“What is Art ? – or what, would you say, is the definition of Art,” I asked my daughter who has her own little Art school for pre-schoolers. It is quite a question and I suspect that there is no correct answer, as Art plays such a part in the human condition. It did however put me on a track of thought that wanted to explore the subject of Art, just a little.
These are some of the colourful artworks of the pupils at the Sticky Fingers Art School .
You can see more Kids Art and happy faces at the Sticky-Fingers Art School at
Facebook : Sticky-Fingers.
Kids Art is important. I learnt that the practise of Art can be fundamental to a child’s development, and exposing them to Art can help them in various ways. But apart from that it will undeniably bring smiles to their faces, as you can see from these photos.
The Writer on this Blog : proverbs31woman.org/2016/09/06/watercolor-painting–toddler/#more-2524
says :
Afterall, Art is simply the meeting of all our senses at that point when it was being done”
She goes on and gives insight to the benefits of teaching kids in watercolours :
“Introduce them to the world of colour; gives more concrete ideas about blending (primary) colours in order to produce a new (secondary) colour. Can teach a toddler about emotions and the colour associated with them. We can better understand the toddler’s feelings just by looking at their artwork. Enhances parts of their brains that handle creativity; may also enhance their problem solving skills; and Art can build a child’s confidence.”
So Kids Art is important – and it makes them happy !
I have been surfing the blogosphere at WordPress, dropping in on Art blogs, and been amazed at some of the Art out there. I found the Brandon Knoll blog with his interesting creative work, linked with modern technology. You may want to visit his blog and see his work on https://chaoticshapes.com/portfolio-2/ Just imagine the diligence and patience he must exercise to do his kind of artwork. And he takes his blog audience with him in the colouring-in process, as he encourages his followers to use their imagination and guess what’s coming out of his drawings.
Of course we get to the fine arts students who, to my mind do the “real” art stuff. Those finely trained professionals who make a living out of their creativity. This may well be the heart of Art. Yet some of the master artists of their times, who painted with their very souls, seemingly only received recognition many years after they had gone. Some even died paupers, and yet now their art works fetch astronomical prices.
Taking a glimpse over the history of Art, it reveals that Artists influence the times that they live in, their history-spaces so to speak, which may lead one to think that they are the subliminal influencers of their times, expressed through their artwork.
The Renaissance Period with Leonardo da Vinci and others; setting the way of Western art.
Leonardo da Vinci’s The Last Supper
The Impressionists with Claude Monet, Vincent Van Gogh and others; painting their perceptions before nature.
Realism with Millet and others, celebrating the working-class and peasants.
Surrealism : Pablo Picasso – ridiculous art, painting dreams and exploring the unconscious mind.
And so on.
Apart from its expression and beauty Art can also be functional.
Art and Science :
In an article on Longreads Sept 2016 on Space Art…. … “Bill Hartman, a senior scientist at the Planetary Science Institute in Tucson,… sees his artistic role as that of a synthesizer, blending a mass of disparate and highly specialised astronomical data into a more complete whole. This is often necessary in a field that wallows in minutiae at the expense of the big picture.
Art has long been used to clarify science, and vice versa
He says, ” Leonardo da Vinci sketched waves to learn about wave motion, but dissected bodies so he could paint better portraits.
Space Art, for all the ostensible benefits of art and science working together, artists have found themselves being squeezed out of the field of astronomy, just as they had out of the life sciences in the 19th century. “
Indeed, a picture paints a thousand words !
Art and Psychology :
This quoted from a blog called Everyone Means Something
https://phulme.wordpress.com/2014/08/18/genius-22-as-inspiration
“Surrealism…challenged fundamental premise about Art and creativity, shifting the focus from the conscious to unconscious processes introducing the role of chance in the role of the creative process, and treating that process as not merely aesthetic but political social and metaphysical”
Surrealism is crazy art, but is not our world a little crazy ? And for those artists who have become a little ‘unhinged and unhooked’, may well be the ones who have something to show those who live in the normal world.
And as October is Mental Health Month, let us take a moment and salute Vincent van Gogh, who painted his famous Starry Night from an asylum room.
Well, Art, in one way or another, must have an important part to play in the forming of our personalities. Therapists often use art to understand what is going on in the minds of their patients – perhaps because art is an expression of what we feel deep on the inside, – even reflects what is going on outside of us, – and often in our natural environment. Perhaps Art is the view from the room on the inside of us.
Art and God:
I quote from Alan Webster’s QT 24.11.16
“When we tap into God’s creative power, like in an artesian well, there is then a rush of creativity that we can draw from to express our own creativity.”
This is my Art, now keep the words of Leonardo da Vinci in mind, when he said : “Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication” !! It’s the closest I can get to painting a straight line, (chuckle !) …. and its called “Distance”
Classifying Art is of course the right way to go to get the most from Art and for that we do need to appreciate the history of art. And there is that, but, what about the little Kids Art, what about the new tech artist, and the daring dabblers with paints and brushes who do art for the fun of Art ?
For what is Art ?
Is it merely a fun exploration of our creativity, or the technique we apply, or does it become good art when emotion is expressed through colours, shapes and forms, creating a thing of beauty for others to see and appreciate. I’d say all of these.
For the narcissist Art may merely be an expression of oneself, an extension of oneself, a recognition of oneself, a determination even a demand to be oneself.
But at heart Art is a soul thing – an artistic enquiring soul reaching deep into the creative processes to express some kind of truth or beauty, and done in the right spirit will want to share that beauty for others to see and appreciate too.
To my mind the art of Art is Art when it becomes an expression that releases the emotions, to both the artist and to the viewer. To express and reflect the perceptions the intuitions and the imagination into an explosion of visual creativity.
Art is Art when it gives and takes to become a thing of beauty, – and, “beauty is in the eye of the beholder”
Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God will shine forth.
Psalm 50:2
CareSA 