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breakTHROUGHArts
a free newsletter for visual artists
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March 2008
Contents
I.
Spring
Patterns and Elements
II.
Energy Management:
Translations from the Psych Research Lab, the Board Room, and the
Shrink’s Couch
III. Friends in
Print: When you feel like reading
IV. Creative Links
V. Newsletter and
Info: Share this newsletter, subscribe, or unsubscribe
I.
Spring Patterns and Elements
The word “pattern” has multiple meanings and several have come up in
my work lately. One kind of pattern refers to the model from which
we make the real thing. I encounter these, after I finish a piece,
in unwieldy full-size paper patterns which are hard to store with
the rest of my notes, sketches and scraps. Anyone who has had
trouble folding a map or a tissue sewing pattern knows that
temptation to just bend things any old way to get it down to the
right size.
Another type of pattern for artists is seeing the patterns of
connections among the elements of their work, especially the deeper
patterns that you may not have initially intended. Visiting other
art forms may help identify these. I like the classic work of
Alexander* who unearthed a number of underlying patterns that make
human dwellings work. His description of how an alcove is a way for
an individual to be separate yet still part of a larger group is an
example of more general patterns of inclusion/exclusion. In painting
composition, the analogy might be noticing patterns of
grouping/isolation in your compositions.
Since it is early spring here in the Northwest, I took my interest
in such connections to gardens and Valerie Easton’s book called A
Pattern Garden*
for that same depth of archetypal patterns. Her beautiful work,
however, is more a collection of ideas about the elements in gardens
rather than the connections between them. Her element of ‘water
features’ for example, would be analogous in painting to an artist’s
use of ‘values’.
“Choosing and applying the right shapes and patterns in a
landscape can also save space, reduce labor, enhance wildlife
habitat, and help bring the plants, insects and other animals
and gardener into better balance.” title is an added vehicle to
communicate with your audience.”
Hemenway, Toby. Gaia’s Garden. P. 45
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Continuing my garden reading I came upon the multidimensional
approach of permaculture*, which does deal with the patterns of
connections. This approach to creating a “forest garden” goes beyond
most other garden patterns to mimic nature in having each plant or
niche serve several purposes (food, looks, mulch, temperature
control, etc.) and having several backup systems for each function
(e.g. erosion control via mulch plus location plus watering
patterns). These interlaced relationships are called ‘stacking’, and
it seemed to me to mimic what goes on in my own and my clients’
studios as our individual pieces inter-relate.
But here’s where I got a bit lost thinking of all the relationships
in multiple dimensions and began to recognize creative chaos in both
my studio and in beginning garden plans. Too many connections going
in too many directions! I suspect it’s best to just tolerate the
chaos at this point, since forcing can make things worse. Some of
you may remember the example of patterns gone amok from a scene in ‘A
Beautiful Mind’. As Russell Crowe’s character becomes more
paranoid, we see how he has wallpapered a room with media messages
and used colored cords to make connections that are meaningful to
him. Quite beautiful indeed but also quite psychotic.
When does the artist’s sensitivity to connection patterns go too far
for you? Luckily as artists, our depictions of connections can serve
many functions and each function can be served by many elements just
as nature does so effortlessly. And just as luckily, artists don’t
need their work to pass any test for sanity since they are not
proclaiming themselves as scientists. How do you use the patterns of
connections among your favorite visual elements?
*See Friends in Print below.
(Return to Top)
II. Energy Management: Translations from the Psych
Research Lab, the Board Room and the Shrink’s Couch
Tufte, Edward. Envisioning Information. 1990.
Another place to look for patterns is in any collection of
information. These collections are more abstract than nature or
representational images and can provide a solid graphic base for
your abstract art.
Tufte’s book is a great primer on the graphic impact of images based
on simple numbers describing a city rainfall, river lengths, or
other statistical focus. His examples of portraying 3 dimensions in
a 2-dimensional format make abstract art of such mundane information
as the timetable for a Java railroad line. Chapters on Micro/Macro
Readings, Layering and Separation, Color and Information, Narratives
of Space and Time, and Small Multiples can provide new ideas for
your own work. For example, he cautions that the use of small
multiples not exceed the eyespan of the viewer so that comparisons
can be easily made.
If you are an artist with an eye for map or score-like images, Tufte
is your guy. One example of multiples that kept me riveted for at
least five minutes was an atlas page presenting rivers of decreasing
length side by side starting from the longest in the world. The
details of major cities, deltas, and tributaries and comparisons
among the rivers brought new relationships into sharp focus for me
and was, at the same time, aesthetically pleasing. (Did you know
that the St. Lawrence connects only four of the Great Lakes?)
Regardless of how strongly you use graphic impact in your own work,
reading Tufte and studying his examples will sensitize you to these
types of abstract patterns.
(Return to Top)
III. Friends in Print: When you feel like reading
Here are the references for the books cited above:
Alexander, Christopher. A Pattern Language: Towns, Buildings,
construction. 1977.
Alexander, Christopher. The Timeless Way of Building. 1979.
Easton, Valerie. A
Pattern Garden:The Essential Elements of Garden Making.
2007.
Hemenway, Toby. Gaia’s Garden: A Guide to Home-Scale Permaculture.
2000.
(Return to Top)
IV. Creative Links
http://www.edwardtufte.com
This home site of Tufte’s includes how to take a one-day course with
him on graphics, purchase archival graph paper, his books, and fine
art prints and posters. His latest book is Beautiful Evidence
where the emphasis is on turning seeing into showing,
and like each of his books is an aesthetic pleasure to the hand and
the eye.
V. E-mail changes.
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list of approved senders. This material is
included on the
breakTHROUGH Creativity Coaching
(website
www.dianereardon.com) All material is copyrighted ©, 28 February
2008, Diane Reardon. All rights reserved. Visit the website for
back issues and details on scheduling a complimentary one-hour
coaching session.
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