Friday, December 7, 2012

URTA

My week in New York for URTA is a little over a month and a half away. It's ridiculous to fully grasp at this moment in time. And quite thrilling. The outcome will determine which path life beyond July will be directed. Oh em gee. They're giving away gift cards, too! Check it:

http://urtadiscussion.blogspot.com/2012/11/urtas-1000-gift-card-sweepstakes.html

Saturday, December 1, 2012

Picasso

Abstract art has always baffled me, and I've had a time learning to appreciate it. My drawing teacher in Charleston, Lynne Riding, could draw anything and make it look incredibly real and "academic", yet here are her most prized paintings:

http://www.lynneriding-art.com/

For the longest time it confused me how she, with such a talent that I continually strive to acquire, chooses these bizarre, seemingly child-like doodles?

And then I remembered Picasso's bull breakdown, which shows the progression of a piece from academic to abstract:

http://www.artyfactory.com/art_appreciation/animals_in_art/pablo_picasso.htm

These artist are in an entirely different playing field, reflecting visions from a foreign creative dimension that requires their audience to break the easily-accessed understanding and recognition of what's known, what's expected, and what's familiar.

Out of the box.

Oh, the many things in everyday life we try to stuff in a mental box of suffocating expectation. I am ignorantly guilty.

So, thank you abstract artists of the world, for a beautiful reminder to take a deep breath, give a second thought to a first impression, and then maybe a third, to search for hidden beauty, to find common ground with what appears to be unrelatable, in people, in ideas, in actions, in creations.