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GIRARD? GIRARD WHO?

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Master of Mud (aka artist) and former Center for Creative Studies (CCS), Detroit,  professor of art, Bill (William J.) Girard Jr., passed away in 2011. The website created to honor him is found at  https://girardsvasari.com/ Note: Most images are clickable. ------------------------------------------------------- Left to Right: Bill Girard, Father Nicholas Maestrini and collector, Bernice Kent. 1968. Behind  Kent, Girard's painting: Of Rumbling Wooden Wheels Going Through A Dusty Night The burglar  paid no attention at all to our collection of Girard paintings and sculpture. It was very depressing. My naturopath subsequently instructed me to treat this and all life issues with the balm of gratitude. She would surely be pleased to know that the burglary has taught me to be grateful for boors. Happily, at least one of the two investigating police officers could scarcely drag his eyes away from the large Girard painting, Fauvel. This made me feel much
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Inside Girard's Arts and Crafts Palace

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The online publication, The Beautiful Home ,  recently published an essay about Bill Girard's personal residence . The article is accompanied with several lovely photos of the artist's home and some of the pieces, murals, sculptures, etc., that adorned it. As well as others. Find that article here:  https://the-beautiful-home.com/william-girard/ Unfortunately, it occurs to me that said article fails to reference a recurring theme in the artist's life: a theme that might provide a key to understanding the person, the work and the artist.  Consider that Girard Rejected the the option of a career in architecture (as urged by his father) in favor of a career dedicated to the creation of handcrafted objects (i.e. art) not unl ike one of the more noted advocates of the Arts and Crafts movement, William Morris Studied (briefly, to be sure) at Detroit's Society of Arts and Crafts and later taught at the art college that it evolved into Created his personal, private palace insi
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CROWDSOLVE THIS! DECIPHER ME #2

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 From an early age, the late professor of art, William J. Girard, Jr. (aka Bill Girard) habitually scribbled his home-made "Egyptian" hieroglyphics into various paintings and sketches.  But what do they mean?  That's where I'm hoping you can help. Maybe you're the person who can decipher the hieroglyphics found in the "Hellraiser" sketch below.  Actually, there's some intended and unintended humor embedded in the characters Bill Girard developed. The character that resembles a shepherd's crook is a  S . The  shepherd's crook with a ball on the end, that's an O .  The character that reminds me of a tent with a small flap, that's a  G . The character that looks like a capital  N  with a runaway upstroke, that's an  N .  But then, so is the character that looks like waves.  The Roman numeral for five, that tipped over and fell to the left, that's a  C . For additional reference, please review the two posts that addressed this ge
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CROWDSOLVE THIS! DECIPHER ME #1

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  From an early age, the late professor of art, William J. Girard, Jr. (aka Bill Girard) habitually scribbled his home-made "Egyptian" hieroglyphics into various paintings and sketches.  But what do they mean?  That's where I'm hoping you can help. Maybe you're the person who can decipher the hieroglyphics found in the sketch below.  Actually, there's like some intended and unintended humor embedded in the characters Bill Girard developed. The character that resembles a shepherd's crook is a S . The character that reminds me of a tent with a small flap, that's a G . The character that looks like a capital N with a runaway upstroke, that's an N . But then, so is the character that looks like waves. The Roman numeral for five, that tipped over and fell to the left, that's a C . For additional reference, please review the two posts that addressed this general topic and include keys to the hieroglyphics:  Noted German Scientist Cracks Hieroglyphic
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CROWDSOLVE THIS: DECIPHER HOME-MADE HIEROGLYPHICS OF DECEASED ARTIST

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  So yeah, it's a little complicated. As a (very?) young man, artist William J. Girard, Junior (aka Bill) developed a penchant for encoding his thoughts in hieroglyphics. Maybe due to the influence of the then famous novel, The Egyptian . At least in part.  Anyway, at one point, Girard's patron. Allen Abramson, requested a key to his hieroglyphics and the young artist obliged. See the key below. But the reason your help is needed is because his cipher kept evolving. The key didn't. Now, with the help of a world-renowned German chemist, Dr. Robert Fuchs, major progress was made in deciphering a complex text by the artist. So that's your Rosetta Stone . But even when you know the language, small changes in handwriting style can encrypt what might otherwise be obvious. Throw in a few new characters as yet unidentified.  Plus some symbols that represent certain sounds, like the CH in cheese . Or the TH in the . Or SH as in shoot . Oh yeah, Girard tended to approach spellin
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REN-CEN GUY SAYS BILL GIRARD IS "EMINENT" AMERICAN ARTIST

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Renaissance man, Michael Curtis, has published a noteworthy - probably important - essay about my friend, the artist Bill (William J.) Girard and his work.   WORKS OF THE EMINENT, CLASSIVE AMERICAN ARTISTS: NO. 2,  WILLIAM GIRARD   Girard is the second artist in Curtis's personal list of "classive" artists worthy of such an essay!  These are artists whose work is inspired... to say the least. Read the essay yourself to glean it's scope and significance. I can scarcely do it justice here.  Adam and Eve. Detail) Artist: Bill (William J.) Girard 1940 - 2011     Artist Bill (William J.) Girard at home  Curtis's own accomplishments are tremendously impressive. For a full summary, see his online resume.  His LinkedIn profile includes the following summation: Michael Curtis Sculptor, architectural designer, historian, painter and poet, Michael Curtis has taught and lectured at universities, colleges, and museums, including, The Institute of Classical Architecture, The C
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GIRARD'S DAVID: A SMALL MIRACLE IN TERRA COTTA

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  Master of Mud (aka artist) and former Center for Creative Studies (CCS), Detroit,  professor of art, Bill (William J.) Girard Jr., passed away in 2011. The website created to honor him is found at  https://girardsvasari.com/ ------------------------------------------------------- If  you wonder where this is going, think about one of the most famous pieces of sculpture in the western world:  Michelangelo's sculpture,  David .  Actually, that's misleading. That's just where it starts. Maybe. Maybe it starts with Genesis 2:7. “Then the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life…”  Loosely translated, this passage is a recipe for terra cotta: Take clay and make something so amazing that it takes on a life of its own. It's a tremendous challenge. Point is, everyone knows about that  David . So if you're a certain type of artist Ambitious Interested in tackling one of the more popular themes in art and biblical hist
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