shall keep coming back to look.

Sue said...

Franswazz, Donna, Margaret, Gaby Bee and Soewn Earth - thank you all for your kind comments, and hope to see stopping by again.
To all of you a very happy Christmas and my best wishes for the New Year!