Blood Art

There are many different ways to make art. Some people draw with pen, pencil and markers, while others use paints like acrylics, watercolors and oils. Vincent Castiglia uses a unique medium to make is art...he uses blood.

In an attempt to get closer to his art on a more spiritual level Vincent started using the very essence of life to create blood art. He mixes his own blood with water to create a range of rust color like effects other artists can only hope to achieve with paints. Vincent uses the blood with a technique that when it's applied to canvases achieves more color range and texture than the basic sepia tones used to make blood stains. 

He has invented a technique that allows complete control of this unusual iron rich pigment so that he can create any image he imagines. People who view his work see more than the visceral image on the canvas, they see into it, and through it to feel the art on a spiritual level. Some say his art effects the mind on a psychological level that probes the emotions. 

In 2010 several of his paintings were featured in the  film Savage County. He is one of the only artists allowed to have a exhibition at the prestigious H.R. Giger museum. As you know H.R Giger is one of my all time favorite artists and I see allot of his influence in Vincents work. 

Below I posted a few paintings from the blood painter Vincent Castiglia. If you want to see more of his unique art go to his website vincentcastigliaart.com. 

Beauty and Pain Art

Frida Kahlo de Rivera (July 6, 1907 – July 13, 1954) is a Mexican surrealist painter best known for her use of vibrant colors and self-portraits. I found one of her paintings titled a few small nips in a book named The Visual Encyclopedia of Art. The violence depicted in the painting was no surprise since I've seen worse from artists. What surprised me is the fact that the painting was done by a woman. I was instantly captivated and curious to what images were depicted in her other works of art. 

What I found is that half of her works were self-portraits mixed with folk imagery. The other half were a blend of beauty and pain showing the different hardships she faced in life. Kahlo had Polio as a child which left one leg permanently smaller than the other. Then a serious traffic accident in her teens which required numerous surgeries and caused life long health issues. Finally, she had a miscarriage of the baby made with husband famous painter Diego Rivera and found out that she couldn't bare children. 

All these hardships bled into her paintings which showed the trials and tribulations of the female experience without compromise. Below are a few of her paintings that captivate the eyes and the imagination.