There are few things in nature more beautiful to me than dessicated flowers. I know this may sound odd, but take my word for it – or take Irving Penn’s or Frederick Franck’s – if you prefer. Photographer Penn created a most wonderful book of flowers in which he included every phase of particular flowers from bud to dessication. Franck is the author of The … Continue reading Zen and the Art of Seeing
Abstract expressionist artists so often have a hard time explaining what they do when they’re asked the larger-than-large questions: What’s it about? or What does it mean? Or why did you call it that? We have little to anchor our work back to whatever reality exists (I’m a skeptic about reality), and we work in a more or less constant state of mystery. Sometimes the … Continue reading Notice What You Notice
Some Other Timecopyright, 2021 Molly Larson Cook30″ x 24″Acrylic paint, latex/acrylic paint and ink on gallery-wrapped canvasAvailable “Manet did not do the expected. He was a pioneer. He followed his individual whim. Told the public what he wanted it to know, not the time-worn things the public already knew and thought it wanted to hear again. The public was very much offended.” — Robert Henri, … Continue reading Beauty, Balance and Order in the Age of Instagram
“Jazz Me Blues” The Colors of Jazz Collection ©2020, Molly Larson Cook 28″x22″, Acrylic on canvas In his book, A Passion for Seeing: On Being an Image Maker, artist and teacher Frederick Franck writes: “Art is neither a profession nor a hobby. Art is a Way of being.” A phrase like that might initially sound a bit pompous, a little elitist, possibly exclusionary, … Continue reading Art as a Way of Being Although the Eyes Have Had It
“…notice the objects you notice… Or put another way: make objects that talk–and then listen to them.” –Bayles & Orland, Art & Fear Straight, No Chaser Colors of Jazz Series 24″ x 36″ © 2018 For the past couple of weeks, I’ve been listening to this painting. It was supposed to go with the others I took from Mexico to storage on the way … Continue reading Notice…and Listen
“…usually – but not always — the piece you produce tomorrow will be shaped, purely and simply, by the tools you hold in your hand today.” — Bayles & Orland It’s still another month before I’ll see my paints and painting tools again, so I’ve been spending my “dedicated” painting time reading about the creative paths of other artists instead and taking a look at … Continue reading Art and the Moon
Art and Tulips 