{"id":3658,"date":"2015-08-06T22:03:28","date_gmt":"2015-08-07T02:03:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.dawnbanning.com\/newsblog\/?p=3658"},"modified":"2016-03-10T21:24:51","modified_gmt":"2016-03-11T02:24:51","slug":"an-artists-sight","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.dawnbanning.com\/newsblog\/an-artists-sight\/","title":{"rendered":"An Artist’s Sight"},"content":{"rendered":"

Monet had cataracts<\/a>.
\nDegas, retinal eye disease.
\nGeorgia O Keefe, Mary Cassatt and Rembrandt all suffered decline of ocular vision.
\nStories swirl theorizing they were better artists because of their condition.<\/p>\n

How did Monet and Degas see?
\nStandford News<\/a> interviewed ophthalmologist Dr. Michael Marmor<\/a> on his theories.
\nMarmor has written two books on the subjects and co-authored The Eye of the Artist<\/a> with James. G. Ravin.
\nHe uses software to replicate what the artist may have seen.
\nFor a glimpse, click here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

At the age of three my parents discovered I wasn\u2019t seeing well.
\nAn optometrist confirmed their suspicion of nearsightedness.
\nHe believed a child under school age shouldn\u2019t wear glasses, suggesting we return in a couple of years.<\/p>\n

\"Scan<\/a>
\nWith my Dad, brother & faithful friend Tuff<\/p>\n

I will never forget the day, years later, when I first donned my personally chosen bright purple frames.
\nDriving home, my face pressed to the window I exclaimed,
\n\u201cMOM the trees have leaves, they have LEAVES!!\u201d
\nI remember those trembling aspens and birch, leaves shimmering in the wind, bright as pennies in the sun.
\nI was ecstatic. Mom was crying.
\nShe was reeling over the fact I hadn\u2019t ever seen leaves in a forest grove.<\/p>\n

By 16 the optometrist could no longer find frames to fit me, or make glasses thick enough.
\nContacts changed my view yet again.
\nThe world was suddenly sharper & clear, but depth perception was difficult to navigate.
\nI stumbled a lot.<\/p>\n

The \u2018reading glass\u2019 era arrived 5 years ago.
\nI should paint with them, but don\u2019t.
\n\"dawn<\/a>
\nThou I couldn\u2019t discount my friend\u2019s enthusiasm that presbyopia was \u2018a gift from heaven\u2019,
\nbecause she could no longer see her wrinkles,
\nit still has it\u2019s share of challenges.<\/p>\n

I was in the studio when my Client showed me the photo for this special commission.
\nI saw lovely natural buff cliffs and a meandering river.
\nAfter he left I found my glasses and discovered the cliffs were houses.
\nA whole village.
\n\"DSC02701\"<\/a><\/p>\n

It was a surprise, and a challenge.
\n\"DSC02705\"<\/a> 24×24 New oil on canvas.<\/p>\n

The painting took about three weeks & 23 brushes.
\nI began in acrylic, layered with oil.
\n~introduced two new colours \u2013 viridian and phthalo green
\n~incorporated a canyon palette \u2013 destination of the couple\u2019s engagement photos.
\n~ used two entire palettes of paint.
\nThere is a little surprise in one of the towers.<\/p>\n

I wore my reading glasses.<\/p>\n

p.s.
\nWere Artists better painters because of decline in vision?
\nI believe scientists are missing the point.
\nThese well accomplished artists had honed their skills & perceptions.
\nMasters who understood light, composition, movement and contrast.
\nThey weren\u2019t just \u2018seeing\u2019 their subjects, they understood them on a whole different plane~
\none that infuses mystery and the unseen.
\nDr. Marmor reproduces what Monet was seeing on canvas with poor vision.
\nWhat was he seeing beyond the canvas?
\n~
\nAnticipating the letters of response~
\nI rarely accept commissions.
\nIt\u2019s true this isn\u2019t my typical genre.
\nHe isn\u2019t my typical client either.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Monet had cataracts. Degas, retinal eye disease. Georgia O Keefe, Mary Cassatt and Rembrandt all suffered decline of ocular vision. Stories swirl theorizing they were better artists because of their condition. How did Monet and Degas see? Standford News interviewed … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3658","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-new-work","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.dawnbanning.com\/newsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3658","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.dawnbanning.com\/newsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.dawnbanning.com\/newsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.dawnbanning.com\/newsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.dawnbanning.com\/newsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3658"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"http:\/\/www.dawnbanning.com\/newsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3658\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4120,"href":"http:\/\/www.dawnbanning.com\/newsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3658\/revisions\/4120"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.dawnbanning.com\/newsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3658"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.dawnbanning.com\/newsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3658"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.dawnbanning.com\/newsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3658"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}