INWARD TO ANOTHER LANDSCAPE

Well, I think I am getting back in the groove with my painting…even though I am not 100% satisfied with the work I made these last few days. I need to put in a lot more time and effort to really get my groove back. I will post a couple of my new attempts–so you can judge my progress for yourself. I feel more comfortable at this stage with my drawings and prints–the paintings just have to catch up to them.

I am reading a wonderful interview with poet Diane Wakoski in a book by Nancy Jo Hoy called The Power to Dream: Interviews with Women in the Creative Arts. Ms. Wakoski makes two wonderful comments I think are worth sharing:

“I love the color of things, I like the shape of things. I’m very involved with light and therefore the reflections and perspectives that you get from things.”

and this:

“I start with my eye, and my eye leads me inward to another landscape.”

I really like the way she describes her creative process–and how music and magic inform her poetry. She says that a physical life is worth little without a life of the imagination. One must combine the two to have a magical existence. I think that is such a beautiful way to look at life and creativity.

So here’s to magic…and our eyes leading us “inward to another landscape.”

Content and photos copyright 2007 by Janet Towbin.

QUIRKY REFLECTIONS

I decided to rename my blog Quirky Reflections because I think it more accurately describes what I want it to be. I want my blog to be an artistic journal looking at art and life from my own weird and quirky point of view. I also like Quirky Reflections because of its potential for double meaning. Not only is it about my inner thoughts and reflections as in meditations, but it is also about mirrored reflections I see in the world around me which I utilize in my art (See the Projects 1 and Projects 2) and capture with my camera lens.

I love seeing unusual reflections on glass windows, mirrors, skyscrapers, shiny black cars, ponds, lakes, and other shiny surfaces. These reflections inspire me to really SEE things from a different perspective. The patterns and designs are amazing at times and seem to turn the world into a liquid and pulsating parallel universe. They are so much better than Dali’s liquid and melting surreal landscapes. (Dali’s work has never been high on my list.)

I love to take photos of reflections that skew reality and make me feel off balance and odd. That is why I selected the photo you see above to be the banner of my blog. It is one of about half a dozen shots I took of some posh 5th Avenue apartments reflected topsy-turvy in a pond in Manhattan’s Central Park.

Shiny black cars offer endless possibilities to see the world differently…This is a favorite photo of mine taken while walking to work along 20th St. It was a perfect day to capture reflections and the car was parked next to a wonderful building with a white grid against its red bricks.

Here is a photo of Dale Chihuly’s fabulous Glass Globes floating in a black pond, showing some pretty amazing reflections. It was taken at Phipps Conservatory in Pittsburgh. There were tons of great photo-ops there–not only are the Chihuly installations and glass objects beautiful–there are tons of botanical beauties to capture with a lens.

I have quite a few more reflection photos posted on my Flickr site. Drop by to see them here if you are looking for a different (and quirky) point of view.

Content and photos copyright 2007 by Janet Towbin.