mcauleyhouseartists: Unity and Variety

Thursday, July 4, 2013

Unity and Variety

Dana

Unity and variety were the two words that came to mind for this blog post. The unity or sometimes referred to as harmony of a work of art generally enables the viewer to perceive the work of art as whole. The viewer experiences an immediate connection in a visual sense. Variety tends to be the counterpart of unity- something exists within the work of art that grabs the viewer's attention. While I was reviewing the latest group creations I saw unity and variety mixed with the perfect amount of tension, as well as this great artistic willingness to to take risks.

Daniel

Bob catches a fish

Maria completes her tropical bird

Daniel works on a a painting of downtown Providence. The painting will be given to the Mayor as a "Thank You " present for the selection of McAuley House to receive funding from the Dexter Fund

Other Art Happenings

Last weekend I went to an art exhibit, Art in the Garden, at St Peter's & St Andrew's Episcopal church. The setting was perfect for an afternoon of viewing art and listening to music. Rev. Dr. Joyce Penfield was the organizer and spiritual force behind the event. Ron's art looked beautiful in the courtyard as did the work of some of his recent students. The gardens were in full bloom as well as the art . Congratulations Joyce, Bijan, Esteban, Jennie, Yule and all the other participants that created a a beautiful experience full of unity, variety and lots of soul !

About the Art Program

5 Ways to Grow as an Artist

So how would a Cassatt or a Henri or Picasso approach painting differently than we do today? How might this heartfelt fear of others controlling our painting process impact our self-understanding as artists? Here are five possible answers:

1. Making a successful picture is not the goal. Think of periods, such as childhood, when we grew, our self-understanding changed and we became more of who we are. There was an endless stream of events where we expressed ourselves and slowly began to discover the things that pleased us. As with the sense of freedom characterized above, the entire payoff was growth. The events of life when we grow are the things that happen along the way. Making art should be exactly the same. Paintings are just the series of events or steps we take. Let them go. Keep moving. Or as Henri implored, “Keep living.”

2. The painting process is always a beginning. As soon as the freshness evaporates (we are bored or lost or acquire interest in something else), stop. Do not think in terms of finishing. Picasso lectures eloquently on this. Finish is the death of our work because it means we are painting an expectation or “to be like” and that puts the brakes on painting to see and feel more deeply. Every beginning is a new prompt, a new point of departure. Begin everything. Finish nothing.

3. Ignore non-artist authorities. Juries, the grantors, the gallery, the direction from above are just so many fingers in our pie. All external measures are dangerous because they not only push us to performing, as opposed to creating, but their sense of worth takes over our own. This is precisely what Parisian artists fought against.

4. Get into a prolonged creative process. Have dozens of paintings in your studio that have been abandoned for one reason or another, left in various stages, unfinished but always complete as expressions of who you were at that moment. Work on several paintings simultaneously. You are not making shoes.

5. Furnish the world with your beauty, let the world see, touch and feel who you are. Scary I know. It is so much easier to hide within safe fortresses, the sources of praise and dignity that we can count on by pleasing our audience. This is the dreaded condition called style. We cannot be free to be who we are if we are not always risking being who we are in front of others.