Teaching Ourselves

by Jeff Sone

We are trained in modern America to look to experts and teachers when we explore a new topic or seek a better understanding of one. There is nothing wrong with that, of course. Just ask any major university. It is the traditional approach to learning. But, in preparation for our next meeting, I'll suggest something a little more radical. We should teach ourselves.

Our next meeting is a "Show and Tell". We ask our members to bring one piece of Early Texas Art that they find particularly appealing or interesting and tell us why. The afternoon should be big fun. 

The piece you bring doesn't have to be your favorite. In fact, maybe it should not be. Instead, pick a piece that you like or find intriguing and then do two things. First, figure out why you like it. Spend some time on this topic and dig a little deeper. It reminds you of home. OK, why? What about the colors, line, whatever, remind you more of home than similar paintings?  

I have a Frank Klepper painting that just feels, to me, like a hot, still late August day in North Texas. The brightness of the light colors and the indistinctness of the images rendered in darker colors somehow conveys the oppressiveness of a hot summer afternoon. Others may see a bygone era of the shanty town. I see the lethargy that being outside, even in the shade, when it is 105 produces.  

Tricia and I looked at that painting together and saw the same thing (although she articulated it better at the time, as she usually does). But, that painting led me to try and put a label on what I liked. The impact of colors, used almost abstractly. From there I got some vocabulary for it and suddenly I'd learned something about art. Color Field! (Klepper would be horrified that what I like about his painting is the abstraction.) 

So, second, after you figure out what it is about your painting or print that particularly appeals to you, find some vocabulary for it. Think about how to relate the matter to the rest of us. The vocabulary does not have to be academic. It just has to be descriptive, something we can use to look at your piece with new eyes. I liked the Klepper much better after Tricia articulated the feeling of oppressive heat.      

Learning what you actually like is an important step. It may take some digging and consideration. But, it will be valuable to the rest of us. Someone once used the word "architectural" to describe a work by Coreen Spellman to me. And that word hit home. That is what I liked about it! The careful precise lines. Like an architectural drawing. And with that, I could look at other things and see why I like them. 

So, take one piece. Think about it, bring it to Turner House and let us know. You will educate yourself about what it is you like. And, by articulating that to the rest of us, you may well trigger that "Coreen Spellman moment" someone created for me.