feat u re “Since I was a small child I have felt a passionate connection to art. I believe that creativity is an encounter, an act that states and makes evident the deeply held desire for knowledge and understanding of the human experience. Living my life as an artist brings me great joy and I feel honored to carry on this tradition.” — Louise Higgs
Louise Higgs with Rhonda Vincent and daughters
Connecting: Patron and Artist by Kathy McRuiz (Kathy is a Tulsa Artist and Development & Public Relations Director at the Arts & Humanities Council of Tulsa) For many artists, the creative process is painstaking, personal and full of mystery. Sharing the final product with an audience, however, adds a new point of view that can enrich both the artist and the viewer. Although this encounter often takes the form of an impersonal gallery transaction, there are ways to make the entire process more intimate and satisfying for both the artist and the patron. Simply Oklahoma is one such approach. The event is a fundraiser for the Arts & Humanities Council of Tulsa. It enables artists to meet their clients, and, as with a commission, for the client to have a voice in the production of the piece. The concept is simple: the patron purchases a “Featured Artist Table.” As part of the purchase, the patron has the opportunity to visit the artist’s studio, either to choose an existing piece or to consult with the artist to create a new work. The piece then serves as the table’s centerpiece at the event. At the event, patrons and their guests sit with the artist, and the patron takes the piece home. Ultimately, the client gains a deeper understanding of the creative process. Louise Higgs is one of Simply Oklahoma’s Featured Artists for 2006. She is creating a piece for Rhonda and Carl Vincent. Louise recently visited with Rhonda Vincent at her home in Tulsa, where Louise could become familiar with the surroundings where her work will ultimately be displayed. Louise uses a painstaking approach to creating a work of art. It often seems the entirety of art history is considered in each 14
motion of her brush, and she is glad to take you on the circuitous route from one stroke to the next. As Louise and Rhonda began talking about the piece Louise will create, Louise immediately launched into a brilliant discussion of Twentieth Century Italian painter Giorgio Morandi. In the process, Louise drew connections between math and art by talking about Morandi’s use of geometric shapes, and then elaborated on circles as the perfect form. A discussion of the ellipse led into the logic of geometry and linear perspective, the Italian Renaissance, and ultimately Brunelleschi and the Baptistery in Florence, a perfect octagon. All of this to say that: math is like art in that we are dealing with absolutes in both cases, and that art is a very analytical process no matter what style one incorporates. In the process, if we are lucky, there is transcendence. At some point in this discussion, the two young Vincent daughters wandered in, and Louise immediately involved them in the conversation. One of the daughters is a budding artist, and both daughters have already met Louise. The girls had joined Louise at Hillcrest Medical Center, where she introduced them to the work she is doing with Arts in Healthcare. They will later join her in her studio, where they will actually paint strokes on the work she is creating for the Vincent’s home. As the discussion turned to the piece, Rhonda Vincent said it was important that everyone at her table experience the art and the artist. Louise then began to describe her
basic form for the piece: four painted screen panels that would be hinged together. For later display in the home, the panels could be separated for hanging on the walls in any arrangement. To show the subject, color, size, and style of the piece, Louise brought four images she had completed from a series of flower paintings. She would paint similar flowers on screens very much like Japanese folding screen paintings. Known in Japanese as byobu, these screens served many purposes: as room partitions, as settings for special events and as backdrops for dignitaries. They offered large and inviting surfaces for decorative painting and many of the finest Japanese artists worked in the format. Rhonda was enthusiastic about Louise’s concept. She had heirlooms that reflected the Japanese motif on display in her home and was quite thrilled that this theme would be expanded, “I was so pleased with Louise’s design! I couldn’t believe her ideas perfectly matched the way we collect, and that she included the girls in the whole process.” In so many ways, it was clear the interaction successfully informed the creative process and enhanced the experience for both artist and client. Before leaving, Louise invited the girls to come by the hospital and help paint some ceiling tiles. Rhonda was very happy with the entire experience, saying, “This has been a great chance to meet an artist and has given us wonderful insight into the creative process. As a family we will have a rich set of memories each time we look at Louise’s paintings in our home gallery!”