Author: Matt Maldre
4,090 posts
Artist and designer. Sharing creative sparks to brighten your day. Inspiring curiosity, play, and new ways of thinking. Blogs at spudart.org, mattmaldre.com, 57hits.com, and christiannotebook.com.
-
Why did I illuminate Winslow Homer with free internet fonts?Yesterday I set out to illuminate Homer’s paintings using a silly font-selecting method: Pick the free fonts based primarily on their name alone. What was my motivation? One of my friends asked, “I am curious why you underwent this exercise…
-
Using a silly font-picking method to illuminate Winslow HomerWinslow Homer’s paintings are full of dichotomies. Earlier this week, I uncovered eight paintings in the Art Institute of Chicago’s collection with wonderful dual meanings. Themes like life and death captured in one painting. To really punch these double interpretations,…
-
Winslow Homer DualitiesRather mind-blowing that the Art Institute of Chicago has 184 of Winslow Homer’s artworks. Usually when I look an artist in their catalog, there are 4 results. Maybe 10. Sometimes it might balloon up to 16. But here are one…
-
34 excavated cave temples“Formed from a single block of excavated stone, Kailasa temple is considered one of the most impressive cave temples in India. The enormous structure is one of 34 cave temples and monasteries that are collectively known as the Ellora Caves.”…
-
Two simple minutesWhen you see something interesting, you might stop, pull out your phone and snap a pic. Then you move on. Good for you to stop and capture the picture! But what if you spent a little more time with that…
-
What I learned this week from February 26, 2021This week I learned that seahorse skeletons are amazing, Gobots were once humans, and Tuffy Rhodes tied Japan's single season HR record
-
Put Edvard Munch’s phrase “painted by a madman” on any artworkA long-time art world mystery has been solved. A hidden message exists in Edvard Munch’s famous painting “The Scream”. Written in pencil in the corner of the painting reads, “Can only have been painted by a madman”. Who could have…
-
My neighborhood will be getting a Tony Fitzpatrick muralWhich of these collages by Tony Fitzpatrick do you like best? One of these collages will become a mural in my town, Glen Ellyn, Illinois. Glen Ellyn resident, Diana Martinez, posted on Facebook: On behalf of the DuPage Public Art…
-
Estonian man makes an ice carouselA man in Estonia spends hours cutting a circle in the bay ice, inserts a boat motor into a hole to make the circle spin.
-
The earliest surviving photo of the White House, 1846, was discovered at a flea market in 1972The man who helped start both the transcontinental railroad AND one of the first famous photographers—his photos were missing for a hundred years, then found in a flea market! One of those photos was the very first photo of the…
-
What I learned this week from February 19, 2021This week I learned how power lines can burn through sidewalks, and why cars have ‘grab handles’ above the doors
-
The microphone on the Mars rover Perseverance is for saleFor the first time ever, a Mars rover will be recording the sounds of Mars. The rover named Perseverance has two microphones. One microphone is for capturing sounds when it shoots laser beams at rocks (seriously). The other microphone will…
-
Discover visual connections between two works of artPick two works of art. Google will find the visual connection between the two artworks. Using several artworks that look visually similar, you’ll see a visual bridge between artworks. What is the connection between a 4,000-year-old clay figure and Van…
-
What I learned this week from February 12, 2021This week I learned about golf balls found on the moon, fathoms as hugs, and double-cycle snowblowers.
-
1st century Ancient Romans held their personal belongings in cute containersDuring the first century, what did the Ancient Romans use to hold their stuff? Answer: Very cute containers! The Art Institute of Chicago’s collection has this adorable 1st century Roman container for personal items: I love how this looks like…
-
Sidewalk Poetry ProgramPoems are stamped into sidewalk squares throughout Appleton, Wisconsin. Any resident are eligible to submit poems to the program. How wonderful! What a great way for people to feel a little more ownership of their community. Resident poets can walk…
-
Idea: An artificial intelligence tool that lists artists most similar to your artWhat if there was a tool that could tell you which artists in art history are most like your artwork? Upload 20 images of your artwork to this tool. Based on your art, a list of artists is generated most…
-
What I learned this week from February 5, 2021Clubhouse, Trapper Keepers, and what Jupiter would look like on our horizon if was the place of our Moon.
-
Relaxing gray washes by Pierre Antoine MonginThese Versailles trees in gray wash are relaxing. I really enjoy how this artwork is cropped by my modified version of the Art Institute of Chicago’s Art Tab. (This is a Chrome add-on that displays art in new browser tabs.…
-
What I learned this week from January 29, 2021This week I learned about joy, mazes, White House factoids, Hank Aaron, and a bunch more.
-
Ideas for paratrooper toy funIn my Christmas stocking from my dad was a little Christmas paratrooper toy. (My daughters also got a paratrooper too). A little plastic figure with a tiny parachute. Those are always fun. I searched Youtube for how people have had…
-
Scanners capture sides of objects—especially Scrabble tilesNormally when you scan something, you think your scan is going to be totally flat. But the only truly flat part of your scan is right down the center of your scanner. Anything sitting on the left part of your…
-
Art that transforms under blacklightCanadian passport when held under UV light Canadians know how to party. Everyone got your passport? Turn on the black lights… and… LET’S PARTY!!! The Canadian passport comes alive under black light. The regular image under normal light is so…
-
What I learned this week from January 22, 2021This week I learned about flag trivia, chocolate secrets, Jawas unveiled, and much more!
-
The origami master who took 50 hours to fold a Samurai warriorThe person who folded this incredible Samurai did a folding process video. Watching it will absorb you. This man folding the paper is like a Samurai warrior. His pre-creased sheet like a map, planning his attack. The insane folds looking…
-
The highest scoring Scrabble word using your nameLet’s play a game where we take the letters of your first name, and put them onto a Scrabble rack, along with a blank tile. What would the be the highest scoring word? A Scrabble word finder is an immense…
-
Five decades of design trends used in new General Motors logoThe new General Motors logo is very curious. It employs design trends from each of the past five decades. Perhaps General Motors wanted a logo that was timeless? If you use trends branching across a wide spread of time, that…
-
Too much caffeine for your creativity?A Mayo Clinic article said that you shouldn’t have over 400 mg of caffeine a day. The FDA says if drink more than 400 mg, you can get: insomnia, jitters, anxiousness, fast heart rate, upset stomach, nausea, headache, a feeling…
-
Mindless eating is actually mindful eating
When eating cookies or chocolate, do you have just one or two pieces, or do you dive into the bag? I’m a bag diver. If there’s a bag of chocolate in the house, it will be gone very soon. Especially…
-
What I learned this week from January 15, 2021This week I learned about e-ink posters, emu wars, woodpeckers, and a little more.
-
Upper case numbers
When you are chatting and you want to really emphasize a year, but you only have plain text at your disposal. No bolding. No bigger words. How do you really punch up that year? Let’s take a page of the…
