Light and Color

These three pictures were taken before, during and just after sunrise.

Natural light helps us to define spatial relationships. In the photo where the home is enshrouded in moonlight alone the house is subdued. The color is not clear to the eye nor is the surrounding area. Details are not readily available. You cannot tell where the driveway is or that there is a beautiful panoramic view of most of Grass Valley.

(Yes, we can see downtown, the new hotel, Safeway and the Del Oro etc.... For nine years we have had a perfect view of the Fairgrounds fireworks every Fourth of July. We BBQ, view them, then do our own fireworks and have strawberry shortcake...)

1st Photo:

Being that color is a direct function of light (text, p 129) the absence of light (except for moonlight one) hides to the eye the exact color of the house. Light and sky are the greater features of the photo with most light.

2nd photo:

As the sun rose more light exposed the color of the home and details in the yard as well as the view of the ridge.This serves to create the sense of more open space and a greater view of the background.When looking at the house before sunrise there is not much sense of space as you cannot see the sky nor the view. (Not to mention that the driveway takes a dip down into the yard.)

3rd photo:

Here all is revealed to the eye.

If this were a painting you could say that some of the color choices were "analogous" because of the sky blue paint of the house and the blue sky it self. These are colors that neighbor each other on the color wheel. The photo has mostly "cool colors" as the blues fall between the colors green through violet (text, p 133) Because the blue is lighter it's a "hue". The color white has been added to make it lighter.This represents the additive process as is exemplified on page 130, figure 180.

I enjoyed taking these photos and am considering taking a digital photography class this summer.

Line and Space

On Valentine's day I prepared some oranges to eat.
My daughter excitedly said, "Look Mom! A heart!"
As I looked, she handed me the orange you see here.
Sure enough there was a "heart" in the orange!
Being the photo bug of the family I had to photogragh it.
See how the heart is right in the center
with lines eminating from the heart outward?
It's almost like the heart is beaming with the rays of a sun.

This reminded me of Andy Goldsworthy's "Reconstructed Icicles Around a Tree" and his "Hazel Leaves".PBS had done a special on his work last year sometime.
They documented his processes and the final works.It is a glorious mix of an artist working with nature and even science to produce and express something entirely new yet familiar to the eye.
The icsicles melted and the leaf structure moved in the water with the current so this is also an example of kinetic works as well as dynamic line. Nature contains much natural beauty and of course lines.The heart in the orange photo was created by the growth of the orange. All I did was slice and it was discovered. Goldsworthy goes beyond that and asks us to discover his work as well.

The top picture from my archives. The girls are my daughters walking down Hollywood Blvd. after one graduated from American Music and Dramatic Academy last year.

I remembered linear perspective-thought I would share it....

#4 Controversial Art

Controversial art and its benefits amount to several things. First, it gets us thinking about how others view life and secondly, it opens up discussion about it. Where people get hung up about it is when an understanding of what the artist is attepting to convey or allow us to experience through the art form gets lost in the "translation" of the observation.

From culture to culture this could be dispelled with the simplicity of Steven Covey's "Seek first to understand, then be understood" premise.When people feel understood they have been fully communicated with and are honored in the process. This opens up new avenues for a much finer communication process between thinkers within and outside of our culture.

For instance, the Madonna piece was pre-judged wthout even a view or factual research about it by Guilanni. I can see some communication opportunities here. If the artist wrote a type of "fact sheet" up for viewers to read prior to viewing perhaps people might appreciate the "back story" to the piece. It helped me a great deal to see the piece in a new light due to cultural information acquired from this class. Knee jerk reactions are not professional nor a positive, cultural bridge building behavior.

You have asked, "Would the world be a better place if all art conformed to predetermined standards?" No, that would be a crazy-making experience! Who would decide what the pre-determining standards are? How would they be applied globally? How would one decide what is art or pornograghy? If this were to be done, the only way I could see it is if a cross sampling of people groups from the community simply heard the artist speak or read something they had written, coming to an understanding of it and then communicating or introducing the work to their own communities. Just a thought on how to possibly build bridges of understanding without going the censoring pathway: If the work was seen as pornograghy, how would that be addressed? Too complex for me- but with the right people--I believe much good can be accomplished. (FYI- I do not believe that porn is a contempoary art form- it tears apart married relationships and families-- and is addictive. Art serves a higher purpose.

Personally, this week was interesting culturally. I was a bit aahamed about how we as a people at times tend to not "Seek to understand..." and was hoping that this might catch on both ways as I would like to be understood as well.

There's a first time for everything. The pictures are of my daughter when we attended the Art from the schools last Spring. More information coming about this.