Virginia Fifield contemplation/Hurricane

Have you ever seen the Coral Springs Museum? If you haven't already, you should go to this art and gallery show. On my visit to the Coral Museum, I was able to see a variety of photographs featuring the work of Charcoal artist Virginia Fifield. The Contemplation Hurricane is Virginia's most appealing art gallery. Hurricane's Contemplation was produced with charcoal on museum board medium. The artwork is 40*40 inches in height. Hurricane has a drawing topic where it retains some control for the reflection of powers of its genesis, meaning, and intent. The artwork contains some insights that have some appreciation and joy of some deeper connection to the natural world. Virginia Fifield's work on the Contemplation Hurricane explores about our self-perception and the deep sense of ownership and dominance shapes. The work also changes our understanding and vision of our association to the natural world. She works in pragmatism and brings up an artwork that presents a nature of the selectively edited subject.

The image is represented in an over-scale format and on a stark. It contains some contexts of strips and purposely devoid of color that strips away all commercialized, romantic and some stereotypical artificial relations. While observing the artwork, I was keen to realize that the subject of the Contemplation Hurricane at first appeared to be familiar and recognizable. The image aims at initiating some deeper contemplation about the natural world. It also aims at creating an internal dialogue to the observer and some connection in which we live (Berliner and Todd 89). Virginia Fifield believes that her work always explores our perception of the sense and self of ownership and dominance in shapes. She also suggests that her work distorts our vision and the understanding of the relationship towards the natural surroundings. Contemplation Hurricane is an obvious example of Virginia Fifield's work. The work presents the contemporary realism that is keenly selected and edited from an animal subject in the form of portraiture. The image is initiated on a deep contemplation that helps one to realize about its internal dialogue about our natural surroundings. Contemplation Hurricane has an over-scale format with colors striping away making it appear attractive to every viewer.

While at the museum, I was eager to find out the history of Virginia Fifield about her artwork and her Biography. From a quick research, I was able to learn that Virginia Fifield originates from Canada. She received a Bachelor's degree in Fine Art from York University in Toronto. From there, Banff School of Fine Art hired her as the Head Assistant. She later returned to Toronto to pursue a career as a specialized artist. Her work was presented in public galleries and commercial centers (Vonderau and Patrick 121). She was awarded various grants because of her excellent work from both the private and public assortments in Canada. Her artwork is inspired by the fragile and magnificent beauty of Florida where she returned and acquired her first thirst for fine art through a continued series of large-scale charcoal pictures of the animals. Most of her artwork has been displayed in the local institutions and galleries. Some of them include the Solo illustrations present at the Hollywood Drawing and Culture facility and also at the Nova South Eastern Campus. Virginia has gained numerous rewards in juried exhibitions that include the All Florida Exhibition and Competition at the “Boca Raton Museum of Art in 2011. She also won the award at Sculpture Florida in 2008 and in 2010. Her recent exertion features on the PBS television show named Art Street with David Caruso (Berliner and Todd 95). The work appeared during a fund-raising show at the Opera Arcade that aims to assist the South Florida SPCA. She continues to work and live in South Florida. Virginia Fifield serves as the Board of Managers for the Art Serve in Lauderdale and on the Art Collection boards for the Community Art in Broward County.

While working on Contemplation Hurricane, Virginia Fifield who is a Hollywood artist used the power of black and white to make the large-scale charcoal drawing. Some other images that she worked on depict the pictures of a pit bull being dragged by its leash, a little woodpecker that is grasped by the hand with tags and a bridled thoroughbred resounding a jockey. Her later work named, "Bird in the Hand" represents what the artist wants to develop further in her life. She suggests that "They wanted to put the bands on a woodpecker's leg and the image clearly indicates the conveying of ideas about its survival in our hands (Turman and Jill 97)." This is the core message that is from Fifield's paintings and drawings. Virginia Fifield uses her craft to make such an impact to the Contemplate Hurricane image.

During the visit to Coral Springs Museum, I also realized that Charcoal is not an easy medium to use in drawing. It is also not easy to get the type of detail that an artist wishes to have while drawing with charcoal and this can evoke the emotion that Virginia has with just shading black and white. Virginia Fifield work is based on photographs that were taken by her. Some other photos were taken by James Fillies. She takes the time to edit the background of the pictures and hones them in on her animal subject. Virginia suggests that the idea behind this artistry is to focus on a message about "calling us from the frame." She suggests that we have the right to exists on this planet. She feels that we have reached a point where our development on earth is only to have a profound impact on the environment. Virginia also suggests that we have a mandate to recognize our role as the stewards.

Personally, I believe that the Contemplate Hurricane drawing is a work based on the realism of the natural environment. It is clear that Virginia carefully edited the picture in the form of a portraiture just as she did to other images. The common image drawn on a charcoal on museum board medium holds some power for the contemplation of the forces of significance and purpose in the natural surroundings. All this helps in initiating a relationship with the natural world that we exist.











Works Cited

Berliner, Todd. Hollywood Aesthetic: Pleasure in American Cinema. Oxford University Press, 2017.

Turman, Jill. "Hollywood Library Sculptures." (2016).

Vonderau, Patrick. "How Global Is Hollywood? Division of Labor from a Prop-Making Perspective." (2016): 23-36.