Outside Inspiration: Wood, Metal and a Single Point

The reason a work of art has impact, draws our attention and/or fascinates us can vary greatly from piece to piece. I think we assume it is the whole composition that, in the end, is what makes us stop and examine the work. Essentially it has to be–if all the elements of a piece don’t work together every element is diminished by this failure. Yet it is often one part of the piece that grabs us in the first place and is usually what also holds our attention. Sometimes it is the color, the dazzling quality of the texture, the enticing shape of the form … but it can also be a single, small point that on its own would be nothing and mean nothing yet in the context of the work, it can be everything.

In Julia Turner’s mixed media jewelry, she uses these single points of interest to draw and hold the attention of the viewer.  In the two pieces below, it is the smallest thing … an enameled staple in one, a square pin in the other. Take out these single points and neither of these brooches would be nearly as fascinating.

Julia’s work is a mixture of wood, steel, enamel and paint. Most are very sparse in detail (the brooch above is about as detailed and colorful as they come) which leaves a kind of muted canvas on which to set a small focal point. These points are like seeing a single sail board out on a still ocean or a lone tree on a snow covered slope. There is something about the lone point in a space of ‘otherness’ that we feel an affinity for. Not to  get overly deep here but we all know what loneliness and isolation feels like, being that one point of difference in a sea of people or the only soul in a big quiet house. Images that are like that tug at us. Not to mention the contrast of a single element unlike it’s surroundings will always be the strongest visual in any piece or scene.

A simple point of interest is something to consider when working on pieces that have large swathes of texture or color. The surface design might be quite beautiful on its own but a single point of contrasting interest can emphasis the beauty of it and give the viewer a place to focus and a visual “home base” from which to explore the piece as a whole.