Sunday, May 24, 2009

Adding and Subtracting

Some color added, some removed.

So there I am sitting at a show, and I get to visiting with a friend of mine- we'll call him Dr. D. He's a good friend of my friend and one-of-these-days fishing buddy Dr. Z. Anyway, we're talking about who knows what, and all of a sudden this guy says, HeyMan......areyoufamiliarwithMondrian???Nothisgridstuffbuthisearlywork ........beforehecameupwiththegrids .....youknowwhatImean? No.Youshouldlookhimup'scoolit'scool. Hedidabunchofarchitecturalstuff...strongcolors...Ithinkyou'dlikeit ..mmmmmmm...........How'boutTurner?Hiswork,youknowit?

I said, Yes, I love Turner's work.


And I said, Yes, that is one thing I think I have in common with Turner's work. I think it was Turner that worked with meglip medium. He would often put a blob of medium on the canvas and float colors into it, and mix them in that fluid surface. I often work that way, but then I'll go in and take paint off the surface. I think what you remove is just as important as what you ad.

We were all quiet for a minute, and then the guy said, Cool.......loveyourworkmanthecolorrocks. And he was gone.

Dr.D and I were quiet for a minute and then he said, So who was that?

I have no idea.


Yeah, no idea.

And D. says, You said something I thought was interesting. That what you remove is just as important as what you ad. Do you know how a hand is formed, a baby's hand? (Keep in mind this is me paraphrasing/relaying what the Doc said, and my version should in no way be mistaken as a verbatim take on what he said, on your med-school neonatalogy final, or rephrased into a question for your final Jeopardy answer.) From the body of the infant a bud emerges and extends to form an arm, and then a small paddle or fin like appendage on the end. And then the cells between the the fingers die away, and the fingers are left. A bud forms on the front of the head, and the cells that fill the nostril cavities die away, and the nose is left.

What is removed is just as important as what is added.

Damn. Why didn't I have Dr. D. for biology class. I might have ended up as Dr. R?

Of course, I'm pretty happy as R the artist.