Clip Art: A Griffin Plays Basketball

A griffin plays basketball. Improbable? Probably. But we like it anyway. 

Source: Created by Stones of Erasmus, block print (with digital elements added by open-source artificial intelligence). This image is created and made with love by Stones of Erasmus (stonesoferasmus.com).

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How I Made a Photorealistic Image Using an Artificial Intelligence Image Generator

In this post, I talk about how I create photorealistic images using artificial intelligence.

So. I did a thing. I learned how to create incredible drawings, photographs, and clip art using an artificial intelligence image generator. It's called Dall-E 2 (get, it?) and you can do some rather impressive things with it. Based on detailed command prompts like, "Draw a crayon drawing of X," or "Create a block print of Pandora opening a box only to find a delicious cupcake." The more specific the prompt, the better results.

Sometimes the results are rather stunning. I asked, "“Create a UHD 8k portrait of a silly curly headed middle school boy laughing out loud and enjoying life against the backdrop of an an-all-you-can-eat buffet.” Here is what it created:

Find a bunch of my clip art creations on TpT.

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Discover the Difference Between Raster and Vector Images: Clip Art Fun!

I have recently started making my own clip art, and the difference between raster and vector images is really important. Raster images are made from pixels, so when you zoom in on them, you can see the pixelated image, which appears fuzzier to the eye. While not always as detailed as a raster image, a vector image can be scaled and resized without giving off the dreaded pixelated effect. A vector image is made using basic computer geometry — shapes!

Here is a clip art image I made of a school girl with moppish hair giving off Little Orphan Annie vibes:

Aesthetic Thursdays: A.I. Art Made by Dall-E 2 — A Gallery of Images

I asked Dall-E 2, a powerful artificial intelligence that can generate original images, to create works of art based on specific instructions I gave, along with minor adjustments I made myself.

1. This is me reading a book and sipping coffee in my private library.

2. I asked the A.I. to make a Diane Arbus-inspired photograph of a boy with wings.

Clip Art: Prometheus Carries a Blazing Torch

This artwork depicts Prometheus, the Greek mythological figure who stole fire from the gods and gave it to humanity, carrying a blazing torch. The use of oil crayon and pencil creates a striking contrast between the bright, fiery torch and the dark, shadowy undergrowth. This artwork captures the power and passion of Prometheus, who was willing to risk everything to help humanity progress and thrive.

                     Prometheus Carries a Blazing Torch

Image source: Created by Stones of Erasmus, oil crayon, and pencil drawing (with digital elements added by open-source artificial intelligence). This image is created and made by love by Stones of Erasmus (stonesoferasmus.com).

Find middle and high school educational resources on TpT!.

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Clip Art: A Dragon Eats Their Vegetables

A dragon eats his vegetables. Hey, even dragons eat their greens! Improbable? Probably. But this image is made with a little bit of whimsy.

Image Source: Created by Stones of Erasmus, oil crayon drawing (with digital elements added by open-source artificial intelligence). This image is created and made by love by Stones of Erasmus (stonesoferasmus.com).

Find middle and high school educational resources on TpT!.

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Aesthetic Thursday: "You Got Color, Girl?" Chroma Exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art

In this post, I recount a recent visit to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where I saw dozens of color reconstructions of ancient Greek and Roman works of art. Simply fabulous.

Greig poses in front of a young Marcus Aurelius in the
Ancient Greek and Roman wing of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.

Marble head of the youthful
Marcus Aurelius ca. C.E. 138.

You got some color, girl? I knew ancient sculptures — especially those from Greece and Rome — were once cascaded in rich coloration. 

But go to a museum today, and you see staid marble and what appears to be a vast collection of grays, browns, and three-dimensional black and white photographs. But the pigments and paints decay. And the weathering of the seasons and the march of time have made most color drain away. 

But the coloration is still there, in small traces — which the Chroma exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art has attempted to recapture — to see ancient artworks in color again. Alas, you won’t see the now lost statue of Zeus at Olympia, but you will see that same artist’s head of Athena, which at one time had ebony eyes. I especially liked the bronze warriors. And the Sphinx in color was fantastic. 

If you have a moment and you are in New York — take a moment and experience these reconstructions done by Prof. Dr. V. Brinkmann & Dr. U. Koch-Brinkmann. @metmuseum @metgreekandroman

Reconstruction of a marble portrait of the
Emperor Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus Germanicus,
known as Caligula, Variant B.

Reconstruction of bronze statue from 
the Quirinal in Rome of the so-called Terme Boxer.

Read Clockwise: [1] Reconstruction of a marble archer in the costume of a horsemen of the peoples to the north and east of Greece, from the west pediment of Temple of Aphaia, Variant C. [2] Reconstruction of a marble finial in the form of a sphinx. [3] Marble head of Athena: The so-called Athena Medici. [4] Terracotta neck-amphora (jar) ca. 330–310 B.C.E. Attributed to the Ixion Painter — On the body, obverse, Hippolytos, attendant, and Phaidra, with a Fury above. 

 [1] Reconstruction the bronze statue from the Quirinal in Rome of the so-called Terme Rule. [2] Reconstruction of bronze Riace Warrior (mid-view detail).

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Clip Art: The Greek God Dionysos (Bacchus) and Panther

This public domain image depicts the god Dionysos seated with a panther. Dionysos, the god of wine, is known as Bacchus by the Romans.

The image comes from page 55 of "Mythology: Illustrated Chiefly from the Myths and Legends of Greece (Chambers's Elementary Science Manuals) by A.S. Murray (Senior Assistant in the Department of Greek and Roman Antiquities, British Museum). Published by W. & R. Chambers, London and Edinburgh (1876)". 

Image source: First scanned by Google Books (books.google.com).

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Clip Art: Bust of the Olympian God Zeus (Jupiter)

Bust of Zeus (Jupiter), the supreme deity of the Olympian gods, is depicted in a Roman copy of a Greek original from the 4th century B. C.E. The bust was found in Orticoli and is displayed at the Pius-Clementine Museum in the Vatican.  

Bust of Zeus

Image Source: "Head of Jupiter from Otricoli. Marble. Roman copy after a Greek original from the 4th century BCE. Rome, Vatican Museums, Pius-Clementine Museum, Round Room, 3 (Roma, Musei Vaticani, Museo Pio-Clementino, Sala rotonda, 3)." I made a Zeus-themed unit plan on TpT!.

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Pizza Face: Wednesdays in the School Dining Hall

What do you eat for lunch at school?

On Wednesdays, we eat Pizza.

A Slice of Pizza

Pizza Face. What you looking at?

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#pizzaface #teachersofinstagram #lunch #school

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Fall Teaching Diary: After a Quarter of the Year Teaching (On the Hinge of the Covid-19 Pandemic)

I am a high school English teacher. But, in this post, I don't talk at all about teaching. But if you want to check out my store on Teachers Pay Teachers — it's lit! I took a selfie while waiting for a burger at the Five Guys on Fifty-Something street in Manhattan. Then I went to see a French film at the Museum of Modern Art — L'amour Fou, directed by Jacques Rivette. I knew nothing of the movie, except that it was an artifact of the Nouveau Vague — and its running time was well-over four hours. The movie's images and set-up captivated my imagination. I only once became anxious about sitting in the theater for that long. The movie is about the break-up of a theater director guy and his girlfriend, an actor (performed by by Jean-Pierre Kalfon and Bulle Ogier). The film cuts between life in their Parisian apartment, scenes from rehearsal of the play Andromaque, and a documentary film crew filming the director's rehearsals. Lots of talking. And improvisation. So it feels natural. Something that a long-run movie does for the viewer. And the scene where the couple has a Dionysian tear-up of their apartment was fantastic. And then the moments when the guy was a total masculine unsympathetic man — I didn't care for that much. The focus on the female character was my go-to source of enjoyment. Hooray! I watched that long French movie. And then I went home and became anxious because I was looking to move to a new place. I move on December First, and I have no idea where I will end up or with who. Long story short — I decided (and my current roommate) agreed that our time was up. We divorced. Amicably. Kind of like in the French movie — except my roommate is not my lover. *Laughing out loud* I plan to move to another place in the neighborhood — in Jackson Heights, Queens. I like the environs even though it is a tad boring. So wish me luck and let me know in the comments if you have ever seen a French film that you liked and why.

Film Still from Jacques Rivette's 4-hour long film L'amour Fou

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A Visit to Chicago, Illinois and a Brief Re-Encounter with a Favorite Painting at the Art Institute of Chicago

In this post, I finish a voyage on Amtrak's Empire Builder route, and stopover in Chicago for a spell where I re-encounter one of my favorite paintings of all time!

Chicago's Millenium Park Near Sunset

All masked up in Chicago, Illinois

I’m in Chicago for a brief stopover (to visit @artinstitutechi to see my favorite painting, Georges Seurat’s “Sunday on La Grande Jatte”). I’ve been traveling this month — seeing America on the backend of a global virus outbreak that shook the economy, health, and morale of people. 3.97 million people have died worldwide. On the street, people don’t wear masks, and restaurants and shops have signs that read “If you’re fully vaxxed — no mask,” and a woman on my train a couple of mornings ago wore a tee that reads “Vaccinated AF.” In museums and on buses and trains and in the post office — people don their masks. But I had breakfast this morning — and maybe 5 out of 100 people wore face coverings. And lo did I behold a ginormous pump bucket of hand sanitizer.

A Chicago straphanger rides a Red Line train

People seem ready to move and socialize. Bars and clubs have swung open their doors. Streets are closed off for pedestrian use only. Summer is in the air. A young man seated next to me on the train from Seattle tells me it’s the first time he’s left his Lincoln Park neighborhood since February of last year. But the guy is moving out big — bought himself an @amtrak USA rail pass. That ticket gets you ten legs of a 30-day journey for like four hundred bucks. Coach class, only. He grins. And shows me his itinerary. It feels good to share train travel camaraderie. And I start to dream of journeys I have yet to take. Is the Ethan Allen Express to Vermont open? When will the train travel to Canada?

One of the Art Institute's Lions

Checking Out "Sunday Afternoon"

A Red Line train approaches
the station in Chicago.

I’m also worried about @britneyspears, and I hope she and her lawyers can roll back the strictures placed on her by her conservatorship. Leave Britney alone!

Bonus points — name as many Chicago locations as you can find in my post. Go! The winner receives a free digital download about Mythology from @stonesoferasmus

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Click Here to Read Part VI

Aesthetic Thursday: Poussin’s Poetic Painting "Blind Orion Searching for the Rising Sun" at the Metropolitan Museum of Art

I recently went to the Met — and I wandered the newly renovated European Paintings galleries and I fell in love with the French artist Poussin's painterly image of a wandering giant looking for the sun.

Nicolas Poussin, French Les Andelys 1594-1665 Rom — "Blind Orion Searching for the Rising Sun," 1658 (oil on canvas). The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City. 24.45.1 

The Metropolitan Museum of Art has recently renovated its European Paintings galleries. The skylights have been fixed and apparently more artwork has been hung on the walls. I like to wander the galleries without a goal in mind — however, I lie just a bit, here. Because I did have a goal in my wanderings — mainly to find the Met's Caravaggio's. But it's always the serendipitous finds that stick with me. And Poussin's "Blind Orion" caught my attention. I know nothing of Poussin — so my interpretation of the painting is more of a first blush. But I am a lover of myth and poetry — and this painting draws you into a mythological world. At first I thought the giant figure carrying a man on his shoulders was Saint Christopher — the legendary boatsman who carried the Christ child on his shoulder crossing a river. But that is not the subject of this painting. It's a depiction of the blind giant Orion, who carries his guide Cedalion, as they look for the rising sun. The museum placard indicates that Diana, the moon goddess, who appears a diaphanous blue, stands watching in the clouds. It's a magical story; obviously one fit for myth — but the scene resonates with me because I think of myself as somewhat of a wanderer. And Orion is also the name of one of my favorite constellations. So it is befitting. Here's to searching. For the healing sun.

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Photograph: A Scene of a Winter Gloaming in Queens

A million years ago I spotted the gloaming on a Summer evening in Brooklyn near the Gowanus Canal. Fast forward into the future and here I am in Queens, on a Winter evening, having spotted the gloaming.

The Gloaming As Seen from 37th Avenue in Queens Looking Southwest

Words to Describe the Period of Sunset

In the English language there are a few words that can be used to describe that moment between day and night. The most common word is dusk — which I feel like is a broad term to describe that temporal zone in which the sun has dipped below the horizon but a sliver of light remains. 

It is part of the larger sunset process, that process seen from an observer on Earth as the day and night cycle. The sun seems to dip below the horizon line, never to be seen again. Our ancestors hoped for another new day — and especially in Wintertime, as the sunlight grows less during the day, we pine for more light — hence the origin of almost every Winter holiday celebration from Diwali, to Hannukah and Kwanzaa, and to Christmas. We look and pray for the restoration of light.

Twilight or Gloaming?

Twilight — which is closer to what the term gloaming means. It is that precious moment where the last dots of lights appear in a reddish, bronze haze of light — and then slowly descend into night.

I imagine gloaming is the more poetic term. Twilight is reserved the scientific view of the event. Read this nice article from the British newspaper The Guardian for a thorough review of the different terms.

I like this time of day — while it is just as likely to capture a similar picture in the morning, when in reverse, we see a similar process in the dawn.

When have you seen a gorgeous dusk? What do you call it?

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All Hallows' Eve in Greenwood Cemetery and Sunset Park, Brooklyn (Special 2020 Halloween Post)

In this post, I regale you with pictures and musing from an All Hallows' Eve visit to Greenwood Cemetery and Sunset Park, Brooklyn. It was a beautiful Autumn Day and we are all cognizant of the need to physical-distance ourselves — so what better way to do that than to be outdoors in a massive cemetery?

A front lawn on a sidestreet in Sunset Park 

hosts a fortune-telling witch.

Exploring Greenwood Cemetery on All Hallows’ Eve, I scored a handful of great photographs. Located in South Brooklyn, the cemetery is one of the oldest graveyards in the city and is a site of a Revolutionary War battle. @historicgreenwood is also a National Historic Landmark. My friends John and Jennifer joined me; we also went to Sunset Park, my old neighborhood. Scarfed down a torta stuffed with spicy pork at @tacoselbronco, scored a free beer from a passerby, and watched the D train come out of the tunnel on Fourth Avenue — it was a serendipitous day.

 

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Travel Diary: Jones Beach in September (When Jupiter and Saturn Are Visible in the Evening Sky)

Where setting sun meets lapping waves — John, a friend, and colleague who is an amateur weather guy, tells me that the cloud formation in the sky is from weather pushing inland, effects of hurricane formation in the Atlantic, and today’s low dew point (which makes for a gorgeous day to be outside). Jupiter and Saturn are visible in the sky, and the moon is a thin crescent. Waves crash on shore — moving in a sweeping longitudinal motion. I almost get wet, and I marvel at the enthusiasm of seagulls. Which picture do you like best?

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Aesthetic Thursday: First Time Back at the Museum of Modern Art Since Covid

That time I stepped into the Museum of Modern Art since it had closed (like all cultural institutions) its doors because of the coronavirus outbreak.

MoMA normally has massive crowds. Not today.

A series of five parallelograms on view
in a special exhibition on the artist Judd.

"On my way to the Museum of Modern Art," I told my roommate. "Oh?" she said. As if I had just admitted to a felony. "Oh. It's cool. The museum is open now. Since yesterday. But they are only letting in a certain amount of people — and there are mad temperature checks at the front door." I went on and on, basically convincing myself it was OK to look at art during a global pandemic.

MoMA sits on a nice piece of real estate on 53rd Street in Manhattan between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. Over the years, the museum has expanded significantly — and now, in 2020 — going there is like going to a museum version of a theme park. You can do a lot in one space — see a movie, grab a bite to eat but not now, because of restrictions still in place. You can see a mega-ton of artwork. It's incredible. And with the limited tickets doled out daily for admittance, it feels like the museum is all yours to cherish and to keep.

Museum-goers look aglow. In the elevator, the museum's design people have created beautiful markings on the door to denote physical distance. There is cute "modern art" style signage to don a mask and to take a helping of hand sanitizer. The greeters and guest attendants are happy to be back at work — you cannot work from home if you work in guest services. 

The top floor houses a temporary exhibit on the sculpture-cum-concept artist named Judd. I liked his parallelograms — only because I like saying that word. Makes me feel smart.

After lingering with old favorites, like Rousseau's "The Dream" and Picasso's "Les Demoiselles d'Avignon," I sat outside in the sculpture garden. It was a beautiful day. People lingered too—everyone in masks or gaiters. The sun bright, but it did not feel hot. I read on my phone. Watched people — and I noticed that MoMA was devoid of tourists, of Europeans, of people from all over who flock to see its collections. It was mostly — if not at — a bunch of us locals — those cats who live here.

"I'm back from MoMA —" I told my roommate, but she listlessly nodded — she was engrossed in a television show — and had forgotten that I had done such a momentous thing. Going to a museum. Finally. But it was an interior triumph — a return to a routine that I had missed during quarantine. 

Coincidentally, I was tapped to teach a high school art history class to tenth and eleventh graders. So all my museum visits will have been worth it. Here's to me about to make that lesson plan. I will definitely tell the kids about my trip back to the museum.

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Photographs: Red Mask, Red Flowers, Pedestrians in Queens

Taking a walk in Jackson Heights, Queens I notice shades of red.

Found these in my camera roll and I'm surprised by the shades of red found herein. It's hot and muggy here in New York. But flowers are abloom. I notice signs of humanity — a mother and son crouch together on the median on the 37th Avenue pedestrian zone and talk. A pile of police officers, eight or ten of them, stand in front of an apartment building, one holding what looks like a silver revolver 🔫. ”It’s fake, ” the officer says calmly. ”Found it here?” I ask. They did — after someone had called it in. A boy and a girl practice ollies on the street. I had hoped to use a camera to capture some of these moments. But I was too caught up in the moment.

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Photography: The Homes of Queens Attract the Night

East Elmhurst
The homes of Queens attract the night. Walking 🚶‍♀️ at night, certain nooks and crannies catch my attention. Notice the side alley - it cuts along the building, connecting streets. This part of Queens - dubbed East Elmhurst, is dotted with alleys like this one.
Elmhurst
Walking from the Elmhurst Avenue station last night, I stumbled onto Ithaca Street — a quiet thruway in the Elmhurst neighborhood (not to be confused with East Elmhurst, above) of Queens. Do you like the architecture of this detached house? 

A home in Queens on Ithaca Street
originally posted on my Instagram

A colleague saw my photograph on Instagram and she said, "My mom grew up in Elmhurst and my sister and I recently drove by her childhood home on St. James Avenue. Part of my childhood was spent visiting my grandmother. There were some amazing homes back in the day." She also said she loved "my love for her Queens." 
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#nychomes #newyorklife #iloveny #autumnnights #queens #lovenyc #nyc #queensny #queen #newyork #newyorkcity #nycphotographer #night #newyorker #newyorklike #goals #newyorkstateofmind

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Self-Portrait in a Instagram-Laced Painterly Palette

In this post, I took a ton of painterly-style Instagram selfies and I talk about how we never understand each other well - in most circumstances. Understanding others is hard. But worth it.

     There is a moment in the new HBO comedy series "Mrs. Fletcher" where a young, white college kid sits at the lunch table with several guys he assumes are "just like him". The guys are talking about climate change in a thoughtful, meaningful way and the young, white college kid makes a joke about riding a surfboard on a tsunami wave. He's looking for laughs but he misses the cue. He assumes that people who look like him and dress like him will, in turn, have the same mindset as him. 

      I have come to find out that the biggest mistake one can make is to assume that another person thinks the same way that you do. And even if another person thinks similarly to you, or dresses similarly to you, it is the worst mistake possible, to consider that other person you. It is harder to make yourself known to another person, to a friend, a lover, or whatever. It is hard because it means you have to begin to understand the other person first and they have to begin to understand you.  

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