Artistic Creativity is Problem Solving with Emotion

I’ve been thinking a lot about creativity and what it means. Well, my shows are done for the year and I’m reading more, so that and increased coffee consumption over stimulate my brain sometimes. Anyway, during my last several field outings, I’ve felt especially good about the images I was making. So what was going on? I think it relates simply to two factors 1. a desire to express an emotional response to my surroundings (passion) and 2. enough knowledge of photography (my craft) both technically and aesthetically, to communicate it.

For that period of time outdoors, I was being creative. I was creating images that were expressive of the feelings I was experiencing and which had meaning to me. I wasn’t trying to be unique or different, just honest with myself about what was turning me on visually about my immediate environment. Ultimately, and this seems to jive with the reading I’ve done so far, the result of my creative activity is what distinguishes fine art from applied art.

Creativity it appears is all about problem solving. In photography the problems are visual and the goal is communication. When the problem is given to you by another, the art created is applied art. When the problem is self-imposed in order to express internal desires, that is considered fine art. Fine art isn’t necessarily more creative than applied art, just a different motivation.

Winter Textures - (c) 2009 Paul Grecian

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Winter Intimacy

Within the genre of landscape photography there are wide vistas, the “grand landscape”, and landscape images that draw upon a closer interaction – known as the “intimate landscape”. I have always enjoyed the intimate landscape more than the grand vista. For me, intimate landscapes are about isolating just that part of the overall view that is most exciting. Maybe growing up in the city made me appreciate smaller tracts of natural areas more. Even here in the rural Bucks County, grand vistas are more like, well baby grands.

My first thought for landscapes is to make them pleasing in composition and color. I like strong lines and contrasting tones. And because I work to create intimate landscapes more often than not, I am usually using a telephoto lens instead of a wide angle. For this image below I was using an Olympus E3 and an Olympus 50-200mm SWM zoom (the equivalent of a 100-400mm lens on 35mm or full frame cameras). 

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Another Early Winter

Over the last dozen years in these parts, the first week of December has brought us snow quite regularly. This past weekend’s wintry event was a stunner! I got out the day after for a sunrise session and was greeted with the kind of conditions I had visualized. Snow gently covered everything it touched and the morning light accented the landscape with warm rays. By combining geometry with both cool shadows and warm light, I was able to create the contrast in color and mood I was looking for. Again working with my Olympus E-3 gear, I worked to maximize depth and compression using small apertures and longer focal lengths.

Wintry Sunrise - (C) 2009 Paul Grecian

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Peace, Love, Joy, Art – Starts Dec. 11, 2009

The  Artist’s Gallery in Lambertville, NJ is excited to announce our holiday special exhibit featuring all of our artists! The exhibit begins Dec. 11, 2009 and runs through Jan. 3, 2010. An open house will be held on Sun. December 13 from 2-5:00 pm when you will be able to meet with the artists and  talk with us about the work hanging in the exhibit.

It will be a great opportunity to acquire a special piece for yourself or a last minute gift for someone you love. I’ll be there and looking forward to it.

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Governor’s Tree Ornament

This was a neat project. The Reading-Berks Guild of Craftsmen, a chapter of the Pennsylvania Guild of Craftsmen, was chosen to decorate one of the Pennsylvania Governor’s trees in the mansion. As a member of the RB Chapter, I contributed two pieces. This is the first time I’ve ever made an ornament with my work and had to really think through my approach. It seems simple enough, but I wanted something sturdy and that would last.

After making the print, I applied several coatings of protective spray to prevent damage from touch or light. Then I mounted the print on acidfree board and overmatted it with same. To add the hanging string, I applied a pressure sensitive, acidfree  adhesive to the back of the mountboard and added a third mat to make a sandwich with the string between the boards.

It was cool to see the finished ornament hanging on the tree in video coverage  of the event. My ornament of the image Winter Reds appears just around the end of the video.

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