Home
About
Prayer
Art
Workshops
Merchandise
Podcast
Blog
- -Art
- -Photography
- -Spirituality
- -Ideas
- -Books
- -Movies
- -Food
- -Poetry
- -Homeschooling
- -Hope
Links
Contact
Subscribe

Polly Castor

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

Subscribe

Home
About
Prayer
Art
Workshops
Merchandise
Podcast
Blog
- -Art
- -Photography
- -Spirituality
- -Ideas
- -Books
- -Movies
- -Food
- -Poetry
- -Homeschooling
- -Hope
Links
Contact
Subscribe

Hope

Polly Castor > Blog > Hope

Categories
Tags
Archives
RSS

Art (1,345)
Books (677)
Food (794)
Homeschooling (158)
Hope (816)
Ideas (1,113)
Movies (183)
Photography (1,298)
Poetry (618)
Spirituality (779)

May 2025
April 2025
March 2025
February 2025
January 2025
December 2024
November 2024
October 2024
September 2024
August 2024
July 2024
June 2024

The Art of Possibility (Book Review)
By Polly Castor on July 9, 2018
You'll be glad to have read it because there will be something there you can immediately utilize for the...
Read more
2
2
“Take No Thought For What You Eat” (Deep Think #4)
By Polly Castor on July 8, 2018
Curious why a Christian Science practitioner takes care about what she eats? This is where I stand.
Read more
8
7
Independence and Liberty
By Polly Castor on July 4, 2018
By refusing to jump off the cliff myself– by exercising my own independence and liberty– I help someone else...
Read more
2
2
Short Poems About Peace by Children
By Polly Castor on July 1, 2018
Plaques like these by elementary school aged children are scattered all over the peace garden near the Sacramento capitol.
Read more
2
1
The Way Other People Treat Us Isn’t About Us (Rita Sharma Quote)
By Polly Castor on June 24, 2018
You don’t have to allow their judgement to become your truth.
Read more
0
0

Previous
1
...
69
70
71
72
73
...
164
Next

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

Follow on Instagram

Do you need art materials?

Click the "Shop Now" button and a percentage goes to support this blog.

Sign up for A Cup of Cold Water Podcast

©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.

Send this to friend

Your emailRecipient email