Showing posts with label New York Times. Show all posts
Showing posts with label New York Times. Show all posts

Monday, April 18, 2011

Drawing Fire

Delicate Dance  watercolor on Yupo

Last summer we enjoyed many Calla Lily blooms in our garden. This past week, I finally got around to painting one on yupo sheet many times before I was satisfied.  It was a tremendous learning experience to try out different colors and varying backgrounds simply by repeatedly painting and washing  off  until I settled on this rendition.  I am experimenting using only washes and water for texture. 

I borrowed the title of the post from a series of articles in New York Times  by Michael D. Fay. On June 6 2010, in the introduction to the series, NYT explains:  'In 2005, then Chief Warrant Officer Michael D. Fay traveled to Iraq in his capacity as official Marine Corps artist. There he fought with Marines engaged in Operation Steel Curtain against insurgents along the Euphrates River, and documented the events in sketches, photographs and audio recordings. Mr. Fay describes that experience here in “Drawing Fire,” to be published in five consecutive parts this week in Home Fires. It is based on material from his memoir, “The War Artist,” (earlier drafts appeared on his blog in January), and includes artwork and photographs from his time with Marine units in Operation Steel Curtain.'  His accounts of the war and the accompanying sketches paint the horrors that is deeply riveting and moving. Check out his blog 'Fire and Ice' and also the Joe Bonham Project, where you will find more sketches by 'group of illustrators dedicated to recording the faces and experiences of America's returning wounded warriors.'  Kandhahar Journal  has sketches and accounts by war artists in Afghanistan.  The artist soldiers give a different picture of the war. 

Thursday, May 13, 2010

Creativity Quotient

Bouquet with Daffodils watercolor 13x9"

Can what goes on inside a person's brain while he or she engages in a creative task be measured in a laboratory? An article in New York Times 'Charting Creativity- Signposts of a Hazy Territory ' outlines recent research in the field: " Creativity is kind of like pornography-you know it when you see it." said Rex Jung, a research scientist at the Mind Research Network in Albuquerque. Dr. Jung, an assistant research professor in the department of neurosurgery at the University of New Mexico, said his team was doing first systemic research on the neurology of the creative process, including its relationship to personality and intelligence."

So, what makes one creative? Is it aptitude? divergent thinking? A quirky sense of humor? Risk taking? "The brain appears to be an efficient superhighway that gets you from point A to B when it comes to intelligence, Dr. Jung explained. "But in regions of the brain related to creativity, there appears to be lots of little side roads with interesting detours, and meandering little byways." Further into the article I found this gem: According to Kenneth Heilman, a neurologist at the University of Florida and the author of "Creativity and the Brain (2005), creativity not only involves coming up with something new, but also shutting down the brain's habitual response, or letting go of conventional solutions. Interestingly, Dr Kounios defines creativity as the ability to restrucutre one's understanding of a situation in a non-obvious way. I look forward to more research that will help me capture/liberate and maximize that elusive creative spirit and apply it to whatever I do :)

Bouquet with Daffodils in watercolor was my attempt to show the burst of colors that spring brings.

Sunday, February 22, 2009

Artistic Vision

Another Place was painted using only three colors -red, blue and yellow - and of course, mixing blue and yellow gave me green. It was an exercise in using limited colors and painting an imaginary subject. Trying to conjure up a painting from my imagination was challenging - and I realized how few details of what I see and experience I commit to my memory. As a visual artist who paints, its crucial for me to able to see and look and look again so I can capture the essence of the subject on paper. Or so I thought until I read today in The New York Times an article 'In Blindness, a Bold New Vision' about the artist Mr.Bramblitt. It is astounding that even though he can neither see his subjects nor the colors on his canvas, rather than giving up painting he has reached new artistic heights. " It wasn't until I lost my sight that I became brave enough to fail." He has adapted to his blindness and has invented new ways of painting and identifying colors and conveying to viewers the shapes and colors he now perceives. The article concludes by mentioning that he may never regain his vision, but that he no longer views his blindness as a handicap. "Life for me now is way more colorful than it ever was."
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