Heating It Up9 x 12 soft pastels on Art Spectrum Colourfix
by Miki Willa
This is one of the glass heating ovens in the hot shop at the Tacoma Glass Museum. When I took the reference photo, I was not sure the intense heat would really show around the edges and bottom of the door covering the oven. This is a very hot oven that heats glass to a molten stage. Glass blowers pick up glass from the oven on pipes or punties to create bubbles or other glass starts. Yesterday, I went to see my son working on glass spheres and he gave me a short lesson on what all these things are called that I am currently painting. I love the intensity and the geometry of the lines. I already have the next few ready to sketch and paint. I may even get brave enough to put glass blowers in the paintings one of these days.
On another note, I was thinking about making and receiving comments on blogs. I know I get far more viewers than comments. I am guessing it is the same for most bloggers, at least in the art world. I am wondering why some people leave comments and some people don't. Does it have to do with the art or the text? I have tried asking questions, and very few people answer. Some people have surveys on their blogs, but the number of people who participate is nowhere near the number of people who regularly read these blogs. I know time is an issue for many people. I try and make sure I post a comment or two each morning as I read my favorite blogs. I am very grateful for all those people who stop by to look at my blog. I am even more appreciative of those who leave a comment, however brief. Don't get me wrong. I love the blogging community and all it has to offer. I am not complaining, just observing. Anyone have anything to add?
5 comments:
I make comments on blogs where the paintings speaks to me. I am influenced by the textbut mostly the paintings. As an artist I greatly appreciate feedback, critiques positive and technical analaysis(the whys of my paintings that they aren't saying or creating what I intended as viewed by others). I think some people don't understand how important that feedback information is to growing visually as an artist.
I think Heating it Up was a tough painting to execute because of the warm values of the furnace being in the background. Miki you did an execellent job of cooling down the bricks surronding the furnace and using overlapping elements of the foreground to make this a sharp painting.
Maybe many people look at a site to see and enjoy paintings but are a little to busy to post comments.
It is not easy to summarize a 1000 words which a picture invokes.
Miki,
I love this work. That's an emotional response to the composition you created using all your art skills. It pleases me because of its abstract nature and your colour choices. I didn't need to know what it was. I'm enjoying your glass shop paintings because they are more abstract. I'm definitely attracted to art work that is less representational. I like to be able to go back again and again to find new things to look at in a piece. Sometimes, by being able to name a subject automatically, we think we know it and then might not continue to revisit work to find new aspects of it.
I have not been able to figure out what draws people to a blog and why certain people choose to follow a blog or leave comments. While I too look for a pattern in it,I'm not finding one.
I comment on posts that appeal to me and how I view the world. My interests and experiences determine how and when I comment. Today, for example, I was attracted to a post that questioned creativity, another one that talked about rejection of applications for shows, beach finds, and my last comment was about an artist that I like. I am also attracted to the personality of blog writers which comes through in their writing voice. While I love to read quirky, off beat posts, I am a more serious type , a little to prone to thinking too much.
Blogs that extend or expand my view of the art world and the kind of art I am interested in are of interest.
Now I'm late for my gym date because I wrote a long post. Happy painting . Can't wait to see your next piece in this series.
Wonderful painting! So different from other paintings. I look forward to seeing it this summer.
Blogs - perhaps some readers feel their responses are not worthy of sharing...
I love, love, love these slightly abstracted glassblowing paintings!
I think people who are visual tend to like to look more than they like to write
I also think time is a big issue. People can scan quickly - but if you're scanning a lot of blogs then you stop looking at a blog to find time to leave a comment.
Personally I'm convinced that comments are directly related to how much you comment on other people's blogs!
I get very few comments relative to the number of visitors that I get but I know that if I get out and start leaving comments then the comments start coming in!
I love this series of pastels - they are really great - love the textures, the composition and the colours you're using. Your enjoyment of your subject really comes through.
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