When do the measures of the universe meet in a tight corner? Is the universe of artistic conveyance large enough to embody contrasting notions of validity? Considering Whitman’s “When I Heard the Learn’d Astronomer.” Reaching to the ends of a natural ethic from Robert Burns’s “To a Mouse.” Are we reaching to the stars or to the earth right in front of our feet with our artistry? The universe of referentiality from the still life to the landscape. Considering Helen Frankenthaler and Clara Peeters. Considerations of my own works including symphonies in the sink and people of the fork. This is a consideration of the layers of referentiality in the workflow of creating art. Considerations of photography, using Procreate, and how photography and digital tools become part of painting workflow.
References and Searches:
1. Walt Whitman – "When I Heard the Learn'd Astronomer"
Search terms: "When I Heard the Learn'd Astronomer Walt Whitman full text"
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/45480/when-i-heard-the-learnd-astronomer
2. Robert Burns – "To a Mouse"
Search terms: "To a Mouse Robert Burns full text"
Link: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/43816/to-a-mouse
3. Helen Frankenthaler – Thoughts on abstract painting
“A red-blue against the white of cotton duck or the beige of linen has the same play in space as the duck, or that duck assumes as important a role as the red shape” (De Antonio & Tuchman, 1984, pp. 82-83).
She further tells us that:
“The plate that the apples are on is as important as the apples themselves. It isn’t as if background meant the background is a curtain or a drape in front of which there is a table on which there is a plate on which there are apples” (De Antonio & Tuchman, 1984, pp. 82-83).
Reference: Painters Painting documentary (De Antonio & Tuchman, 1984, pp. 82-83)
4. Clara Peeters – "Table with Orange, Olives, and Pie"
Search terms: "Clara Peeters Table with Orange Olives and Pie painting"
Link: https://www.museodelprado.es/en/the-collection/art-work/still-life-with-fruits-and-cheese/24d41c72-0228-4701-8baf-b888a6e8882e