More Water

Deep Calleth Unto Deep 

“Deep calleth unto deep at the noise of Thy waterspouts . . . .”  Psalm 42:7

Tragedy . . .

buried life in stagnant pond,

dammed by engineering feats,

held in reservoir, agonizing

to flow free in undiverted channel

to the sea.

© Margaret Longenecker Been 

A Water Kick

If you follow my http://northernreflections.wordpress.com/  blog, you will see that I’m on a water kick.  In all seriousness, I know that “water on the brain” is a very crucial condition—but I think I have the mild form:  thinking about lakes, rivers, and oceans.  Even our little pond with a fountain in our community, even my indoor fountain and the larger one on our patio, even our fresh well water from the tap—all are very exciting to me at this moment.  Must be spring.

Here is a poem to go with today’s watercolor on Yupo (which I’ve posted before, but maybe not on this site):

The Earthen Vessel

I like to think the Potter made

this earthen vessel from Iron Country clay,

mixed with sand from Superior’s shore,

studded with agate for Beauty’s sake,

timeworn smooth in the tumbler of the lake . . .

then thrust upon a bank, to dry

in sun and wind ‘neath a pine-splashed sky,

and settled at last—and silently—

in a driftwood house, for Eternity.

©Margaret Longenecker Been

He is RISEN!

“The angel said to the woman, ‘Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified.  He is not here; He has risen, just as He said.  Come and see the place where He lay.  Then go quickly and tell His disciples:  He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee.  There you will see Him . . . .’   So the woman hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell His disciples . . . .”  Matthew 28:6-8

Come!  Rush out

where roaring rivers glorify the One

who broke their winter bondage with His sun.

Hurry!  Waste no time

to greet the wind unleashed upon the land;

and see the fields grow boldly green at His command!

Come!  Praise our Maker.

He has granted one more spring of song and seed.

Sing Hosanna for the Life that sprang out from the Cross

where we were freed.

Come! 

Run to see the empty tomb

the Victory!

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MLB

Blossoms, Crawl Backs, and Drips

Some artists eschew watercolors, thinking they are “too hard”.  Paints such as oils or heavy body acrylics appeal because they stay where you put them.  Watercolors are like cats; they have a mind of their own, and they like to decide what they will do when and how.

The control factor is the watershed (pardon the pun) of watercolor paints.  Whether a person loves or hates watercolors frequently depends on how much influence the artist desires to exert over his or her work.  Watercolorists who want predictable results strive to keep their paint and water under control.  They tend to sketch first and then carefully paint within the lines.

Meanwhile, experimental painters—especially those of us who love the abstract and semi-abstract—delight in letting the paper do the talking and the water and paint do the walking.  Different artists have claimed that the water, paint, and paper determine 50-75% of the finished painting—if only the artist is willing to let those ingredients do their thing.

Three things are especially typical of wet paint turned loose on wet paper:  blossoms, those feathery shapes that fan out when paint is charged onto a gleaming wet surface—often varying in intensity when transparent paint bleeds into an opaque color; crawl backs, where wet paint puddles and collects on the edges of a painting and literally crawls back into areas which are partially dry; and drips, which are exactly what the word infers—frequently caused by deliberately tilting and tipping the paper.

It’s not surprising that these natural tendancies of watercolors to blossom, crawl back, and drip can potentially drive a control-oriented artist nuts—while these very same qualities are absolutely thrilling to those of us who crave the unexpected.  When turning water and paint loose on paper (particularly wet paper) we can be assured that our painting will be different from any other ever created—and also that we will never bore our viewers (or ourselves!) by painting the same old thing each time we pick up a brush.

See if you can locate some blossoms, crawl backs, and drips in the above and following paintings. 

Margaret L. Been, ©2012

What is “Christian Art”?

 

Leonardo da Vinci’s THE LAST SUPPER is agreed by many to be the most significant painting in all of Western art.  Not only does it represent artistic genius, it brings to life historical reality and the truth of Scripture.  Obviously THE LAST SUPPER, along with many other master works of the era, can be catagorized as “Christian Art”. 

In an epoch when the masses of people did not read, and had no access to Bibles or writings of any kind, visual art was the major medium through which ideas could be expressed.  Great paintings, timeless sculptures, and magnificent cathedral murals portraying the life, death, and resurrection of the Lord Jesus were the means by which the common people could experience and consider for themselves the truths of Scripture.*  God raised up great masters of art in those centuries, for the purpose of communicating truths which are now largely communicated through the Bible and other writings.

A friend who publishes an evangelical periodical once asked me if I could submit some “Christian art” for his magazine.  After scratching my head on that one for some time, I had to tell my friend that I really didn’t have anything which he would consider suitable.  He was looking for a painting with a cross, Jesus kneeling in the Garden, or a weeping woman standing by the empty tomb.  Because so many masters of art have “gone there, done that”, I—an absolute neophyte at painting—would be highly presumptuous to even consider painting such a scene.  And how many people have been turned off by ethereal attempts at portraying Jesus—a “Jesus” who looks more like an English poet, or a Scandinavian Hippie, than the Jewish carpenter whom He was?! 

Visual art differs from vocal music and poetry—or any medium where words are involved.  Word tell, and thus we do have “Christian music” and “Christian poetry”.  I will be publishing some of the latter, which I have written, during April which is National Poetry Month.  But it has been said that “A picture is worth a thousand words”.  So what kind of pictures today, aside from presenting Jesus as an English poet, can be deemed “Christian art”?

As an artist (although I’m a beginner, I can legitimately call myself that because I consistently and committedly make art) I know that my thrust, my overriding desire, and my main goal is to express joy, color, beauty and a quality of life which includes a sense of wonder, enthusiasm, excitement, intrinsic and indestructible meaning, and contentment in the moment at hand—a contentment which prevails for me in the midst of any and all circumstances. 

This, in essence, is the grist of the Judeo-Christian worldview which affirms life and presents a loving God of creation who commands all things.  My goal epitimizes what is meant by the Scripture command, “In all things, glorify God.”  I aim to celebrate life, and in so doing to celebrate the Lord of life!  Without making a cheesy attempt to mimic centuries of artistic genius, that is the best I can offer in the way of “Christian art!”

However, I can add titles to my paintings, and titles are comprised of words.  Here is where I frequently slip in a clue, which I hope may resonate in the mind of viewers.  A case in point, is the following watercolor on Yupo paper titled:  “By the Fiat of His Word“.

Margaret L. Been, ©2012

*Although I am not a Roman Catholic, I’m tremendously moved when I visit the old Spanish mission churches of New Mexico which depict “The Stations of the Cross”.  Visual art does live and breathe, and there may be some truth to the saying, “A picture is worth a thousand words”.

Our Lord fashioned an entire creation full of ”natural wonders”—visuals through which we can actually see evidence of His attributes and His glory!

Celebrating Monet

 

I wonder if there ever could be a more widely known and beloved painter than Monet!  Throughout the ages and centuries of Western Civilization art, some of the Renaissance masterpieces comprise what we could term the highest art—due to their richness, representation of genius, complexity, the variety of surfaces on which they were painted, and the Biblical themes they depict.  But when it comes to a universal love for paintings that we can live with, I believe the artist of choice would be Claude Monet.

Considered the “father” of Impressionism, that 19th century movement which revolutionized the art community in Paris and throughout Europe and America, Monet differed radically from some of his also famous contemporaries such as Manet, Renoir, and Degas in that—as he developed—Monet concentrated mainly on landscapes, water, and gardens while his fellow artists painted social gatherings at Parisian cafés, ballerinas, and nudes.

In his early years Monet traveled and painted around France, particularly to areas bordering the sea.  He evacuated for a brief period to London, during the Franco-Prussian war, and London became his favorite European city—perhaps partly due to the ever changing nuances of light and fog on the River Thames. 

In variance with his gregarious artist friends, Monet was a solitude-loving family man.  He is most widely remembered for his home and the gardens which he created at Giverny, about forty miles northwest of Paris, where he lived for forty some years.  The gardens deteriorated over the decades after Monet’s death in 1926, but since the late 1970s they have been restored to their former glory.  Monet was a master gardener who loved every inch of his turf as well as the ponds and Japanese foot bridge which he designed.  His plantings were conceived and arranged with his palette in mind, and he has left gardeners and art lovers a treasure of tranquil beauty.  

How many homes, perhaps some without even realizing it, contain traces of this artist/genius who helped to move the art mentality from a penchant for rigid, detailed reality to the more illusive and painterly qualities of color analysis and intricacy?  Below, you will find my tribute to a painter whom I love, an umbrella with a Monet print hanging from our living room ceiling—to the puzzlement of the little folks who visit here; they have never seen such unusual interior decorating in any other home. ↓ 

I love Monet for his Impressionistic mark, and even more for later pioneering the subsequent phases of art history—Post Impressionism and the beginnings of Abstract Expressionism.  Unlike some later Abstract painters who had an agenda (either political, social, or personal) to shock or debunk, Monet produced work that was life affirming.  He painted the scenes around his home and land, over and over—recording the times of day and changing seasons in haystacks, surrounding fields, and the famous ponds and gardens of Giverny.

Margaret L. Been

Note:  I am adding to my “Simply Art” page—trying to remember to add something at least once a week.  Today’s addition is my very latest watercolor on Yupo paper, titled “Country Roads”.  Now is the time of year when those roads beckon us and lead us into months of wonderful surprises and advenures!

One Never Knows!

In her book, WATERCOLOR FROM WITHIN, fine artist Barbara Nechis writes about starting a painting without having any particular plan or goal in mind.  She sometimes begins by making a shape on the paper, following up with more shapes, eliminating strokes that she doesn’t want to save, and continuing until the paint and water suggest a subject.

What a fun, “win-win” way to work!  With no expectations, there can be no disappointments!  I’m currently disciplining myself to use 140# watercolor paper on a regular basis, in addition to the YUPO paper which I am daft over—so that I won’t forget how to work on genuine rag paper. 

Last night I used Barbara’s technique of just letting the subject happen—a method that works beautifully on YUPO because one can always wash off the undesirable blotches.  On watercolor paper, it’s trickier and far more challenging to convert less than wonderful brush strokes into something we can live with.  You can see the result of my playful labors, above.  I began with the petal thingy in the center, and to begin with it was too “petal-y” and too red to suit me at that moment.  Then I added yellow, to mellow it out.  (Mellow yellow.)

The right side of the petal thingy really offended me—so I sought to cover part of it with permanent magenta, and then a swipe of dioxazine violet.  I went a little batty then, and waved my brush hither and thither—creating more “petals” and those pointy/streakies which I love so much—covering lackluster areas with layers of different colors.

At first glance at the finished work, I thought—oh, it’s just a bunch of flower shapes.  But then the light dawned.  Forgive the pun.  My painting reminded me of something that goes off half cocked (another pun) at dawn.  Here’s a clue, if you don’t see the subject with your own eyes:  Once upon a time I had a bunch of these (live critters) and they went off half cocked every dawn—driving some of our suburban neighbors to distraction.

I named this amazing bit of fun “. . . the dawn’s early light”.  (I thought of naming it “Oh say can you hear by the dawn’s early light?”, but was leery of being disrespectful of our nation’s flag.)

Margaret L. Been, ©2012