Discerning

When folks come into the gallery I often hear, “I know nothing about art.” After reflecting on this, I speak with folks about two aspects of experiencing art. It does take knowledge to better understand the distinct skills artists bring to their work. It also requires reflecting on one’s own personal aesthetic sense to more fully appreciate where an artist takes you when witnessing his/her work. One of my biggest thrills when I am working a show, is when folks truly want to better understand both the skills and the aesthetics I entwine to make a piece of art or what I like to call a conversation with my viewers. When teaching, I believe it is my ultimate duty to help my students become as discerning as they choose to be in order to make their own choices about their creative process as well as the application of skills needed to enact that process. Consequently I am working on this list of what we Quakers call Queries, to use to discern vision.

A SERIES OF QUESTIONS TO ASK WHY YOU REACT THE WAY YOU REACT TO A VISUAL IMAGE

• When you see paintings that appeals to you comment why
Is it
The textures?
The Empty space?
The use of perspective?
The subject matter?
The clarity of color?
The Hues used?
The value differences?
The gestures?
• When you see something that makes you stop the car to look
Is it-
The breadth of the view?
The colors interlocking?
The nuances?
The sharpness?
The depth of the view?

• When you see a scene (in or out) that makes you want to sit and be
Is it
The peacefulness?
The human presence?
The gestures of the objects?
The way the objects relate to each other?


• When you see a scene or a painting and it stirs your emotions
Is it
Because of the calm?
A tension?
A strength?
An Indolence?
A memory?
A dance a movement?
A wild stirring?
A placing one in the proportions of the universe

• When does a scene draw you in asking you to participate?
When it


Places you in the proportions of the universe?
Shows human activity in its raw energy?
Humbles you?
Stirs longevity?
When you see the universal in the particular?






SOME THOUGHTS I ASK MYSELF

Am I a cliché thinker/ seer?

Do I paint what I am able to paint or what I intend to paint?

Or another way of thinking of it

Does what I have painted look like I intended it to look like that or does it look only what I was able to do?

Am I willing to be challenged/questioned or do I become defensive by justifying the result?

How much do I want to give my viewer?

In what am I asking my viewer to participate?

Composition

Reading about classical composition amazes me how much the principals transcend the disciplines. All the fundamental premises used in composition in the visual arts are also elements in music and both of these are rooted in mathematics- or mathematics are rooted in music or visual composition. Titan for example used ' the strength, balance, and unity of circles. squares, diagonals, triangles and harmonic rations.' (Aristides, pg. 41) Degas said, " Even in front of nature one must compose." (from Shop Talk of Edgar Degas by R.H. Ives Gammell).

And yet while composing a piece there comes a deeper urge, a desire to see into a situation and capture its distinct rhythm, music, math. There is a point at which all the knowledge I have gained must be transcended and a new force takes over. It comes from having practiced and looked and meditated on what is beauty in my eye. It becomes more than understanding. when it is just the mind there is a stiffness, a formula feeling.

When painting a Japanese Gold leaf screens this becomes most obvious. In Asian art, compositional elements are different and are used to engender a very alternate reaction. The Asian artist wants the viewer to enter the world of the picture. Elements of the painting will enter the picture rather than be placed completely in it. In determining where to put the objects of the story therefore, becomes an invitation. When composing I turn to music. The melody line of a song can help place key movement. Think about what a melody does. It is not the evenly placed notes of a piece.

More and more as I paint composition becomes the root, the strong or weak foundation of a work. It is also the element which can emotionally entice another. Color does help, do not get me wrong, but composition is suggestive and seductive. It is the unexplained energy if done right creates synergy.

art, mommyhood, job

Summer is ...

Children scamper no longer underfoot, but definitely around. My kids are now 14, 18 and 21. There are still sports events to watch, early morning wake up calls to get ready for jobs, meals to cook, a house to maintain. We all know what it takes to be the hub of a family so that it can function as a unit and for the individuals to continue to grow.

The other day the five of us walked to our local coffee shop, just to be together. A painting shaped in my mind of the days when my children young and bowling balling it through life ran and flew and spiraled as constellations around my sun. There was a gravitational pull which kept us in proximity emotionally and physically. Now those children are becoming their own suns. There are galactic bodies entering their gravitational pulls. While I feel a loss not more little bodies to paint or to attach to me, there is a bigger universe being created.

Painting children being children has always been a passion. Kids, like nature, are such a gift. I had the blessing to be able to illustrate a parenting book this past winter. It gave me the opportunity to paint families and the feeling of families. It took all the knowledge I have gained both as a mom and as a painter to create the images. Photos just do not work they must be augmented with knowledge of anatomy, color theory and design.

While juggling making art, being mom and having a business- 3 very different uses of the brain 3 very different ways of functioning, I realize how powerful it is when we can find internal connections augmenting each.

Itinerant Artist

I was at a show this past weekend-- a small show with both 2D art as well as art/craft. I was so impressed with the quality of the work. The jewelers work was stunning. Each piece different and distinct was like looking at an intricate painting with texture. The spun silk hand dyed flowed down from hangers waffling in what breeze entered the building. The booth next to mine displayed buttons of different sizes and colors made from I think glass- each a world unto itself. I wished I could have afforded bunches to put on all my sweaters. They are stunning in the swirls and shapes in the glass. A jeweler across from me created out a polymer such designs that hinted at the sea, the sky and spaceships. A painting of mine found a home this show, and so I had the luxury to spend some money- i bought the space ship evoking earrings, a button and a silk shirt was a swap. What joy!
I love swapping whether it is money or goods knowing someone like myself- passionate enough about what he/she does to spend hours in the creation and more hours in the lugging, and the standing and the imagining to live this life of an itinerant artist. I felt blessed on my way home to have been in the company of such folks who care so much about what they do to make it beautiful and skillful and available.

Pricing Policy and Practice- Art in Everyone's Life

It is very important to me as a community artist to keep original art affordable and accessible.
I do not do any reproductions of my work with the exception of 3 x 5 photos used to create greeting cards.
There are many reasons why I do not rely on reproductions for inventory.
1. Original art lives differently than reproductions. Once, someone came into my booth and asked why the watercolor painting she was viewing was wrinkled. I explained the paper had been soaked. Whistler's paintings in the museum are wrinkled. I realized how sterilized pieces become when all folks live with are reproductions. At least posters do not try to mimic original works. Pastel paintings which are more sculptures because of the layering, are flattened in copies.
2. If I rely on copies, I need not paint as much. If I do not paint I am not honing my skills and vision. I paint 8-10 hours a day. Like a musician practicing scales, painting and drawing constantly improves my work.

It saddens me to go to galleries and art fairs in which the paintings are thousands of dollars. Art should be for everyone.
Around 8 years ago, a young woman maybe 16 came into my booth. She looked at a small Asian Ink Painting costing $10. She left. She returned. She left. She returned and took out of her pocket 10 crinkled and wrinkled dollar bills. She said, "I really like that painting."
That sale, that connection meant so much to me.

During these unsettling times, I am exploring how to keep art accessible as I hope it provides a spiritual care, a sense of hope and a promise of what is good. Because I do not value myself, nor my work, by the price assigned it, I continuously reassess how to sell my work in order to meet my family's financial needs. Most often I use the formula materials plus time, paying myself $12 an hour. I am able to do this because my family has agreed to keep our wants to a minimum and I paint continuously maintaining a large inventory. The greater the inventory the less I need charge per painting.

In order to meet varying needs, I offer 3 other payment options.
1. Rent To Own- For this option we agree on monthly payments with the understanding if folks wish to keep the picture, monies paid go towards purchasing it.
2. Unframing the work- While I keep my framing costs to a minimum , this does add to the purchase price. Therefore, all pictures can be purchased without the frame.
3. Mark Down- When a piece has lived in the gallery for a year, it will then be listed with a price range. The minimum cost, which is basically covering cost and about $5 an hour, to original price. Folks can decide what cost they are able to afford.