A Matter of Perspective
Hello and Welcome,
It’s been quite a while since my last blog, somehow life and health issues get in the way of our desires, as we all know that living and living happily is the most important of all agendas.
My latest painting release: The Sunflower
This painting was a class study for my students to bring some fun into a prior week of heavy technical repetition. Once everyone was settled and ready to paint, I placed a vase of draping and stretching sunflowers in the center of the table and handed out to my students a single plastic glove.
One student dangling the glove, said “and what are we to do with this?” This began the fun and laughter!
The only instruction was to paint with your fingers any part of what you see. There was an array of painting compositions while the next three hours were full of laughter and the intent to try all the different effects that a wrinkled glove and their imagination could produce.
Although a well-thought-out painting is the understanding of the composition, perspective, color perspective, values… just to name a few technical terms that are so important to a balanced painting, nothing can open the imagination as letting go of the stress of perfection and offering your work to the interpretation of others.
I’ll never forget a country cottage commissioned painting I did long ago, the painting contained a hedgerow that balanced out the perspective placement of the cottage and on the hedgerow grew roses (of course). My Mom was visiting and loved that painting. As the painting dried and I was preparing it for shipping, Mom pointed to a full-grown Collie dog standing behind the hedge and she said, I just love that Collie. What Collie? I was confused and concerned; and asked, “where do you see a Collie?” What she saw as a Collie in what I had painted was the swash of the brush movement creating the leaves and a rose. As I centered in on that ‘particular spot’ of my concern, I saw the Collie! Nope, I did not correct it, I embraced my dear Mom’s interpretation. And after that, I could only see the Collie.
Which brings me to the matter of perspective.
Perspective is magical, both calculated and spontaneous!
Recently, my husband and I were enjoying a cup of coffee on the North Bay shore at Kayak Park in Allyn, Washington. It’s a small tucked-away park, south of the larger waterfront park, with amazing views. The tide was out, and on the mud close to the deeper water I gasped at a large bear perhaps fishing for salmon… his head and shoulder turned as he edged closer to the water. I snapped a shot:
I was amazingly intrigued that this bear was out fishing, doing his thing behind homes that backed to the waterfront. I knew there were bears around as not so long ago an adult black bear casually strolled through our back yard. But this was a unique sighting! After a while, I noticed that my bear was constantly turning in the same direction. For a more in-depth investigation, I got out of the car and walked to the water’s edge and down the beach several yards for a better view. The mystery was solved, my beautiful bear was a large rock with a smaller rock as the shoulder and head. The incoming tide was rolling up and over the smaller rock, with a visual impact of the bear’s head and shoulder turning, reaching…fishing! I had to laugh, then felt a bit sad that it was all perspective. The magic of perspective! I realized all over again the value and importance of perspective. I had to be in that very spot on the beach, at that exact time for the tide to wash over a smaller rock and create the image and bring the bear to life. It was a good day!
Without perspective there is no depth into the far-away mood and life of your creation. It is the most essential ingredient for walking along with the painter on their artistic journey.
Supporting the Arts
If you are in the Belfair area and would like to meet my friend and student, a very talented artist Colleen Harlow is showing as the Featured Artist at the Belfair Self-Storage for the entire month of May.
23270 NE State Route 3, Belfair, WA, United States, Washington
Stop in and view her art Monday through Saturday 9 AM to 4 PM with a Special Reception on Sunday, May 7th from 2 to 4 PM.
Hope to see you there!
