It's like the old saying goes, "I don't know much about art, but I know what I like." I took one semester of art in high school, and the only thing I remember is the vanishing point. I know there are different schools of art, like Impressionism and Surrealism, but I don't know the names of them all or even how many of them there are. I mostly like the kind that is realistic looking, but I try to keep an open mind about that. I wasn't so sure about Uncle Ken's stuff until he explained it to me. It isn't exactly realistic, but it isn't abstract either. What he told me was that he starts out with a subject from real life and then tries to improve it, and that made sense to me. When he posts something on Face Book and his friends comment on it, however, I usually don't know what they are talking about.
I do have a theory about artists, not just painters, but sculptors, photographers, music composers, poets, and story tellers. I don't remember where I learned this, and it's possible that I made it up myself: An artist is somebody who notices things that we don't and tries to point them out to us. Two people can observe the same thing, and one of them notices something about it that the other doesn't. Once it is pointed out to him, however, he notices it too and wonders why he never noticed it before. Another way to look at is, you already knew about it, but you couldn't put it into words or otherwise describe it. Then the artist comes along and expresses it better than you ever could have, and you think "He nailed it!" Does this make any sense?
I have never done any serious ice fishing, mostly because it happens the same time of year as rabbit hunting, actually snowshoe hares. After feeding my hounds all summer I wanted to get some use out of them in the winter. Rabbit and hare season in Michigan runs from September 15 to March 31, but the prime time is after deer season when there is snow on the ground. I used to fish a lot in the summer, but I hardly do anything anymore. My wife has health issues and doesn't drive, so I have to do all the shopping and errand running, in addition to much of the housework. I am no spring chicken myself, and everything I do takes me longer than it used to. I'm not complaining, you understand, it could be worse, a lot of people my age are dead.
" An artist is somebody who notices things that we don't and tries to point them out to us."
ReplyDeleteBingo! I may use that if the subject ever comes up, with full attribution to Mr. Beagles. Too good not to steal, I think.
Here's another take about art from Robert Williams, a guy I posted about previously. His work is very realistic, but not any reality I'm familiar with.
Of his paintings, Williams has stated, "My paintings are not designed to entertain you; they are meant to trap you, to hold you before them while you try to rationalize what elements of the picture are making you stand there."