On Art

I often think about art & its impact - both on the artist & the world. Creative expression is a great source of joy to its originator. It moves the artist from the realm of contemplation to action. It gives a sense of accomplishment to have given birth to a new idea - a new painting, a musical composition, an article, a book, a choreography, a building, a photograph & so on.

Are you an artist? What impact does creating art have on you? Post your comments here.

And what joy & connection it brings to the audience, the spectators - the patrons! We only need to spend a moment to recall the impact that listening to a Mozart symphony, viewing a Monet painting, seeing the Taj Mahal, or experiencing a finely executed theater act has on us. In me, art evokes a range of emotions from inspiration, empathy, sympathy, admiration, amazement. Art has that power. It can transport us to the world of the artist.

What impact does experiencing art have on you? Post your comments here.

In my town, a mall comes alive with marching bands & carolers every evening during the Christmas season - invariably the quartets of carolers receive smiles & applauses, no matter how small the audience. Every evening, art transforms a commercial outfit to cultural.

In almost all religious & spiritual movements I have observed, music brings the hymns to the masses. The creation of art is such a personal process, yet it brings people & communities together - it unites.

Not just a medium for expressing the positive, art has been used all over the world by teens & the troubled to express their angst. You can see that such art also has a huge following from people who can connect to the thoughts behind the art, though I doubt if such art has the power to elevate. Even so, such art must be a cathartic process for the artist - getting the angst out of themselves & into the medium of their creation.

Not only does art activate unexercised neurons in the depths of our human brains, but it also elevates us to a higher level of spirituality - even if momentarily. It makes us wonder at the immense depth of creative potential in each of us, & the source of it all.

God created wonderful art on & around our planet Earth - voluminous waterfalls, amazing sunrises & sunsets, the beautiful colours of birds, flowers, animals, the lush greens of meadows & forests, intense blues of lakes & seas, interspersed with polychrome soils & sands. The high mountains, hiding behind whiffs of cotton candy clouds, hiding the vast blue sky. The beautiful sounds of the winds, the oceans, the rivulets, the birds & the insects. The musical beats of thunder. The beauty of the human, animal & plant forms. And He put a little bit of that Artist in each of us - for us to capture the art of Nature & create our own impressions of it!