Art – Page 12 – Mary Gwyn's Art

Spotting

“Its not what you look at that matters, its what you see.”—Henry David Thoreau (from Creatingminds.org)

Taking the time to simply observe surroundings can lead to some delightful surprises. Artist’s visual skills will see the pattern or the image in unusual places every time. Designs in frost on the window, patterns in park benches, faces in trees, objects in clouds, an artist will spot the art in all quickly. Mere mortals miss what is plain to the artist.

Pbase.com sponsors The Tree Gallery where artists and photographers can submit unusual tree art, naturally occurring or touched by the artist’s hand. The trees in the gallery are amazing. One fascinating photo is an example of the phenomenon of art made my Mother Nature. “Riverside Cottonwood” by Steve Grooms is particularly bittersweet. He discovered the tree roots of a cottonwood tree recently exposed by floodwaters and finds the art in the roots. He takes the photograph that shares this unusual sight with others. A year later the tree topples over into the Mississippi River. The artist captured the vision before Mother Nature took over and it was lost forever.

The website Patternity focuses on seeing pattern all around in everyday places. The caption on the website reads, “seeing pattern everywhere—from the mundane to the magnificent.” Take a look at the photographs on Patternity to see how surrounded we are by pattern. Suddenly, a stack of chairs takes on a different feeling. A row of windows becomes a pattern to an artist’s eye. Patterns are all around us on a daily basis.

“This is part of what I mean about looking at the world with wonderment,” state authors Andy and Ali of the website ctrl-alt-travel. A look at the website reveals many instances of finding the art in the mundane. A shot of the knots in a rope, spikes in the street, park benches, art is everywhere if we take the time to look.

When in need of inspiration, observing surroundings for odd little patterns and designs is a fun game to play. Waiting in line? Play “spot the art.” Left on hold? Play “spot the art.” You never know what you might find. There are always wonderful new discoveries out there waiting to be spotted.

The tree heart is in a row of trees lining the drive to the Ocala Museum of Art, Ocala, Florida. The other shot is the “knee” of a cypress tree.

A Magical Place

“If these shadows we have offended,

think but this and all is mended,

That you have but slumbered here,

While these visions did appear”

—Shakespeare, A Midsummer Night’s Dream

“The place where the fairies danced” was how my great aunt described a quiet spot in the woods she knew. She was in her eighties. I was around six or seven. The fairies supposedly came out after the rain and danced under the green canopies of the may-apple plants. Aunt Sade called this place Gladey Hollow. A huge old Beech tree marked the entrance to Gladey Hollow. As we walked along in the woods, my aunt could name just about every wildflower and bird. She walked with a cane, using it to point out each plant and bird as we walked. I wish now I could remember more of them.

Images I had in my child’s mind of fairies were from the whimsical illustrations depicting flowers as fairies. I searched and searched in Gladey Hollow but never could see the little woodland creatures. Still I believed they were there. If Aunt Sade said they were there, then they were there. Maybe she actually saw them.

Do artists, who paint fairies and other mythical beings, actually see the creatures? How do they come up with these lovely illustrations? Either they have seen the little folk or they have wonderfully vivid imaginations. I’d like to think they have actually seen the fairies flying around in the woods like Tinkerbell. It could be interesting to find out!

Over the years, Aunt Sade led many people on excursions into the woods for picnics and stories about the little folk. One poet/ artist wrote a poem illustrated in an ink wash painting. In the illustration, the artist has made the poem look like it was carved into the old beech tree:

Have you ever watched the fairies

When the rain is done?

Spreading out their little wings

to dry them

in the sun.

Have you ever heard the fairies

All among the limes–

Singing little fairy tunes

to little fairy rimes.

Have you ever seen the fairies

dancing in the air–

And running off behind the stars

To tidy up their hair?

I have. For I’ve been there–

Miss Sade’s

“Gladey Hollow”

Author: C.E.A.

Evidently, this guy saw them.

Colorful Fridays–“Green” Rose Brown

“In order for the light to shine so brightly, the darkness must be present.” Sir Frances Bacon (from the Painter’s Keys)

Mix cinnamon, ginger and chocolate and you will come up with a color very close to Burnt Sienna, (not to be confused with the rock band, Burnt Sienna). However, you may not want to paint with this mixture. For paint, you will need iron oxide and manganese oxide. Then you will have to set it on fire, unless or course, you are looking for the more yellowish Raw Sienna. In that case, leave off the fire.

Burnt Sienna is an old paint color dating to early cave paintings.. The rose brown of Burnt Sienna was originally called terra rossa or red earth in accounts from the Renaissance period but later came to be known for the Italian city of Siena where the minerals were first mined. Today it is mined on the islands of Sardinia and Sicily, in the French Ardennes and American Appalachians.

Rembrandt favored Burnt Sienna as is evident in the warm rosy glow so characteristic of his paintings. Burnt Sienna is favored in most Renaissance paintings as well. Caravaggio’s chiaroscuro was likely achieved with the liberal use of Burnt Sienna in the rich deep shadows that became his signature style. Burnt Sienna was a popular paint of many of the old masters and continues its popularity to this day.

Most makers of Burnt Sienna today give a light fast rating of one as extremely light fast. Golden classifies it as semi-transparent. The Gamblin Company states today’s Burnt Sienna is more opaque than 200 years ago and recommends Van Dyke Brown or Gamblin Earth Tone Colors as better choices if seeking greater transparency. Daniel Smith, speaking of the watercolor, says Burnt Sienna combines well in glazes as a semi-transparent pigment that won’t “sully or stain the other pigments” in your glaze.

Artists seeking to become more earth-friendly in painting can buy natural pigments of Burnt Sienna for home mixing from EarthPigments.com. If you would like to be more “Green” with your browns, try mixing your own earth tones from actual earth pigments. What could be more natural?

Order natural pigments from Earth Pigments here.

Burnt Sienna, the band, talks about their music on You Tube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ulMrP5tyn30

The Breathing Heart

“Fill your paper with the breathings of your heart.” William Wordsworth (from Becoming Minimalist.com)

Why do we start blogs? Ask that question and many answers will pop up. The most popular are to make money or to promote a business. But a funny thing happens along the way. The heart starts to get into it. The people that become a part of the community interacting with a blog start to become personally meaningful. The blog content begins to focus on who these people are and why.

A popular blogger, Cristian Mihai, answers the questions of his popularity on a post for The Daily Post at WordPress. Mihai says he began his blog to gain audience for his books and was determined to make a go of it. Along the way he made some discoveries. Of one such discovery, he states, “If every post you write means something to you, it’ll undoubtedly mean something to other people, too.” And secondly, he believes consistency is vital. Make a regular post and stay with it. But follow the heart.

Penny Howe in her blog, The Why About This, has a post entitled, “What do we do next, we bloggers, we artists, we people?’ When the heart has begun the process of making a daily foray into the blog post, what next? Howe says make a plan of action. Plan the next moves based on what the heart has revealed. If the goals from the blog’s beginning have changed, take a look at the new goals and arrange the plan of action around the new goals. But first determine what those goals are.

“The best recommendations are still found in the personal realization that blogging changes you,” writes Joshua Becker in Becoming Minimalist. Becker says blogging not only changes your life, it changes the life of the reader as well. He believes writing a blog will inspire others, and the writer in the process.

In making the plan of action, advocated by Penny Howe, perhaps a look at the heart of the matter is at hand. Self- promotion or business promotion may have been the initial reason but as the heart began to speak more openly and coherently, the reason possibly changed. As the heart begins to breath, encourage it to continue. Breathing is a good thing.

Edible Adjustments

“To say that a work of art is good, but incomprehensible to the majority of men, is the same as saying of some kind of food that is very good but that most can’t eat it.” Leo Tolstoy (from Brainyquote)

Does making a living diminish the subject of political statements in artist’s works? Many artists feel very strongly about political causes and seek to project this viewpoint in their art. However, artists also want to make a living doing the work they are passionate about. The difficulty may be in finding a marketable role for an artist’s work while maintaining a passionate direction.

“Visual Arts has a role to play in encouraging us to search through the ‘fragments and bigger pieces’ of our world and to piece them together in ways which allow us to explore, describe, contemplate, manipulate and bring them alive,” writes the author of an article for Artstuff.net. The statement suggests a political motivation is a requirement for art creation. Artists must have a higher purpose in their work to adhere to this role for art in today’s world.

The Art Newspaper, reporting on the Frieze London art fair, makes the following observation: “Reflecting complex social issues, political situations and personal causes is important to many artists, but confrontational works are commercially difficult.” Though the artist’s role is to encourage searching, too much searching may not sell art. While one writer is suggesting art’s role is to prod the viewer into a form of enlightenment, the second writer says that politics does not necessarily sell art.

Artists make art because of an inner force. Success comes from the ability to steer this force into a commercially viable direction followed by aggressive marketing. If the goal is to promote a deeply felt political cause it may be worth contemplating how that can be accomplished in a way more likely to stimulate exploration than as an outright in the face statement. The inner drive may be difficult to steer but worth the effort in the long run if seeking commercial success. Making art edible “to the majority of men,” may mean a little creative adjustment. After all, we all want to be edible.

Channeling

“The position of the artist is humble. He is essentially a channel.” Piet Mondrian (from Artpromotivate)

What makes an artist create? For some it is the process of art- making. Others are obsessed with some particular subject, model or location. some just want to make a living. But does that really explain what makes a painter, paint or a sculptor, sculpt? There are lots of postulations on the subject.

Artist Charles Spratt has several different ideas. He says, “It must be for the love of it—it can’t be for the money.” Spratt is likely right on that point. He goes on to discuss the pleasure of creating and developing new ideas. The satisfaction of selling work is also a good reason many artists continue working, according to Spratt.

In the Painted Generations blog, author Barbara Hartsook gives three reasons why painters paint or writers write. Her first reason is, “to lose oneself in play and discovery.” Artists get lost in the process of creating and by the fascination of experimenting with the materials. Secondly, Hartsook states, “To reconnect with oneself.” And lastly, she says, “To express oneself and tell stories.” What this author has laid out is likely very true with a number of artists, may be even the majority of artists. We play, we connect, and we tell stories.

The LaMantia Gallery wrote on the subject of why artists continue to paint the same subject repeatedly. The writer gives three reasons: “market expediency, pursuit of perfection and experimentation.” Artists staying on the same subject because it sells might be a very good reason to continue with a particular subject. The other two reasons suggest that it is something the artist is compelled to do whether in search of perfection or for the fun of experimentation.

All three writers give good reasons why artists paint. And all are right. “For the love of it.,” is important. To lose, reconnect, and express oneself is part of the process, too. Making a living is vital for most artists, as is the pursuit of perfection. But the long and short of it, no matter what reasons you may give, is, simply, artists create because they must. Inside every painter is a little Voice that says, “Paint!” And writer, “Write!” Sculptor, “Sculpt!” While all other reasons are true, that little Voice is the only one that matters.

Experimenting Experimenters

“Let us see how high we can fly before the sun melts the wax in our wings.” Edward O. Wilson (from The Painters Keys)

Many artists are experimenters who constantly search for new ways to express themselves through their art. They look for new techniques. They try different media. Some even come up with non-traditional materials not generally thought of as art making material. Others look for new uses of traditional materials. Still others seek out new and different subject matter.

The UK’s Daily Mail has an article focused on artist Gerald Toni and his use of coffee and tea to paint beautiful life-like works of people and objects set in coffee houses. He uses various blends of coffee and tea from all over the world. The amazing range of color values in his paintings come from years of experimenting with the different coffee and tea blends.

Watercolorist Carrie Lin, as told by Margaret DeRitter of Michigan Live has developed a unique method in her paintings using different papers such as yupo and rice paper. For the rice paper work she uses a crinkle technique perfected with years of experimentation. In the yupo paintings, she applies ink, allowing it to slide over the slick surface of the paper. Lin then uses both techniques as the background for her beautiful abstract paintings.

If you are in the mood to try for something new and different, Amiria Robinson has outlined techniques, methods and materials to try out in a series of articles for Student Art Guide “Entitled Beyond the Brush.” You might try painting with a mop or maybe your feet. You could experiment by painting with a rag. How about turning things around and dipping the paper or canvas into the paint instead of the other way around? Robinson described a number of lively suggestions worth trying just for the fun of it.

In the process of experimenting, artists are forever evolving and changing the way people view their world. This constant evolution brings color and expression to our lives. I wonder what the next development in the art world will be. Artists are always bringing new things to life.

Let Them Make Art!

“ I gave them paint. All it takes. These politicians make things too complicated.”

Elena Thomas (from Artists Talking in A-N)

Put a group of people into a room full of art supplies and watch what happens. People find ways to create things. They experiment with materials, forms, and limitations. They solve problems. They begin to talk to each other in different ways. They even bond. And, generally, they have fun.

Bob Bates is the founder of Inner City Arts, an organization to provide art -making projects to urban youth. Bates, in an interview with It Magazine believes the process of creating art leads to better self- confidence. Bates states, “Making art requires thinking and decisions: what color will I use, how can I make this stand up, how can I make this stronger, quieter, brighter, more bendable.” The self -confidence comes as they see the evidence of how they solved the problems in making their individual art.

A research study by Julia Kellman of the University of Illinois, Urbana, found that people facing life -threatening illness were able to begin opening up and talking about their illness as they participated in art making projects together. The group bonded in the process of making art, leading to a greater feeling of safety to expose personal feelings and talk about what they were experiencing.

Lisa Phillips, writes in The Artistic Edge, “Artists are constantly pushed to explore unchartered territory. The truly great ones are those that produce new and exciting work that has never before been created.” Artists are always, by their very nature, pushing for improvement, to do something better than the last creation. Each piece is a learning experience that leads to the next one. Creativity begets more creativity.

As artists know, art making brings about creativity, problem-solving and bonding. It could be a very child-like, simplistic answer for much bigger problems. Picasso is frequently quoted as having said, “Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain one when we grow up.” Wouldn’t it be a hoot if all politicians were required to go into a room full of art supplies with orders to make art? What a lot of problems would then be solved! However, as the old saying goes, “If wishes were horses .….”

Reference:

Kellman, J (2005). HIV, art and a journey toward healing, one man’s story. Journal of Aesthetic Education. 39(3), Fall 2005

Colorful Fridays–Shady Green

“Like emotions, colours are a reflection of life.” – Janice Glennaway (from Irene Osborne)

Most greens fall into the yellow spectrum following the colors of leaves, grass and other growing things of the natural world. These greens usually produce a nice mud color if mixed with red. The discovery of Viridian green changed that, creating a clear bluish green perfect for cooler uses and making a better glazing green. Mixed with alizarin crimson, viridian makes a beautiful grey, similar to Payne’s grey. Viridian next to red creates an energetic drama.

In the early nineteenth century, painters began looking for a less toxic green than the highly toxic emerald green. Painting Through the Ages states that viridian is Chromium oxide Dihydrate and was first patented in 1859 by Guignet of Paris. It quickly became a widely used color. So popular now it is even seen in the paint of cars as in the new Chevy Volt. For artists, viridian’s uses vary according to artist but remains very popular and a “must have” right next to alizarin crimson.

Golden Paints says viridian green has excellent permanency. And Gamblin says viridian is very good as a tint. Paintmaking.com and others state viridian is excellent for oil painters but not the best green for water-based media. Its transparent qualities and tinting ability do not hold up as well in acrylics, watercolor or gouache.

The writer of the website Paintmaking advises to pay attention to the quality of viridian as some manufacturers may not fully purify the pigment leaving problematic traces of borate and chromate. In the case of Viridian, apparently, you will get what you pay for so test the different brands. The quality is worth the price.

For oil painters, viridian makes a beautiful cool green for shade, water and other areas the yellowish greens would tend to heat up. Few artists use it straight, usually diluting it with titanium white, ultramarine or alizarin. Straight or mixed, viridian will grab attention, even in the shade.

For the daring, here is a guide to mixing your own viridian from Painting Through the Ages.

A color guide of the many beautiful mixes that can be made with viridian is demonstrated by Colorbay.com.

Wetcanvas.com has an excellent discussion (here) posted of artists explaining their uses of viridian green. Very informative!

Happy shady painting!

Gallery Medicine

“Art galleries should be apothecaries of our deeper self.” Alain de Botton

A growing body of research is revealing what artists have long known. There is healing in art. As more research is conducted more will be known. Medical and nursing schools are beginning to incorporate more arts in curriculum. Even though artists know of the healing potential of art, do galleries and museums know?

Two studies, (Lazarus 2003, Riis 2000), have shown the potential for art to lead to a better understanding in medical students of the human condition by helping the students relate to various emotions depicted in art. Students visit a museum and are encouraged to examine the emotion portrayed in the art and compare to situations encountered in medicine. The results have revealed the students gain a greater expression of empathy. In the second study, the authors conclude, “ …the humanities and the arts offer approaches and inspiration that are of the greatest value to the education of doctors of all levels, (Tidsskr 2000).

Yet museums have not seemed to embrace this. In an article in The Guardian’s arts section, Alain de Botton suggests that museums and galleries arrange art according to emotion. There would be sections for love, hope, mood and more. He believes art has the ability to “rebalance our moods, lend us hope, usher in calm, stretch our sympathies, reignite our senses and awaken appreciation.” As such, if galleries recognize these facts, they could promote art as healing

I have seen this aspect of art in my own work and wonder why the concept of art’s healing potential has not yet gained wider recognition. It is a slow process and takes time. Or that “science versus art” thing remains a major barrier. Hopefully, the barrier will continue to come down and art will become a more widely utilized tool for the medical profession, in galleries and in hospitals.

Kathe Kollwitz was a master at depicting human emotion. Visit the Kollwitz Museum website for more on her work.

References:

1. Lazarus PA, Rosslyn FM.,(2003). The Arts in Medicine: setting up and evaluating a new special study module at Leicester Warwick Medical School, Medical Education, 2003 Jun;37(6):553-9

2. Riis P. (2000). [Humanities and art as a part of medical education]. Tidsskr Nor Laegeforen. 2000 Dec 10;120(30):3738-40 (article in Norwegian)

Tag: Art

Spotting

Like this:

A Magical Place

Like this:

Colorful Fridays–“Green” Rose Brown

Like this:

The Breathing Heart

Like this:

Edible Adjustments

Like this:

Channeling

Like this:

Experimenting Experimenters

Like this:

Colorful Fridays–Shady Green

Like this:

Gallery Medicine

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this: