“DRESSING” by David Mueller

I teach, firmly believe, and try to employ my art the philosophy that great representational painting is first and foremost a quality abstract design. It must be eye catching in the broad sense and balanced in dark's lights and middle tones also in dynamics of contrast and lack of contrast in line and mass et cetera. It is then that one of those pieces, perhaps a dark shape, becomes a head or a fabric draped over a head or a dress or a doorway into darkness in the background. This piece to me is an effective abstract design and really illustrates one of my favorite and I think very important elements which is a wide range of hard and soft edges. The glow of light on the left side of her torso makes that edge almost indiscernible, except for from a distance. It is juxtaposed to the dark night gown or blouse that she is pulling over her head which is defined in hard edges around that shape. The process of playing with these elements in creating simple beauty is where most of my joy comes from in the work and what most of my work aims to achieve.