February Monthly Meeting

Featured Speaker: Tom O Scott

"Abstracts - Why Do We Respond to Them?"

Program Description

In this talk, using primarily his own work as examples, Tom O Scott will analyze his response (and maybe yours) to abstracts. He'll start by trying to define what an abstract is, using what he calls the "Referential Continuum." Then he will look at various types of abstraction, using what he calls the "Visceral / Intellectual Continuum." Hopefully you will come away with a deepened appreciation for your own abstract work and that of others.

Bio: I'm not a typical "nature photographer," though I hold them in the highest respect. I've exhibited with quite a few of them at the San Diego Museum of Natural History. Though I do have some nature portfolios, my real love is for the abstract, as represented especially in the Sand Vision and Sandscape portfolios. Most of these images come from scenes I have found on the beach, created by the combination of minerals and oil in the sand and a receding tide. I do not "draw" these images; I may place a rock or two (or many) to help create a "story", but nature is the primary creator.
My friend Jared Christopher Martin (see my blog entry about his work) calls my style "elemental modern abstract primitivism". I think that's as good a definition as any.One of the things I like about these images is that they are like mandalas. In a few hours, they are gone. Google images of Broken Hill; you will find literally hundreds of them. Try and find an image like "Red Rocks and Trees," and you will find only one.

You can see more of Tom's work at www.tomoscott.com.

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