I’m feeling a change coming

Inspiration

Original Images Used

I knew I wanted to expand the scene of this tree image, so I looked through my files for an image with a cloudy background. When I came across this sky image, I knew I wanted to place the trees like a forest in the clouds. 

I went back to my computer to pull a subject, and Ethan’s session immediately came to mind. I desaturated the greens of the original image to make it easier when combining. To finish the image, I blended these two painting textures. 

Reflection

Looking at the final image, I noticed similarities to a work of art my brother shared with me earlier this week. The Art of Conversation -René Magritte (1950) I saved this at the time and it seems clear that this work of art was inspiring my image though I wasn’t fully aware. I started reading more about Magritte and his work.

“My interpretation of his logic is that his rejection of fixed symbols does not mean his audience will not find connection or meaning in his work. The visual language in use is not one bound to a universal handbook of apples or eggs or trains or clocks that substitute for particular, intentional alternatives. Instead, it is a worldview that the meaning of his painting is in the head of the one perceiving the paintings, challenging us to look beyond fixed interpretations. By expressing this idea through the juxtaposition of quotidian objects and scenes, he is demonstrating that his visual language is there to entertain a sense of mystery that cannot be defined any one way.” -Josh Boddington

All of this has me thinking about meaning making and the desire to make connections between what we create or observe and what it could mean. It is always interesting to me to explore the possibilities, to pay attention to as many factors as you can think of that could be at play and the connections that could be made. But ultimately, there is so much we are influenced by that doesn’t make it to our conscious awareness. This applies to both creating art and observing art and is what makes it feel a little like magic. 

In this image, the connecting pieces I find interesting are related to change. The obvious change in seasons seen in the trees. My daughter and I talking on this drive about how she’s feeling about completing her drivers training, turning 16, and growing up in general. Holding also my own feelings about that. The subject image was from Ethan’s senior session, marking the nearing end of his high school years and a new chapter about to begin.