Don’t be put off by the theme of this year’s art competition ‘U3A Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow’ that some artists have found difficult to interpret in terms of the artworks that would meet the theme requirements.

The definition of theme in art is the message that the artist wishes to convey through the artwork. Theme is not simply the subject matter of the piece of art; rather, it is the abstract idea being portrayed by both the artist’s design and the subject matter that is created.

What an artist will produce is their own interpretation of the theme.

Here are two examples how two different artists interpreted the same theme – that of ‘Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow’.

CeeCee, ‘Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow’.

This example (pictured right) – is not a collage.

It is adapted from a series of art journalling using crayon on paper. To make it a collage, coloured lace, card, paper etc could have been used with the crayon. If you look closely, you can see the artist has etched some letters in the background of the work.)

Marilyn – ‘Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow’

This example (pictured right) is a collage of different media.

It depicts the tumultuous life of one of the most famous people of the 20th Century, in Marilyn Monroe, and the intense concentration of media attention on her life, good and bad.

Although not depicting the whole theme it conveys a strong message of a time when the movies were foremost in our lives and that fame doesn’t necessarily bring happiness. The expression on Marilyn’s face says it all.

So, the advice is to not get to hung up about whether the message in your artwork is correct in terms of the theme. Have fun with it. Play with different mediums to wow our judges, and to earn a place in the international exhibition at the conference in Rockhampton, May 2023.