Parts of Art

     This is a re-post of an article from 2015, which I wrote during my Florida show circuit. Since then my home, my city, my color palette and the subject matter of my art has changed, but the concept remains.    What is it that makes art happen? Does it happen because the preliminary sketch has every painstaking detail? Or does it just flow out of the fingertips of the artist? Or is it somewhere in between? Serendipity: noun.  1. An aptitude for making desirable discoveries by accident.  2. Good fortune; luck. Plan: noun. 1. a scheme or method of acting, doing, proceeding making, etc, developed in advance: battle plans. Like I always say, there is a balance in there somewhere.         Once I was at an art show which was not very well attended and I had time on my hands. I was showing mixed media collage. It was a beautiful venue in Florida and the weather was spectacular. I don't know where the customers were, but...

         Symmetrical balance in visual art is design that has equal areas on both sides of a central line. It may be equal color value, equal amount and kind of ornament, or equal size and shape of components.        Perfect symmetry is a mirror image, where two sides are separated by a central axis and one side is the exact opposite of the other. The best example I know of to show perfect symmetry in an art form is the majestic Taj Mahal.          Here is another example of formal symmetry as an art form, although it is not quite as formal. It is still symmetrical but with variety on each side.  We are symmetrical beings. Our physical bodies are perfectly balanced by the central axis of our spine, with the same components on each side of that axis.  We are designed with symmetrical balance, and so we seek balance in our li...

      So what do you do when you are an artist and you find yourself away from your work, your home, your husband, your cats and your art studio for several weeks because you are called upon to care for a loved one who is recovering from surgery? When you are not making money or going to work, but being a caregiver for someone you dearly love, someone who is not in a dire life and death state, but who needs you all the same. 5 things to do while care - giving 1. Be the best caregiver you can be. Everything else can and will wait. Being the best means getting enough calories, sleep, and exercise so you can give of yourself. And lots of coffee.  2. Re-discover blogging. Need ideas?  Here's enough to keep you blogging til the cows come home: http://thecolorist.blogspot.com/2011/09/101-artists-blog-topics.html 3. Spend time drawing every day. Drawing could be doodling while on the phone, doing quick sketches for that collage you've always wanted t...