A good description of my art over the past several decades would be 2 dimensional.  So when the Design instructor informed us that he wanted a 3D project made out of wire, it was a bit intimidating. 

That afternoon after class I sat on the back deck with all the proper tools around me (don’t forget the ipod! you need that when being creative) and it felt like a very blank space in front of me.  A blank 3D space. 

After wrestling with the wire and nearly poking my eye out, the project was shelved for the weekend while my head worked on various options. 

For some reason, the idea to take the wire to my Mom’s after church on Sunday took hold.  There is something very inspiring about having the kids around me when I am creating… so I packed up my tools and supplies (with the added item of safety glasses!) and Sunday afternoon I sat there with an audience as I created my little nephew at his fishing pond. 

[A pre-drawing gave me an idea of what shapes I needed to create. The kids were fascinated with it as they tried to work out in their little heads how such a funny drawing could mean anything!]

  The kids LOVED it! My siblings laughed at my glasses (but after watching my dangerous shenanigans with the wire they agreed it was a good idea for me to wear them.) My Mom said that at least my audience (the kids) were able to visualize my concept.  <g> 

He was really hard to grasp until I finally put the pole in his hands and stablized him. (Notice the fish on the end of the line?)

In class, the final part of the project was to draw our wire structure.  Ha…THAT drawing will not be included here!!!  It looks like a bunch of scribbles when put on paper!  Final resting place of this little guy will be on a shelf in my nephew, Nathanael’s, room despite protestations of his mother.

Those were the words my design teacher said to me when I commented that I was having difficulty with this project.  Funny enough, that is a big reason why I chose an art school… I had lost the “play” in my art, so he hit the nail smack on the head!  It sent little shockwaves through my creative spirit and this is becoming my mantra…play…just play!

Criteria:

• Take a photo with distinct repeatable lines and photocopy it
• Stretch the copy one direction per instructions
• In class, chop these copies up and use the resulting pieces to create a new and interesting image

My Response:

• Native American pottery has neat and fun images

 When I began chopping and arranging (remember there were 7 large photos of this image that had been stretched) the following began to appear

The final product was completed in week 9 when we took that pattern and replicated it on marker paper in a specific ratio of a grey scale using markers.  I was not so impressed with the whole process, so that probably means I missed the point.

Do you think there is hope that I can learn to play with my art again?

Math or anything with numbers freaks me out, pretty much.  I did like algebra because it was like solving a puzzle, but math was a total mystery and quite scary.  (Which is funny since my first college experience was pushing towards an accounting degree…duh!)

Anyway…during the Mondrian discussion (see my post below this one), we also learned about the Golden Ratio and the irrational mathematical constant called phi (.618), and I found it utterly fascinating.  Made me wish I were one of those intellectual types.  I want to learn more about it!!!

What really impacted me, though, was the whole concept of how phi and the Fibonacci Series mimics algorithms in nature (for example the nautilus spiral.)  We also touched on the perfect square and how you can keep adding squares to themselves and they create golden rectangles.

OK…so I have totally lost some of you…never fear… I am sitting lost with you. But I am telling you, I nearly had myself a halleluiah moment right there in class when I popped my hand up, all excited, and asked, “So you are saying that phi is possibly the numerical expression of perfection?”  And the teacher said, “Yes!”

God… and once again they have found God!  And my teacher thought to tell me about it!

Besides finding God, again, you can also use this in more mundane pursuits such as building cabinetry, buildings, automobiles, art, and even music! … essentially any design… to create perfect proportions.  Just take the original golden rectangle (no matter where it is located) and multiply or divide it by phi (.618) and your porportions will be perfect and aesthetically pleasing every time.

Sometime I will study more on this, but for now, I was just thrilled to be introduced to another aspect of the Creator and the Perfection in which He has created all things!

[PS – Alt spelling for the title is Hallelujah.  Just in case you happen to be a “j” speller.]

Ever walk through an art museum and wonder why some of those pieces where hanging on the wall?  Our teacher, Scott Chenoweth, explained a life-time mystery to me the week we had the Mondrian assignment and I am forever grateful. 

Mondrian (and the Mondrian immitator) is the fella who always left me a bit disgusted when I would see his work in a museum.  Anyone can put a red square on a white background, add a couple of lines, and call it art!  (Here are some Google images.) 

So just how do you get such an image in a major art museum or snapped up by Nike? I always assumed it had something to do with the politics of the art world.

Come to find out, it has more to do with math and geometry and every item in the picture being in perfect relational porportion than politics!  I won’t go into it here (some really techy info about him if you really wish to know), but I probably learned more in this particular 4 hours than any others up to this point. 

Assignment:

• Use Mondrian’s technique (with the proportional grid) to create your own version.

My Response:

• Just drawing it seemed really boring.  I thought up all sorts of ideas with a variety of color schemes and even ditched one idea of using lego blocks (too difficult to carry).  I finally decided to cut out my grid work through several layers of cardstock paper using Mondrian’s colors. (Hey! I am finally learning that as long as you meet the class requirements and take it at least one step beyond, then you are going to do ok!  No need to kill myself!)

Critique:  This does not show it well, since this is 3 dimensional, but the teacher liked it so much he passed it around the class and then a week later told me again that he really liked it!  I think I got an A on this one.  <g>  Go figure!

Mondrian in 3D (layers cut out to reveal the colors below)