Matthew Reinhart's Blog, page 10

Word of the Day: Hoary

Hoary \HAWR-ee\ adjective

1. Tedious from familiarity; stale.
2. Gray or white with age.
3. Ancient or venerable.

Origin: Hoary derives from Middle English hor, from Old English har, "gray; old (and gray-haired)".

Weekly Beast: Angora Rabbit

Yes there is a living animal under all that hair!  The angora rabbit has been bred for its luxuriant wool for centuries and originated in Ankara, Turkey along with the Angora cat, Angora goat, and the very rare Angora goldfish.  (Okay there was no goldfish.) These fluffy bunnies were a favorite of the French monarchy in the mid 1700s and were soon the rage all over Europe.  There are four different ARBA (American Rabbit Breeders Association) -recognized Angora rabbit breeds: English, French, Giant and Satin.  They are usually active and friendly and make great pets, especially if you need to dust under the sofa!



~Will

Artist Watch: Calvin Nicholls

Calvin Nicholls is a Canadian artist who works in paper.  His paper sculptures have been in children's books, corporate offices, and advertisements.  Nicholls began working in paper as an illustrative medium in the 1980s and hasn't stopped since!  The amount of detail that goes into his sculptures is incredible!  Check out all the pieces of paper on the beavers!  And the feathers on the birds!  Lots of time and patience is definitely needed for these works.






Check out more of Nicholl's work here!

~Jess

Word of the Day: Legerdemain

Legerdemain \lej-ur-duh-MAIN\ noun

1. Sleight of hand.
2. A display of skill, trickery, or artful deception.

Origin:
Legerdemain is from Old French leger de main, literally "light of hand":  leger, "light" + de, "of" + main, "hand."

Whats Popped Up: The Wizards of Houston

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The Wizards of Pop Exhibition has made it to Houston, Texas and this weekend starts off a series of fun activities celebrating the show. Stop by the Children's Museum of Houston to see 80 images from 16 books created by Robert Sabuda and Matthew Reinhart. Then stick around to make your own pop-up cards or pop your own bubbles in activity centers.

The Wizards of Pop exhibit premiered at the NCCIL in May 2009. It recently made a stop at the Cedar Rapids Museum of Art and will be off to the Noel Art Museum in September. And if your in the Houston area you have until August 28th to take the kids down for some fun.

~Kyle

Word of the Day: Pukka

Pukka \PUHK-uh\ adjective

1. Authentic; genuine.
2. Superior; first-class.

Origin: Pukka comes from Hindi pakka, "cooked, ripe," from Sanskrit pakva-, from pacati, "he cooks".

Word of the Day: Arriviste

Arriviste \a-ree-VEEST\ noun

1. A person who has recently attained success, wealth, or high status but not general acceptance or respect; an upstart.

Origin:  Arriviste comes from French, from arriver, "to arrive," from (assumed) Vulgar Latin arripare, "to reach the shore," from Latin ad-, "to, toward" + ripa, "shore".

Artist Watch: Brittney Lee

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Last weekend Harry Potter began dominating the movie theaters and it was all that folks talked about at work. Now San Diego Comic Con is starting up this weekend and the office is getting excited to take part. So it only seemed fitting that I pick to showcase the talents of Brittney Lee.

This California based paper cutter came to my attention via the great blog, Dude Craft. Her recent tributes to Harry Potter are excellent and the more I viewed her past projects I more impressed I was with her skills. She will be at the comic convention this weekend sharing her new book of work so if you like what you see stop by and say hi.

~Kyle

Word of the Day: Pangram

Pangram \PAN-gruhm\ noun

1. A sentence, verse, etc. that includes all the letters of the alphabet.

Origin: Pangram is combination of the Greek pan-, "all" and -gram, "related to writing".

History Lesson: Bruce Lee Passes Away

On July 20th, 1973 the martial-arts expert and actor Bruce Lee died in Los Angeles at the age of 32.  He died from a brain edema that was possibly caused by a prescription painkiller.

Jun Fan (Bruce) Lee was born on November 27, 1940 in California.  A year later Lee and his family moved to Hong Kong where he starred in roughly 20 Chinese films as a child actor.  Lee studied dancing and also trained in Wing Chun style of gung fu (also known as 'kung fu').  In 1959 Lee moved back to America where he went to the University of Washington and opened a martial-arts school in Seattle.

Lee moved with his wife and children to Los Angeles where he starred as Kato in the TV series The Green Hornet (1966-1967).  He later went on to make films in Hong Kong where he established himself as an action star in Asia.  His last film Enter the Dragon (1973) was released in the United States, but Lee tragically died one month before the film was released.