Wednesday, November 21, 2018

If there's a problem, fix it


Art is the opposite of math and other studies. There is no one answer and yet there are
many problems. Once you solve one  you often create another. Abstract art is challenging in 
that it is so personal and primal.The rules are the same. You have to pull all the elements of art
together in one piece; composition, color, value, line, pattern, balance, rhythm....... easy, right?

My experience has been that abstract art is not easier, it is actually harder. You are not trying to render a scene, still life, or model as they appear in front of you. You are trying to reinterpret them
in another language entirely, your language. Another way many abstract artists work is entirely from their imagination and intuition.


If you don't have a knowledge of abstract art it is easy to dismiss it. Despite my art education
and exposure to the arts I did not understand it until I took an abstract painting class with
Norma Mutch.  Art feels so much more expansive. My painting alternates between the two worlds of abstraction and realism. When I go to museums and galleries the experience
doubles in richness. Photography still feels like an integral part of my process but even that is 
changing.