La cascade aux oiseaux 1971

Joan Miró made this print, La cascade aux oiseaux, using a combination of lithography and pochoir. It's got that classic Miró thing going on: playful, but with a grounded sense of form. The big black form is where I start, you know? Its surface is kind of velvety, but with these scratchy marks pulling away from the main shape, like it’s shedding or breathing. Then you've got these little teardrop shapes, hanging like fruit, but they’re also kind of like musical notes, spaced out along the bottom. Those little black lines almost feel like the staves of sheet music. I think about Klee when I look at Miró; their ability to make marks that are also signs, that evoke this whole world of imagery and rhythm. It’s less about what it means, and more about the pleasure of the dance. That's what I call good art.