Bonus Blog 2: That which remains...

The mind of an artist can be a scary thing.  It seems like the most successful artists in any medium are the tortured ones.  It also seems that all of the Louisiana Tech SoA professors are a little bit ... eccentric.  In no way am I implying psychosis, merely that architects/interior designers and artists in general have the ability to see the world in different shades of reality from the average person, whether it is voluntary or brought about by mental instability.  Being an artist requires at the very least the ability to distort perception enough to create something new, something inspired, or subvert traditional views.

The opening of that which remains was a little bit of an eye-opener for me.  I already knew about Mr. Caldwell's penchant for quilting, so that didn't come as any sort of surprise.  My favorite works of his were "Vertical Zen" and "Warm Thunder."  "Vertical Zen" is reminiscent of a raked rock garden; the Japanese minimalist/Zen aesthetic has always appealed to me in its natural elements (here represented by neutral colors) and simplicity.

Mrs. Carwile has an exceptionally bubbly disposition and, as we all learned well last year, extreme positivity in the face of adversity.  Her favorite color is yellow, which she says is usually associated with genius or insanity.  The thing I liked about her paintings was the pervasive architectural systems - the underlying geometry left evident on the surface, and the richness and combination of colors.  What surprised me was the dark qualities of Mrs. Carwile's paintings.  The titles of her paintings tended toward darker subjects, and there were lots of ethereal beings.  The titles didn't provide much insight to me of the messages of the paintings, but it was somewhat unsettling seeing these atmospheric ghosts lending a watchful eye to the canvas.