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Carolyn Anderson |
Thoughts on Painting
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Judging Art
I just finished judging the September submissions for the RayMar Art Competition and have some thoughts about art contests. There is not one of us who does not like winning an award for our art. It is, of course, a validation that what we do is appreciated by someone else. Making art is primarily a solitary profession, and we all need to be recognized at some point in our careers. There is, however, a downside to picking the “best” paintings in any category. The perception becomes one of better or worse, right or wrong, and, unfortunately, winners or losers. There really is no right or wrong in the creation of any art. There are certain acceptable parameters in judging paintings – composition, values, color, unity, etc. – but there are also many variables that cannot be quantified. Realist painting comes with its own set of parameters and craft can certainly be one of them. But I have yet to agree that craft alone will make a great painting. Craft without creativity is only part of the equation. When we make judgments about what is acceptable, or not, what is good, or not, and what “realism” is, or is not, we end up narrowing the possibilities of what our paintings can be. Painting is about learning to see - and hopefully, sharing how we see and what is visually important to us with others. We share a responsibility to interpret, not to try and re-create. We need to be open to the adventure of exploring, visual information. If we accept that what we paint can never be “real”, then we should be able to take our “reality” and see it in new and interesting ways.
Thoughts on Edges A couple of weeks ago, Sheila Reiman and I were lamenting the long and very cold winter. Sheila is a good friend, great painter and pastelist, and a resident of my neighbor to the east – North Dakota. In anticipation of spring, which at this rate, will arive sometime in June or July, Sheila recommended a gardening book, “Gaia’s Garden, A Guide to Home-Scale Permaculture” by Toby Hemenway. I ordered the book and started reading immediately. It is a good book, and more importantly, has some interesting things to say about – of all things – edges, the bane of many painters. It seems edge is also a key concept in ecology and ecologists often speak of “the edge effect”. Hemenway writes, “Edges are where things happen . . . The edge is richer than what lies on either side. The decision to increase or decrease edge depends on what lies on either side of the edge and what we want to see from it. Edges allow us to define spaces, see their boundaries as well as what flows across them, and work with these flows. They are places of transition and translation, where matter and energy change speed or stop, or often, change into something else.” In painting edges are the transition between shapes, values, and color. They help to define or diminish form. Used creatively, edges in painting are areas of translation – allowing one area to become another. Everything is connected to everything else. According to the book, “how the pieces are connected to each other is at least as important as what the pieces are”.
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