http://www.artandperception.com a multidisciplinary dialog Tue, 01 Jul 2008 14:26:17 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en I recently noticed that I was making some images that had a reversed figure/ground relationship, in terms of lightness. That is, the main subject was light with a darker surrounding, rather than the more common dark with a lighter surrounding. For example, compare the first picture with the one below ... http://www.artandperception.com/2008/07/light-dark-figure-ground.html I have just finished an intensive (and intense) 5-day workshop in plein air landscape painting. Later, I may indulge myself and talk about the entire process and the 3 locations we painted at, but for this post I'd like to pose a question which comes out of just one location. ... http://www.artandperception.com/2008/06/holding-the-knowledge.html As mentioned last week, I've been re-examining my photography in terms of some ideas from Japanese aesthetics. In practical terms, that means I've been going out and looking differently at subjects. For example, I've tried to be more aware of views involving negative space along Sourdough Trail, my main project ... http://www.artandperception.com/2008/06/more-negative.html Allow me to report on my progress, or lack of it, with the question and answer theme. The idea has been to create a chain form, corresponding to a sequence of events; in this case questions and answers. Scattered about my workplace are various takes ... http://www.artandperception.com/2008/06/how-simple.html Pursuing my two favorite motifs, water and the anatomy of movement, I started making composites, extracting from one image and pasting onto another. Showing the first version of this composite to a mentor, he questioned me about shadows. Now, shadows are something that I had a blind spot for. In contrast, I ... http://www.artandperception.com/2008/06/summer-shadows.html Old musings on recent photography have led to the resurrection of a completely different series I thought I'd given up on. Just last week I deleted a draft from March that I had started in excitement, but never finished because I couldn't make the pictures work. The thoughts were on Japanese ... http://www.artandperception.com/2008/06/in-praise-of-shadows.html Looking back through the years, I do not remember when I started painting with oils and watercolors… maybe I was about 13. To be honest mostly of I know today has come from my own experiences of try and error. To me, making a painting was never an issue but something ... http://www.artandperception.com/2008/06/is-an-academic-degree-really-necessary-for-a-real-painter.html The other day I was turned down as an applicant to a local art co-op. I was applying as a painter, not a textile artist, had made the first cut, and was asked in for an interview. After the interview, the group decided I should "try again next year." Aside from ... http://www.artandperception.com/2008/06/collegiality-and-independence-ruminations-on-being-a-visual-artist.html There seems to be an uptick in concern about the separation of art and science and in efforts to join them in some fashion. Though I must say it's very difficult to assess this sort of cultural trend, and in pessimistic moments I sometimes wonder if anyone knows or cares ... http://www.artandperception.com/2008/06/art-and-science-and-findings-on-ice.html June's post led to a discussion of vertical lines. Three pictures are shown here that show not only vertical lines but also put them either at the center of a picture or where they frame a path in the center of the picture: (1) In the 19th century, Pierre Etienne ... http://www.artandperception.com/2008/06/re-center-vertical-lines.html The Clarno Palisades and Ranger Station, John Day Fossil Beds National Monument, oil on board, 12 x 16 , May 2008 The Clarno Palisades and Ranger Station, digital photo, May 2008 I am having trouble finding time (and intellect) to discuss the particular mental discussion I have been engaged in over the ... http://www.artandperception.com/2008/06/the-continuous-enveloping-sphere-rackstraw-downes-vision.html This post began life as a musing on Robert Irwin's not permitting reproductions of his (abstract) paintings, detailed in a statement in the catalog of his recent show in San Diego. The catalog, of course, is loaded with photographs, including ones of his early paintings, though many could be considered ... http://www.artandperception.com/2008/05/settling-for-inferior-art.html It appears I'll be making good on my recent threat to re-activate my dormant Sourdough Trail project. But never fear, I do not intend to flood A&P with posts on that topic. In fact, because, through A&P, I've realized how blogs can be useful, I've decided to create a new ... http://www.artandperception.com/2008/05/sourdough-trail-a-project-blog.html A Francis Bacon, according to an ad from Artprice in ft.com on March 31, 2008, fetches more money than a Rothko. Here is a Bacon entitled Study from the human body Contemporary artists also paint human anatomy. David Palmer paints human subjects engaged in movement. Jacob Collins paints human subjects more ... http://www.artandperception.com/2008/05/human-form.html In response to Birgit I went back to the original post in an attempt to temper the blur.  Birgit has come to accept, perhaps embrace, the blurriness, while I have gone in the other direction. I tried the sharpening and blurring tools with unsatisfactory results and turned to the old ... http://www.artandperception.com/2008/05/enough-already-with-the-gloaming.html