Nice, surprising start to 2018. Was "salon style" a factor?

Still feeling like quite the art show newbie, adjusting to manufactured environments and scenarios with as many unwritten rules as written... And then, upon inquiry and close inspection, discovering even the written rules don't always apply. But that's just any human endeavor, perhaps.

Recently, I altered the arrangement of my artwork as shown in my 10x10 tent. In some respects, the psychology of picture hanging is poppycock, because we all know good work when we see it, right? We don't require any soft sell, pop-psychology technique to show artistic merit. True enough. But what if you could hang art such that its collective compositional arrangement amplifies the works?

My decision was to lay out my space — which is roughly half of a stop sign, as though a book or magazine spread.

My previous setup strictly looked at each panel as though it was simply unto itself:

My new approach sought to dissolve the boundaries of the panels and inter-relate the rectangles and image content — flesh with flesh, horizon aligned with horizon, earth low, sky high (below), something I've since learned (although I ought to have known) is called "salon style."

For the first show using this approach in New Symrna Beach, the cohesive unity of the images as an ensemble created an illusion of grander scale, and of a more prolific portfolio. The simple psychology of creating "an energy" served to amplify an already-excited eye's perceptions, and even can result in the eye finding what it already naturally is seeking — different for each viewer — in the many snippets and details of the overall strand of images in this contrived, forced relationship.

I paint slow, but am always adding to my display. So the work itself might not deserve the full credit that its arrangement complimented. I was recipient of the George and June Musson Award at Images: A Festival of the Arts in January 2018.

And recently at the Stuart ArtsFest 2018, with a slight tweaking of the composition, I was awarded Best of Show. Was it the psychology of a salon style setup? I have to think it played a subtle role.

In closing, below is a painting of one of my granddaughters, Emerson... I have a couple of days into this, and feel like I'm off to a quick finish. Have to "color it up" and detract from my natural muddiness! Less a "portrait" and more a composition of a more universal human feeling with a cascade of hair. While I love the Pre-Raphaelites and their affinity for beauty, I also appreciate a painter's trait they abhorred — "sloshyness!"

Introducing “Cascade,” 24x30 oil on canvas (unfinished).