Art Exhibition - Types and Shadows

Since my genre for painting is allegory, metaphor, and symbolism I was interested in this Exhibition - Types and Shadows: Intimations of Divinity. I can't go see it since it's in Utah but I looked it up online. Brigham Young University Museum of Art has an added bonus of artist's podcasts. I enjoyed listening to what the artists had to say (very short sound bits) about their own paintings. For you art enthusiasts I have included the links to the site and podcasts. Ideally, listening to the audio while looking at the artwork aids in understanding what the artist is talking about. Consider it your art edification for the day.

Click here for Artist's audio podcasts of their artwork in this exhibition

I particularly like David Linn, Christopher Young, Wilson Ong, and Brian Kershisnik's audio. I've included links to their professional websites.

David Linn, ...And Then I Looked..., 2005 17.5" x 24.94"

Wilson Ong The Daughter of Jairus, 1996 41" x 34"

Art Talk Tuesday - Iconography

ICONOGRAPHY
\ˌī-kə-ˈnä-grə-fē\

an image, subject, or style that is traditionally or popularly used to 

represent, symbolize, or associate meaning to another thing

a visual image used to represent a religious figure

symbolism associated with an image

A classic example of a contemporary icon. The iconography of love has long been associated with the heart. It's symbolism is recognized by most people.

It relates to cause and effect because the creation of an art image can become an icon with associated iconography without that being the intent of the artist but the effect nonetheless.

Art Talk Tuesday - Happy Accident

HAPPY ACCIDENT

[hap-ee  ak-si-duhnt]

the development between ability, action, and accident toward a delighted outcome

There isn't a definition that I found for the words painters use to describe the happening of a happy accident. I'll describe why I came up with my definition.

First, ability. There has to be some kind of ability or aptitude that the person is putting forth, some starting point for the process.

Second, action. It's in the doing that there is opportunity for discovery.

Third, accident. In the process there is some expectation from the deliberate ability and action. In the accident there is a misstep but isn't defined as a mistake because of the fortunate or lucky outcome.

In my research I think 'happy accident' is similar to the original meaning of serendipity, the 1557 definition, not today's definition.

Serendipity: 'were always making discoveries by accidents and sagacity, of things they were not in quest of'

'the unintended consequences of intended actions'

'looking for one thing and finding another'

'discovery of things unsought'

(from the 1557 publication in Venice of The Three Princes of Serendip) 

Serendipity: How the Vogue Word Became Vague - link here

Today's definition doesn't really take into account the sagacity of serendipity. Today serendipity is just a chance discovery with a chance event without any deliberate effort. Despite most artists possibly not being able to define it they definitely know it when they see and feel it. Though I can't remember a specific painting I know I have had it happen. 

Art Talk Tuesday - Signatures

SIGNATURE

[sig-nuh-cher, -choor] –noun

a person's name, or a mark representing it

the act of signing a document

one's name as written by oneself
a distinctive mark, characteristic, or sound indicating identity

any unique, distinguishing aspect, feature, or mark

dictionary.com

The idea for an artist is to make the signature unique and recognizable without taking away from the image. There are as many different ways as there are people. Here's a sample of other artist's signatures -

 Christopher Thornock signs with an iconic T in a square

 Carol Maine uses 2 different signatures, her initial and her last name

 Otto Lange uses and O with a number above it and to the right, the number represents the year

 and I use my name  (mine's bigger not out of some psychological superiority thing but because I have access to larger file sizes than are available from other artists)

Everyone is unique and their signatures show it.

Art Talk Tuesday - Rejection

REJECTION 

noun [ri-jek-shuhn]

to refuse to have, take, recognize, accept, grant, recognize, discard

to deny, repel, eliminate, renounce, consider, dismiss, rebuff

Here are some of the ways we artist's receive the news. 

From my personal "Rejection" file, thank you very much.

EX: "not accepted" on a postcard

EX: "the entry has been declined - we sincerely thank your for your submission"

EX: "we regret to inform you" hidden in a lengthy letter

EX: "we hope that creating your artwork was rewarding, regrettably..." followed by an invitation to see the works that made it in

Artist's have to figure out (as well as other's) how to deal with rejection and put it into perspective. Here are some good quotes to help in that direction. These apply to more than art.

The following quotes are from The Painter's Key - Rejection Art Quotes click here

There are more on the site.

Learn to eat rejection – it will make you stronger. 

(Bob Ragland)

[My new motto!!]

There is a large degree of trust in working creatively... people are so defined by their work, it becomes very personal: you reject an idea, you're rejecting a person. (Nina Sadowsky)

Rejection is a speck, like a bit of unwanted debris, imbedded like a pebble in our psyche, and it stays there niggling away and undermining our self-confidence until we feel strong enough to pull it out. (Janet Warrick)

How you react to rejection is important. It is not the rejection of others that truly affects us, the problem occurs when... that rejection by others causes us to "reject" ourselves. (Chris Tyrell)

We keep going back, stronger, not weaker, because we will not allow rejection to beat us down. It will only strengthen our resolve. To be successful there is no other way. (Earl G. Graves)

Rejection is the natural course of things. (Eric Walters)

Art Talk Tuesday - Surrealism

Salvador Dali                               Persistence of Memory

SURREALISM 

 Surrealist, n. — Surrealistic, adj.

A 20th-century literary and artistic movement that attempts to express the workings of the subconscious and is characterized by fantastic imagery and incongruous juxtaposition of subject matter. A controversial movement... in which the artist attempted to portray, express, or interpret the workings of the subconscious mind; in painting it found expression in two techniques, the naturalistic (Dali) and the abstract (Miró). The Free Dictionary

I'm not much into Surrealism because I can never figure out what they're trying to say. Obviously, the artist is trying to convey something because of the way things are juxtapositioned. It's almost like talking with someone in a foreign language or reading a foreign language and becoming frustrated because there is no real communication. There is something lost. And Dali may have left enough text behind to explain some of his work but it is not available to most of us unless we research it. So, we are left with the image and title of the painting. 

That is why I try and make my images something that can stand alone without text. I add meaning to enhance the painting but if that is lost I want a viewer to be able to still enjoy it on it's own merits.

This is a different direction than I am thinking this week for 'dreams' but this is the closest (subconscious mind) to dreams I could think of. Enjoy your day and the art talk.

Art Talk Tuesday - Conceptual Art

CONCEPTUAL ART

(kn-spch-l)  (ärt)

The beginning was in the 1960's. Not surprisingly a reaction and challenge to the traditional definitions of art and beauty. It is art that is concerned with the idea, or concept, first and foremost with its construction not limited by any boundaries in material. It deals with more of the senses in the mind than the senses of the eye. It sets out to create mental sensation by being provocative, shocking, controversial, or extreme. This gave birth to the ideas of Installation and Performance Art.

sketchbook concept

I connect with conceptual art as far as the idea or concept goes. After that I part ways. I am a traditionalist in skill, craft, medium, and aesthetics. But the concept, the beginning of the painting, that is the creative and exciting part to me. I have ideas all the time that I put into sketchbooks. Often I have more words, questions, and thoughts than I do images. After the conceptual part come working with visual aspects.

Art Talk Tuesday - Sentimentality

SENTIMENTALITY

[sen-tuh-men-tal-i-tee] noun

falsely emotional in a maudlin way [syn: mawkishness] 

extravagant or affected feeling or emotion

induce an emotional response disproportionate to the situation

In the art world sentimental art was not a good way for one's art to be described. Here is a quote that sums up, quite accurately, how the art community views sentimental art.

"....blameworthy because it simplifies the object of our attention. Sentimentality depends upon quick, predictable, and familiar reactions. Such reactions are....shallow, trite, or clichéd, and moreover they become habitual, routinized. Sentimentality makes no demand on us, requires no struggle, involves only a narrow range of feelings, arouses no thought or feeling about the real world, and both contributes to and is supported by a general failure of the imagination. Sentimentality prefers the obvious and avoids the ambiguous. A sentimental response is somehow unsophisticated, unlearned, undisciplined....sentimentality leads us away from active, cognitive engagement with the ambiguities and complexities of the real....toward the over-simplified, the distorted, the falsified, the fantasized, the fictional. Sentimentality encourages complacency....[and] it transforms the aesthetic into the anesthetic." Nick Capasso quotes Deborah Knight http://www.tfaoi.com/aa/5aa/5aa192a.htm

Here are some other words that you might hear someone use when describing sentimental art: sweet, quaint, precious, polite, idealized, nostalgic, cliche, softer emotions, victorian, anti-intellectual, emotional lies, or synthetic emotion.

One such artist in this camp is Norman Rockwell. I happen to like Rockwell.

Art Talk Tuesday - Collaboration

COLLABORATION [kuh-lab-uh-rey-shuhn] 

the act or process of collaborating

working together on a common project

to work together, especially in a joint intellectual effort

One of the reasons I really like this blog is that I get to collaborate with others.  And it isn't just 'art' people but regular people connecting in an artsy way. It gives a totally different perspective when others can join in on naming, adding symbolic meaning, or picking content to a painting. I hope others have enjoyed it as much as I have.

Art Talk Tuesday - Drawing

Okay, it's 11:51 pm - still Tuesday - it counts.

                                                                                                  my sketchbook

DRAWING

[draw-ing]

a graphic representation by lines of an object or idea, as with a pencil; a delineation of form without reference to color; a sketch, plan, or design, esp. one made with pen, pencil, or crayon; the art or technique of making these

Here is a quote that sums up how I feel about drawing -

"Drawing is the supreme way of blotting out your ignorance of a subject... establishing wisdom in its place.... Drawing is learning. It is discipline, a measuring stick with which to see if there is honesty in you. It's a confessional; it will reveal everything about you while you imagine you are revealing someone else [in portraiture]. Drawing is the poet's written line, set down to see if there be a story worth telling, a truth worth revealing."

Irving Stone The Agony and the Ecstasy: A biographical Novel of Michelangelo pg 78

Drawing THE basic in art.

Art Talk Tuesday - Studios

STUDIO [stoo-dee-oh]

the workroom of an artist, aka an atelier  [Fr. atuh-lyey]

a place for instruction or experimentation

I am surprised at how pics of my studio seem to inspire so many people. My studio was posted on Addicted to Decorating by Kristi. I mentioned before that it was posted on HGTV Rate My Space as well. (more news on that Friday) With the comments of others I have come to the conclusion that most people need some kind of space to do what inspires them. To be creative. Usually we just think of artisans when we think creative but creativity isn't limited to artists. Everyone needs some kind of 'studio'. Whether it ends up being a suitcase, study, shop, or studio the space isn't as important as the activity that's associated with it. Sometimes we forget that. I haven't always had a studio but I've always looked for ways to be creative in my life. And I think I love my studio more because I haven't always had a space like this. Figure out what kind of little space you can carve out for yourself and let yourself be inspired. 

Art Talk Tuesday - Painting Orientation

Basic Art Training Tuesday is just learning a little art talk.

ORIENTATION

Portrait or Landscape

There are 2 ways that rectangular paintings are referred to in their orientation, or position. Portrait or Landscape. 

Portrait is where a painting is taller (vertical) than wider (horizontal). 

Landscape is the opposite. 

Landscape is wider (vertical) than taller (horizontal). 

It is easy to remember - when we look at a person we look up and down and with a landscape side to side. 

It is the measurements (horizontal to vertical) of the rectangle not the content of the painting.

PORTRAIT ORIENTATION  Jessie 20" x  15"

LANDSCAPE ORIENTATION   Alisha with Letter oil  16" x 19"

Art Talk Tuesday - Small Works

Basic Training Tuesday is just a little art talk. 

SMALL WORKS

artwork no larger that 144 square inches (about 12" x 12")

works usually in the range of 4" x 6" (24 square inches) through 10" x 12" (120 square inches)

though some works can be as small as 2" x 3" (6 square inches)

These art pieces can show a single small item (like a marble), a complete landscape, or a portrait. Some of the miniature small works need a magnifying glass to view the detail. These artworks are a nice entry level for the beginning collector. 

My small works (8" x 8") are viewed under Mini-Monday.

Art Talk Tuesday - Impasto

Van Gogh

IMPASTO

[im-pas-toh, -pah-stoh] n. pl. im·pas·tos

  Itallian origin 1775–85; n. deriv. of impastare to impaste

Thick paint. The application of thick layers of pigment to a painting surface. Painting that applies the pigment thickly so that brush or palette knife marks are visible.

Usually only referred to when thick pigment is applied over a majority of the artwork. It often draws you attention so much so that it may become the focal point. Impasto is tactile creating texture to the touch. The raised paint reflects light differently than a flatter surface and it takes a very long time for the paint under the surface to dry throughly. 

Art Talk Tuesday - Grisaille

Basic Training Tuesday will be a day where I add just a little art talk. I'll add vocabulary, news, or something interesting as it applies to some basic art principles. 

GRISAILLE

[gri-zahy, -zeyl; Fr. gree-zah-yuh ]

1. monochromatic painting in shades of gray.

2. a work of art, as a painting or stained-glass window, executed in grisaille.

Origin: 1840–50;

After the grisaille underpainting is completed a layer of color is then applied over the top leaving some of the underpainting to show through. I liked this as it was. I've left a few paintings in the grisaille stage because i've liked them so much.