When is a work of art all yours and and original and not a
copy of another’s work? Inspired by a
viewers comments about a new work of art I posted on Facebook.
Viewers of my work frequently ask me about the squiggly
black and white lines I have dancing through just about all of my work. I always tell them the story of when they
first appeared. I was painting a large
watercolor on paper and there was one area of the work that I didn’t like. Watercolor is very unforgiving and I didn’t
know how to make that area work and still keep the integrity of the work. I took out a ruler and drew three straight
lines through the troubled area. Then I
painted them black and white. These
black and white lines have been dancing, they are no longer straight, through
my work ever since. For me they
represent motion and movement in the work they appear in.
So where did these lines come from? Just out of the blue like I described them
above or was there something in my history of being around art, literally all
my life, that I could look back to and say this is where these wonderful
dancing lines came from. The only thing
that comes up in my memories is a an exhibition at the Chasen Museum of Art,
where I was volunteering as a docent, of work by a people who inhabit the Ivory
Coast of Ghana in Africa. Just about
everything they owned, furniture, footstools, weapons, clothing had a checker
board pattern on it. I must have given
over 50 tours for that exhibition and perhaps that is where the black and white
lines came from. I don’t know.
I tell this story because recently I painted a painting
which I called “The Performance.” I was
challenging myself to do figures as I rarely do them in my work. I had been researching how other artists have
done figures just to give me some ideas how I might want to do mine. I knew my figures would be suggestive and not
detailed with reality. To my surprise I
created my first figurative work unintentionally, just like the black and white
lines suddenly appeared in my work a figure appeared in my work. When I finished the piece I called it,
“RingMasters Coat.” And there is was my
solution to how I wanted to do figures.
And I have been working on an entire series I call “At The Circus” where
figures are the main focus of the work.
For the most part I began the works with watercolor washes
like I do 90 percent of my pieces. The
washes don’t always remain but the work always starts out that way. For the newest piece in this series “The Performance”
started out with a wash, and I was going to move into try and accomplish what I
have been unable to accomplish in many years transparent watercolors. I had played with some watercolor sketches in
my Kasba Lake Series and thought I had a good idea as to where I was going to
go and create a transparent watercolor. I liked where the piece was going but
suddenly there was a huge drip in the work that I didn’t know what to do with.
I returned to what I was comfortable with to make the piece
work – I added opaque color. Two figures
appeared. I saw them right away and
began developing them. But what to do
with the background of the work. I was
coming at it backwards. I wanted to
create a wash that flowed across the entire piece but that would have destroyed
the figures which I liked. So I
abandoned the watercolors and began using opaque color for the entire
piece. But the question came up what to
do with the background. I blocked out
some shapes filled them with color and called it a day. The work was done. Mind you there were about 20 different layers
underneath the finished work. I was
never comfortable with the solution I came up with. When I called it a day I posted the work on Facebook
to share and get some comments on.
The very first comment was that looks like Bob Burridge’s
work. I was devasted. What did I copy someone? I knew of Burridge’s work, he has been a
judge in many of the completions I have entered. In fact recently he awarded me
a 2nd place in a very prestigious exhibition. I was extremely honored. But there was no way I would copy his
work. Perhaps like the black and white
lines, the influence of his work just appeared in mine. I went to Burridges
website to remind myself just what it was he did. And sure, enough my work resembled his. And he loved the colors orange and yellow
with complementary colors as a focal point in his work. I love orange and
yellow together – and often use a complementary color to bring the viewer in. And
Burridge had done an entire series on a circus.
I was devasted. I knew I could
never enter this piece in a competition – it was way too much like his work. When you enter a competition, you sign a form
stating that this is your work, not done in a workshop, not copied from another’s
work, not copied from another’s photograph.
You sign that everything in that work is yours and only yours. I couldn’t do that with this work.
These two stories bring me to the point of this post – just
when is a work a copy and just when is a work yours and yours alone, an
original?
Most of us know when our work is a copy of another’s, but do
we always? And what about folks who for
example do landscapes, just how different can a landscape be, and you can still
call it your own? Flowers are another
example the list can go on and on. Yes,
most artists are inspired by other artists, but not to the point of copying
their work.
Those of you who read my blogs know I challenge many a work
as art because it is not original. The
question becomes then what is an original work of art? If we make figures like others have made
figures, if we handle color like others have handle colors, if we create
landscapes like others have created landscapes does that mean our work is not
original? I have argued yes it does mean
your work is not original. So, is
anything original anymore? I answer yes,
if you the artist are in the work.
My work “The Performers” had very little of me in it as it
was presented. The simple fact for me
that there was a horizon line to add perspective disqualified it for me. What you say, a simple horizon line that adds
perspective, disqualifies the work as original.
I say yes, especially if almost immediately a viewer asks if I know of
another artists work and tells me how much my work looks like his. Yes.
I changed the work – the first piece no longer exists except
in photographs. I am very happy with the changes, and there is no one I venture
to say that has another piece like it.
It is an original. And yes, I
will enter it in competitions. We are
influenced by other artists, we do admire other artists, we are inspired by
other artists, but it is not until my black and white lines weren’t straight
anymore and danced across the paper that those lines became mine. And it was not until I changed the background
of my work and created my own blocks of space and perspective did the work
become mine. That is how I understand
the word “original” when I say to be a work of art it must be original.
