Trying new thingsWhile visiting the Washington National Cathedral, I was struck my the beauty of a blossoming cherry tree in the Bishop's Garden. I have always liked cathedrals, even as a noninstitutionalized person - their size and magnificence. But standing by this weeping cherry tree, I found a similarly spiritual experience. I thought about the juxtaposition of two testaments to God's glory. One is man-made, high, stoney, and ornate while the other is knobbly, organic, imperfect, and beautiful. Although I did not grow up Christian and I don't identify as one now, my spirituality was stirred.
On the technical side of things, I am finally trying to paint with oils. Due to the high level of detail, this is an exceptionally ambitious exploratory painting into a new medium. So far, it's going well. Brunaille painting is not as difficult as I thought it would be. Hopefully, this will lead into more oil paintings and more high-quality work.
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This home project is not so much one finished project as a collection of artistic practices. I wanted to attempt charcoal portraits, but I instead turned to flora and other things. My two favorites are the buttercups and the toes and these are the two I chose to mat and hang. For "Toes", I focused on creating an interesting subject and perspective. Usually, we rarely think about our toes and undersides of our feet. Toes are peripheral and at times avoided. So I thought it would be interesting to display toes at a large scale right in the viewer's face. Contrast this effect with that of the safe, comfortable subject matter in "Buttercups".
Of these four works, I displayed "Toes" and Buttercups" but not "Maple Leaves" or "Carolina". This is because I did not feel like the latter two were finished. This brings up an interesting question on what makes a work "finished". I am a strong believer in the artistic philosophy that less is more - many of my favorite works are ones that I spent very little time on. But sometimes, pieces seem to lack a feeling of full development. For this project, I'm happy that I focused on producing many works rather than one "finished" work. It allowed me to not get too committed to one project, but rather create more freely. |