You call that art?

After the Thaw



















 
 

Art is subjective, yes, but have you even looked around you and been mesmerized by the pattern of something mundane? The odd shadow shape, the cracks in the sidewalk that look like “something” that you can’t quite name, the worn paint on the parking lot pavement.

No? You’ve never noticed these things? Might I suggest you take a closer look.

9th Street 2

When I was a kid - up to the age of about 12, I was attracted to art - paintings and sculpture of all kinds, but I didn’t really like or appreciate what would be considered abstract art. Art without a defined and recognizable subject didn’t do anything for me, then I discovered Paul Klee and Joan Miro and Piet Mondrian, and I started looking at abstract art differently. These painters spoke to me. With Piet Mondrian, not so much his later works for which he is most famous, but his earlier stuff whereby he took a tree or the shape of a pier and abstracted them until they were just shapes reminiscent of the actual thing.

Incidental Art 5 
Having failed miserably at a brief attempt to paint abstracts in oils (I was a decent realistic oil painter), I kind of gave up the thought of ever doing any interesting abstract work of my own, until about 30 years ago when I got into photography, found that it was my “home”, or art form of choice, and even early on, I became entranced by not only the lovely landscape in a national park, or the local river covered in winter ice, but I found myself attracted to the oddly random crack, splotch, sewer grate, peeling paint and old wood surrounding me.


Incidental Art 8
These things are everywhere. You can find abstract images in your concrete driveway. You can find them on your basement cinder-block wall. You can find them in old brick. I’ve found it’s a lot easier to FIND abstract art than to MAKE abstract art, although I’ve had some fun making some abstract digital art, which keeps turning out to look like mid-century modern design, but since I was born mid century, I suppose that’s normal.

Incidental Art 25
But I digress. The next time you take a walk, or go to a shopping mall, or simply cross the street, look down at what you see at your feet (after first checking for oncoming traffic, obviously. Wouldn’t want YOU to become abstract art on the pavement). See if you can find any interesting patterns in the concrete or the traffic marker lane paint, or stains from a spill. 

The top image in this blog post is simply a shot I took when I was walking and noticed the snow had melted on the street and the salt that had been applied to prevent ice along with the wet and exaggerated cracks in the pavement yelled out to me “take my picture - before I dry up and wash away”. So I did.

9th Street Incidental Art

Just a Nut   

For more of my images, please visit:

mary-bedy.pixels.com



 



Comments

  1. M.M. AndersonDecember 18, 2020 at 2:37 PM

    I really admire your ability to capture the beauty in the everyday things that surround us.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Mary BedyDecember 18, 2020 at 2:51 PM

      Thanks, Linda! I guess if I can't paint it, I'll "shoot" it....

      Delete

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