Blood on the Canvas

When Tolstoy wasn’t deriding Nietzsche’s cynicism or plumbing the depths of his own spirituality, he observed, often and with great fascination, the mechanics of the creative spirit. “Art,” he said, “is not a handicraft; it is the transmission of feeling the artist has experienced.” For me at least, the lucid visions of Sara Harvey, owner of Multiple Personality, make a fine case in point. Take a look at some of her more poignant snapshots of womanhood, as in the mesmerizing Blue, and you’ll find that the artist’s soul—the essence of her being—is so obviously impressed upon the canvas that try as you might, you won’t be able to easily turn away. Pain, or something like it, seems to radiate from the eyes of the subject, a chilling pathos from skin “blue like the winter snow,” to borrow a Natalie Merchant lyric. It is so immediately compelling that to ignore it would be to excuse one’s self while someone else is in the middle of telling a great story.

Our reaction to art like this actually, is a lot like encountering a thoughtful bit of poetry: the minute we leave it, believing we’ve got a handle on it, the meaning eludes us in some inscrutable way and we have to go right back to it. To make matters even more slippery, there’s no real context: Harvey can just as easily evoke laughs with the playful Gnomes as she can capture raw angst via the vascular shapes of Disconnected. In Deceleration her color scheme recalls Remy Charlip, yet in Head Parade there’s a hint of Roald Dahl-like humor. It is fitting, then, that today’s giveaway would honor that quality of versatility we so often encounter among Etsy-dwelling artists. For one randomly-selected champ, any Sara Harvey print priced at $18 or less will be yours to keep. To qualify, simply go to Sara’s gallery here, then come back here to tell us about your favorite print. Let us know in a second post if you to subscribe to Wishing Willow, since our subscribers receive an extra entry in the contest. (If you don't have a Google account, just click “anonymous” to leave a post. Be sure to also leave your email address.) The winner will be chosen randomly. Contest ends 10/23/08.

**We have a winner! Kt who said "Hmmm....it's a difficult choice...i think my fav is Roots!"***