%PDF-1.7 1 0 obj << /Type /Catalog /Outlines 2 0 R /Pages 3 0 R >> endobj 2 0 obj << /Type /Outlines /Count 0 >> endobj 3 0 obj << /Type /Pages /Kids [6 0 R 17 0 R ] /Count 2 /Resources << /ProcSet 4 0 R /Font << /F1 8 0 R /F2 9 0 R /F3 10 0 R /F4 11 0 R /F5 12 0 R /F6 14 0 R >> /ExtGState << /GS1 15 0 R /GS2 16 0 R /GS3 19 0 R /GS4 20 0 R >> >> /MediaBox [0.000 0.000 612.000 792.000] >> endobj 4 0 obj [/PDF /Text ] endobj 5 0 obj << /Producer (dompdf 1.0.2 + CPDF) /CreationDate (D:20250715212024+00'00') /ModDate (D:20250715212024+00'00') >> endobj 6 0 obj << /Type /Page /MediaBox [0.000 0.000 612.000 792.000] /Parent 3 0 R /Contents 7 0 R >> endobj 7 0 obj << /Filter /FlateDecode /Length 1953 >> stream xXێ}WԾx#NX <Ȗ+nV EN51E:uT5ghX;y4'r*}Q%w~offE"27Y,] e;o.*21hA?=ָ>[?qw8/nJ8*%(썑ٟ?J%9G)|-q7 V^?Hvq4{SV&OKAܵb'ӎz*ܱ҆4tNΩz)1}uyOW04ou9gsI(O&nl#;giN yZC-W$e'Gs V%ёj{#?_(IYt|tlRsU?*Wֲi5-~cae!6Ԕz:]e04(-GɎk4 I:Y=}}$hjq$bV9Z #[D je֪QXqFR} 4P[GRFIB 8yT@u/(CPFt:x:dOP'g6Z#O̖Q9Xcu(Bټq"=1=l#!9h(wtiEADVH$?JZ YÖ́TNSyBY޸ZDBXiE.r՝9(WQ1#*4E"W'MVTR^7ua-QHA paQ,uT,Y&+" +dZƳd$Z#<6{!HAeb{6Dbl$V6ތ/sH{GvE${qF)3tխлN}JJ>d+#oY0yl}r' e!=3ZV#*a<aܔ"1=\CLa^>īL~ww7^q CjjG]O6٫tE583R d]Dq ; %gMDdFNR@0"7BTXl@TG칈|dJcCpBQ;U"xoK(i>a:o&}Eq%撝Wܽ>p!JvƷ`6P2"[䧬08[L!H^A5oHc=-O\1ܚu< ۯSDlfd:aJ=[1_6k wi>PyIpɥ3JF$s oON-NS;I z/̗^ fQ'W'Iî(O/O\o-|yaYB7a). ]tL=Ǵ|Lxe|5OϿ}6yvb?{ endstream endobj 8 0 obj << /Type /Font /Subtype /Type1 /Name /F1 /BaseFont /Helvetica /Encoding /WinAnsiEncoding >> endobj 9 0 obj << /Type /Font /Subtype /Type1 /Name /F2 /BaseFont /Times-Bold /Encoding /WinAnsiEncoding >> endobj 10 0 obj << /Type /Font /Subtype /Type1 /Name /F3 /BaseFont /Times-Roman /Encoding /WinAnsiEncoding >> endobj 11 0 obj << /Type /Font /Subtype /Type1 /Name /F4 /BaseFont /Helvetica-Bold /Encoding /WinAnsiEncoding >> endobj 12 0 obj << /Type /Font /Subtype /Type1 /Name /F5 /BaseFont /Helvetica-Oblique /Encoding /WinAnsiEncoding >> endobj 13 0 obj [6 0 R /Fit] endobj 14 0 obj << /Type /Font /Subtype /Type1 /Name /F6 /BaseFont /Times-Roman /Encoding /WinAnsiEncoding >> endobj 15 0 obj << /Type /ExtGState /BM /Normal /CA 0.3 >> endobj 16 0 obj << /Type /ExtGState /BM /Normal /ca 0.3 >> endobj 17 0 obj << /Type /Page /MediaBox [0.000 0.000 612.000 792.000] /Parent 3 0 R /Contents 18 0 R >> endobj 18 0 obj << /Filter /FlateDecode /Length 855 >> stream xU6WLn ВlvnM`k Z$g$E))k6%q8fMJ:QFt|s΅u֌eYFuO2l-ZS^-_ׂܑnq#m蠄n+An0V nH祮=9o-H'_GTUErNPmW^ٶ= {A0}f `r$ƭ]OR{3[r*k> endobj 20 0 obj << /Type /ExtGState /BM /Normal /ca 1 >> endobj xref 0 21 0000000000 65535 f 0000000009 00000 n 0000000074 00000 n 0000000120 00000 n 0000000401 00000 n 0000000430 00000 n 0000000579 00000 n 0000000682 00000 n 0000002708 00000 n 0000002815 00000 n 0000002923 00000 n 0000003033 00000 n 0000003146 00000 n 0000003262 00000 n 0000003291 00000 n 0000003401 00000 n 0000003460 00000 n 0000003519 00000 n 0000003624 00000 n 0000004552 00000 n 0000004609 00000 n trailer << /Size 21 /Root 1 0 R /Info 5 0 R /ID[] >> startxref 4666 %%EOF Modulation | Caring Magazine

Vol. #28

Grace Uncovered

Read Issue

Latest Impact StoriesView All

Popular Topics

PopularView All

Modulation

December 14, 2010
3 minute read
Total
0
Shares
0
0
0
Listen to this article

sharperFocus

by Kelly Pontsler, Major –

The picture isn’t huge, but it makes an impression! Paul Cézanne’s Kitchen Table is the latest painting to really get my attention.

I’ve been spending quite a bit of time at the museum lately—courtesy of an annual membership received as a birthday gift earlier this year. The de Young Museum in San Francisco has hosted two extraordinary exhibits of impressionist and post-impressionist paintings this year, and as a member I have managed to get my hands on several sets of tickets at no cost. The thing is, although I can share the tickets with a friend, as the member I have to go every time! (No sadness on my part, I assure you!)

The colors and images captured by these two schools of painting are amazing to me on many levels. The artists’ ability to transform blobs and globs of paint, pin dots and thick lateral strokes into something recognizable mesmerizes me. I spend a lot of time just staring at the brush strokes. (Somewhere deep inside of me I’m sure there’s a painter just waiting to get out!)

The subject of Kitchen Table is just what it says, a kitchen table piled with fruit and other items. I suspect that for many people, a quick over-the-shoulder glance as they walk by would elicit an “uh huh, yes, nice” kind of observation. But stop and stare, really soak it in, and you begin to see the artistic gift and expert skill.

When you wander through museums, do you take the time to read the little information cards in the exhibits? I do. A ton of research goes into writing those short little blurbs. So it was no surprise that I hovered a moment to read, and there it was, right there on the information card, that word: modulation. Huh? It’s a great word—rolls off the tongue, makes you sound very smart, but what on earth does that have to do with art?

In music, a modulation is a change of key. You start in the key of D and with a few notes of transition you suddenly land in the key of Eb (up a half tone from where you started). A change from what was to what is, from things past to things present, a new reality.

Hue (colors) and tone (lightness or darkness) are essential elements in all painting masterpieces. Cézanne’s trick was to lay very different colors side by side, in small strokes, to create the sense of space and volume. There’s no blending, no gentle smoothing. Clear, distinct strokes, each one a precise color, each one different from the previous, every dip of the brush into the paint well resulting in a new reality of color. Paul Cézanne was a master of modulation.

As I stood quietly in the museum the other day and pondered that, my mind suddenly connected the dots to a new and profound thought: Christmas is the celebration of the greatest modulation of all time! Some 2,000 years ago a little baby was born and his birth changed the course of history, from what was to what is, from things past to things present and future. “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us.” He was God’s Son here on earth. Different in “hue and tone” from the rest of us, and yet still one of us. In clear, precise strokes his life defined the space and volume of real life for the rest of us. Modulation. Change. A new reality. Compliments of the Master Designer himself. Too cool!

Merry Christmas!

Download this page as a PDF

You May Also Like