I finally finished my 2nd “soft painting” installment in my Earth Series yesterday afternoon. I had begun this a couple of weeks ago, but have been overwhelmed with a marketing class I’m taking and also the events that have transpired in my personal life.
My duties this week are starting to lighten, however, and I am finding more time to work on my art. I found that naming the pieces in this series is really fun. These are based on geological phenomena and the titles serve a double meaning. The term intrusion, in geology, refers to an event where igneous molten rock intrudes on another type of rock (such as metamorphic or sedimentary) and then crystallizes as it cools. So when you’re out looking at rock formations or even holding small rocks, you can often see a streak of something else through the rock’s body.
Here’s an example:
Obviously my version is abstracted using both color and magnification of what it would actually look like to the naked eye. I love how the literal meaning of the word Intrusion implies and additional possible interpretation, just as Collision does as well. To intrude means to “thrust or bring in without invitation, permission, or welcome.” To collide means “to strike one another or one against the other with a forceful impact; come into violent contact; crash.” (Taken from dictionary.com)
Without knowing the meaning of the work, I wonder if a viewer would be scratching their heads wondering why this colorful seemingly abstract work was titled Intrusion. I have often struggled with titling art work and especially get a kick out of the title generators found online such as The Abstract Art Title Generator. Now I have realized that the idea behind the work will go miles and provide all of the inspiration for titling and writing about art. Maybe others who specialize in abstraction can correct me here. In the past when I have tried to make abstract work with no idea behind it, it becomes more about patterns and color and that’s why I have had such a hard time naming them. BTW, I consider these 2 soft paintings to be based in realism, but most likely the viewer wouldn’t.
Collision was donated to the Art Student’s League of Denver for their Mini March Madness Auction last Saturday evening. I haven’t heard whether or not my piece sold or not, but would like to find out if it was and to whom. Otherwise, I would like to have it back so that I can keep this series together.
Tags: art student's league of denver, geology, igneous intrusion, soft painting
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