Meet Me By The Garden Gate [collage, 10”x10”]

I find it really fascinating how just a little change can make a big difference in a piece.  I worked on this for a while at class after we did our critique time.  I was a bit hung up on making the idea of this garden abstract work so I pushed away at changing how the garden gate is seen, dropped the value behind the bench by adding a lighter paper and moved some of that warmer orangey color around in the composition.  I like it much better and yet my bench is still coming off very subtle, maybe too much so.  Hmmmm.  That might be okay since the rose is such an obvious focal point but I may have just a bit more work on that right side.  Here’s how it looked on Friday’s post:

Critiques…  here are some things about critiques that have really helped me develop artistically… when other artists provide their responses to my work I find it stimulates my own ability to problem solve, helps me to see the good things in my own [and others’] work, and encourages a sense of play, creativity, and collaboration.  I don’t exactly mean that we collaborate on each other’s work, just that we are fellow travellers in the big world of art and we enjoy the view together.  We laugh, we inform our own heads about what we like and don’t like, what works and what doesn’t, we suggest solutions to each other [in small quantities], and just pause to admire our collective handiwork. 

I’ve generalized this into other areas of life as well.  I can accept critique much more objectively in many areas of life [not all ;)  ] because this muscle has had some exercise in art class.  It’s good for me to hear how others would solve my problems.  It’s just so like real life for us to offer our own solutions to another person’s problem [real or imagined].  I can hold these pieces of advice more as suggestions, rather than resent them as intrusions into my personal business.  It seems to give me a better perspective…  like I’m stepping waaaay back from a painting to get “the big picture”.  So….  art really does inform life – all of my life.  Just one more reason to be grateful that art has become part of my journey here below! 

Pray for Japan folks!  I’ve got a daughter, son-in-law, and 3.5 grandbabies in Tokyo – all safe, thankfully!  But they need our support and prayers now.  Thank you!