Starling: Human Experience
Subject Matter vs Theme
Subject Translates Theme
The Article I Mentioned About How Long Viewers Look At Art
The Clip I Referenced From Power of Myth
Examples of Themes Artists Address:
- Conflict & Adversity
- Spirituality/Sacred Realms
- Societal Issues/Politics
- Narratives/Story
- Imagination/Fantasy
- Natural World
- The Art Itself
Here is a video on themes in art that give you some examples and more to consider in each area:
My Examples Around The Themes of Conflict & Adversity
The painting by Jacob Lawerence, The Library, is also below as well as a link for more about Lawrence and his work.
Examples I Referenced Around Spiritual Work
Suggested Practices:
Let’s talk about some practices around working with themes of human experience
- Spend time evaluating themes in the works of others. Whether that is figuring out the theme behind the current series you are binging on netflix, or looking through your bookshelf and thinking back over themes of books you may have not spent much time thinking about. Maybe listen to songs and see if you can identify the theme…I will have a playlist at the show notes link this week that will give you some to consider. And of course…think of your favorite visual artists, look at their work, what themes emerge.
- Challenge yourself to pick a piece of art that has never appealed to you and spend time with it. See if you can find a theme in the work and how that theme might help you relate to it. I have learned to appreciate several pieces I would have ignored because the style or subject matter did not catch my eye because I gave them my attention and saw that they had so much more to offer. People are like this too….you might make good friends if you can get past what you think those friends should look like and see what they have to offer beyond the surface.
- Look at your own artwork…what themes emerge? Have you been working with subject matter and blind to your own themes? Or did you know that your still life drawings were working through more than how to draw a vase?
- How has your own subject matter influenced the themes you have work with? Is it time to reevaluate your subject matter in order to fully address themes you are ready to dive into?
- Have conversations with other people about this. Ask friends and family what themes they see in art and film, discuss the meaning of songs, talk about stories and fairy tales with people in your life and see if you agree on the themes.
- Chose a random subject matter…anything…from a landscape to a bowling ball and then apply a theme that interests you to that thing…and see what emerges. This is a great way to overcome any sort of creative block. When you don’t know what to create…chose a theme and a thing and see what that sparks. The thing could even be a color or a material if you are more interested in abstraction.
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Donations
If you want to support the content provided through Starling I would greatly appreciate donations since I no longer have a day job. You can contribute through my PayPal account email for my new studio project: starlingartstudios@gmail.com. or just click the link below.
Playlist: Themes of Human Experience
Starling Art Studios
Also, I have started offering private critique sessions to help you reach your full potential. Click on the linked image below if you are interested in learning more.