Hello <<First Name>>,
I’m delighted to share this December 2016 edition of Arts Awareness E-Newsletter with you. I sincerely hope you find it helpful as you play an active role in all your creative efforts. Please feel free to share it with others who might be interested, and if you know someone who may want to receive this newsletter monthly, please let them know how to sign up through www.artsawareness.com.
Contrast and Creativity
December is a month of contrasts. While it’s a time filled with the hustle and bustle of holiday activities, it also brings us the stillness and colder, darker, shorter days of the winter season. Artists engage with this sort of contrast to create meaning in their works, and they make full use of these differing experiences to explore the many moods of the season. Some connect with the cold and darkness while others focus on the pristine beauty of the season or the tranquility they perceive. Exploration into contrast of all kinds adds depth to an artist’s creativity and awareness. If we allow ourselves to explore contrast like an artist, we can find inspiration and use our imaginations to discover depth and awareness in everyday life.
It is the dark that makes us appreciate the light,
and the cold that makes us appreciate the warm.
~ Anne Copeland
The differences between various aspects of elements in art and music—e.g. color, texture, line, value, emphasis—help artists and composers direct attention to a particular point and create interest, excitement, and drama. They can use contrast to set the mood or tone of a work.
 For Example:
Wassily Kandinsky made famous his belief that abstract colors and forms can be used to express the inner life of the artist. In his painting Winter Landscape, he focused on the colorful light effects in the snow lit by the setting sun.
One can experience a sense of tranquility in Robert Frost’s poem “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening,” read here in a beautiful rendition by British television announcer, radio presenter and voice-over artist, Peter Dickson. Frost uses the snowy winter setting to symbolize a private moment of peace and solitude. The snow and dark create a temporary space of peace. At the same time, there is contrast within the poem itself between the attraction toward the woods and the obligations that draw you outside the woods.
The woods are lovely, dark and deep,
But I have promises to keep,
and miles to go before I sleep.
~ Robert Frost
 Winter as depicted here by Vincent van Gogh in his painting Winter (The Vicarage Garden under Snow) places an emphasis on the dark, cold aspects of the season. The trees and shrubs are bare in preparation for the promise of new growth to come in the spring. Our attention is also drawn to the work of shoveling snow.
Frederick Chopin’s “Etude Op.25 No.11 (Winter Wind)” performed here by Russian-born pianist Evgeny Kissin brings to mind the whirling winds and swirling snowfall of the season.
“The Snow is Dancing” from Children's Corner is a piano piece by Claude Debussy that depicts the graceful movement of falling snow. It’s performed here by pianist Francois-Joel Thioller.
In works of art, emphasis is created by reinforcing something an artist wants the viewer or listener to pay attention to. While it often involves contrasts, emphasis doesn’t have to be extreme to be effective. A work can also include more subtle contrasts that pull your attention toward a particular point. At the same time, if everything is emphasized, nothing stands out as most important.
Think about what you would like to emphasize as you create your experience this winter season. The seasons are an integral part of life. Not only do they affect the weather and plant growth, but they can also affect our moods. With the changing temperatures and darker days in December, much of the natural world goes into hibernation; yet for most of us, it’s both a time for being alone and a time for being together. We may find ourselves balancing the family obligations of Christmas and other holiday activities with quiet, reflective private time. To appreciate the beauty that winter brings, use your imagination like an artist to explore the contrasts and create an experience that best serves your needs and dreams. Find your own emphasis points to experience the special beauty of this winter season.
Kindness is like snow, it beautifies everything it covers.
~ Kahlil Gibran
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