ART IN WRITING
God just has the (ahem) funniest sense of humor. Back in 2008, He asked me if I remember when
I was a girl and I wanted to be an Interior Designer. I said, “Yes, I remember
that.” To which He replied, “Then to do it.” A month later, He gave me the
beginning of what would become my debut novel, Tessa. I had made piddly
progress, and dragged my feet on starting the design program.
Fast forward. I started classes in February of 2009, thinking
I could juggle school and writing. What I didn’t know was that Rheumatoid
Arthritis was lurking, and I was diagnosed the following year.
All this to say, that, unbeknownst to me, my main characters
are all artists. And here I was, an ART
major! I became so enamored with art history that I had thought to add it as my
minor!
And all this to
say, that those same classes fed my incubating manuscript. And
when the time came to describe each of my gals’ art, I knew my stuff!
“Impressionism is a 19th-century
art movement that originated with a group of Paris-based artists. Their independent exhibitions brought them to prominence during the 1870s and 1880s, in spite of harsh
opposition from the conventional art community in France. The name of the style
derives from the title of a Claude Monet work, Impression, soleil levant (Impression, Sunrise), which provoked
the critic Louis
Leroy to coin the term in a satirical review published in the Parisian newspaper Le Charivari.
Impressionist painting characteristics include relatively small, thin, yet
visible brush strokes, open composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of
light in its changing qualities (often accentuating the effects of the passage
of time), ordinary subject matter, inclusion of movement as a crucial
element of human perception and experience, and unusual visual angles.” [taken
from Wikipedia]
Claude Monet is easily the most recognizable name associated with
Impressionism, but my favorite (if forced to choose just one) would be
Pierre-Auguste Renoir.
In Tessa, there were two other characters whose style was
significant, Fauvism, Cubism, Dadoism, Surrealism, and Photo Realism. Fauvism, Cubism, and Dadoism came on the
heels of Impressionism, and for as much as Impressionism broke the previous set
of rules in the Paris Art Academie, these went much further. Artists like Frida
Kahlo and Salvador Dali, Pablo Picasso and Paul Gaugin.
“Fauvism is the style of les
Fauves, French for “the wild beasts…”
“Dada, or Dadaism (pronounced just like it looks) was an art
movement of the European avant-garde in the early 20th century… To quote Dona Budd’s The Language of Art Knowledge, “Dada was born out of negative reaction
to the horrors of World War I.”
“Surrealism is a cultural movement that began in the early
1920’s, and is best known for its visual artworks and writings. The aim was to “resolve the previously
contradictory conditions of dream and reality.” Artists painted unnerving, illogical scenes
with photographic precision, created strange creatures from everyday objects
and developed painting techniques that allowed the unconscious to express
itself and/or an idea/concept.
My passion for art goes beyond what I used in my stories. I
am fascinated with ancient Egyptian discoveries, and Greek and Roman, African
and Japanese.
I found, too, that art is an aid to learning history. As I
learned of the history of art, so,
too, I learned the history of the people who created it. The Sumerians,
Egyptians, Assyria, Babylonia… I could
go on—but then this would be the longest blog post… in history!
* Source: Definition
and description of all art forms and genres is taken from Wikipedia.
“I once said I should write down all the story ideas in my
head so someone could write them someday. I had no idea at the time that
someone was me!”
Ms. Mason has been writing since 1995, and began working in
earnest on her debut novel, Tessa in
2013. Meanwhile, she cranked out a few
dozen poems, made countless notes for story ideas, and earned her BFA in
Interior Design. Ms. Mason lived with
depression for many years, and the inherent feelings of worthlessness and
invisibility; “I didn’t want to be who I was and struggled with my own identity
for many years.” Her characters face many of these same demons.
Ms. Mason writes stories of identity conflict. Her
characters encounter situations that force the question, “Who am I, really?”
For all who have ever wondered who you are or why you’re here, her stories will
touch you in a very real—maybe too real—and a very deep way. “I know, I write
from experience.”
Ms. Mason has three novels published, the Unsavory Heritage
series. Tessa, Clara Bess and Cissy are
available on Amazon, both for Kindle and in print. She also has several poems
included in the anthology, Where Dreams and Visions Live (Anthologies of the Heart Book 1) by
Mary Blowers as well as a short story, Sarafina’s Light, also in an anthology, Blood Moon, compiled by
Mary Blowers. She is working on a personal compilation of poetry to
be released in 2017, and will release, Long
Shadows of Summer, the first book in her new series, Seasons, also in 2017.
You can learn more about Ms. Mason and her books
here:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Robin-E-Mason-Author-Artist/224223274404877
http://www.amazon.com/Robin-E.-Mason/e/B00MR5IQ9S
https://twitter.com/amythyst212
http://www.pinterest.com/amythyst212/
http://www.amazon.com/Robin-E.-Mason/e/B00MR5IQ9S
https://twitter.com/amythyst212
http://www.pinterest.com/amythyst212/
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7808042.Robin_E_Mason
Art in Writing, Art History, Impressionism, Fauvism,
Dadoism, Cubism, Claude Monet, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Berthe Morisot, Salvador
Dali, Frida Kahlo, Paul Gaugin, Sumerian Art
Rebecca, thank you so much for having me on your blog! I love talking about art almost as much as I love talking about my stories! ;-)
ReplyDeleteA joy to have you, Robin! Thanks for the very visual post!
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