Guernica
Many of us might be familiar with this painting. Pablo Picasso painted Guernica in gray, black and white. What most people don’t know is that Picasso painted it in response to the 1937 bombing of Guernica, a town in northern Spain destroyed by Nazi Germany and the Italian fascists. The proceeds from its worldwide touring exhibition were used to raise funds for Spanish war relief. I think we can take a page from that man’s playbook. We must each find our own way.
My creative work originates from a basic drive to harmonize space -inside, outside, at home and in my artwork. Creativity can be an opportunity to bring things together. I‘m relentlessly driven to keep going until I get the job done.
World Class Influencers
As a child, my parents took great care to give us opportunities to foster creativity. Every holiday had some craft or special food associated with it. We made weekly trips to the bookmobile, the Washington art galleries and gardens like the National Arboretum and Dumbarton Oaks in Georgetown. (The Dumbarton gardens were designed over many years by Landscape Gardener Beatrix Ferrand) This is where I began to learn a love for creating the garden I tend today.
Like most people, I have a limited attention span for gallery after gallery of paintings and artifacts. However, I’m convinced that the roots of my creativity come from years of exposure to the great artists of our lifetime. My parents grew up in the wildly creative times of Picasso, Cezanne, Matisse, Roualt and Van Gogh. They shared those artists with us. Below are some of the people I learned from. (Shown in somewhat chronological order. Very different styles, each of lasting interest to me). They were the influencers for my time.
I remember being given assignments to copy the work of different artists in order to learn how they worked. Colors and light, shapes and line working together to achieve balance. Each artist with a unique style. I enjoyed their differences. What matters most to me is the skill an an artist exercises in his/her world.
Today, I work almost exclusively digitally- printing to chiffon because I can best manage my colors from camera to computer to fabric. Tricky. Always a study.
Linda Ronstadt is someone who was excellent at her craft. I love her voice. I agree with Willie Nelson who famously said ” There are two types of men in this world: those who love Linda Ronstadt and those who never heard of her.” You can add women too, Willie. https://youtu.be/AnbBSp9M9UI?si=3uhHpElRoY4y-Yky
OMG!! loving the new hanging–“Ode to Lower Antelope Valley”!
TU.
When I asked our guide of China, where was his favorite place in the U.S., he said Antelope Canyon! I had never even heard of it!! It looks like you were inspired there, too.
Our Chinese guide took hundreds of tours around the world, so I respect his opinion. David and I will have to make it there one day.
Totally Kathy… go there!