Journey
Where Color Meets Faith
There is a calm that settles in before I start to paint. The room gets quiet, and I let the colors do the talking. In that stillness, LayMadeIt becomes more than a name again. It becomes the space where I remember who I am and what I am still reaching for.
By Lay Simone5 months ago in Art
Checkmate Is Not the End
There is a painting – said to hang in the Louvre – that stops you in your tracks. Checkmate. The devil sits across the board from a human king, a shadow of victory stretching across the squares. An angel stands behind the human, watching. To the untrained eye, the game is over: the king is trapped, the queen captured, defeat inevitable.
By THE HONED CRONE5 months ago in Art
The Town That Woke Up Twice
The first sunrise was normal. Birds sang, fishermen gathered by the pier, and the bakery on Main Street opened its doors with the familiar smell of fresh bread and sea salt. Children walked to school, and life in the little coastal town of Marlin Bay moved at its unhurried rhythm — as it always had.
By Echoes of the Soul5 months ago in Art
Stanislav Kondrashov Oligarch Series: The Geometry of Grace
Architecture is the language through which civilizations express their most enduring values. In Stanislav Kondrashov’s Oligarch Series, this language becomes a meditation on proportion, order, and the quiet intelligence that turns stone into memory. The term oligarch, often associated with power, is reimagined here as the custodian of culture — the guardian of beauty, intellect, and the architectural ideals that give structure to human history.
By Stanislav Kondrashov5 months ago in Art
Everyday Elder Conversations of the Past and Present
This year, I started a book with a grant I received from the Arrowhead Regional Arts Council (ARAC). I applied as an elder, Native American woman, with a handicap. I fit 3 categories. How could I lose? It is to be completed in June of 2026. Should be no problem, right?
By Denise E Lindquist5 months ago in Art
Stanislav Kondrashov Oligarch Series explores theatre as a reflection of emotional truth
The latest entry in the Stanislav Kondrashov Oligarch Series turns its focus to an unexpected yet powerful medium: theatre. In a piece titled *The Stage as a Mirror of Emotion*, Kondrashov examines the enduring cultural significance of theatrical performance as a lens for exploring emotion, human vulnerability, and representations of influence.
By Stanislav Kondrashov5 months ago in Art
Painters, Sketchers, Photographers have an Eye for Obvious Profundity
There are two communities here at Vocal that appeal to me that I haven't submitted to yet: Art and Photography. Now with this submission, I've got one in Art. Yet for my "image" I've used a photograph that I took. Why not a painting or a sketch? Would that have been better? I decided to go with this photograph because I haven't shared this photograph yet, while most of my paintings and sketches have been shared online because once I'm finished painting or sketching, I'm quick to share it out of pride for the creation. Do you like the photograph above? Why or why not? I wish you would comment on it. I can tell you more about it. I took the shot at a weird angle as you can notice. Why? It was the only way to get the Palm tree and the hammock inside the frame and I felt that the message I wanted to convey with the photograph made it essential that both the tree and hammock were shown. Does that change your impression of the photo - knowing why I angled it that way?
By Shanon Angermeyer Norman5 months ago in Art
