A quote from songwriter Leonard Cohen says, “Forget your perfect offering. There is a crack in everything. That’s how the light gets in.”
Years ago my sister Nancy was here helping prepare for a party. She was arranging special cookies on a platter and got upset, “But this one’s broken!” Nancy was going to toss it aside. I said, “But someone might want just half a cookie.”
That experience kept circling in my head when working through thoughts on Cohen’s statement. I do believe none of us get through this life without some cracking. Broken hearts are an obvious big contributor. And I like to believe this cracking allows for the development of compassion and understanding, hence “That’s how the light gets in.”
Recently I got some new art materials. This is exciting. I got two new colors from Winsor & Newton: Potter’s Pink and, an unusual choice for me, Olive Green. So when I got back to studio work my impulse was to paint with MY NEW COLORS!
However, I found Cohen’s statement captivating. It ended up dictating a different color palette and I still haven’t tried the new colors. This also led to one of the closest encounters I’ve come to making a monochromatic statement. Physically the painting is 20 x 24 canvas done with acrylic paint and graphite. It’ll be featured on the home page soon.
On a blank but gessoed (white) canvas I outlined forms at hand—a faded jewelry box given to me by my mother ages ago to use as a pencil box (it now holds X-acto knives and blades); a rectangular paper tablet sent free from somewhere asking for donations; a partially used roll of tape making for a nice circle; and eventually some drafting templates. These forms would substitute for Cohen’s “perfect offering.”
Gray. I needed a lovely gray background to suggest neutrality or non-judgmental state. I had one on hand that I had mixed for previous work. Then I decided a lighter gray would do for the forms. I chose a new mix of Mars Black and Titanium White. The edges of the forms would suggest where the breaks were happening.
Still at the sketching phase, I decided the “light” could play between more than one form and used a long ruler and pencil (graphite) to slash the forms. I first painted the darker background, then the forms with the lighter gray. The breaks were yet a visible line of white with pencil marks in between. Connecting the pencil marks between forms is a prepared Winsor & Newton fairly translucent gray called Davy’s Gray.
The white line needed quieting; I used Davy’s Gray. The composition still didn’t sing.
I then chose Paynes Gray, a GOLDEN color, to outline the forms. Yes. The forms took on significant weight against their background.
The all-important break that Cohen speaks about? It had the translucent Davy’s Gray base. I dotted the edges with a brilliant yellow color I had mixed before. Then a finishing line of Titanium White through the center completed “how the light gets in.”
The line breaking the forms sometimes continues, sometimes gets blocked. Now I do believe it says what is meant.
To see/hear more of Cohen: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2FpwjQLZTTs
Cracked now on view at Home Page and/or Geometric Gallery. 2/21/2021
Years ago my sister Nancy was here helping prepare for a party. She was arranging special cookies on a platter and got upset, “But this one’s broken!” Nancy was going to toss it aside. I said, “But someone might want just half a cookie.”
That experience kept circling in my head when working through thoughts on Cohen’s statement. I do believe none of us get through this life without some cracking. Broken hearts are an obvious big contributor. And I like to believe this cracking allows for the development of compassion and understanding, hence “That’s how the light gets in.”
Recently I got some new art materials. This is exciting. I got two new colors from Winsor & Newton: Potter’s Pink and, an unusual choice for me, Olive Green. So when I got back to studio work my impulse was to paint with MY NEW COLORS!
However, I found Cohen’s statement captivating. It ended up dictating a different color palette and I still haven’t tried the new colors. This also led to one of the closest encounters I’ve come to making a monochromatic statement. Physically the painting is 20 x 24 canvas done with acrylic paint and graphite. It’ll be featured on the home page soon.
On a blank but gessoed (white) canvas I outlined forms at hand—a faded jewelry box given to me by my mother ages ago to use as a pencil box (it now holds X-acto knives and blades); a rectangular paper tablet sent free from somewhere asking for donations; a partially used roll of tape making for a nice circle; and eventually some drafting templates. These forms would substitute for Cohen’s “perfect offering.”
Gray. I needed a lovely gray background to suggest neutrality or non-judgmental state. I had one on hand that I had mixed for previous work. Then I decided a lighter gray would do for the forms. I chose a new mix of Mars Black and Titanium White. The edges of the forms would suggest where the breaks were happening.
Still at the sketching phase, I decided the “light” could play between more than one form and used a long ruler and pencil (graphite) to slash the forms. I first painted the darker background, then the forms with the lighter gray. The breaks were yet a visible line of white with pencil marks in between. Connecting the pencil marks between forms is a prepared Winsor & Newton fairly translucent gray called Davy’s Gray.
The white line needed quieting; I used Davy’s Gray. The composition still didn’t sing.
I then chose Paynes Gray, a GOLDEN color, to outline the forms. Yes. The forms took on significant weight against their background.
The all-important break that Cohen speaks about? It had the translucent Davy’s Gray base. I dotted the edges with a brilliant yellow color I had mixed before. Then a finishing line of Titanium White through the center completed “how the light gets in.”
The line breaking the forms sometimes continues, sometimes gets blocked. Now I do believe it says what is meant.
To see/hear more of Cohen: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2FpwjQLZTTs
Cracked now on view at Home Page and/or Geometric Gallery. 2/21/2021