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| The Here and Now 18" x 18" painted paper collage on canvas |
In any event, I did reconnect with some part of myself recently to come up with the above piece. I had been on a hike with some friends and saw something across the lake. What I actually saw was that bottom left blue shape. It was sort of the negative space above the hillsides that I saw in the distance. I held on to that image and used it for the starting point of the piece. Everything else flowed from that idea. I should mention too that all of the shapes and things have some kind of basis in reality; my reality, that is. They all remind me of something I have seen or they reflect some idea I had. For example, I follow an artist on Instagram named Tom Harold. He makes rolling ball sculptures and if you don't know what those are you want to hop on over to his site to check them out! He uses all sorts of marbles in his work that roll around on these metal tracks. His constructions are very inspiring. I love to think of lines and shapes and objects sort of traveling around, waiting to fall into place with one another. They are all independent but also interconnected.
The title of the painting comes from something that I just recently put my finger on. Subject matter for art is always an issue. What is the art about? I waffle between art that has some meaning or looks like something recognizable and art that is purely emotional or gestural, perhaps even without meaning. It's both ends of the spectrum and frankly, I don't do either of them well! I don't paint well enough to paint realistically and I lack the impetus and energy to get emotional on the canvas. I am just in the middle somewhere. I finally decided, that for me and for being in this middle ground between subjective and objective, the work is grounded in something, but that something is different for me and different for the viewer. For my part, I tend to deal with things that I have seen or ideas that I have. I am looking around me trying to notice things. Hence the title of The Here and Now. I wait for images and ideas to present themselves. I take those ideas and visual fluff and put them with the colors, shapes, lines, etc. Or it could even be in reverse. I might see a shape I like and it reminds me of something. It's just hard to know what is going to come up and be useful. I can accept that.
Alright, thanks for reading. Hope everyone is having a lovely and gracious holiday season.
Libby
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ReplyDelete"...the work is grounded in something, but that something is different for me and different for the viewer." This is true of all good art, Libby. We all bring our own experiences to what we see, whether it is art or writing or someone's opinion. That is what makes it honest. If we aren't true to our own reflections then we can't create from our core. Your core is different than mine, so what I see in your work is totally from my perspective. I didn't go on that hike with you, but I do hike and I have emotional responses to your work. From that starting point I felt mountains in the distance but more importantly, I focused on the right side, 3/4 up, and I see the letter B, which in my mind, twisted though it might be, stands for BE, which in essence is how I find the experience of hiking in context to the rest of my life. In hiking, in nature, I AM. I can BE, just there in that moment, thus The Here and Now. I think you tap into much more than you realize. I hope you appreciate yourself. I appreciate your, your art, and your honesty.
ReplyDeleteCarol,
DeleteThank you for your encouraging words. I get the idea that you are always trying to help me which is appreciated!
I love that you saw the letter "B" and morphed that into your own meaning. It's nice to be outdoors and simply experience that particular moment, "as is."
It's too hard for me to try and make work that someone will interpret in a certain way. It's much better for me psychologically if people draw their own conclusions, as you did. I will probably always stumble over this (fall into the desire to make work that has an overt meaning that can be read easily) but that is OK. I am happy to bumble along:)
Hope all is well with you and that the snow hasn't gotten you down. The weather looked pretty bad in your area. Thank you again for your visits and insight.
Libby
The meaning just needs to matter to you. Whether someone else can ‘read’ it like you intended is much less important. I recently looked at a Pinterest board of mine and saw lots of your work. I was struck by their vitality. I couldn’t remember all the blog posts that explained their origin, but it didn’t matter. What came through was a playful, visually engaged intelligence.
ReplyDeleteRandall,
DeleteThat is good for me to know, thank you. I can look at the majority of my pieces and remember what I was thinking at the time which I feel must be a good sign.
It has taken me quite awhile to sort things out. Learning just takes some time. Just clobber me over the head with it but I have to agree with you-the meaning only has to matter to me. I feel OK about saying that the piece is about what I was thinking or feeling or about something to do with my own experience. It feels the most honest to me. As long as I am connected to what I am doing. Auto pilot is not for me. If someone said the work felt or looked stagnant that would upset me a lot.
Thank you as always for your visit and kind words. It's always helpful for me.
Hope you are well and not getting too rained on!
Libby
Ah Libby just catching up with your posts. Your abstract work is always wonderful. It seems each of us have different strengths and likes. This piece makes me think of waves or for those of us caught in winter - furrows in the snow. Hope your new year brings you much creating friend. Hugs!
ReplyDeleteDebbie,
DeleteSo glad to hear from you! I am not blogging so regularly these days so it's good that you visited. Glad that you take your own meaning from these pieces. That is important to me and to my mind, makes any kind of abstraction relatable.
I certainly hope you are staying warm and dry. We just had quite the storm roll through, literally. Lots of wind, thunder and lightning. Woosh!
Thank you again for your comments!
Libby