Welcome to Ruth and Shari’s discussion about dancing, stimulated by the paintings Tanz im Variete’ by Ernst Ludwig Kirchner and Jane Avril Dansant by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, The Kirchner painting, which we did not know at the time of our conversation, just recently resurfaced after being lost for almost a century. The painting, dated 1911,…
Author: Shari and Ruth
Exploring Joy: An Arting Conversation
Ruth and I took a deep dive into the topic of joy. It was such a rich conversation, we decided to share the whole thing, rather than dividing it into its component parts. After each slide, we shared questions we’d love for you to engage with. I’ve also placed the questions below with a photo…
Mrs. Whistler Meets Venus: An Arting Conversation
In this conversation, Ruth and Shari discuss Beatrice Godwin Whistler, Peach Blossoms and Sandro Botticelli’s Venus, enhance by a portion of John Clare’s poem, I am. The conversation covers the challenges of women artists, and how women are portrayed, a common theme we often return to, because the mysteries are never ending. We hope you…
Our Many Selves: An Arting Conversation
In this conversation, we discuss Stanley William Hayter, Centerausse and Frida Kahlo, The Two Fridas, complemented by John Clare’s poem, I am. The conversation is rich in imagery and in our discussion on how we manage the multiple selves that share our body – how our internal contradictions are challenges yet gifts that make us…
Scandalous Women: An Arting Conversation
One of Shari’s favorite paintings is Madame X by John Singer Sargent. The reason she likes it so much is that is that when it was painted, it had been a scandal. Why? Because it represented a married woman as attractive, sensual and sexual. When we compared this with Gerard van Honthorst’s “Smiling Girl, a…
Beards: An Arting Conversation
Ruth and I wanted to share one of our Arting conversations with you. Here is a video of our discussion comparing Albrecht Durer, Portrait of a Boy with Long Beard and Edvard Munch, Head of an Old Man with a Beard, complemented by the poem Beard by Brian Potter. Invitation Into the Conversation We want…
Arting Resources
Arting Resources Over the past four years, we’ve collected and developed resources and questions to support our arting adventures. We will update this regularly and invite you to share resources you’ve discovered that help to find and enjoy art. As you skim these possibilities, choose a few that speak to you now, returning as curiosity…
What is Arting?
When we decided to start this blog, we knew the first thing we had to do was explain what arting is to us, why we love it and how to do it. The What At its most basic, arting is working together to choose art pieces, looking at them side by side in what…
Welcome to Arting: Art As Conversation
Shari: We are excited you are here. We invite you to engage with us in the exploration of the beauty, the wonder, the mystery, the contradictions, the irony and the horror of life that art reveals so well. Ruth and I started visiting virtual art exhibits during the Pandemic as a way of staying connected…