The Artist and her World

I have been putting off writing this particular posting for awhile, alright....go ahead.... just call me a scaredy-cat. Why? Well, a multitude of reasons. For starters, I am what some people would consider a Jock more or less and Chris is Bookworm/Artsy type. So, how do you write about someone else's life long passion and do it justice, don't know but here it goes....

Ever since we met some 17 years ago, "Art" has intertwined itself into our lives. And before I met Chris, "Art" was those cool black light posters that most teenagers bought when I was growing up in the 70's or the cool beer clocks that you got with your purchase of a keg of beer. But as we all probably find out when we marry, life changes. For better or worse "they" say. Well, luckily for me mine got better and my horizons were certainly broadened. Whether it is my wife's own work (Superb, in my opinion, biased some may say, but hey when I don't like her work I let her know as well), the work of others hanging on our walls, or the numerous galleries and museums that she has forced me to go to over the years, my eyes were opened to a whole new world. (I do enjoy the galleries/museums sometimes, but shush....don't tell her!)

The new world, what of it? Well, sometimes it is absolutely fantastic and sometimes not. What is an artists' inspiration for a particular piece of work? I would say this is probably one of the more common questions that a non-artist may have for those who paint, sculpt and create. I guess this is probably different for each artist and probably runs the gambit from location, life experiences, emotional state, maturity and probably a dozen other factors.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder "they" say, but dang there are some awful ugly babies out there. What the heck is that crap hanging on the wall; did someone simply spill a can of beans and tuna on a piece of canvas and call it "Art" just because they could? But this isn't about the ugly side of art; this is about the nicer side of art. This is about the enjoyment brought on by seeing a piece of art, be it a painting, sculpture, monument, great film or any other medium that you can think of right now.

For "Mr. Stick Figure man" (as far as my talent will carry me), I can only stand in awe for those who have the gift to transform a blank canvas into images that make you go "wow", "fantastic", "how did they do that?" or "why did they do that?". I am probably not the most observant guy in the world, but when I see nice art these days, I can now appreciate the thought process, the anguish, the passion that goes into producing one's work. I have watched my wife work on dozens of paintings, projects and experiments over the years so I can at least somewhat understand the various stages an artist goes through from start to finish. Sometimes it is a marathon and sometimes it is a matter of a few brush strokes in the right places. Whatever it is, I am sure hope that artists enjoy their own works of art as others do.

Well, it is somewhere around midnight, the mind is starting to wonder and I am not totally sure where I am heading with this posting other than to say, I am proud of my wife's artistic talents, glad that she has shared her world with me. For those of you who don't know, the painting at the top of our blog "The Lady and the Sailor" is hers, more to follow....