12" x 12"
oil on panel
Art and the changes in the economy is addressed in a February 12th article by Holland Cotter in the NY Times, "The Boom is Over. Long Live the Art!" Cotter suggests that art often gets better when artists are left to do it for the sake of doing it, removed from any market driven pressures. He advises artists in this financial climate not to quit their day jobs.
I remember a children's book which exemplifies art's true value in society. Frederick is about a mouse who is a dreamer while all the other mice are working to prepare for winter. In the story (spoiler : ) Fredrick is able to tell stories of all he saw and imagined to the other mice while they were waiting for winter to end. While they were storing up provisions, he was immersing his senses, saving them for this collective sharing. I loved this book as a child and remember the colorful illustrations, often with round elements.
My paintings are bits of color and sensation stored up from the observed. Although I make them year-round, the ones made in winter are very much in keeping with the spirit of the book.
Notes on this painting:
It was done from the memory of looking out my bathroom window. The bright blues at the bottom were the color of the shadow of the house, the pale pinks, blues, and whites were the sparkling snow, and the top is the colors of the bare trees as well as some sky. I hope it buoy's you up while you wait for spring.
1 comment:
I like the circles you've been working with lately, Nicole. They remind me of a conversation I had with a friend years ago. She told me she was grateful that she wore glasses. "People with decent eyesight only have one way to look at the world," she said. "We've got two. Take your glasses off and look at a Christmas tree, and tell me that isn't cool as hell."
I think there's something to what she said, and I think of it every now and then, when I take my glasses off for a moment and remove all the sharp edges from the world, if only for a little while.
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