DRAWING AND PAINT

Abstract Art Paintings that has been Signed by Fire. Fire heats our passions to a white-hot flame and fire art seeks to share that feeling in its depiction of the phenomenon of fire.  Fire art may be on a canvas as an abstract work, it may be pubic work in the form of fire festivals such as the Burning Man Festival held Labor Day Weekend annually, or in lesser-known venues such as the Art and Fire Project in Wisconsin.  Each painting or public art display has this in common:  the actual need for fire in our lives, as we need an external focus to bring out the passion that we all have inside ourselves.  That passion may be diluted by the workaday world that we all must strive to make a living in, or it may be dragged down by life’s bitter circumstances, but whatever the reason, fire consumes the reasons for our downcast attitude and makes us sit up and take notice of the fact that life is good and worth living.  Should you paint a fire scene yourself, you will notice that the reds and oranges and yellows will be used up quickly; if you use black for a background to make the contrast between the fire and the surrounding darkness deeper, your dark tones of paint will diminish rapidly, too.  No matter --- when your piece is completed, it will all have been worth it, to have an eternally-burning fire hanging on your office or home wall, lighting up your day with inspiration.

Finding a public display of fire art means searching for like-minded souls who also don’t mind traveling a bit, because by its very nature, outdoor fire art needs air and plenty of space around, for safety’s sake.  So be prepared to journey to a farm or expanse of wilderness, because a festival will enable many of your fellow enthusiasts to join you as you enjoy a rousing display of fire art.

Fire art also includes such magnificent displays as the lantern displays of the Art and Fire Lantern Festival in Wisconsin, due to be spectacular from the efforts of the sponsoring artists, but also from the plain ordinary citizens who construct paper lanterns in various workshops in the several hours’ worth of effort that it takes to produce a lantern.  Far from arduous, the only limits on the lantern-making process are those of design, as a small one-square-foot lantern made of wet-strength tissue paper and glue with a framework of rattan will take perhaps an hour or two to construct, while a more ambitious project of a nearly full-size elephant will take six or more hours.  As your lantern takes shape and the day wanes, your excitement will build!  Then the evening arrives and all the lanterns that your fire art comrades have built will flicker to glow with quiet beauty.  It will be a magical evening and when it is over, you have the choice of bringing your lantern back home with you or joining in the communal burn as you watch your lantern burn with all the others to ash and consider the ephemeral quality of life’s efforts.   This will not make you sad, but will enliven your creative processes and  make you plant the next display of fire art, because it answers a primal need, that of driving away darkness and joining in a community drive for excellence.