Patricia Roshaven

New Direction

Wed, 6 Feb 2008 22:37:47 -0500

Hello Fellow Artists,

Although I've been immersed in photography for the last eight years, my first love was painting, beginning in the 1970s. Not having formal training in art, I painted and studied to fill in the spaces.

Training comes in many ways. I was surprised how much being a massage therapist (1972 - 1987) increased my skills as an artist, bringing a heightened sense of the physical and emotional worlds. As an academic librarian (1992 - 2004) I was immersed in computers and learned to focus my mind based on the demands of this technology, particularly useful in digital photography. And so my right brain (massage) and left brain (computers) were trained. Does this make me a balanced person? I like to think so.

Both photography and painting are very demanding: each can take a lifetime to learn. But I've not been able to let go of one or the other (must be my Gemini rising!). If I get too deeply into photography, a tug from the painter side of me makes itself heard, and vice versa. So now I'm combining the two. Here is a collage (acrylic and photography) completed recently. The original is about 4' x 4'.

Technorati Tags: photo collage, photography, painting

Photo Collage Exhibit

Mon, 24 Dec 2007 14:57:22 -0500

Hello Fellow Artists,

If you will be near Jupiter, Florida, January or February 2008, please come to see

eleven of my photos on display at Florida Atlantic University's John D. MacArthur

Campus Library.

Can't bear to leave the ice and snow?  Look at the photos online.  These photos explore

the mystery that lies just beneath the surface of everyday life and can be better understood

by experiencing how they feel, rather than intellectually.

I was the director of the MacArthur Campus Library 1992-2004.  During that time I

was a full-time librarian and part-time artist.  Now I'm a full-time artist (photography and

water media) with a book habit.  Currently reading:  The Redbreast by Jo Nesbo and A

Modern History of Japan, by Andrew Gordon.

Technorati Tags: photo collage, photography exhibit, Florida Atlantic University

Print of the Year Award!

Thu, 14 Jun 2007 17:27:20 -0500

Hello fellow artists,

I've not written in quite some time, but I think it is time to start again. Good news -- last night I found that I had been awarded the Print of the Year Award from the Carolina Camera Club. I've been a member for about two years.

I was taking pictures early one foggy morning last summer and had been focusing on some flowers caught in spider webs. (See entry for Nov. 16, 2006, "Spider Web Morning.") I turned a few inches to my right and there was "Dragonfly." The lovely "Zebra" also won a First in the Portrait Division. All of the winning photos can be seen on the Camera Club's website.

Technorati Tags: dragonfly, zebra, photography awards, Carolina Camera Club

Farm in Early Morning

Fri, 17 Nov 2006 07:38:52 -0500

Hello fellow artists,

To me, a farmhouse brings back memories of family holiday gatherings, wonderful smells coming from the kitchen, hugs from an endless number of open arms, dozens of cousins to play with and if I'm lucky, a ride on a tractor. Good memories!

Over the years, farms have gone from families to corporations, but the concept of farm has been promoted in the American consciousness as a place of abundance, growth and a place to nurture family. Those who have never spent time on a farm and others who have been displaced from their farms may characterize the farm differently.

This farm is awash in fog, which could provide a feel of early morning protection -- or symbolize the uncertainty of the place of the small farm in today's mechanized world. Will the sunlight bring healing and warmth or shed unwanted light on problems needing attention?

How you interpret this picture depends on your life story. Knowing the language of images will give you greater control over your art work, increase your ability to explain your art work to others and enrich your understanding of your culture.

A larger version of this scene is in my photo album.

Technorati Tags: family farm, fog, symbolism, art tutorial

Spider Web Morning

Thu, 16 Nov 2006 10:16:35 -0500

Hello fellow artists,

Do you like to interpret images? There are numerous interpretations of the symbolism of spiders. Which will you choose for this picture?

Knowing the language of images will give you greater control over your art work, increase your ability to explain your art work to others and enrich your understanding of your culture.

From Wikipedia: "The spider symbolizes patience for its hunting with web traps, and mischief and malice for its poison and the slow death this causes. It symbolises possessiveness for its spinning its prey into a ball and taking it to its burrow (for burrowing species)."

From Crystalinks, which has summarized the symbolism of spiders from around the world --

"They symbolize fate, female energy, creative energy, wisdom, creativity, new life, entanglement, caution, divine inspiration, starting a project, becoming pregnant, being industrious, warning signals, illusions.

A lot of the symbolism associated with Spider can be seen in her form. Her body is made up roughly of a figure eight which, laid on it's side, is the symbol for infinity. Infinity is like the wheel of life, constantly flowing in a continuous cycle from one circle to the other. She is also associated with death and rebirth, not only with the shape of her body but with the eating of the male after mating. She is both a feminine and lunar energy. Her constant building of new webs have been tied by some to the waxing and waning of the moon. The glistening web also has very strong symbology, signifying the tapestry of the universe and the infinite possibilities of creation.

Native Americans: she is a grandmother figure whom is a link between the past and the future and who brought people the gift of fire. Some tribes believed the spider was the weaver who created the world and saw her as a symbol of creative female energy.

India: Spider is sacred to Maya who was known as the 'weaver of illusion.'

Greece: it was sacred to Athena who was a goddess of wisdom and a moon goddess

Egypt: spider represented Neith, the Divine Mother and also a moon goddess.

It is also believed the first true alphabet was formed from the patterns and angles in Spiders web which has her considered the teacher of language and writing. This makes her a strong guide for those who use symbols and writing in performing magic."

A larger version of "Spider Web Morning" is in my photo album.

For more about interpreting symbols in art, see this blog's Symbolism Information Package.

Technorati Tags: spider symbolism, symbols, art tutorial

Warm Grassy Hill

Thu, 16 Nov 2006 10:17:36 -0500

Hello fellow artists,

This is another in a series of interpretations of symbolism in art. The photo below was taken a few days ago on a very cold and windy mountain top.

In spite of the cold, cold, day, these bushy grasses are infused with sunlight. I think this picture has "sex" written all over it -- warm, bushy grass. A great hill to play on.

For more about interpreting symbols in art, see this blog's Symbolism Information Package.

Technorati Tags: symbolism, sexuality, art tutorial

Symbols of a Winter Lake

Thu, 16 Nov 2006 10:18:50 -0500

Hello fellow artists,

Since visual literacy and symbolism have been the topic the last week or so, today's entry is an interpretation of one of my photos. This was taken last winter at Connemara, the home of Carl Sandburg in Flat Rock, NC.

Interpretations vary for this picture, but one set of interpretations could be --
-- calm lake -- peace of mind
-- winter lake -- peaceful but feeling cold and isolated
-- snow -- symbol of purity, but there isn't much snow, so it could mean hoped for purity
-- mixture of barren trees and fluffy pines -- barren trees seem obvious symbols, and fluffy pines seem to be more friendly, since they keep their needles year around
-- branches in the water -- since they are at odd angles and seem to be groping to be released from the water, I'd say they are thoughts trying to come forth, and having a hard time of it -- but notice that there is snow on these branches
-- It's a misty day, giving a feeling of intimacy to the entire scene, which remains cold in spite of the mist.

For more about how to interpret symbols, see my Symbolism Information Package and Dream Symbols. How would you interpret this photo?

A larger version of this photo is in my photo album.

Technorati Tags: symbolism, winter lake, art tutorial

Photography and Celebrations

Fri, 10 Nov 2006 10:11:31 -0500

Hello fellow artists,

I think there is a solid place for images of blood, gore, anxiety, fear, repression, anger, etc., particularly if the work provides catharsis. However, today's entry is about celebrating the joys of human experience.

From Aperture, v. 18, #2, 1974:

"A photograph that celebrates is an affirmation of existence. It may celebrate life by documenting the actual celebrations of man and the commonality and continuity of human experience. It may rejoice in life through visual equivalents and expressive symbols. A photograph that celebrates may glorify the elemental forces of birth and death, sex and energy. A photograph that celebrates may exult in the imagination and the intellect, in consciousness and intuition, in the spirit and the sublime. A photograph that celebrates in the transition from sight to insight and extols the mystery that falls between conception and creation." -- Jonathan Green

Technorati Tags: visual literacy, visual communication, visual media, celebrations, photography

Clematis and Bluebird
Patricia Roshaven
Photo Album

Visual Literacy

Thu, 9 Nov 2006 10:19:53 -0500

Hello fellow artists,

Do you sometimes wonder what a picture means? Are you a visual artist? How visually literate are you? Yesterday's blog entry was about visual literacy, although the term was not yet in use when Nancy Newhall's quote was originally published.

Visual literacy, or the ability to understand visual images and the ability to communicate with visual images, is a crucial skill for the 21st century person. We are bombarded with visuals on television, in movies, and on the Internet. Our ability to interpret these visuals accurately gives us a valuable edge.

According to enGuage, students who are visually literate:
-- Have working knowledge of visuals produced or displayed through electronic media.
-- Understand basic elements of visual design, technique, and media.
-- Are aware of emotional, psychological, physiological, and cognitive influences in perceptions of visuals.
-- Comprehend representational, explanatory, abstract, and symbolic images.
-- Apply knowledge of visuals in electronic media.
-- Are informed viewers, critics, and consumers of visual information.
-- Are knowledgeable designers, composers, and producers of visual information.
-- Are effective visual communicators.
-- Are expressive, innovative visual thinkers and successful problem solvers.

Selected resources for visual literacy:

-- Joel and Irene Benedict Visual Literacy Collection

-- International Visual Literacy Association

-- The Online Visual Literacy Project

-- Visual literacy activities and exercises

-- 21st Century Literacies

-- See also my information package on symbolism.

Learning the language of images will give you greater control over your art work, increase your ability to explain your art work to others and enrich your understanding of your culture.

Technorati Tags: visual literacy, visual communication, visual media, symbolism

Morning Walk
Patricia Roshaven
Photo Album

Words and Photographs

Thu, 9 Nov 2006 09:31:33 -0500

Hello fellow artists,

Nancy Newhall (1908 - 1974) was a photography critic and colleague of some of the masters of photography who were making waves 1940 - 1970. She edited books of photographs by Ansel Adams, Paul Strand and Edward Weston and was a founder and regular contributor to Aperture, which was and still is devoted to fine art photography. The following is by Nancy Newhall and published in Aperture, v. 1 #1, 1952.

Her words are prescient, given how much time we devote to visual media -- television, movies and the Internet.

"Perhaps the old literacy of words is dying and a new literacy of images is being born. Perhaps the printed page will disappear and even our records be kept in images and sounds. Perhaps the new photography-writing -- so new we have no word for it -- is a transition form, and perhaps, instead, it is, in embryo and by virtue of principles now being discovered and applied, the form through which we shall speak to each other, in many succeeding phases of photography, for a thousand years or more.

We are not yet taught to read photographs as we read words. Only a few thousands, among our hundreds of millions, have trained themselves like photographers and editors to read a photograph in its multilayered significance. Yet more and more photographers have discovered that the power of the photograph springs from a deeper source than words --the same deep source as music. At birth we begin to discover that shapes, sounds, lights, and texture have meaning. Long before we learn to talk, sounds and images form the world we live in. All our lives, that world is more immediate than words and difficult to articulate. Photography, reflecting those images with uncanny accuracy, evokes their associations and our instant conviction. The art of the photographer lies in using those connotations, as a poet uses the connotations of words and a musician the tonal connotations of sounds."

For more about how to read visual images, see my information package on symbolism and tomorrow's blog entry.

Technorati Tags: Aperture magazine, visual literacy, photography, symbolism

Angel's Trumpet
Patricia Roshaven
Photo Album