Monday Morning Art School: meaning and mediocrity
Great landscape artists like Constable or Monet were doing far more than simply recording a scene. There is science, observation, and a great deal of thought behind their work.
Monday Morning Art School: searching for meaning in Sedona
Sometimes, what you think you’re painting is not at all what comes through. Other times, there is ambiguity or multiple tracks of meaning within the same painting.
Monday Morning Art School: narrative, subject and meaning
The beauty of art lies in its ability to provoke thought and emotion, allowing each of us to find our own messages within.
Hungering for meaning in art
Most of us could never leave meaning behind; it’s hardwired into the human brain. However, if we were at all au fete, we were a bit ashamed of that.
The meaning of (some) art
Still life occupies the lowest rung among genres, but it’s also invested with deep meaning—whether or not the artist intends it. Roses dans un vase de verre, 1883, Édouard Manet, private collection If archeologists are correct, the objects painted on walls in Egyptian tombs are grave goods meant to go with the deceased into the …
Painting with meaning
The paintings that catch our eye aren’t necessarily the ones that are perfectly executed. American Eagle in Drydock, by Carol L. Douglas While I’ve had an Instagram account for a long time, I’ve only recently understood how it really works. I’m not talking about its mechanics, but the algorithms that drive it. It has the …
The meaning of blue: color temperature on a snowy day
“Lewis R. French raising her sails,” by Carol L. Douglas I’m busy finishing plein air work from last season. Some of this needs nothing more than a few brush-strokes and a signature, some of it returned home as nothing more than color notes that need to be fleshed out into a painting. That was the case with …
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Color and meaning (color temperature, part 2)
Composition VII, 1913, by Wassily Kandinsky. Three artists arrived at the idea of pure abstraction at roughly the same time: Wassily Kandinsky, Piet Mondrian, and Kazimir Malevich. This was not coincidence; all three believed in the spiritual properties of abstraction, an idea they got from the rich stew of spiritualism swirling around turn-of-the-century Europe. One of …
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Art is not a luxury
Art is no more of a luxury than civilization itself, for the two are deeply entwined. That’s one of the many stories the griffon tells us.
Reflecting on my Arizona landscape paintings
Five of my paintings remain at Sedona Arts Center, where they’re available until the end of November. They’re part of a bigger show featuring work from most of the artists who participated in the plein air festival.