“Everything has beauty, but not everyone sees it.”
― Confucius
Years ago, Ray Stevens sang:
Everything is beautiful in its own way.
Like the starry summer night, or a snow-covered winter's
day.
And everybody's beautiful in their own way.
Under God's heaven, the world's gonna find the way.”
For most of us, it’s easy to see
the beauty in a delicate flower, a summer day, the sparkle of sun on the water or the glory of a child’s smile. And as
an artist, I wanted to portray that – the light within the natural beauty of
the world around me. I couldn’t visualize myself creating something dark or
moody, some abstraction of violence or negative energy. So I’ve often dismissed
my own art as nothing but “pretty pictures” – without the depth or substance
that artists who could present the darker aspects of life seem to have. And
yet, I could write from that space – write of anger, betrayal, hurt, loss,
loneliness and fear. Still when I went to convert those poems into images to go
with them, I seemed to wind up with “pretty pictures.” Then it hit me…I took a
good look at this painting, at its title, and I realized why I was so focused on light and pretty. As I painted from a lighter, softer photograph, I unconsciously darkened the shadows in these fluted petals. You
see, the shadows are essential here. They provide the sharp contrast to the light within –
without those shadows this flower would be one dimensional, flat and lifeless.
Instead, this begonia now looks as if it swallowed the sun. In life, as in art, the shadows are only important for the lessons they have
hidden beneath them and for the stark contrast they provide for all that is
hopeful and joyous. I realized, too, that I look for the light even within the
darkest art and I always find it – a reflection, an edge, the sheen of a ridge
of dark paint – and it is there I find the beauty of each work of art I see. My own "pretty pictures" would be empty of meaning as well without the shadows to draw the eye towards the light.
Still, it’s harder to find the beautiful in something very
dark unless you have the inner vision to see it – like these two incredible
artists whose black and white works are dark, mysterious, fearsome, even
occasionally depressing…that is until you look closer…and find the
extraordinary beauty in the light amidst the shadows.
David Foster aka Ragman whose work on Red Bubble and BlueCanvas will completely captivate you, mesmerize you...even haunt you will keep you spellbound for hours. Or go
browse Bob Orsillo's portfolio on Fine Art America and get caught up in the
awesome but beautiful power of his gritty black and white images.
I look at these stunning, dark and yet powerfully beautiful
images – and as Chief Dan George once said, “My heart soars.”
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