Friday, April 28, 2006

Rigor Vitae: Life Unyielding

When I first read about Carel Pieter Brest van Kempen's book, Rigor Vitae: Life Unyielding, on his blog of the same name, I knew that I had to have it. I received this amazing book last week and it currently holds the place of honour on our coffee table, just as Carel would wish. So far I've only had time to pore over the paintings. I look forward to free time this weekend to start reading the text.

The book was recently extremely well reviewed by Grrlscientist on her blog, Living the Scientific Life.

A fascinating post on Carel's blog, To Paint a Tortoise, details his technique, as he takes the reader step by step through the creation of an acrylic painting of a Desert Tortoise, one of a series Carel has been commissioned to create for "Vanishing Circles," a collection of artwork being assembled for the Arizona/Sonora Desert Museum depicting endangered flora and fauna of the region.

If you don't know Carel's work, take a look at his web site and browse through the paintings. Then go to his blog and enjoy more amazing creations, read his fine writing and enjoy life with him.

3 comments:

Rain Trueax said...

Wow that is indeed a beautiful book. The blog looks interesting too. Thanks for writing about them both.

T. Beth said...

Carel's paintings are wonderful, and it is so generous of him to share photos of them with all of us on his blog! He adds so many interesting extras (insects etc.) in each one, and I notice something new each time I look at them.

Taradharma said...

thanks much for the link to Carel's work. Wonderful artwork and interesting posts -- I'll be returning there.