I'm going to do something new today at Mosaic Mandalas, and that is a follow-up to a previous post, "Introducing the Studio of eclectic Artist Johnnie Meier." It's my practice as a writer to let the artist, author - person - who is the central star of a post know when that article is "live" and online. So after publishing the article about Johnnie Meier's studio I sent both him and author Lynne Perrella an email with a link to the post. This morning I received messages from both that I want to share here because they are insightful into the world of the artist and Art. *one caveat: I have not included the proper names of anyone or any business entity for which I do not have permission that may have been in their comments.]
In the case of Lynne Perrella, her book, "Art Making & Studio Spaces" was completed with the artful photography of Sarah Blodgett. Sarah Blodgett's studio is also included in the book beginning on page 128. A quote by Sarah, "...'When I enter my studio, I feel like a song has just begun. I never know which song it will be, but I love music and try to get something out of every tune I hear'...."
In her message to me this morning Lynne said that discovering Johnnie's place was an unplanned but wonderful surprise:
- Lynne: I was with Sarah (intrepid girl photographer!) when we first drove past Johnnie's location, swerved onto the shoulder, bellowed "What did we just SEE?" and made a u-turn right back there to investigate further. I am sure this happens on a daily basis......but for us it seemed like the most amazing serendipity. I mean.....there we were, driving through the southwest, photographing unique artist's workspaces......and we came upon this one, completely appropos-of-nothing. After the warm friendly welcome from Johnnie, we ended up swarming all over the site, trying to capture the sheer magic of his workspace and Museum. It is an unforgettable visual feast!..."
As an artist I know intimately how thrilling and satisfying it is to have people "discover" your work by accident and to be glad they did. One year I did an outdoor sidewalk art show. My work was not yet well known in the area so the people who came by my booth were surprised by the intense colors in my paintings. What was so very gratifying to me were the comments made, ones such as "I feel so Happy being in your booth," and "Your work makes me feel so positive and uplifted."
Most artists I know do what they do because they have little choice in the matter. What I mean is that the creative urge to paint or sculpt or photograph or assemble is inborn...it is a passionate need to express something through shape and form and color.
Johnnie's response this morning touched me deeply. He so recognizes the subjective nature of Art - it literally resides in the eye of the beholder - what is Art to one person is just an old gas pump in the eyes of another:
- Johnnie: It is a curious thing, some folks right away recognize the sculptural artistic value in what I present and some folks regard it as just something that doesn't make sense. I like it when visitors volunteer their opinion about the beauty of all of it but I must say I also enjoy the folks that are simply confounded....I had two interesting visitors recently, designers for [a company]. They were responding to the sense of design of one of my art deco gas pumps and I showed then an ad from 1935 that boasted that the pump was "The World's Most Beautiful Pump." I talked to them about aesthetics and applying art design to even esoteric things like gas pumps and including expensive details just for the purpose of enhancing beauty. They then told me about a parallel struggle they were having at [this company]. They were wanting to incorporate design features into the products that would enhance the beauty but would increase cost and they were battling corporate cost/benefit geeks. They asked to film me talking about aesthetics and about using artistic skills to design the most beautiful thing you can design - using my gas pump as an example. Their intent was to take the film back and show it to the corporate team to inspire them to invest in beauty. I hope it worked.
I love this! I resonate with Johnnie's comment above, "...including expensive details just for the purpose of enhancing beauty...." Sometimes beauty is worth the cost. Why? Because we are human beings and as such there is a part of our very nature that needs to be fed - we all have a need for beauty and art. We have a need for color, a need for pleasing lines and shapes. Even the most stoic among us will walk up to sniff a vase of roses just to enjoy the aroma.
If Mosaic Mandalas does nothing else, I hope it brings to the front the idea that Art is something we all share - both in appreciation and in execution.
Comments