Milwaukee Art Museum - floor reflection

Milwaukee Art Museum - floor reflection Originally uploaded by shersteve light from the ceiling light from the walls play on the floor

Milwaukee Art Museum - window wall

Milwaukee Art Museum - window wall Originally uploaded by shersteve windows let light in windows provide a view out

How do you portray beauty?

Follow the link to the wonderfully mesmerizing transitions of feminine portraits through the years.

When is it done?

"Here's a test to find whether your mission on earth is finished: If you're alive, it isn't." Richard Bach. This quote came via the T4D from Kirk Weisler on Friday. I recall Galway Kinnell at a poetry reading once saying that for him a poem was finished when he had memorized it. Until he had fully memorized it, until it had settled in him, it wasn't finished. I still chuckle from time to time when I find a recipe for cooking some dish or another and part of the instructions say to "test for doneness". On Saturday, Allison and I visited my cousin's art studio in NH. She was having an open house and student art show. On the drive home, we were talking about when a work is finished. She had a class this semester that prepared a work for a show on campus. During the last class before the show, an artist had been invited in to speak with the class and provide some insights. He brought some of his work along and that was good for the class to see as he talked about what he was trying to do. He also provided some feedback to each of the students on their works. Unfortunately, due to the timing of the show the students were not going to be able to make any adjustments. There was not going to be enough time. His approach was to allocate a set time for a piece, and then work on it no more than the allotted time. Allison's approach for now has been to work on a piece as much as it takes to complete it. There are deadlines, like for the show or for the class to submit the work for a grade. So she will work around those deadlines to provide enough time to complete the piece. Do visual artists have this advantage, that you should be able to look at a piece and tell if it is complete? Writers have drafts, in various stages of completeness. Before they are done do they make any more sense than an incomplete or unfinished painting? Do you have a "doneness test" for your writing?

Rewards of collaboration

Innovation does not always occur with a single idea. In many cases, the idea was actually spawned from observation or reflection on another idea. Collaboration is more likely to lead to a better idea. This concept is confirmed by two artists working together on Art for a Garden. Pat Keck and Sally Moore scamper up and down Julie Levesque's steeply tiered backyard garden like schoolgirls. They fetch Keck's spooky doll-like sculptures and place them amid Moore's plywood sculptures, which resemble houses of cards in mid-tumble. With every placement, they erupt in chortles of delight, then put their heads together, consulting on how to make it better. The two artists just met last month, when Levesque, a sculptor herself and the impresario of Art for the Garden, an annual event timed to coincide with Newton Open Studios, came up with the idea of asking this year's artists to collaborate. Levesque invited Moore, and Moore got in touch with Keck. In some ways, they're a natural fit. Both work in a theatrical vein: Moore makes the sets, and Keck crafts the characters. Ah yes, the power of we!

Poetry is hard work?

"Most of the human race is equipped to respond to art," Vendler continues. "Every tribe in the world has produced an aesthetic sense that supports and enriches its people and brings the whole person into play, the whole soul. It's the only way to make a well-rounded person, to develop human sympathy." Helen Vendler is quoted in this article in Sunday's Boston Globe. I am not sure if sympathy is the proper word. Sure it is what she said, but if she had said "respect", then I think the difference between those in the arts (practioners like Vendler with a list of credentials an arm and a leg long) and the remainder of the folk would have an equal chance. Maybe its just me, but why do some folk in the arts try to keep it elite? Read the full article (free registration may be required) and decide for yourself.