Playing Favorites: Chapter 1

Welcome to the 5th edition of The Pulse -- The State of the Art -- a survey in words and pictures of the online artist community. The Pulse is a collaborative project that aims to introduce you to new artists, help you get to know familiar faces even more, and allow you access into the creative hearts and minds of a very talented crew of individuals. More than 130 artists have answered a series of questions which make up The Pulse. Their responses will be presented in a series of online posts which will run every Sunday.

Style File, Techniques & Tools, Master Class, and It's Still Life were the first four projects posted and links to all these posts can be found on the sidebar of my blog. The fifth project, Playing Favorites, starts now...

Participants were asked to: share a picture of a favorite piece of art that you have created and explain its meaning to you...
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Holly Dean

"The title of this painting, ARCANUM, means 'a profound secret or mystery'. This dream-like piece suggests to me an ethereal fantasy world in which the observer can lose him or herself. As the creator, I am blown away by the fact that this painting has the same effect on me. That is not something that happens very often, I find."

Jacqueline Auvigne

"This painted collage marks a huge leap of faith in practice - life and art. I took a Nick Bantock workshop that changed my life. Nick knew how to push, encourage and challenge me to get out of my own way and let the inner brilliance out."

Jessica Walthall

"This is a mixed media piece I did in 2010 simply titled Kenilworth Castle. Much of the time, when a piece is finished, I'm left feeling like I've yet to make the art that I see in my head, that I just missed the mark somehow, but not with this piece. There's nothing I'd change, and it came out even better than I envisioned. This piece represents me more as an artist than maybe anything else I've done."

Bonnie Clark

"Decay 1 is a chine colle print created using a solarplate created from a photograph taken in Chinatown of a graffiti covered wall, Akua printmaking inks, and Chinese joss paper. It reminds me that beauty and meaning often lie beneath the surface and aren't always recognizable to everyone."

Jodi Ohl

"Evolve...this piece really speaks to the direction I want to go in with my art, more abstract, lots of layers but with funky contemporary colors. It is what I am...evolving."

Wen Redmond

"My favorite pieces usually represent a turning point for me - sometimes before I even realize it. The 'ah-ha' now I can do this! I created Tender Revelations in 2004 during some major life events. I was returning from a session at the Haystack School of Crafts in Deer Isle, Maine and was listening to the book tape After the Ecstasy, the Laundry by Jack Kornfield. Tender Revelations was inspired from this quote: 'What can we expect when we enter the forest? To listen more deeply to the quiet. The first steps bring us amazements of tender revelations.'"

Keron Lee (aka The Colourguru)

"Of all the art I have created over the last 10 years - this piece stands out as symbolic. Many of the great loves of my soul and spirit are expressed here - a key of discovery, meaningful words and the use of text, red slippers - for when 'heel clicking' is needed, pared back Gothic arches (one of my favourite forms), Italian art, pears (my other favourite form)...and of course angel's wings. Interestingly that only glimpses of my signature colors are in this composition - but I still feel that it is significant and quintessentially me."

Lisa Scadron

"Other Words III, a mixed media painting, is a unification of three styles I love creating: collage, works of color with metallic leaf, and highly layered and textured canvases. The title of Other Worlds refers to a personal and naturally occurring creative process I experience. I was inspired by the Nobel laureate Orhan Pamuk's words, 'Other worlds are the best consolations," in reference to his process of living and writing. His observation perfectly captured my internal formation of ideas, which is akin to watching film fragments of an undiscovered story or world and fleeting color images in my mind."

Crystal Neubauer

"This collage is from a series called Utterings which I regard as a form of worship. I turn off all distractions and allow my thoughts and feelings to flow freely. At the same time I meditate on scripture or thoughts of what God is working on in my life and each collage then becomes a symbolic prayer. The process for me is based in scripture that says when we don't have the words to pray, the Holy Spirit will pray for us in words and utterances known only to God."

Eric Adama

"lost white is one of my favorite pieces. It has everything that I wanted to express: texture, subdued colors, some graffiti, some straight color and I am satisfied about the composition. In a certain way it's a key work."

Evie Zaccardelli

"This is a mixed media piece on wood of The Owl and the Pussycat. Layers of vibrant color laid down with scraping back in places gives it its distressed quality which I love."
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Next "Playing Favorites" will be posted on Sunday, August 26th.