Journal Pages and Perfection
Thursday, February 23rd, 2006
Here is the “Peacock” journal page. Originally, I planned on pasting in a dyed silk or velvet scrap as blues and greens are so vivid and beautiful in Procion. But when it came down to it, I grappled head to head with the Muse of Watercolor and emerged with this result. I bought some new iridescent and pearlescent watercolors (buying gorgeous new art supplies is always a good tactic to get me into the studio, albeit one with an obvious limit). Still, even with the most fabulous art materials one cannot replicate the extreme iridescence of a peacock feathers.
As it happens, I am currently reading “Art and Fear” by David Bayles and Ted Orlando, and here is what they have to say about perfection; “…the belief persists among some artists (and lots of ex-artists) that doing art means doing things flawlessly”. In fact, our imperfections and failings are our guides and most valued teachers; “the seed for your next art work lies embedded in the imperfections of your current piece”. Well, if we learn from our mistakes, I tackled the right subject; art is hard pressed to make a peacock more perfect than the peacock itself.
Luckily, this is the last entry so the journal bursted with peacock art of every sort. The other artists had each approached the project in their own way; and each image or written piece had a separate merit. I had several collages of photographic images, as well as abstract compositions of saturated color. The freedom of Sumi-e brushwork is very impressive. I opted for art deco meets Audubon; and grappled with my perennial problem of where to stop with the detail. Add too much and approach a tight and fussy photorealism that is compensating for true “art”. Of course, this piece did not begin to achieve what I have pictured in my head. But, according to Bayles and Orlando, this is as it should be.
