Locusts Inspire more than the Latest Painting

You may have noticed a headline in Sunday’s paper that blew your mind the way it did mine. “Researchers think bugs could help find bombs,” News-Press, FL July 17, 2016.

Of course, the article didn’t mention just any old insect. The “bug” in question is a locust, long-held to be an enemy of man and is known to have destroyed thousands of acres of crops in a matter of hours or days resulting in famines worldwide.

The fascinating article noted that “Locust antennae act as a nose, with sensors more complex than any clinical sensor an engineer could make” (Oh, the wisdom and knowledge of God!) “A group of researchers at Washington University hopes to hijack that sense of smell using bioengineering to create the ultimate smelling machine.” If you ask me, bioengineering is the next greatest go-to career.

What’s the big deal? “First researchers will implant sensors in locust brains to understand neural activity when the bugs smell different things. They’ll use algorithm to interpret brain patterns, allowing them to decode what the locusts smell.

“Raman, head researcher on the project, has found that locusts can quickly be trained to recognize different scents. Taking a page from Pavlov, Raman and his team hit locusts with a puff of a smell, and then reward them with a grass pellet. Within five or six trials, a locust learns to associate that specific smell with food.”

Fair game, I suppose since people also eat locusts and other insects. Yum! Not for me. I saw silkworms roasted and eaten when I was in Korea. That seems tame now that I think of people munching on a large crunchy grasshopper or locust.

Currently a tiny backpack is in a prototype stage and the energy is powered by the locusts’ own movements. Even steering the locusts has been successfully tested, but researchers are trying to figure out which is more effective: “steering the locusts toward a potential threat or allowing them to sniff it out themselves. For now, the focus is on the technology.”

This whole thing reminds me of an old carnival act called the “Flea Circus.” Here tiny fleas are taught to play on minuscule equipment. The show is then viewed via magnification. Is the show a mirage of trickery or are the fleas actually trained? You’d have to ask the trainer. At any rate, people have always been intrigued by the natural world and the miraculous creations that abound in the universe.

“In Chinese “cricket” culture, the cricket-related business is highly seasonal. Trapping crickets in the fields peaks in August and extends into September. 

The crickets soon end up at the markets of Shanghai and other major cities. Cricket fighting season extends until the end of autumn, overlapping with the Mid-Autumn Festival and the National Day. 

Chinese breeders are striving to make cricket fighting a year-round pastime, but the seasonal tradition prevails.”

Below is a link to Wikipedia if you want to learn more about having a cricket for a pet.

Wikipedia Crickets as pets

There is an amazing array of artwork online that is inspired by locusts. Here is one by Katie Hoffman called “Locusts and Honey” that is both representational and abstract.

If you would like to see more of Hoffman’s unusual work go to Katie Hoffman's Web Address

More artwork using locusts as part of a theme is shown below.

Moving on to today’s technology, I’ve noticed that computer generated artwork seems to be more popular than traditional artwork and sells at a cheaper price. This future trend still requires the skill of an artist, but the materials and the end product are much different than the nuts and bolts of stinky turps and paints of the past. Will technology supersede and outpace the old style of doing business in the art world? 

Many said this about libraries when Kindle came along, but Public Libraries have actually incorporated this new technology into their game plan. Today they are busier than ever because society continues to crave information and entertainment.

How will you adapt your artistic repertoire into this new world? Many older artists are not even computer literate. I get asked to help others build an artist’s web site or help them learn how to photograph and upload their paintings (for free, of course!). I not only can’t spread myself that thin, but I find it almost impossible to teach these “old dog’s new tricks.” They simply can’t grasp the technology, and they forget our first lesson as soon as they leave requiring follow up calls.

The only way to be successful in the future is to keep up with the latest and greatest and learn how to bend your skills to take advantage of what’s trending. Good luck!

Here is the best web side to differentiate between a locust, a grasshopper, a katydid, and a cricket:  Locust Grasshopper Cricket Katydid

And thanks to the Agriculture department and .gov:

Locusts and grasshoppers are the same in appearance - how they differ is largely in their behavior. Locusts can exist in two different behavioral states (solitary and gregarious) whereas grasshoppers generally do not. When the population density is low, locusts behave as individuals, much like grasshoppers.  www.agriculture.gov.au/pests-diseases-weeds/locusts/about/about_locusts

Disconnect the Unimportant and Connect with the Source

"Stained Glass" 12 x 16 acrylic and glaze on canvas

I didn’t win the “Faces of Humanity” competition this year. In fact, I didn’t even make it to Honorable Mention. When you take a gander at the winners, you will see why. The stiff competition was marked by the best of the best! The quality of artists up and coming is a good omen for the future, and a reason to celebrate art in all its glory and richness.

The seven winners scattered throughout this blog will amaze you. The high caliber of the sponsor is indicative of the obvious mastery of the arts by the winners. There is a nice variety of medium, styles, and depth. A link to the winners is at the end of this blog. I encourage you to go there and see all of the artwork and the types of contests and opportunities that is provided.

First Place

My humble “Stained Glass” piece is finished. I don’t know why I felt compelled to do this 12 x 16 canvas? But sometimes you need a break from your regular routine to vary the pace and the style. Like a musical phrase, trying something totally different is sometimes refreshing.

I will forewarn you that my painting days are limited. My hands and fingers are going stiff on me. They spasm and freeze into weird shapes after I type or paint for even short periods of time. Perhaps when some of my other medical issues are resolved, I will get my second wind.

Second Place

I love those stores that sell exercise equipment and athletic wear and supplies. “Second Wind” is the name of one successful chain that makes the most of this niche. Everything and everyone deserves a second chance. When you feel let down, think about ways to revive your spirit and your stamina.

I find reading in my off times stimulates my will and desire to start again. Observing the strength of others vicariously can sometimes shame us into seeing our petty problems and challenges as minor and insignificant. Even if we must “guilt” ourselves into trying again, at least it gets us back in the saddle.

Third Place

Fourth Place

Many years ago, Norman Vincent Peale wrote a small book titled: “Positive Thinking for Every Day of the Year.” I read one page every day that corresponds with the current date. Yesterday I read a related story about T. E. Lawrence of “Lawrence of Arabia” fame.

“Lawrence took a few of his Arab friends to London. What interested them the most was the faucets in the bathroom.

“Watch, Lawrence said, “All you have to do is turn that thing on and you have all the water you want!”

When it was time to leave, Lawrence discovered that they were trying to remove the faucets. “What are you doing?” he questioned.

“We will take these back to the desert,” they said. “We will never lack for water.”

Fifth Place

 

Sixth Place

Seventh Place

“Lawrence had to explain to them that the faucets had to be attached to a source of water in order to work.”

Peale completed the story: “Sometimes we do the same thing. We try to get a flow from faucets that are not attached.”

Are you feeling empty inside and lack purpose and direction? What is the source of your strength and creativity? It’s time to get connected!

Link to "Art Competition" Winners:  http://art-competition.net/Faces-of-Humanity-2.cfm 

The Faces of Humanity -- the Richness of Spirit

(This photograph will be the basis for my next painting)

I have an obsession with faces. They tell so much about a person, and yet so little. Worry lines may soon turn into laugh lines when the heart is merry. Eyes glisten in the presence of a loved one or a good friend. Tears may signify joy or sadness; the face reflects the nuance and the feelings that others seek to interpret.

As we age, faces become more like maps to the past. How we have lived, what we have experienced is often reflected in the way we hold our mouth or in the downcast look in our eyes. Creases may symbolize chronic illness and pain or a hardworking existence in the great outdoors.

"A Joyful Heart" 9x12 pastel on Bristol; Matted and ready to frame (11x14).

As poets have said for hundreds of years “the eyes are the windows to the soul.” We like to think that we can see into someone else’s life through their eyes, but we’re only guessing. Ted Bundy, a serial killer, had very seductive eyes; but I doubt his victims saw into his soul. If they had, they would have fled in terror.

Still, eyes can tell us about emotion. My next portrait is of a young Indian mother and her two children (1st photo) as they observe something with reverential eyes. Are they worshipping? Do they see someone they revere or are they only hoping for something better to come into their lives?

Their faces captured my attention and I needed to paint them. This is an actual photograph taken by some friends in India. I see longing in the eyes of this family, and at the same time awe. Perhaps you’ll see and feel something altogether different; but if I paint them with my interpretation, perhaps you’ll see them the way that I do.

This is the delight of the creative life. An artist has a deep felt need to express what he or she sees and feels. Sometimes it is a negative message to convey an opinion or make a statement. At other times it is a heartfelt desire to share a joyful picture representing the goodness and the common bond of humanity.

(I have applied the drawing to a 24x18 white canvas)

Faces are like sculpture. Their form and definition, their shapes and lines are beautiful unto themselves. I enjoy painting people of color. The richness of skin tones and the variant shades are remarkable and a challenge to capture. Facial features are bolder, more pronounced, and they fit together perfectly, beautifully into a whole.

I’ve had some difficulty seeing lately so this new painting will be a challenge. I have mono-vision lenses that make it difficult to see depth; one eye is for close-ups and the other for distance. Luckily, when I hold a drawing or a painting up to the mirror, my flaws are usually revealed to me.

(Work in Progress: First layers of acrylic paint on the figures. I will change and altar what doesn't look right.)

I’m disheartened by the recent outburst of hate and racism in this country. While I see beauty in diversity many others focus on differences and see danger. Yet one God made us all and loves us equally. In that light, how then can we not reach out to others in friendship and tolerance?

"With these hands -- Hope" 16x20 canvas; oil on acrylic background.