I recently took a sculpture class at Ringling College, the gift of a good friend. While the focus in the class was on planar sculpture (this image is one of my projects, done in copper), I learned a great deal about three-dimensional work, which I am looking forward to applying to mosaic. For one thing, the instructor, Joni Younkins-Herzog, emphasized looking at a piece to be sure that it was interesting from all sides. Since I've been working mostly in two dimensions on flat surfaces with mosaic heretofore, this basic tenet had not penetrated my brain. Well, duh! I also learned about considering negative space, and how to move away from my predominantly realistic approach to see an image in more abstract, suggestive terms. I was hoping for this transition; I had been feeling for quite a while that I was sort of "stuck" in the realism mode.
Now I am re-examining all of the 3-D pieces I've done previously -- as well as my ideas for future projects -- to see how they can be improved using the techniques and theories I've learned in the class. It was great to be in class again -- like a brain refreshment, which I'm sure will improve any art I do in the future.
I like to be reminded, often, of the artists I admire and learn from. My fridge features a rotating display of my favorite inspirations. You can see that those who have a way with color are high on my list. Betty Bolivar, whose card on the top middle features one of her unique portraits, is always fresh and inspiring. Elizabeth St. Hilaire Nelson, whose peacock is middle-right, creates luminous color in her collages. Tom Stephens, just above the water dispenser, is a Sarasota artist who builds layers of texture and color in paintings that I always find engrossing -- they are almost like mosaics with blobs of pigment.
One of the markers I use to judge artwork is the fact that you never get tired of looking at good art. Naturally I see my fridge many times during the day, and I always get inspired by what I see -- it's almost like taking a class every time I walk into my kitchen. What inspires you?
July 4th is always a special day for me, not only because it's our national holiday, but also because it's my birthday too. I've read a lot about our founding fathers, and continue to be amazed that such an extraordinary group of people lived on this Earth at one time and managed to agree with each other enough to put together the framework for this wonderful country of ours that has endured - through thick and thin - for 234 years with freedoms intact.
I am especially thankful whenever I think about how we are at liberty to create any kind of "art" that we feel like. If you watched last week's episode of "Work of Art," you might have shared my reactions: I don't enjoy "shock art," but I sure appreciate the fact that those artists can create it without fear of being hauled off to prison or worse to satisfy the blindered views of some totalitarian rulers. Sure, our institutions of government and politics have great faults, but repression of freedom of expression is not one of them. Cue the fireworks.
Today is Sunday, the cat is napping and it's too hot to work in the garden, so here I am. This is the first post for a blog about mosaic and art and anything else that I feel like writing about.My thanks to my friend Elizabeth St. Hilaire Nelson, a wonderful collage artist, who inspired me to start blogging! Her blog is called "Paper Paintings". I love her use of vibrant colors, and she creates lots of birds in her paintings, which is a subject I love as well.The pictures show a sculpture that I've just started. The form was given to me by another friend, Margo Barber, the founder of the Manatee Mosaic Group, which I joined a few months ago. We spend a very happy day once a month inspiring each other with our current mosaic projects at a lovely retreat center in the woods. Margo brought me this duck form after hearing me tell how I like to work on 3-D mosaics. I decided that if I were a plain duck, I'd like to be decorated with something really fancy, so I've started mosaicking flamingoes all over it. I'm using pink glass tiles in 3 or 4 shades, cut into small pieces. The picture shows a start; I'll post more as I continue working on it.
