An Evolving Life. Beyond The Quick Fix.
Editor’s Note: Today’s headline in the New York Times grabbed my attention, “Empathy and Artistry: Rediscovering Dorothea Lange. Her indelible images came to represent the Great Depression. Now a revelatory exhibition at MoMA confirms her place in the pantheon of American photographers.”
I recalled that in September of 2018, Meryl Spiegel paid tribute to Dorothea Lange, with her image Dorothea. Here is the post, which is that much more captivating today.
Beyond The Quick Fix.
Always challenging myself, I’ve ventured further with my Fishnet pastels in the past month. After experimenting on smaller paper, I’ve progressed much larger to 20 x 26”. Here’s my third so far that I call Dorothea in honor of Dorothea Lange, the photojournalist who produced Migrant Mother in 1936 while working for the Farm Security Administration (FSA).
Upon completing the face, I recognized a strength of character reminiscent of Lange’s iconic portrait that delves beyond the soulful expression and the haunting glance to the left. Since I’m a photographer first, then an artist, what’s even more remarkable is that somehow my subconscious drew on my background and contributed to a piece in another medium.
Having spent years studying art both in school and in the museums, yet mostly on my own, this kind of cross-reference and/or fertilization, so unexpected, is also quite validating.
In a material world that values quick fixes like texting in lieu of talking and watching television instead of reading, it’s not easy to justify a creative life. Yet in an instant while standing at my drawing table as the light waned outside my window on a September evening, all those doubts seemed to diminish. At least for the moment anyway...
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Dorothea.
An Evolving Life Series
Beyond the Quick Fix (This one)
Warm Seas.
An Evolving Life is a Hummingbird series in which Meryl Spiegel shares her journey to become the creative person that was hidden within herself for so long. Meryl chose this image, Warm Seas, from her SPLASH series, to represent An Evolving Life.
Editor's Note
I have had the good fortune of knowing Meryl Spiegel for many years. We met during my BNB days when she was referred to me as a resource for a specific type of photography I was searching for. I also knew her as a writer. Over the years, I have been impressed with Meryl’s talent and creativity, and the honesty of her work. When Meryl began to sketch, paint, work with pastels, she truly overlaid one talent on top of another. The layers were intriguing. I reached out to Meryl recently because I thought that the Hummingbird audience would appreciate her work, and value her process. They say that timing is everything, and in this case it was, because Meryl was thinking about not only “showing” her work, but writing about it too. In our new series, An Evolving Life, Meryl will share the stages, challenges, and meaning of her art, and the journey that coincides with the pieces she highlights. Sandra Novick
Link here to galleries of Meryl Spiegel's work on her website and on instagram.
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