Sunday, February 3, 2013

365 Inspirations—34: ART

 Distraction by Karin Davie, 1965
"If you hear a voice within you say 'you cannot paint,' then by all means paint, and that voice will be silenced."—Vicent Van Gogh

 I love art. I love sculptures, paintings, mixed media, jewelry—just about anything really! Art makes my heart sing and sometimes I really FEEL something. I love making art, but I'm sort of self conscious about this. I think I'd like to make more art, particularly paintings or mixed media on canvas.

It's the first weekend of the month and I got free admission today to the Seattle Art Museum because holders of a Bank of America credit card get into museums for free on the first weekend of every month.

My husband and I drove to downtown Seattle and hiked up the hill to the SAM (Seattle Art Museum). We were excited to see some new exhibitions. There was an exhibition on gold throughout history and another installment from a very gifted modern Japanese artist named Yayoi Kusama. You can read more about that artist here: http://seattleartmuseum.org/elles/elles_kusama.html

I love wandering through the paintings and sculptures. You can really get a sense of the times through art that was created in a particular time period. I love the vividness and aliveness of the older painters and I love their ability to capture a moment and make it seem so real, but I'm actually more drawn to modern art because of the freedom of expression in these paintings. Here's a painting I fell in love with by Raqib Shaw from India. I love the story it tells, mixed media and the vibrant colors. It is sort of an aquatic fantasy in which the subjects must face all kinds of obstacles. It's called Garden of Earthly Delights.


I am attracted to color in a painting and life. It can be abstract, but I want to feel a sense of "aliveness" when I see it. I've only ever attempted to paint ONE painting in my life. I did it suddenly after my best friend lent me art supplies. I did it in my kitchen from paint and mixed media and it took me about an hour to do. I call it Clear Fall Day. When I finished it I hung it on my living room wall and my husband came home and said, "I like it!" It is now in our guest bedroom.



And my favorite painting of all, which I purchased after a trip to Sedona, AZ, is this painting of an Agave Plant. We have it over our fire place and when it's rainy outside, it reminds me of my time in the desert.



Do you like art? Do you have any art in your home? Do you like to visit art galleries?



5 comments:

  1. I love art. However, I am most definitely not skilled in arts :) I do love visiting art galleries and appreciating the amazing talent that goes into such beautiful paintings.

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    1. Hi Keith, I'm not skilled at arts either, but I still paint or do art on occasion. I like the creative process. It's very freeing! Yes, it is amazing to see artists who have really crafted their skills and going to art galleries are always inspiring to me!

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  2. I love art. I'm not talented in that arena, but I so wish I was! Someday I'm going to take a painting class and just enjoy.

    When I lived in northwest Ohio, I enjoyed going to the Toledo Museum of Art. It was my first real exposure to some of the great artists, and I loved it.

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    1. That sounds great Tina! A painting class sounds like fun!

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  3. I have one tiny piece of 'real' art in my house....a watercolor by an American artist living in Paris. The rest of my 'art' is actually my photographs that I've had matted and framed. If ever re-incarnated, I would love to come back as a watercolor artist or a collage artist. I have absolutely no talent, but certainly appreciate talent in others. Art museums and galleries are among my favorite places to visit.

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