COMBINING ORGANIC AND GEOMETRIC COMPOSTIONAL ELEMENTS

This was a study done on the computer using different textural samples and arranging them into a compostion on the computer. Later I used the study as a guide, for a collage composition adhered to a primed Masonite foundation, by the same name, Where Visions Gather. (Shown earlier on this blog)
The above suggests a landscape seen as a reflection in a picture window, a favorite theme in my more recent realistic work, shown on my blog Ruth Zachary Montage. 

The two shapes or formats for the different images shown here are proportioned differently. As you can see, even though there are similarities in parts of both compositions, dark and light areas were shifted to different places, and the general color range has been shifted from blue tones above to red and brown tones below. I like both compositions equally well. In the process of coating the papers with acrylic medium, they tend to appear darker, and more muted, than the computer image above. Both have a suggestion of landscape as a theme. My camera has a tendency to distort the true squareness of both the board and of the frame in the image below.

I see similar motifs in both compositions. There are landscape textures, with an organic feeling, and yet geometric forms  lend an organizational force without being literally architectural. Also there is more of a sense of depth than is common in purely geometric compositions.  I seem to be drifting toward organic compositions. At this point, I feel beckoned to explore the combination of both geometric and organic forms more fully in future work.

Where Visions Gather, Acrylic Collage. Image Size 20x 24"                              ©by Ruth Zachary

Writing and Art Images are the sole copyright  © of Ruth Zachary, not to be used without written permission from the Artist.

EXPERIMENT IN ABSTRACTION - How Much Can Be Taken Out?

Laundry Day (Image 12x17" Approximately)                   © by Ruth Zachary

It seemed that when artists abstract a subject, they take out areas of a scene that gives it a new character - that of brush strokes, droplets, change of character, etc. As an experiment, I set out to see how much information could be removed before you could no longer "read" or recognize the realistic objects in the scene. I took out a lot of backyard junk, but left the clothing, which seemed bright and playful on this barely leafed-out spring day. 

The mood was retained, with bright colors, but the means of painting little squares over the landscape, did not produce the active brushstrokes and freedom of expression that I looked for. I did, however, learn a lot about how much can be taken out and still see the subject. Also notice how the rectangular emphasis removes the illusion of depth.

In many of these small pictures, I painted the rectangular motif with metallic paint, using a very small brush. No collage. No stamp printing. A stencil would not work, as the metallic paints were in similar colors to the background, and have to be placed precisely, so that when the viewer moves, the details and the light seems to change. After I had created a dozen or so of these (mostly landscapes) I was eager to move on to something else. 

Sometimes I revisit a theme or series. People seemed to like them, and many of them have been sold.

If I ever do more, I may try collage papers.

by Ruth Zachary.