Posted on Leave a comment

VIDEO: Designing for ArtsThrive 2017

Jack Boglioli featured in Artsthrive 2017

I was recently invited to come up with a piece to show in the 2017 ArtsThrive exhibition and benefit at the Albuquerque Museum. It will be my first time participating in this event, which has been occurring annually for the past twenty seven years.

ArtsThrive will begin on October 20th this fall and run for six weeks into December. Over 100 artists will be participating. In addition, a percentage of the sales of our work will be used to fund museum run educational programs for children and families.

About This ArtsThrive Video

I created this video in order to give my audience a behind the scenes look at my preparation for the exhibit. The video highlights my design process from start to finish, for one of the pieces which is now being created. I am actually creating three to four pieces total, and the best piece of the bunch will be the one displayed in the show.

Here is the video, enjoy!

As always, thank you for continuing to follow and support my work. Click the following link if you want to find out more about the 2017 ArtsThrive event:

CLICK HERE

In addition, if you would like to view the list of participating artists, click this link:

PARTICIPATING ARTIST

Also, did you like the time lapse video of my design process? Here is a link to another video you might enjoy:

Designing A Tiger’s Eye Pendant

Finally, if you have any questions or comments, leave them in the reply form below. It doesn’t matter if you love what I am doing or if you totally hate it, let me know. I always enjoy being part of the conversation.

Posted on Leave a comment

My Creative Influences Part 3: Michelangelo

Jack Boglioli inspired by Michelangelo

“The greater danger for most of us lies not in setting our aim too high and falling short; but in setting our aim too low, and achieving our mark.” ~Michelangelo

Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni was born on March 6th, 1475 as the son of a judicial administrator in Caprese, Tuscany. His family moved to Florence just a few months after his birth. His mother became ill when he was just six years old. Consequently he went to live with a wet nurse and her husband, who happened to be a stonecutter. According to Michelangelo this is where he acquired his skill.

“Along with the milk of my nurse I received the knack of handling chisel and hammer”

Later in life, after his apprenticeship as a teen, it seems like nothing could stop him from rising quickly to the heights of accomplishment. A Cardinal commissioned him at the age of 23 to carve the famous “Pieta”, and he completed the “David” (one of the most famous statues in the world) before age 30.

The Life’s Work of Michelangelo

In 1505, he was invited by Pope Julius II to Rome. The Pope wanted Michelangelo to design and create his tomb. This project was to become the artist’s magnum opus. It was a manifestation of his unbridled ambition, and he would continue work on the project throughout his life.

Tomb of Pope Julius Design

The tomb was to include over forty statues and be finished in just five years of concentrated effort. However, the Pope provided constant interruptions for the sculptor. As a result the project was drawn out over a forty year period in which Michelangelo was never satisfied enough to call it done. One such interruption was the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, a monumental creation which only took four years to complete.

Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel

This wasn’t even something the artist wanted to do, because he considered himself a sculptor, not a painter. Pretty good for an annoying little side project.

Those who knew him described Michelangelo as someone who was absorbed in his work and not attracted to the comforts of the world. One associate said that he ate “more out of necessity than of pleasure”. He also “withdrew himself from the company of men” which is according to some a common indicator of genius.

Michelangelo died at the age of 88. He outlived Leonardo Da Vinci and Raphael by forty years. Some might say he also accomplished much more, having a biography written within his own lifetime. He produced great works of sculpture, fresco, architecture and poetry, and each one of them could have served as the life’s work of any ordinary man.

“But the task of the artist is not to be ordinary. It is to be extraordinary.”

And this is something that requires great ambition.

To learn more about the life and work of Michelangelo, follow these links:

Brilliant high quality images: ARTSY – Michelangelo Buonarroti

The in depth story: Biography

Thank You

In conclusion to this series about my creative influences, I have to thank you for taking the time to enjoy these articles. I hope this has provided you with a more complete picture of who I am and what drives me to create. Writing these articles has been a journey of discovery in itself. What I’d like to discover now is what you think. What inspires you? What gives you a sense of awe? 

Leave a comment below to join the conversation.