John T starts us off with a bang!

The title of this work is "broken heart." It uses the analogous colors of the leaves, with greens, yellows, and drying to browns, with an accent colors of red (complimentary color to green) and purple (complementary to yellow). It could almost be a triadic harmony of colors. (Brown, green, purple).

It is a near symmetrical piece. The emphasis is the center, the broken heart, a jaggedly torn Catawba leaf, with the crevasse filled and bleeding, spilling over with red and deep purple holly berries. It is laid upon layers of leaves, spotted by age, to place emphasis on it as the center of the piece. Several layers of protection have grown to surround it; the dried seed pods of the Sweet Gum are hard and sharp, the sticker grass is firm, pointed, and prickly, the holly leaves are spiked. The dried leaves fill the moat surrounding the Catawba leaves. They are brittle, crumbling, and dead. The last layer is sticks and thorns wrapped with vines as the last obstacle for protection. These all provide a variety of texture. I am drawn to the crack in the heart as it is jagged line, not repeated, with a contrasting color.

The values are dull and add sadness to it. As for the form, thinly covered areas suggest some frailty and give it a withering, lonely feeling. There is repetition in the shapes, and rhythm in the movement of the layers and colors. The gum seed pods bring some rhythm and movement as well. The "broken heart" is laid on concrete, cold, cracked, and hard.

  

ITALIAN LOVES

My “Italian Loves" heart is constructed with an analogous theme with tan wine corks, earthy brown Italian roast coffee beans, and deep purple grapes. The variance of the lighter tint of the farfalle paste provides distinction between the coffee beans and the rich purple of the grapes. You can see a touch of wine stains on some of the corks that corresponds and unites with the color of the grapes. This repetition of color, along with the repetition of the round shapes of the corks, beans, grapes, and chocolate pieces, improve the visual flow of the piece. The shape of the farfalle, adds some variety which helps with movement. The heart shape is also repeated as layers.  The repetition, as well as the near symmetrical shape, provides balance. Rhythm is provided by the evenly spaced corks and candies, and the progression of the heart shape outward. The focal point is the farfalle, as my eyes immediately see the contrast in colors.

Volume is created with the full spaces; the bulging grape pile nestled in the pasta. The predominately dark values are given a “pop” with the pasta and candies. The varying textures add interest; the pasta with zig-zagged edges, smooth candies, concaved beans, firm grapes, and slightly giving corks.

The sweet chocolate, in bright red, accents the piece, and serves for dessert with a cup of coffee, after consuming my favorite meal of pasta with a nice glass of pinot noir. It was carefully constructed on my favorite wooden cutting board, given to me by my favorite Italian friend, that I eat cheese off of while cooking the pasta and drinking some wine. They are all my favorite “Italian Loves.”