30 December 2016
The day started with breakfast in the coffee shop. The first thing I noticed was plates of candy everywhere. Even the hostess offered me some as she placed silverware on the table and announced “Happy New Year.” Around me, people ate noodles. I felt like I had made a mistake by ordering eggs.I am more self-conscious here than when I first arrived in New York City. The language barri...
23 December 2016
Even the smallest of objects can sing loudly when placed in a chorus with like objects. For example, consider miniature bronze figures from Africa and India. Invariably, they were cast using the lost wax process. Lost wax casting insures a piece is one-of-a-kind since the original wax sculpture and the mold are destroyed in the creation of the finished sculpture. In other words, no two pieces a...
16 December 2016
In the past several decades, a new movement has surfaced in the interior design world; eclecticism. This style combines the fashions and designs of multiple periods, from ancient to contemporary and East to West, for example. The popularity of eclecticism has risen as people – especially interior design professionals - discovered a vast array of objects, art and furniture can be united t...
09 December 2016
In a world where everything is in motion, nothing can remain unchanged. Civilizations rise and fall, religions flourish and wane, and leaders emerge and fade. Yet, in comparison it seems some basic human characteristics have hardly changed over the vast expanse of time. One such characteristic is our ability to feel and express complex emotions. Another is our capacity for imagination and...
25 November 2016
In the 2,500 years since the historical Buddha lived, his story has been told countless times and his teachings became the basis for one of the world’s great religions – Buddhism. Although there is general agreement among historians that Buddha was an actual person, the actual times of his birth and death are uncertain as are many details of his life. There are simply too many conf...
18 November 2016
A great joy to be found in the researching and collecting of Chinese art is the sheer depth of history and symbolism found in the subject. Chinese art has evolved from over 10,000 years of continuous cultural development and over 3,500 years of written records. The visual language itself is so rich, even seemingly mundane artworks incorporating the written language can become steeped in symboli...
11 November 2016
In the year 14 BCE a young Phoenician named Pelles celebrated his 19th birthday just like he spent most days – working in his father’s glass studio on the outskirts of Sidon. Yet, something was amiss. He failed to notice the loud arguing voices in the distance, until he was grabbed from behind and dragged outside. His father was shouting at a tall man clothed in fine robes who ...
04 November 2016
What comes to mind when you think of traditional Chinese art? Is it porcelain, calligraphy, scholar's rocks or jade carvings? A category of artwork all too often overlooked is Chinese rugs. Surprisingly, there has been little historical documentation of wool weaving traditions in China. Despite the international trade that flourished for centuries, rugs and carpets were rarely exported. T...
28 October 2016
Part of what makes calligraphy an art form is the spiritual and disciplinary aspects of the practice, which extend back to the days when writing was a form of devotional training for young monks. They would spend days reproducing Confucian and Buddhist texts by copying the contents word for word. Above all, calligraphy masters preach the importance of achieving a state of “nothingnes...
21 October 2016
What happens when we draw our final breath? Nobody really knows, except perhaps the dead. Death has fascinated the living for thousands of years. Burials, one of humankind’s earliest rituals, provide evidence of reverence for the dead and whatever lay beyond. Some cultures believe in heaven and hell. Others believe in reincarnation. Whatever any particular culture believes abo...