Symbolism in True Form is meant to Jar

India Rising Series -- "The Lost" acrylic on canvas

Definition: Symbolism was a late nineteenth-century art movement of French, Russian and Belgian origin in poetry and other arts. In literature, the style originates with the 1857 publication of Charles Baudelaire's Les Fleurs du mal.

“Symbolism developed new and often abstract means to express psychological truth and the idea that behind the physical world lay a spiritual reality. The emphasis is on expressing emotions, feelings, ideas, and subjectivity rather than realism.

“The work of symbolists is personal and expresses their own ideologies, particularly the belief in the artist's power to reveal truth. Symbolists take the ineffable, such as dreams and visions, and give it form.”

Michelangelo's "Finger of God"

In her book “Experimental Painting; Inspirational approaches to mixed media art” Lisa L. Cyr writes: “When one is free from inhibitions and preset expectations, the door opens for that spark of brilliance and magic to come through. Spontaneously and without effort, a highly imaginative world known only to the artist begins to reveal itself.”

Many symbolists combine "religious mysticism, the perverse, the erotic, and the decadent. Their subject matter is typically characterized by an interest in the occult, the morbid, the dream world, melancholy, evil, and death.”

Thanks to http://www.theartstory.org/movement-symbolism.htm

 

Here are a few recognized symbolist painters and visual artists, which include Gustave Moreau, Gustav Klimt, Mikalojus Konstantinas Čiurlionis, Jacek Malczewski, Odilon Redon, Pierre Puvis de Chavannes, Henri Fantin-Latour, Gaston Bussière, Edvard Munch, Félicien Rops, and Jan Toorop.

Color and the way it affects mood is often used to create a message or sharp response in the viewer, but we’ll discuss color in another blog. Today artists are free to use alternative styles by combining conventional approaches with innovation. There has been a modern day revolution of sorts in the way art is created and presented.

The artist Cyr, quoted earlier, calls this inventive approach “reinterpret, reinvent, and redefine.”

Below are some helpful Youtube videos.

 Jake Baddeley - Symbolist painter  

 The Symbolist Paintings

Sometimes Impressionism and Symbolism overlap

Blacker than Coal – the Mysterious Crow

I’m at it again, getting myself involved in another historical fiction and having difficulty putting it down. At first glance, I thought “here we go again.” The book is called “Crow Hollow” by Michael Wallace, who already has more than 20 books under his belt; and in this book, he focuses on the colonizing of America and the early “Indian Wars.”

I’d already read a similar book about Puritans and the harsh conditions they not only lived under but created for themselves with their strict adherence to rules and a code of ethics that was punishable by law. In their efforts to be “good and pure,” they became harsh, judgmental and mean-spirited. I was hesitant to start another book along these same lines, but the design cover with a crow combined with the title hooked me!

“Crow Hollow” is exciting, filled with intrigue, romance, and a concoction of unusual characters who take you on a breathtaking ride into Indian Territory including a smattering of languages and dialects. Their ability to survive in the virginal wilderness of North America was woven expertly into the story making the reader a witness to the making of history.

I’m also intrigued by the superstitions surrounding crows or ravens as they are called in many countries. Perhaps because of their inky blackness and their human-like noises, crows have strong connections to folklore and to different cultures around the world.

In India, it is believed that crows come to take away spirits after someone dies. My painting “India Rising – the Lost” depicts a starving street urchin being taken up by the crows of India that are somewhat grayer than their American counterparts.

"India Rising -- the Lost"  24x18 acrylic on canvas

And from the web site “The Spirit Keepers” some additional information:

 “These remarkable Crows and Ravens have roles in legends and myths worldwide. Their wisdom, intelligence and flying powers were used by Ancient Gods and Kings. These birds and the tales surrounding them also played a role in the day-to-day lives of people.

“In many mythologies because of their similarities, the Crow and Raven are often mixed up, and in the telling of their myths and legends; one frequently takes the place of the other.  Like the Raven, the Crow was considered a messenger of the gods, and is associated with the sun,  weather, longevity, beginnings, bad luck and death.  Crows are also associated with the visible and invisible worlds, and was considered a bird of omen and prophecy.  Because of its intelligence and cunning, the Crow was also seen as a trickster, and many believed that fairies turned into Crows in order to cause mischief.

“Spirit of the Crow...

Role: Carrier of Lost Souls into Light
Lesson: To Understand the Shadow within
Element: Air
Wind: West ~ The Quest within
Medicine: Shape shifting
             Keywords: Carrier of Souls. Shadow Within. Sentinel. Shape shifter.”

In “Crow Hollow” the author Michal Wallace named a place in his book after them and endowed these large intimidating birds with grisly properties. He provided juxtaposition between the hallowed crows and their Native American counterparts by mirroring the savagery that both were equally capable of and which actually occurred in Crow Hollow.

The excerpts from “The Spirit Keepers” web site should also pique your curiosity. Below is a video to show you how smart they are and a direct link to The Spirit Keepers where you will find a list of crow superstitions and their origins.

Read more at The Spirit Keepers

Mud Pies, Pottery and Mankind’s Passion to Create

"India Rising -- the Lost"  24x18 acrylic on canvas (based on legend)

Why I didn’t go into pottery, I’ll never know. As a child I loved puttering with clay. Its sensual pliable warmth gave me my first thirsting for creativity. 

In grade school, a classmate and I made some clay figures. Our teacher gave us two empty cubby holes to use, and we fashioned a home for our two families that even included two dogs and a cat.

Our imaginations went wild as we moved our stubby people from place to place. We spoke for them, barked and meowed for them, and created furniture for them to use for meals, sleeping and being together. Our primitive characters came alive under our fingertips and tutelage.

I did some research and discovered the “Daily Mail” and in their “Science & Technology Section” an article on the history of clay works:

“Prehistoric pottery shows that man mastered clay 17,500 years ago - before we settled and became farmers.” That means man actually made animal figures artistically before there is a record of clay being used for functional purposes.

• “Finds prove that man mastered pottery 17,500 years ago
• “Pottery may have been invented - and forgotten - several times in human history
• “Later, technology was used for carving animals - NOT for making cooking vessels
• “Discovery came from before time when humans settled down into farming communities”

By Rob Waugh

“Earlier theories have held that the invention of pottery happened during the period about 10,000 years ago when humans moved from being hunter-gathers to farmers.

“But our ancestors didn't use the technique to make pots - instead, they created ceramic animals using clays baked in ovens.

“The finds - along with other recent discoveries in China - have forced scientists to rethink the history of pottery. It's now thought that the use of ceramics was invented - and forgotten - several times during history by different societies.

“The new find in modern-day Croatia is evidence of a community of prehistoric artists and craftspeople who ‘invented’ ceramics during the last Ice Age – thousands of years before pottery became commonplace.” As an artist, I find this positively amazing!

"Hey, Coconut, Mon!"  16 x 20 mixed media on canvas

And from the late Robert Genn:

“The Big Picture

“In life, in art, a major problem is failing to see the big picture. Individual parts may be just fine but the overall doesn't get off the ground. Together with your individual sensitivity and your own vision, what you're looking for is strength, pattern and character. We're talking art here: 

• “Go a long way back; I mean a long way--into the other room. 
• “Small room?--look at it through binoculars--backwards.
• “Look at it in a mirror.
• “Half close your eyes and look at it. 
• “Half close your eyes and work on it. 
• “If you're working from a slide, throw the projector out of focus and find the compositional faults. 
• “If you're working from a color photo, run it through a black-and-white photocopier and find the faults. 
• “If you're working from your head, try holding pieces of toned paper here and there to see improvements by adding color.
•  “If you're working on location, don't let yourself be tyrannized by the scene. Keep asking, "What could be?
• “If you're working on location, look through the viewfinder of a camera without taking the picture.” 

 “It's easier to get the big picture in a little picture, so think of your big picture as a little picture and your big picture will fly.”  Well said!

Robert & Sara Genn Twice-Weekly Letter

Below:  "Prayer Circles" acrylic on canvas