"Fragrance of Heaven"

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"The fragrance of heaven is found in prayer." When any kind of stress overwhelms us, it is prayer that transports us to a quiet place of peace and power. It calms the storm.

This visual, along with others I've posted, has a strong repeated design element. The steady drumbeat of a repeated element will always bring calm into a piece and firmly ground it and get rid of the sense of floating elements that are vague and ambiguous. It is similar to the steady beat of a drum in musical presentations. Repetition creates rhythm.

Every artist can make their work stronger by understanding this design principle. In all of life we look for repeated patterns (similar to counting telephone poles) because it has a calming effect on our psyche. And the good news is that there are many different ways to incorporate repetition in any piece of art. It can be a repeated line, color, shape, value, or texture. Because of the strength and boldness of moving color, I have chosen to use a repeat pattern that is bold and strong as a counterpoint to the moving color.

One good way to understand the power of repetition is to look at other artist's work and see how they handle repetition. By narrowing your focus as you study another artist's work, you will be able to observe this particular design principle without the distraction of trying to notice everything at once. And there you have it...just a few more things to think about.