“Great art picks up where nature ends” Marc Chagall
One could argue that all design is a copy of something done before. I
would argue that the source of all design originated in nature and
there began the plagiarism. The structure of a spider’s web or the
replicating pattern of a seashell are both examples of concentric
design tools found in art as are the triangular models used by Winslow
and the Renaissance artists. Where would we be without the rule of
thirds? What feels most natural, most organic and appeals to our
senses is that which originated from nature.
One morning years ago I was running very early in the morning in
southern Arizona. As I approached the top of the mountain the night
stars merged with daylight. Just then a meteor shower began. It was
truly the most amazing thing I’ve ever witnessed. How could I ever
replicate that? Why would I try? Yet the experience impacted me.
Great design and art does impact me the same way that a work of nature
does. I do believe I carry those images with me in the same way. As
these images stimulate me, interest me they also influence my art. I
plagiarize them without meaning to.. replicating art, replicating
nature.