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Polly Castor

Fostering a new renaissance through creativity, authenticity, spirituality, and art

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Hope

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My Adult Ministries Talk at the Congregational Church
By Polly Castor on December 10, 2018
It was a vibrant, open presentation and discussion. It was very well received, with several very touched by what...
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Give the Gift of Solution-Oriented News
By Polly Castor on December 9, 2018
I want to encourage you too to give the gift of balanced, unifying, hopeful views on our world that...
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Grace Notes #16 (with Photos)
By Polly Castor on December 6, 2018
Now I am furthering my ongoing goal of appreciating such a continuous, overflowing abundance of random good.
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3
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Help Save Utah’s Monuments
By Polly Castor on November 25, 2018
Please add your voice to mine and many others on this important issue.
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3
1
Love Regardless of Worthiness (Thomas Merton Quote)
By Polly Castor on November 18, 2018
What we are asked to do is to love, and this love itself will render both ourselves and our...
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pollycastor

I was thinking about how I’m a devotee of “big

I was thinking about how I’m a devotee of “big shapes and small shapes” as a compositional guideline that I preach to my painting workshops. I continue to stand by that. However, my life right now is many small moving parts, and I wanted to paint a feeling that was based on the happy juggle of disparate parts. Could I make a pleasing composition of all small (with some tiny) parts? I compensated by contrasting other things, like making sure I had value contrast, warm vs. cool color contrast, straight lines contrasted with circles, sharp edges contrasting with soft ones. I needed to do this complete with a focal point and finding ways to move your eye throughout the piece. This painting is the result.

I’ve Got a lot Going On is 19.7″x26.5″ and is painted in pastel on Sennelier mixed media sanded paper, which I spritzed with India ink before commencing, so the small parts could contrast with a base of minuscule ones.

#gotalotgoingon #alotgoingon #conceptualart #contemporaryabstraction #abstractart #artistoninstagram #pollycastor #softpastels #sennelierpastels #contrast #composition

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©2025 Polly Castor. I encourage you to freely share and forward my blogs in context, with proper attribution, and with links back to this website attached. Feel free to use the "Print" button provided to utilize Polly's recipes for personal use. Prior explicit permission is required, however, for any portion of Polly Castor’s photographs, art works or writings to be otherwise copied, reproduced in any way, re-blogged or downloaded (Contact Me Here). Please don’t steal my work. Copies of photos and artwork are available for purchase in my Gallery.

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