The comfort of the familiar.

One of my birthday gifts, instead of the recliner, which I returned, may be an upgrade to my old Painter3 program. I started out using Painter before Photoshop, but never got very far with it. At the time printer’s print resolution was so poor I could not see the point of fooling with it. I was too busy with painting art for shows and my agent's clients. Because of my brief professional affair with photography, I was determined to learn Photoshop, and I never thought about Painter again.

Surfing YouTube for new Photoshop techniques, I discovered the Painter12 video above. I was intrigued and downloaded a trial program. It is different from Painter3 and even more complicated. I tried referring to my old Painter books to navigate it, but the changes are not making that easy. This past week I just kicked back in my 'old recliner' (yes, the new one did not work out. It was really too short for my lanky legs). I have been watching videos at the Corel® site and on You Tube. The videos gave my corporal tunneled hands a rest, but my eyes and brain are stressed to the max!

My conclusion is Photoshop has the edge on some of the actions. Both programs, however, have techniques that the other seems unable to do without being a master of the programs. For that reason, Painter users often rely on Photoshop. I am wondering if Painter for me will go the way of the new recliner and rejected in favor of the comfort of the familiar.

Remembering

                                      "Remembering"                                                                               Eva Macie©

I created this digital collage in memory of those who lost their lives in the 9/11 tragedy. In addition, we must not forget the lives that were lost, and continue to be lost or injured, in the horrible wars that have resulted from this event. I wish they could be equally compensated for all they and their families continue to endure.

I created this collage in Photoshop from a photo of an angel statue and a Citra Solv® manipulated page from a National Geographic® magazine.

I’ve Been Citra Solved!

I have been chosen for the Citra Solv® Artist of the Month!  When they asked me for a photo, I almost declined the honor. The last photo taken of me was at my grandson’s graduation, and I was in shock to see how the years are showing.  My son agreed to take one of me  in front of a large abstract diptych I painted a few years ago.  Using Photoshop®, I layered the photo with a Citra Solved National Geographic® page and some freehand graffiti. I told the folks at CS that, “I now think the photo represents who I really am, someone with layers of paint, styles and time.”

The timing was great for this award as my birthday is on the 8^th of this month. My other gift that is arriving on that day is from me to me, a woman’s recliner. It has taken me a long time to find one small enough to fit in my bedroom and still fit my lanky body. The one I have is over 30 years old. It has been reupholstered, patched and slip covered to the point that is almost impossible to deal with anymore. However, it is like an old friend who has offered me comfort and place for afternoon naps for so long that putting her on the curb is not something I will enjoy doing. It is almost a metaphor for me.

Heart Dichotomy

                                                                            "Many Hearts"                               Eva Macie ©

The past few days have pulled my emotional heart in many directions. Watching Irene’s ravishing of our Eastern towns and cities is heart breaking. Brattleboro Vermont is the birthplace of my late husband and the home of many of his relatives. I think of our little house along Marlboro Rd next to the brook and wonder if it any harm came to it. My children spent the best part of their childhood there. Seeing the beautiful bridges being ripped from their foundations and washed away has brought up so many emotions that surprised me. I had no idea that my love of them remains so deep. I am sure it is more than the bridges, it is my history, and I am grieving. To everyone harmed in any way by all of this, I send my heartfelt love and prayers.

Along with the devastation of Irene, the other side of these emotions is gratitude for the awards and attention I have received lately. All together, these events led me to create the “Many Hearts” digital collage. The collage is a combination of a Citra Solv® image and thanks to Creative Catalyst Productions, a foam block print. A shout-out goes to Kelly Powers for writing about the process on her CCP blog. In addition, I am happy to say I sold the “Kimono” collage.                                                                                                        

'¡Olé!

'¡Olé!      Mixed Media   !4" x!4" ©Eva Macie

I am so proud and happy as I just won an “Watercolor Artist” Editors’ choice award! It was for the August ‘Creativity Workshop’ contest. The challenge was to create a work of art from some “repurposed” items based on the techniques used by Nancy M. Grisby, the author of the August ‘Creativity Workshop’ article.

The award was fantastic, $50.00 worth of Northlight art books and a 6 month subscription to the Artistsnetwork.tv. If you do not know about this site, I suggest you check it out as they have so many art instruction videos. You can view all of them online and at a reasonable price. I have been watching videos all weekend, and I am eager to try some of the techniques I saw.

The piece I created, shown above, started with an old water media piece I had not finished and put aside. I had some old ink jet prints I made from sections of a picture I took when I went to Spain in 1997. The picture was of a wall covered with old posters. I manage to tear a few pieces off this wall for souvenirs and I used some of them, along with the photo. The rest of the items are rice papers, old stamps, coins and other ephemera. This was a fun project that brought back many wonderful memories of Spain. Thank you Northlight and Watercolor Artist magazine for a wonderful contest and award!

CitraSolv Mixed Media Collage

"August"         Eva Macie ©

I have not been very hands-on creative the past couple of weeks. I am having some corporal tunnel issues from using my mouse too much with Photoshop. My other hand has also developed joint tenderness and pain. Strange, since my typing skills are so limited that I only use a couple of fingers to hunt and peck.  Two of an artist’s worse nightmares; the loss of good vision (which I am still dealing with) and use of the hands.

The piece I am showing I created a few weeks ago. It is a mix of collage papers, created with CitraSolv and National Geographic pages. In addition, some computer-generated images, an image transfer done with CitraSolv, also acrylic paint and ink. Honestly, the actual piece looks better than this. As much as I use a camera and Photoshop, without proper lighting, I have not learned to duplicate the appearance of the real thing to my satisfaction.

Living with Expressive Art

                                                                          © decorpad.com

One of the comments on my last post about ‘Stacked Calligraphy’ was a question about displaying this type of art in a living room. I was a little surprised, as I believe one can display any type of art anywhere in their home. I personally have almost every type of art in every room in my home.

One of my abstract expressionist pieces, ‘Neptune’s Song’ (at the right) hangs in my living room. The colors and movement enliven the space and always command the attention of my visitors.
 

A quick search of the internet will yield many beautiful rooms that display abstract art. The two rooms that are not mine can be found at http://www.decorpad.com/photo.htm?photoId=1681 and http://designindulgences.com/2011/05/11/iwant-abstract-art/

Enjoy!

Stacked Calligraphy

                                           Judi Hurwitt © "Graffiti-esque"

In my search to find artists whose works, I believed, were inspired or reminiscent of Cy Twombly, I stumbled onto this super blog, Approachable-Art, by mixed-media and textile artist, Judi Hurwitt.  Judi’s art is not only reminiscent of Cy Twombly, but also of the early and possibly the original, American ‘calligraphic’ abstract expressionist artist, Jackson Pollock .

Judi has labeled her work as ‘stacked journaling’. The layers of paint she says are “graffiti-esque” in style. I call them eye candy for those of us who enjoy this style of art.

Another favorite artist in this genre is Alex Echo and this painting.

Alex Echo © "Mozart The Soul of Genius"   (detail)

It appears that Alex pulled his writing tool through the layers of paint, resulting in a wonderful woven tapestry effect. This is only a detail of the original and there is no reference to the complete size. However, judging from Alex’s other work I am guessing it is quite large.

I am very aware that there are many who do not consider abstract expressionism and other contemporary art as “real” art. There is a lively discussion about this in the ‘Art Discussions’ group on Gary Reef’s Ning site, Lovingmixedmedia.com This is a great site to join if you enjoy 'outsider art' and would like to push the envelope and create outside the box. If you decide to join, I would appreciate you mentioning that I recommended it. I want Gary to know I appreciate all his hard work and free tutorials.Thanks.

One of the contributors to the Lovingmixedmedia ‘Art Discussions’ group posted this quote, which I think, gives food for thought:

"The aim of art is to represent not the outward appearance of things, but their inward significance." ~ Aristotle

Also a quote that I use on my web site, etc., is that we are;

 “Making visual what, without the artist, might perhaps never have been seen”                                  ~ R.Bresson

Betty Ford and Cy Twombly

Two great people passed this month.  A hero for all women, Betty Ford, brought awareness to the disease of breast cancer and addiction. She championed women’s rights. Standing and fighting for what she believed, even if it meant opposing the President of the United States, her husband, Gerald Ford. Some may feel she was a bit too candid, but she was my kind of woman, and her husband loved her. I wish I could have been her friend.

                                                 III Notes From Salalah (Note II), 2005-2007 Cy Twombly ©

Cy Twombly

Twombly’s work has influenced many of today’s artists. His works are usually large-scale. Often they are calligraphic scribbles on backgrounds of mostly gray, tan, or off-white colors much like graffiti. According to Wikipedia , In the late 60’s Twombly made this work using an unusual technique: he sat on the shoulders of a friend, who shuttled back and forth along the length of the canvas, thus allowing the artist to create his fluid, continuous lines.

The layered or stacked drawing/ paintings are my favorite. The gestured marks remind me so much of the calligraphic ink writing of my Japanese sensei that I painted with when I was a young girl living in Japan.

Later I hope to write about some of today’s artists influenced by Twombly, but today I wanted to take the time to pay tribute to Cy Twombly and Betty Ford.

Anne Bagby Inspired Collage

                                      'Kimono'   "12 x12"  mixed media collage     Eva Macie ©

My gift boxes arrived from Creative Catalyst Productions and I was thrilled with all the goodies in them. There were Golden fluid acrylics, paint applicators, Creatology foam sheets, Lineco Tissues, deli wax papers, a Moo carving block, alphabet stencils, a 12"x 12" streched canvas and a Shirley Trevena’s DVD to replace the Anne Bagby DVD that I had previously purchased. Wow! Like the boxes, that was a sentence full! Needles to say, I was eager to start using my new products, but I wanted some of Anne’s instructions to guide me. I immediately reviewed Anne’s wonderful DVDs, ‘Collage: Paper, Patterns & Glazing’ and ‘Pattern & Form: Advanced Collage Techniques’.

I decided to create a 12" x 12" foam stamp using the craft adhesive backed foam sheets. One cut into the buttery foam and I was hooked! I spent hours, totally mesmerized, cutting little shapes and sticking them onto a chipboard backing. Anne used canvas board, which would have been a better choice because the adhesive pieces may have easier to reposition. In addition, it also may have warped less with all of the wet paint applications. I mixed all of my paint as Anne suggested, cut and ironed a stack of tissue paper and began pulling prints.

After looking at the variety of prints I pulled from my foam stamp, I chose one with a circle shape that I blocked out on the stamp . It looked Asian to me so I decided use kimono as my theme. I applied a glaze I made, similar to Golden’s asphaltum, to the printed tissue and then I stenciled the words ’KIMONO’. I created the kimono from one of my Citra Solv papers, which I printed on a label and collaged this to the tissue print.

For some reason the pictures I took did not come out well. The colors were totally off. I tried to correct this in Photoshop, but only made them worse. Honestly, the actual print looks much richer. I will mount this either on the canvas I received or rag board, then coat it with a satin acrylic varnish.

You can see the techniques I used in the free preview at  Creative Catalyst Productions

Citra Solv Altered Box Book

A Citra Solv altered box book? That is a mouthful and really sounds odd so I will explain what I mean by this. I have been in an altered book class instructed by Gary Reef. Most of the lessons have really been more of a non-traditional way of altering of books. Gary’s forte is assemblage and this is the approach he used altering old books. To be more precise the covers of old books as he guts out the book and uses the covers to house his unique assemblages.

It took me forever to make my book. I decided not to use a real book. We only have a few places near me to buy used books and the only ones I found were either too nice to cut up or not interesting at all. One of the books I bought was an old copy of Anne Morrow Lindbergh's book, 'Gift from the Sea'. Not wanting to cut it up, I was inspired to make my own. Mine is titled "A Gift from the Sea'

I constructed the book box from chipboard. A scroll design cut from mat broad and then glued to left edge of the chipboard cover served to create an embossed look. I scanned a Citra Solve page and printed it on label paper to cover the chipboard. Next, a book scanned on its side with rough pages to get the page effect. I printed this on label paper and applied it around the edges of the book. The frame around the opening is mat board. Inside the book is a scanned page from Anne's book, some shells and a small plaster bust from a mold I made for a mermaid doll. I sprayed it with copper and used turquoise acrylic to antique it. I did not glued the cover shut because hopefully I will finish the inside adding some more interesting shells that I love. At this point, I am tired of working with it!

Gary had four projects, but if I do another one, it will be a major surprise as these are labor-intensive projects. His energy and imagination are unbelievable. If I were a much, much younger woman, I would be in creative heaven knocking out all sorts of altered books and boxes.

Bamboozled Again!

It’s that time of year again when the bamboo tries to take over everything in sight, and I try again to forgive my neighbor for talking me into to letting her plant it. It has now invaded my other neighbor’s yard and I know she hates me for it. Having my son here to cut it back is super, as I can no longer do it. I worry that there will come a time when he will not be able to. He is not as diligent about it as I was, so now it seems to be getting out of hand. Add to that the heat and threat of tornadoes, I feel like the little dog in the Travelers Insurance® commercial. Worry, worry, worry has become my mantra. In fact, I did call my insurance company to see if my coverage was enough.

My escape is Photoshop and my current fascination with Citra Solv®. I wish I could pour it on the bamboo and dissolve it like the ink in National Geographic® magazines. The best I can do is to combine my dissolved ink images with a photo I took of the bamboo.

Unbelievable!

It is unbelievable and wonderful that Anne Bagby has released another great video,’ PATTERN & FORM: Advanced Collage Techniques’  Even more unbelievable is that I won one and other goodies in the Creative Catalyst Productions® drawing. I rarely win anything, and to win again after recieving a Citra Solv® honorable mention is almost unnerving. Maybe I should buy a lotto ticket. Okay, that would be pushing it and besides I would have to buy the ticket, which would constitute gambling. The most gambling I do is to put my blog and images out ‘there’ hoping that they will resonate with someone.

Anne’s new video is just as enjoyable to watch as her first one. Anne’s work is so intricate and layered with patterns that one would never guess she ever made a mistake, but she lets everything fly and does not mind showing her mishaps. She gives away all of her techniques for creating an amazing collage. Anne’s first video, ’Collage: Paper, Patterns & Glazing’ is also a 'must have' if you love Anne’s work as much as I do.  I am happy that I now own both and I have some new ideas to combine with my Citra Solv® creations.

Journal Extensions

Last week Roz’s assignment in the Strathmore Visual Workshop Course was to add extensions to our pages. I decided to continue with the pear theme. I started with spraying the background with watercolor and using stencils for the circles. I cut the page in half and hinged the loose edge with invisible tape to the page below it. I painted the pear with opaque watercolor and collaged the strips and print. The inside background is a combination of all the techniques mentioned above.

The assignment this week is ‘plein air’. This is not really my cup of tea. I may sketch something sitting on my porch sheltered from the sun and onlookers.

Art Journal Workshop

I am not a journalist so I have been taking the Strathmore Visual Journal Workshop Series. I have many old sketchbooks with notes and ideas, but they were precursors to paintings. The idea of putting so much work in a journal seemed unrealistic, since I needed to put that energy into my paintings. However, since I quit doing shows the art journal has become more appealing. Unfortunately, I discovered I do not have the casual mindset to dive in and start creating in my new journal. It is like a blank canvas that intimidates me. I need to think and plan what is going in it. The first workshop with Pam Carriker was easier for me because I was not involved with another project and was eager to get started. I loved the idea that she used her computer and scanner a lot. She had a definite motif of faces, which gave me a starting point. The second workshop was with Linda Blinn and she taught ideas for enhancing the journal with extension pages, pockets, stenciling and spraying. The current instructor is Roz Stendahl. Roz is a fantastic graphic designer and artist. Her attention to detail and organization is over the top, which awes even a fussy Virgo like me. As a result, she is a wonderful teacher. Right there to answer any question asked, Roz goes beyond what is expected with suggestions and advice.

I recently went to Whole Foods and sampled the most delicious and expensive pear I have ever tasted. I bought one and when I got it home, I could not bring myself to eat it without trying to paint it. I have been struggling with an idea for a subject for my first journal pages. A painting of this pear seemed like the perfect solution.

I created my background with the watercolor spray and stencil techniques we used in Linda’s workshop then painted the pears with opaque watercolor. Roz’s lesson included using collage. So I created my collage pieces on the computer (ala, Pam) and printed them out on clear labels, (I could have used vellum) and pasted them in my journal. Of course, the writing was also computer generated. It is far too intimidating for me to write on a page that I put so much work in.

One of my favorite followers is Robin Samiljan, who recently asked me if I still paint or do I only use my computer now for my art. Her question really made me aware how long it has been, since I have used a real brush to paint. Creating these journal images were a small reminder how much I love to do that. Thanks Robin.

Confused Anxiety

'Back To Square One Again'   4"x 4"                                   Eva Macie©

The weather is great today! I am so grateful for all the good in my life and having a son here to help me, but as the song goes, “every form of refuge has its price”. I should be outside pulling the weeds and pruning back the shrubs and ivy that has vigorously grown in this glorious weather. However, a word that I use much too often, I am glued to the computer that my son just tuned up and upgraded to Windows7. I am back to square one trying to adjust to this new platform. To top it off the Serif desktop publishing program I have been using has gone wacky and will not save all the work I have done this past month! A nice person from Germany, which I met on the Serif forum, has helped me a lot and suggests I upgrade to the newest program. (The devil in me wonders if in the updates includes a bug comes so you have to upgrade??). My son insists that I should switch and buy an upgrade of InDesign. I have a very old 2002 one that I have never used and I do not want to deal with outdated programs again. I downloaded a trial copy and the learning curve is something else! Needless to say, I am tired, confused and full of anxiety!  I believe the digital collage I created from some of my mix media images reflects my state of mine. I think I will turn off this computer, go pull weeds and meditate on it.

Realistic Abstracts

I just received a book I ordered form Amazon.com titled ‘Realistic Abstracts” by Kees van Aalst. The title is a bit of a contradiction in terms, but it is a lovely little book with a wonderful section on design. As a southern American, I have a little difficulty with Kees wording, but as a reader of images, I manage to understand what he is saying when I compare the illustrations with the words.

I am eager to play with some of Kees suggestions, but they will have to wait for now. I have a writing project that is joyfully consuming all of my time. I have been told (I know “have been” is a passive voice, is there anything wrong with that?) not to mention my project to anyone, as it will take the steam out of my sails. I hope that I have not said too much as it is, but I wanted to offer my excuse for not posting that often.

Yupo Revisited

'Mending'  watercolor on Yupo  15"x 24" Eva Macie ©  

At the risk of becoming a bore about my eye surgery, I will update you about it. In brief, I am mending, but because of some issues I am unhappy with, such as flickering, reflections and a change in the appearance of my eye, I cancelled the surgery on the other one. I have an appointment in July to reevaluate my decision.

I do not have any new art to post so I am showing an older painting I did on Yupo which I recently made some minor revisions. Maybe it is my state of mind, but the colors are not very pleasing to me. I desaturated the color in Photoshop and I think I prefer the grayscale version better. At least the values and the composition work for me. Artists today are so fortunate to be able to use software to do this. In my younger days, the only option we had to view the painting in gray scale was with red and green cellophane (acetate) to see the values or take a picture and wait a week for it to be developed! I cannot imagine where I would be as an artist today if I had all the tools I have now or even the materials such as Yupo.

Beautiful day today and I have errands to do. There is another big storm headed our way, which always upsets me. We have so many big trees next to the house and I have had two fall since I’ve been here. Not sure, what all of the awful recent natural catastrophes are all about, but maybe the Aztecs knew something when their calendar ended in 2012. *0*


                                                                                    

Renewal?

Renewal        4"x5"                    ©Eva Macie

I had cataract surgery on my right eye Thursday and although it’s too soon to really judge, I’m not pleased with the results I have now. The doctor warned me that being an artist I may find the color change a bit unsettling at first. It seems as I aged the eye lens yellowed and became more opaque. When my old lens was replaced with a new clear lens, the cool brightness was unnerving! Not only that, for awhile everything was blurred! I was expecting fantastic vision as soon as the protective shield was removed. Needless to say I was shocked and upset when it wasn't. I’m feeling a little better about it today as the dilatation is returning to normal and my vision is improving. I’m praying that it will continue to improve.  I created a digital image from my Citra-Solv papers, which probably was not the best choice, but I’m still hooked on the stuff. I wanted to show the difference in the temperature change in my eyes. The top is my interpretation of the right eye vision with the new clear lens and the bottom represents my left eye vision.  Depending on the how much my vision continues to improve, I am scheduled to have the left eye done April 22. If it doesn’t, I may opt out for now.

Citra-Solv Tea Ceremony

Tea Ceremony          6.5" x 6.5"                         © Eva Macie

The ongoing disaster in a country that is near and dear to my heart, Japan, and the wonderful Japanese people have been on my mind. Looking through my Citra-Solv papers I discovered what I perceived to be a figure of a Geisha. With few added brush marks I was able to bring the ghostly image forward.
 

Please Help The Victims Of The Quake

                                                     ©  msnbc.com

I captured this haunting image of these precious children from the NBC nightly News. I hope it will inspire you to donate at least $10. to your favorite organization that is helping these people. You can find them at this link HELP.  On behalf of these wonderful people I thank you!

Citra-Solv Collage

                                                   'Wanderer'                                              ©Eva Macie
The comforting sound of pots and pans rattling in the kitchen makes me proud of some of my accomplishments in life. This one is my son, John Allan, who is living with me now. He is a trained chef and is busy making vegetarian lasagna from scratch. I mean pasta and all! The sink is full of freshly wash vegetables that he bought at the farmers market and the counter is heaped with all sorts of goodies and a pasta machine.

The reason for all of this wonderful prep is that my grandson is coming for a visit. Branden has been interning at a Buddhist meditation retreat. We thought he would bring a friend along, but there has been a change of plans. After a few days in Atlanta, Branden will be on his way to work at an organic farm in Tennessee. He really has become a wanderer. I hope he finds the fulfillment that he is looking for. I created the above digital college from one of my Citra-Solv pages and I thought it was a fitting illustration for the current situation.

Steampunk Digital Collage

"Better to see you with, My Dear"                                © Eva Macie

Because of my upcoming cataract surgery I have had eyes on my mind. The digital collage above that I created obviously reflects this. As I blogged earlier I took an online digital collage class to brush up on my skills. It was a Photoshop Elements class and since I use Photoshop CS5 there were some things I wanted to know about this program. Although it was strictly a PDF class and the focus was exclusively on extraction, I learned a lot and enjoyed it.

I decided to use ‘steampunk’ as my subject matter. It is very popular now and I love the idea of recycled parts and vintage elements to create something new. I used a model from a magazine so I guess this is the only place I dare show this. As for the goggles I was given permission to use them by their creator, a super craftsman and artist, Nicolas Chambon. You can see these and his other fantastic goggles and creations at his website atomefabrik.com. Be prepared for a treat if you like steampunk.

Overload, Magic Jack and Citra-Solv

                                              'Overload'                                           © Eva Macie

This has been one of those weeks when everything has happened at once. I’m taking another online workshop to brush up on my Photoshop skills. I’m also trying to get my tax information together and deal with the State of Georgia’s new online filing system that doesn’t work any better than the employees. No one knows what they are doing so they just seem to make up stuff. Then they say they can’t understand why they are flooded with calls. This explains the sixty minute wait and longer on the phone. Thank goodness for Magic Jack! For $20.00 a year I have unlimited calling minutes and it doesn’t tie up my other phone. My son also has one so now we both have a private line. It was a bit tricky to install and if my son wasn’t here I’m not sure I could have done it myself. To add to the overload one of my email accounts has become un-assessable. I have spent hours in online Yahoo tech chats trying to solve it and no one knows what the problem is. (Apparently Georgia isn’t the only place that incompetency rules!) It looks like I may have to abandon it and try to notify those who contact me at that address. Ugggh!

The above Citra-Solv image really illustrates my state of mind. Overload! I was fascinated by the graphic elements and the distressed lettering. I could have digitally cleaned this image up but decided not to for now. The only manipulation I did to add a touch of clarity to the image, was to add the number 15 to an area that looked like a tag. I may have to take a break from my Citra-Solv fun as I have a full schedule ahead of me and looks like I’ll remain in ‘overload’ for awhile. I have discovered so many things that I can and not do with Citra-Solv that I think I could teach a course on the subject. Hummm.... another thing I could add to my overloaded schedule?

The Peekaboo Principle

Robert Genn, painter and author of ‘The Painter Keys’, on February 10, 2011 wrote a great post about "The Peekaboo Principle”. This principle term was coined by V.S. Ramachandran, who is a professor of neuroscience and psychology at the University of California, San Diego. Ramachandran, looking into various brains, including the brains of people who look at art, came to the conclusion that things are better when they are less visible. According to Ramachandran, concealment works because we are hardwired to solve puzzles. People get turned on by problem solving.

A friend of mine and wonderful artist, Susan Faircloth said “I've always loved mystery in a painting. It keeps me coming back to look for more in it. If it's all spelled out from corner to corner, I get bored looking at it really fast”. She also said it was the reason she enjoyed looking at my abstract designs. Thanks Susan, my goal of intrigue has been accomplished. Hopefully my above digital collage ‘Celestial Runner’ meets this standard.

You can read the entire Robert Genn "The Peekaboo Principle” post by clicking here.