I love this pond in our neighborhood and walk by it every morning...and often in the early evening too when the light is quite different.
And here's my quilt based on it...
There are positive things about a lock down..you discover all these wonderful gems right under your nose!! And there isn't much traffic to bother you!
Yesterday (on the back road into Watkinsville for those that want to know!), I saw this wonderful sight........
It's a meadow lying fallow and full of wild flowers. The yellow is those little bobble headed fellows!! and there were tiny blue flowers intermingled.
My daughter yesterday was asking me the purpose of art - and my reply was to bring beauty and joy to everyone, to point it out where we might not see it, and to celebrate it.
Dostoevsky wrote:
"...mankind can live without the Englishman, it can live without Germany, it can live only too well without the Russian man, it can live without science, without bread, and it only cannot live without beauty......"
And, if you have been, thanks for reading! Please comment!! I'd love to know what you think art is for! Elizabeth
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9 comments:
Hmmmm -- not sure how well I can articulate my beliefs around this. I believe art is necessary as nourishment for our soul. But I have broad definitions of what constitutes art -- everything from the great masters to the art of Mother Nature to my own humble handwoven dish towels. As for soul -- that's equally hard to put into words. It's the not-mind, not-body part of us.
Jim Carrey said, "The purpose of art is to bring people into presence."
Art may be beautiful and joyful but there are thousands of magnificent works of art that are neither. Picasso's Guernica is one famous example. Over centuries art has also had a very important role in social or political commentary, or domestic or cultural documentation or just plain advertising. When you couldn't take a photo, an important person had his (often, his) portrait painted. It displayed your wealth and social standing using contemporaneous visual code.
Thank you for writing, mjs, I agree that Guernica is definitely not joyful....but it does have a bitter beauty.
Art can point out to us that which we have missed - joy or horror.
And yes there are a lot of portraits of nasty people! that are beautifully painted....'tis true!!!
Elizabeth
Hi Amyfibre thank you for writing!
yes the idea of art can be open to wide interpretation...perhaps I should have titled my blog "the purpose of art MAKING".....that would be interesting to do....
and clearly also open to wide interpretation.
and now we start getting into philosophy!
Is it beautiful if no one sees it??!!!
Handwoven dish towels? oh not humble - elegant!!!!
Elizabeth
Hi Heather! good to hear from you.
Interesting that you mention Jim Carrey....my brother lived in Burlington, and I made several quilts about the steel factory in Hamilton where Carrey says he would have ended up if he didn't go into comedy!
So he sees art as a meditative process? Elizabeth
Art gives people a place to escape to and in to when life is bearable and unbearable. It soothes the soul and gives comfort as well as inspiration. I think of the art made by the Jewish people when they were trapped in prison camps, and they new that they would probably not survive and they still made art --- to record history - their emotions -- their hope --- their legacy. Man cannot live on bread alone. We have a soulful need for art, even in the midst of those most sad and hopeless situations. I believe this pandemic will produce art that will take a place in history.
knew not new....
Thank you Marj, you are so right....too many are focussed on the news...much better to focus on art. There is a lot to be learned...including many things that would make our lives better, not worse. Elizabeth
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