Tuesday, February 17, 2009

"5112"

Connie Kleinjans fine art11 x 14 x 0.75, acrylic on stretched canvas

I seem to be in love with drips. I used them for Red, a couple of posts earlier. I've been doing them using an eyedropper I got for earlier projects. This looks almost like a Japanese screen painting I've seen, but I can't nail down what painting that is.

Going on with waxing philosophical, I find myself pondering the concept of "pretty." To my eye, some of my abstracts are pretty, and some aren't. I like pretty, given my druthers, but I don't want it as a goal. Sometimes it's satisfying to be edgy or dramatic or a little wacky.

Art has so many purposes and definitions. I know that I've seen art that's wonderful, but I only need to look at once; it's made its point. Other art is purely decorative. I'm probably closer to the latter camp, but I hope I'm offering a lot to look at. After I posted an earlier painting, a friend commented that her eyes wandered all over it. I liked that. I think I like richness and having a lot to see. The author of a book I have said someone told her he felt he could just fall into her paintings. What a cool concept! I'm not sure how to do that, but I do love rich colors and a lot of subtle detail.

This week, at least.

3 comments:

  1. LOL - "This week at least" too funny!

    Now you've really piqued my interest with your comment about not necessarily having pretty as a goal. I know your post is going to keep me thinking this week as I'm painting. Now I'm asking myself what I've been in pursuit of, am I hoping to capture something pretty? Why? So many paintings I love aren't of pretty subjects, many of them have wacky colors and an edgy point of view.

    Sorry, I'm rambling. You've raised an interesting question and I need to marinate on it.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Wow, I really like this! You may not have been trying to be "pretty" but I think the colors on this are really pretty!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hi Kay. Thanks! I actually prefer pretty, all things being equal. Especially if you're going to keep something around and have to look at it So thanks. :)

    ReplyDelete