This sign is posted in my studio.
As a reminder, this sign is posted on my studio wall visible just beyond my easel; it has been there for months. Then several weeks ago, a friend of my husband’s walked in an wanted to know what it meant – what did yelling have to do with art? Ever since then, Bob has been checking on my paintings to see if my “50 foot voice” is evident – which I think is pretty cool and I need that kind of support. Since Bob is a regular contributor to my monthly newsletter, read past newsletters by clicking here, he decided to write about it in his article for the month of July. I have copied it below.
Where is Your Fifty-Foot Voice? by Bob North, Husband of the Artist
“There is a sign in Carol’s studio that says “where is your fifty foot voice?” No, she’s not practicing for American Idol, and this doesn’t mean vocal projection or being heard at the back of the lecture hall.
It’s all about the visual dimension, creating art that grabs your attention and starts speaking to the heart and the mind even before you can see the brushstrokes on the canvas. At a distance, a painting is the sum of all the individual parts the human eye can’t resolve. How does the artist create this sense of voice at a distance? Carol’s recent use of the “window” – creating a sense of multiple paintings on one canvas – is one way.
The window creates an immediate sense of intrigue and mystery that asks you questions. What’s going on in the painting? How are the windowed segments related to the rest of the composition? Color is another means of getting your attention across the room. It’s not just bright and vibrant hues, but combinations, contrasts and color harmony. You see much of this in her featured painting here, Breaking Free!.
"Breaking Free!" - 24x30 oil on board (click for larger view)
Finally, it’s a sense of depth that can compel you to walk up to the painting and see where a path leads. That also happens with Breaking Free! when I want to go peek out that window at the landscape to catch a glimpse of who escaped. Oops! You may interpret the painting differently..? We’ll see a lot more of this effect in Carol’s work soon and I will be making sure her 50 foot voice continues to show up.”
Do you ever look at your work and ask yourself this question? Or how about, what am I trying to say? Why am I trying to say it?
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