The story in the creative process
Tuesday, June 22nd, 2010The Bernsen Arts colorful monthly newsletter arrived in my inbox and I scrolled down to read more.
The canvas floorcloth was named Rhyme or Reason and the description said:
I started making this floor cloth with a specific idea that I wanted to see on the canvas, and ended up with something else entirely. (I like when that happens.) What emerged was lots of stripes of colors and large dots. Somehow,the strips and dots all seemed to like each other, and the canvas came out looking colorful and busy. The book on tape that I was listening to while making this piece,” The Lost City of Oz,” was absorbing. That kind of story helps my “flow,” and I never know where that “flow” will take me. A nice experience.
This piece is where I ended up.
I was interested in how she used a story about making the floorcloth in her marketing materials so I contacted Marianne Bernsen and asked a few questions. Following is her reply:
I actually do not think about “stories” when making my art. I do tell small stories in the newsletter but they are just background for the newsletter itself.
I suppose that behind my creative process there lies a story . . . not in a traditional sense of story, but there is a narrative there. I will call the “story” a monologue – just my brain talking to my hands.
The monologue goes something like this: I want my art to “talk” to the viewer, so instead of words I will use color and pattern and infuse it with energy and some wit, and top it off with some balance and interest. I will keep working on a piece until I get there.
So, what do I want to say today? I am in a mood to use lots of red paint so I willcover my canvas with it. Then I can go back and use contrasting colors, and play with the shapes that I love, circles and squares, and dots and dashes, and streaks of color, and more again of the same. I will not spend too much time wondering how I got to the end, I will just keep at it until this piece speaks to me and says, “NO MORE!”That is the narrative I use to keep at a piece. It is the story of my inner engine. If there is more to the story, it is provided by the viewer.
You can see more of Marianne’s art
and learn about her floorcloth classes at BernsenArts.com or email her at wallart@bernsenarts.com to receive a work of art and a new story every month in her enewsletter.
