In the studio, the word literal has no shelter. In my world, the stuff of making art, creating impressions with something tactile like paint requires a need for embellishment both literal and figurative. We strive to paint a picture of our couples’ love everyday without necessarily painting the whole picture. Do you know what I mean? We like to leave a bit to the imagination; allow for flourish to excite and delight, leaving the straightforward and documentary for snapshots on Facebook.
Some of this world’s most admired artists were masters at suggestion…Van Gogh didn’t need to paint every Starry Star to elicit magic in the hearts of all who view his masterpiece. DaVinci’s Mona Lisa stares off into a world unknown to the onlooker yet still her grin captivates. Georgia O’Keeffe flooded her landscape paintings with a curious luminosity and stark composition yet we still feel the warmth and drama of the desert’s impact at each glance.
Van Gogh, Leonardo DaVinci, Georgia O’Keeffe
Modern artists like Jose Villa can tell a story of passion in a simple glance from a bride in front of his lens. A beam of light for Elizabeth Messina can trickle into her images and conjure more emotion than room full of clapping party guests.
The delicate quality of Elsa Mora’s thistle paper-cut sculptures would likely make you stop in your tracks and gaze long before real thistle caught your eye. We ourselves as watercolorists adore the way an abstract touch of paint and water spread across the page can create moments of joy.
It is in these abstract and less literal moments that art begins to tell the true story of its creator and viewer. Finely detailed, uber realistic and straightforward moments have already told all there is to tell. Where is the fun in that?
