Learning By Making Mistakes in St Louis

While we were together in May, it became evident that my work needed something important. While the fundamental idea was good, the work itself required structure and a focus the shape and color alone could not resolve. This is the first time I came to grips with the fact that composition is an essential part of art making. I have been far more interested in color and unmindfully used the grid as the frame for this exploration. I now know other aspects of design are best consciously considered when heading in a new direction.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        To that end, I started to play with acrylics and paper to explore composition as taught online by Jane Davies. There are several modules that explore design elements such as line, and  shape, but the most absorbing module  addresses traditional composition options--landscape and the cruciform, for example.

       

The concepts are not new, but somehow 

integrating them into my thinking has 

been a revelation.

I look at art these days with an eye to seeing the underlying structure. It can tight or loose, explicit or vague, but it is always there.

So, while it is uncomfortable to acknowledge the deficiency, I do enjoy the learning and discovery. I know the mastery will come.