Abstract Art – What Is It, Where Does It Come From and Why Do I Do It?
By using shapes, colors and textures abstract art creates a mood all to it own. By creating a mood all to it’s own abstract art usually does not try to depict any specific image in the end result.Abstract art plays on the emotions of the artist completely. Since emotions can be very lucid ideas, abstract art is known to be unrecognizable to something based in normal reality. However in a well done abstract piece the viewer can “feel” a presences in the painting. Abstract art is very spontaneous in nature.When I paint abstract art I do my best to start with at least three different colors. These colors can be complimentary or opposite on the color wheel. This depends on what I want to have the viewer feel and experience. Do I want bright colors that are so opposite that they vibrate when you see them? Such as green and purple, yellow and blue. Or do I want colors that harmonize when you look at them causing your eyes to move in a soothing pattern across the canvas? There is no wrong or right way to paint abstract art because there is no wrong or right way to feel while painting it.- EmotionsEmotions are the key ingredient for abstract art. What is the artist feeling? Is he feeling angry, sad, in love, out of love, inspired, aggressive? Mood can be greatly effected on the habituates a artists takes and doesn’t take. Artists have had a long reputation for using outside stimuli in the form or alcohol, weed, pills etc. I do not agree with this and I do not disagree with it. I am also not saying every artist uses. But I will say that a lot of great art has been inspired and created under the influence and sober. So what does this mean? Emotions are key in creating art, sad or happy, drunk or sober whatever state the artist is in is going to influence the outcome of the piece.- When to stop, Less is moreWhen I paint abstract art, I feel as though I want to put subject matter on it, a flower, bird, person, building, etc. I see a beautiful background and I want to put something that defines an image. Most of my art I combine what I am feeling with what I see or am inspired by. However I feel the real challenge in producing a great abstract piece is knowing when to stop, when to say “enough”. Abstract art can be as simple as a black and white painting and have a few powerful brush strokes. It can be minimal in construction and design. The artist is saying more with less words, less strokes can say more by utilizing the empty space that now just exists. When using less is more in abstract art it starts to become something else, modern wall art.- Less Is More, but some times More is betterWhen I am painting abstract art I try to challenge myself in using less. Meaning how can I make a powerful piece of art by utilizing the empty space that is on the canvas? Say more by saying nothing, paint more by using the paint to accentuate the emptiness giving it form. But the opposite exists as well. How many layers can I use? I ask myself. In my opinion layers of paint mean layers of emotion. So when I want to convey more, I ask “how many layers can I have?” “How many layers can I build?” “How much more color and texture can there be?” I build layers much like a sculptor would take away to expose the hidden form but with layers I add to define dimensions, texture, shape. This conveys emotion.- Abstract Art where does it come from?All my pieces of art combine a aspect of the undefinable, the unknown the abstract. I combine my pop art, surrealism, modern art and abstract art together to form my individual style. Abstract art is fun. It allows me to explore the subterranean levers of my psyche. As I dump colors, work with brush strokes, thick gobs of overlaying paint, my mind travels. It travels to a place that can be only explained through the finished product. This allows me to release hidden layers of myself that I can not reach without engaging in the artistic action of painting. Abstract art is the reflection of the inner mind.- My Goals as a artistI love painting abstract. But what I love to do more is: combine elements of my surrealism art, buddha art, modern wall art, pop art, stencil art. I engage all these style together to define where my mind and creative out look is.
County Health Department – A Great Resource for Physician Groups and Hospitals
As clinical providers seek ways to improve the health of their patients at the population level, one great resource that they should tap is their county health department. There are many resources and skills that health departments will share with physicians and other providers that will improve their ability to improve the health of their patients.In my work I have had numerous occasions to collaborate with the chief epidemiologist of the Kent County Health Department of Michigan-Mr. Brian Hartl. Through these contacts and through an introductory epidemiology course I have found that health departments are experts at providing population level health services. This is in contrast to most clinical providers who excel at working with their patients on a face-to-face level. Both staff of physician offices and staff of health departments are concerned with the health of individuals and groups of people.Clinicians most often work with individuals during face-to-face encounters. They treat the disease or injury of an individual one at a time. For instance, if a physician is treating a patient with hypertension, she will plan a course of treatment with the individual in mind. If the physician considers the population level in her work, then she is looking at how the treatments and instructions that she provides affect a group of her patients. For instance, she may consider how effective she is in treating her patients with hypertension collectively.The patients of a county health department are the population of the county. Only in a few instances do health departments treat individuals one at a time. Much of their work would not be considered clinical interventions. However, their work does affect the population as a whole. For instance, health departments are responsible for seeing that food at restaurants is handled and cooked correctly. Health departments track reports of communicable disease to identify potential clusters or outbreaks, such as measles, in order to mobilize the community and physician groups to respond and prevent further transmission.Can these two health groups benefit each other in improving the health of their patients and, if so, how? I recently interviewed Brian Hartl about this and he shared some thoughts that I believe can help clinical providers do a better job. As an expert in population level health, Mr. Hartl sees much of his work as preventive in nature. In the emerging world of population level medicine it is important for physicians and other clinical staff to focus on prevention too-prevention of chronic diseases worsening for patients, such as prevention of patients diagnosed with prediabetes advancing to diabetes, and prevention of teen patients from misusing alcohol and other drugs, including tobacco. The Kent County Health Department has many resources that can help physicians achieve their goal and would be very willing to collaborate with clinical groups. In fact, KCHD currently has a grant whose funds can be used to improve patient opportunities for chronic disease prevention, risk reduction or management through clinical and community linkages.Mr. Hartl believes there is potential to work together with physicians to establish a system for prescribing healthy living activities and lifestyles as non-clinical interventions for the prevention/management of chronic disease. For instance, the Kent County Health Department is actively engaged in helping communities develop walking paths in underserved areas in the City of Grand Rapids. He thinks that patients with chronic diseases can greatly benefit if they became more active by walking. He is willing to share maps and information about the location of such paths so that a physician can prescribe a walking agenda for a patient and then point them to nearby paths that they can easily access.The Kent County Health Department is also engaged in working with community partners to bring fresh foods to locations in the county where access to fresh fruits and vegetables is difficult. These are known as ‘food deserts’ and often only have retail food stores that are ‘quick markets’ that have only boxed food, such as those found in many gasoline stations. His group is working with such retailers in the community to overcome the barriers to providing fresh foods. Mr. Hartl is willing to share with physician groups the locations of fresh food sources in the community so that clinicians can inform their patients of the locations and improve their food lifestyles.These are just two examples of information that the health department is willing to share with clinical groups so that their patients can achieve healthy, active lifestyles. Besides information, health departments also have community contacts that could be useful. For instance, the Kent County Health Department works with the YMCA of Greater Grand Rapids, which has a nationally recognized program (the Diabetes Prevention Program) that helps prevent individuals diagnosed with prediabetes from becoming diabetic. The health department also has links with community educators, the Grand Rapids Urban League and prevention groups that focus on the prevention of the misuse of alcohol and other drugs.As you can see there are many resources that are available from health departments. Will it be beneficial to clinical providers to access these resources? I believe that accessing these resources will help physicians and other clinical providers greatly improve the quality of life of their patients. Also, it will help in improving the outcomes of patients at the population level. This is very important for groups that have risk-based contracts with private payers and for those who serve patients who are covered by Medicare. According to an article in Modern Healthcare dated January 16, 2015, about 40% of all private payer contracts are incentive based now; those with such contracts need to focus on population level health.There is a treasure of information at the health department for patient-centered medical homes that have patient care coordinators. One of the responsibilities of these coordinators is inform their patients of community resources that would be useful to them. The health department is an excellent source of such information.The goals of healthcare providers remains to provide safe and high quality care to their patients while their management staff work to improve the bottom line. With the rise of risk based contracts that dictate managing care at the population level, I believe that county health departments can do a great deal to help providers meet their goals.
Legitimate Work From Home Jobs?
It seems that nearly every day there’s something in the newspaper or on the news about scams targeting people looking for legitimate work from home jobs. The scam artists are getting more sophisticated, making it more and more difficult for the average person to tell if an opportunity is real or not.How can you determine if something is for real? Here are some things to look for:—Unsolicited e-mails. If you didn’t sign up to receive more information about an Internet-based opportunity, you should probably stay clear. Scam artists are good at sending out real-looking notices, even tapping into e-mail accounts of friends and relatives and using them to target unsuspecting people. Most legitimate work from home opportunities have a no-spam policy and will never send out unsolicited e-mails.—Contact information. You should be able to contact someone in person before you spend any money on an online business opportunity. Legitimate businesses should allow you to get more information about businesses before getting out your credit card—and that means talking to someone on the phone.—Crazy claims. As much as most of us would love to believe we can make $10,000 a week, any business that guarantees such riches should not be trusted. Sure, some businesses do have that potential, but no one should promise such riches. It can be exciting to see high earnings, but this is one case when you should let your brain do the thinking, not your wallet.—Slick websites don’t mean a business is legitimate. Con artists know how to create a legitimate-looking website, they know what words will work to entice someone, and they know many people are desperate for an easy way to make big money. There is no easy way to make money. Legitimate businesses require hard work and dedication and should clearly outline what the business is about. The best online businesses are straight forward about what is required to make good money. While legitimate Internet-based businesses do have the potential to create wealth, they still require hard work.—Fake associations. Many scam sites will put logos proclaiming membership with such organizations as the Better Business Bureau or similar organizations that either do not exist or are not legitimate oversight organizations. If you have any questions, contact the association directly to determine membership.—Testimonials. Most legitimate sites have them, but so do the scam sites. If you really want to do your homework, ask to speak to one of their references in person. If they start running the other way, so should you.The majority of Internet-based businesses are legitimate, but they also vary in their ability to make money. Do your homework, ask questions, and don’t be afraid to pass on something you don’t feel 100 percent comfortable with.