Abstract

From The Merriam-Webster Dictionary. Abstract: “Using elements of form (as color, line, or texture) with little or no attempt at creating a realistic picture.”

I bought what I consider to be my first real piece of art in May, 2010. I’d owned great furniture and prints, and an oil painting by my great-great-grandmother but nothing that I’d purchased myself to hang on a wall and look at. When I bought “Corteza” by Edgar Medina, it was as if I’d had a drink of the most delicious concoction on the planet. I wanted more. To my friends I’ve described the elation I felt when I made up my mind and said, “I’d like to have this” as a kind of high. I’ve felt it many times over since. It lasts for days and then – luckily – I don’t crash to a low, I enjoy the pleasant buzzing atmosphere bringing new art into my space creates.

I find myself drawn to abstract art more than figures or landscapes. I’m a photographer so I have a few of my owned framed pieces around to keep things real and I also own some portraits that seemed to ask me to take them home. I don’t know the subjects but the artists are charming.

Joan Miro was probably my first introduction to a “famous” artist’s work up close – as close as one could get to a Miro mural and appreciate it. In 1977 I went to the installation of "Personnages Oiseaux" on the campus of Wichita State University. I didn’t know the difference between strict surrealism and abstract art but Miro’s figures still struck me as quite random. My grandfather was enamored of Pablo Picasso and I knew enough to realize that this work was not the same but similar.

Over the last eighteen months, I’ve had the opportunity to watch a few artists paint abstract pieces (in studio) and the thing that impresses me the most is the building of the piece toward the finished product. As I’ve watched others work on their pieces, I’ve often thought of that Miro mural and how it was so very far from random.

I’ve also allowed myself the tiny fantasy (like the purchaser of a lottery ticket) to think that I might be that smart collector who has such a good eye that she has snapped up the right piece from an emerging artist. This will allow me to fund my ever-increasing art habit. From now until infinity.

The best thing about Abstract Art is that one doesn’t have to deal with reality. Please see my previous paragraph.



©Michelle Scofield, January 2, 2012 All Rights Reserved