Belle Photos

Ok, I did it. I made my first t-shirt. Well, I didn’t make, make it. I just made the illustration, then through internet magic, I’m able to show you the design on the shirt. I’m in the works at creating a small line of limited edition t-shirts under Belle Media Apparel. It should be something. I guess.

Anyway, here’s the first go: Dude, Utah Rocks.

If you’d like one, they’re $29 smackers. And they run at a super limited edition of 50. That means once we make 50, they’re gone. As in Forever.

update: if you’d like to buy this t-shirt, you can! Click on the buy me button below and you can purchase the t-shirt for around 22 smackers.

info on the t-shirt: T-Shirt designs are printed on 100% cotton American Apparel fabric, and are available in cuts to suit men, women and children. To keep them looking great, wash them cold and tumble dry on low heat.

Why is art important?

True art is a check on power.

How is true art a check on power?

Within all societies, you’ll have a ruling class. This is the class that has the power and the class that makes the decisions about what is right and what is not right (usually, these rules about what is right and what is not right will benefit those in power). That ruling class wants followers to do what they say. In order to get followers to do what they say, the ruling class creates a world view for their followers to abide by (or they inherit this world view and take advantage of it). The followers don’t question this world view; they take it as what is, and they act accordingly.

For instance, in America we have the world view of moral consumerism. That is, it’s good to consume. It’s a good thing to pay for and buy things constantly. This world view benefits the systems that produces the consumer products. And so, those that are in control and have power in those consumer producing systems want that pro consumption world view to stick in the minds of those that follow.

And that’s not really a bad thing. It is what it is.

So what’s all this have to do with art?

With true art, you have a message. There’s an inherent understanding of life that each artist portrays in his work. The artist usually isn’t aware of it, but it’s always there, influencing their decisions to go this way or that way. And then, with all their body of work, they offer the viewer a particular world view, a unique understanding of life.

And that’s where the threat is to those that have power. The artist’s world view can be contrary to the current status quo world view. And this disrupts those that have power because it calls into question the world view that the followers currently have. This means that if life can be different than the way it currenlty is, maybe we should change it. Maybe we should change the system to something different, perhaps something better.

And it’s at this point that the power holders want to avoid. They never want someone to consider that life can be different. Because if they did, they might not be the ones in charge of the new and different systems.

What if life wasn’t about consuming at all? What if life was all about community? What if life was all about living within your means and not consuming?

It could be. There’s no reason that it couldn’t be. And that’s what the artist can communicate. Not that true art is contrary to power; it’s just that art offers an alternative to what is. And that can be scary, especially with those that have something to lose if life can be different than the way that it currently is.

And so, when you have powerful leaders that rise through the ranks, they want to capitalize on a world view that gives them the power. And anything that questions that world view becomes a threat to their power.

And this is why we need art. This is why we should support the arts. Because it offers a check on those with power, and because it can give us insight into life that we might not consider.

A supported class of artists is a good measuring stick on the health of a society.

So go for it, support the arts, it does the body good.

article written by Daniel Vineyard

Here’s my list of top utah wedding photographers. It’s by no means a scientific list, it’s based on my own aesthetic sensibilities. And by that I mean if I were to hire a photographer to photograph my wedding, these wedding photographers would be on my list. Oh, and they’re in no particular order, meaning I think they’re all ‘up there’ on the list of the top photographers.

Brody Dezember Photography
Brody Dezember Blog

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Duston Todd Photography
Duston Todd Blog

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Sweet Memory Garden Photography
Sweet Memory Garden Blog

Anyway, there are tons more great Utah wedding photographers. These are just a few that I particularly like.

When we go to see a gallery exhibit of an artist, there’s usually an artist statement to greet us.

What is the purpose of the artist statement? I think the answer gets to the heart of art: intention. Whenever an artist starts to work on a canvas, he has to decide what colors to use, what type of forms to use, what type of brush, what type of canvas, what type of form he should use, etc., All of these decisions are made from a central point of understanding: their intention. The decision to choose this brush over that means there is a reason. There is a reason they chose this over that.

That reason gets to the heart of art. This particular person has a particular way of saying something. They say something for a reason. What is the reason of their art? That’s the purpose of the artist statement. The purpose of the artist statement is to help us understand the meaning of their work.

Why did the artist create that work? What is this artist trying to communicate? That’s what we want to know. And then, with the knowledge of their reason for making the work (which we get from the artist statement), we have the context of the meaning.

Why do artists have more than one piece in a gallery exhibit?

The artist displays more than one piece of their body of work because one piece of their work is a single expression of an overall message. It’s one part of the puzzle. When all the pieces of the work are put together, there’s a context or meaning to the work. There’s an overall message. When we look at the body of work that an artists produces, we start to understand the message. We have an insight into the mind of the artist. And that insight changes are own minds. We come away with a different understanding of the world, and we’re richer for it.

That’s why the statement is important: the artist statement gives us insight into the message.

So, what is your artist statement? What is your meaning? I think we can even have an artist statement for our own life.

Article written by Daniel Vineyard

Here’s a Manti Temple photo that many people have wanted as a print. I thought I’d put this temple photo up so people could find it. If you’d like to purchase a print of this Manti Temple photo, you can click on the “buy this print” button, and you’ll be taken to imagekind.com where you can purchase a print of the photo. You can also purchase the photo with this black frame around the images if you wish.

I’ll be doing a new series of lds temple art here in a couple of months. I’ll let you know when those get here.