What I'm reading

“Physicists Embrace the Splatter Master” - Jackson Pollock was not just one of the greatest artists of his time, but also a physicist. “To the degree that he lets physics take a role in [the] painting process, he is inviting physics to be a coauthor of his piece.” [Twisted Physics]  

“Artist Explained: Isabel Manalo of the Studio Visit” - Isabel Manalo “just wants people to get to know artists for real.” Through her online journal, The Studio Visit, Manalo seeks to make the artist’s creative process more understandable to the public. Read more about her project here. [Washington Post]

“Jessica Van Brakle” - Isabel Manalo pays a visit to the Arlington Arts Center to learn more about Jessica Van Brakle and her creative processes in her studio! [The Studio Visit]

“The Snare of Perfectionism: When Artists Aim Too High” - As England prepares for a “brand-new, never-before-seen restoration” of Orson Welles’ “Chimes at Midnight,” Terry Teachout analyzes the perfectionist qualities of Mr. Welles. [Wall Street Journal]

“Stieglitz and O’Keefe: Their Love and Life in Letters” - From 1915 until 1946, Georgia O’Keefe and Alfred Steiglitz wrote about 25,000 pages to one another.  My Faraway One, the first volume of these letters has just been released.  Read this article for a taste of the letters shared between the two artists. [NPR]

“Cultural Diplomacy on Main St. in America” -  The U.S. State Department launches a brand-new program to bring foreign performers to us.  We can’t wait! [Boston.com]

“Blurring the Lines: Graffiti vs. Vandalism” - A discourse on graffiti, vandalism, and murals.  All three are not the same and the distinctions ought to be recognized. [UrbanMediums]

“A Woman’s Place: Sheryl Sandberg & Male-dominated Silicon Valley” - Can Sheryl Sandberg, Google’s vice-president for global online sales and operations, upend Silicon Valley’s male-dominated culture? [The New Yorker]

“Who’s on top in music? It’s gotten hard to say” - In this era of multiple musical outlets such as Spotify, Pandora, Amazon and iTunes, it has become increasingly difficult to determine which musicians are on top. Creatives attempt to create different ways to analyze the popularity contest.  [Washington Post]

“The man behind the movement” - Jesse Cohen, creator of artdc.org and the artdc gallery, shares his story. [GALO]

“Smoke Signals: Go easy on the fish” - Washington Post author, Jim Shahin, gets some cooking lessons from our friend, Barton Seaver. [Washington Post]