I’ve learned something about art this go around the sun.
Growing up, I always thought that – to be “art” –something had to be beautiful.
As you can imagine, there wasn’t much I considered art in my youth.
This frustrated and confused me greatly.
For one, it frustrated me because as much as I enjoyed the creative process, nothing I made – despite the effort I put into it – could be classified as beautiful. At least, not in my book.
But it confused me because – through some flip of the coin – I won awards.
I didn’t get it. Nothing on paper looked like it did in my head but somehow, my teachers bragged on me and I frequently placed in school competitions.
So, I shrugged my shoulders and accepted that, perhaps, my art wasn’t quite as ugly as I imagined it was.
But the true meaning of art eluded me for decades. Hyper realistic artists obviously had talent, as did painters like Monet and Leonardo DaVinci. But, there was something about Van Gogh’s work that appealed to me and it didn’t fit in with my idea of what was beautiful. I knew he had talent, but it further confused me that I thought so.
This year, I had a lot of really difficult emotions I needed to work through, and, for some reason, I found a way to express them in painting, sculpting, designing and creating.
My pieces definitely were not beautiful. Not just for lack of natural born talent, but because of what they depicted – loneliness, worry, stress, a broken heart…But I realize now – beautiful or not – they are art.
What they lack in beauty and raw skill, they make up for in meaning, symbolism, and emotion.
Because as it turns out, art doesn’t have to be realistic or intricate or pretty to be good. To be valuable.
What makes something art is how it moves you…
…to think…
…to feel…
…to act.
And I see, now, why I’ve always been such a Vincent Van Gogh fan…his work, regardless of how detailed or simple, makes me feel. It touches my heart in a way that other work doesn’t and so, it doesn’t have to be “pretty” to be valuable.
I look at art differently now; I don’t have to “like” it to consider it art. I don’t have to hang it on my wall to appreciate it’s worth. And, I don’t have to think it’s pretty.
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