WHAT’S IN THE LIGHT? WHAT’S IN THE SHADOWS?

Two pictures, two museums, one point.

The first, on display at the St. Louis Art Museum.

This second, a photo I took at Musée d'Orsay in Paris.

Why these two?

Nicolas Tournier’s Banquet Scene with a Lute Player (c.1625) came to my attention thanks to the museum's daily email subscription. The timing couldn’t have been more perfect. The description, in part:
Bright light and contrasting shadows have been used to especially good effect in this banquet scene. The artist employed these tools to enhance the spatial qualities of the table corner and to define the surface textures of the food and clothing.

When I read that, this blog entry changed. Instead of focusing, alone, on the clock photo (and not  knowng the point I should make), it hit me. I could have come to take this picture from a different angle, highlighting the people rather than the clock. Instead, I intuited that the shadow might tell a more interesting story...
...which segues into writing. 

As we record our ideas, what do we bring to light immediately? What do we keep in the shadows for our characters to discover? For our readers to discover? It’s those choices that can add voice and texture, tension and release to our stories. And, on a consciousness level, I didn’t realize this until just now.

Jody Feldman is suddenly using these thoughts to help her get past an issue with her work-in-progress. She’ll see how it goes!