With the new year always comes moments of reflection and for me, part of that was re-examining my work and process. Recently, I’ve been reading “The Intentional Thread” by Susan Brandeis as a sort of back to basics reset of my work. In the book, Brandeis goes back to the very beginning of the art making process, making a line. Since I learned such basic things at a very young age, almost intuitively, I’d forgotten the power of a simple line. Classically trained artists learn about the use of line and the impact of direction, weight, and functionality but as we get older I tend to think that such basics become so ingrained in us that we can forget to be intentional in our mark making. An image, say a simple portrait, can be manipulated to express, and evoke so many different emotions. If I was to draw a portrait with thin lines, it would give a delicate and tentative quality which could capture a reserved personality more effectively. Dark, wide lines are much more bold. They speak of intensity and energy, and would set a completely different tone despite it being a picture of the same person. Vertical, Horizontal, Diagonal, Curving, Jagged, all these types of lines will produce different emotive qualities. Color has always been the popular way of expressing emotion, and I have at times forgotten the power of a simple line. A great work of art has carefully considered each of the elements of art and tuned them to project a specific message to the viewer. Issues of aesthetics and basic artistic principles will always carry weight when creating a successful work, even if the artist is working intuitively. The re-examination I’ve been doing of my own work is indicative of my desire to add deeper layers of meaning to my work by examining each piece of the overall puzzle. My goal in returning to the consideration of the basics, (line, color, shape, texture, etc.) in each element of a piece is that I will be able to create more direct images as well as create the most complete representation of my subject matter. I hope that by putting each elemental decision under a microscope I will expand my visual vocabulary.