A Nice Abstract Feel To It

 Featured image: Bearing Fruit

Artists frequently ask themselves, “what makes an artwork good?  Why did that painting win a prize and mine didn’t?”  Because I find it very challenging to compete internationally with my work, and because I find it much more rewarding that trying to find a gallery who will handle my  work and be a good match for the both of us, I find I ask myself these two questions often.  I also find that I ask them because the answers are educational, and informative.  Needless to say I have my own opinions about what is judged as good and what is judged as not worthy of acceptance or comment.  This comment by a judge was recently posted in Watercolor Artist magazine when then featured the “Years Best Paintings,”  “This painting,” the judge stated, “is so dynamically strong.  Design and composition are important to me as an artist, and this piece displays great compositions. There’s a wonderful use of contrasts: value, temperature, shapes and hard and soft edges.  Although it’s a realistic painting, it has a nice abstract feel to it.”

Subjective comment, “it has a nice abstract feel to it.”  I frequently find that when I depended so much on the elements and principles of design to comment on a work I want to educate others, help them build their foundations so they can expand and reach out and explore.  In this particular work the nice abstract feel to the work was the artist in the work – the artist soul, individualism, uniqueness.  The judge saw that.

It is my hope that the judge for the Missouri Watercolor Societies International Exhibition which will be displayed in China felt that way about my work that he accepted into this exhibition.  “Peacock”  will be going to China to be exhibited in the Qyuingdao Laoshan Museum in Quiongdao China.  So excited.  My first work traveling outside of this country.  I have entered International exhibitions before but they are all in the US.  Art societies are not calling their exhibitions International because they get so many International entries to their exhibitions.  That really says a lot about art in our country and in our culture.