In South India, kolam is a daily ritual that beautifies home thresholds with its mathematically based designs. During festivals like Pongal – a harvest festival that marks the end of the traditional farming season and the beginning of the harvest – kolam becomes more complex and colorful. In this post I share suggestions about how …

Hiroshi Sato, born in 1987 in Gamagori, Japan, is a contemporary painter known for his modern realist works that often depict quiet, introspective scenes with a strong emphasis on geometry and light. From the age of three to fourteen, Sato lived in Tanzania, East Africa, and he currently resides in San Francisco. His ‘Water Series’ …

Bernard Leach (1887–1979) holds a pivotal role in ceramics, often cited as the “Father of British Studio Pottery.” Born in Hong Kong and educated in England, he made significant contributions to the field during his years in Japan. There, he became close friends with Shoji Hamada, another transformative figure in pottery. Their collaborative work was …

Take a class with SAL – anywhere! See those little horns at the top of Moses’ head? It’s a bit of a misunderstanding. In the old Latin Vulgate Bible, they used the term “cornuta facies” which can be translated either as “horned face” or “radiant face” to describe how Moses’ looked after he chatted with …

Take a class with SAL – anywhere! If yesterday’s post sparked any pilgrimage plans, you may want to put another pin in the map. This from a reader: “Even though Julius II is buried in St. Peter’s basilica, the tomb is not there. The tomb was completed many years after his death and can be …

Take a class with SAL – anywhere! Previously, I posted funerary art from the 3rd through the 6th centuries. This post veers far out of that time range, but the unfinished Atlas Slave came up in discussion during today’s figure sculpture class. I got excited to share, so here they are. In 1505, Michelangelo was …

After posting the Japanese funerary artworks of Haniwa from the 3rd through the 6th centuries, I was curious what other cultures around the world were making for funerary art at that time. First I posted Haniwa, then I posted Roman Catacomb frescoes, and today I have ceramic figurines from ancient China. These ceramic attendants were …

Every time I write a V. Note, I get ideas for five more. Then I spend the next month driving myself crazy because I don’t make time to write again. I’m sure all of you can relate to the constant vigilance it takes to make time for creating. In the previous post I talked about …

Haniwa are unglazed terracotta clay figures that were placed on and around Japanese tombs. The word “haniwa” is a combination of two Japanese words: “hani” (meaning “circle”) and “wa” (meaning “ring” or “circle”). When first created, haniwa were made in various cylindrical shapes. Later they became more elaborate, featuring sculptures of warriors, shamanic women, attendants, …