Reflection on BMA Trip

Last week the 2-D Design class visited the Baltimore Museum of art to study and appreciate works of art that engaged the student and theme of the class.  When wondering around the BMA looking for pieces of art to examine, I found it especially hard to sit down and admire art on the more classical side.  Once, I reached the modern art section my eyes immediately latched on to American artist Edward Clarks piece "Earth Signs".  The painting "Earth signs" roughly 10ft by 15ft instantly reminded me of the deserts in Phoenix Arizona.  Each line spread across the canvas reminded me of heatwaves rising in an empty desert.  The circular line that acts somewhat like a boarder and prevents my eyes from falling off the canvas.  The turquoise, sand, and clay colors further my feelings of being alone in the desert, but although I am alone I still feel comforted by the size and colors of the painting.

The second painting I encountered that absorbed me was "Evening Glow" by American artist Alma W. Thomas.  The deep blue back ground instantly captured my attention and I felt like I was drowning in the ocean.  The vibrent colored dots running up and down the page keep my eyes on track that runs right off the edge of the canvas.  Thomas only uses five bold colors blue, white, orange, yellow, and red which keeps the viewer from feeling to overwhelmed.  After staring at the "Evening Glow" for a while I fully immersed my self on to what looked like bright sunlight reflecting off of the water ripples deep in the ocean.   

The third an final painting I greatly admired was "Garden" by American artist Richard Artschwager.  "Garden" is a series of eight panels which were painted over with acrylics.  After studying closely each individual panel I was reminded of our 2-D design class in regards to the brush strokes met the canvas.  Looking at each canvas up closely has a much bigger effect then when the viewer stands back and is able to gaze at a full garden.  Something I found very interesting with this piece was that the artist only used two colors black and white.  When I think of a garden I don't picture a gloomy black and white collection of trees, shrubbery, and flowers.  Artschwager successfully captures the many textures of a garden in each panel which make the viewers experience with this panting very serene.