This week I’m thinking about light.

I was very pleased to be accepted into an online Exhibition called “Into the Light” by Artfluent. There were 561 entries from nine countries. Sixty pieces were chosen for the online exhibit.

There’s a link at the bottom of this blog post where you can see the exhibit. It’s well worth it. Wonderful variety of styles, mediums and subject matter.

I apply to exhibits that are just for textile artists and also that are all-medium shows. It’s pretty exciting to be the only textile piece among these drawings and paintings.

Here’s the piece I’m exhibiting:

I remember putting together this work, which I created several years ago to enter in a SAQA Global Exhibit, “Light The World.”

It was inspired by original photos I had taken looking into the light and patterns of vines in an abandoned home. I was accepted into the Glocal exhibit, and this quilt traveled to various museums and other venues for about two years. Now, it’s back in my studio.

As I looked at the other works in this ArtFluent Exhibit, it helped me to remember how important LIGHT is in an artwork.

As a drawing student in my undergraduate art classes, I remember how much time we spent learning about how light works. We drew smooth globes and plaster casts of objects and heads with the light shining on them from different directions to learn the properties of light and shadow.

I can see this emphasis on the classical depictions of light in art in the ArtFluent works. A few samples:

My work, “Seeing Through to the Light” uses light differently. It is not in the work as an element to describe objects. It is the subject of the work. The light source would be straight behind the quilt, coming through the windows, and going out into the darkness in an abstract way.

 I have created several works where I used light in the more traditional way: as a means to describe objects. I enjoyed the challenge of creating the strong shadows with textile collage.

I hope you will enjoy taking a look at the ArtFluent Exhibit HERE.

If you are an appreciator-of-art, take time to see the light at work in these artworks. Could the artist have created the same emotional appeal without the emphasis on light?

If you are a maker of art, I hope you’ll see compositions and techniques to inspire you to think about light in your work.

For all the artmakers: Happy creating
For all the art lovers: Happy appreciating

Thank you for reading. I always enjoy questions and comments.
--Bobbi

bobbi@bobbibaughstudio.com

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