We live in a world of the quick. Quick smartphones and ipads and computers and information…quick food and rapid results occur in many areas of life. As an artist it took me years to be able to understand and paint with color in a way that can replicate what I see and reproduce the image on canvas. Now anyone can take a color chip to a paint store and a computer can quickly analyze a color and produce a gallon or two for the wall in question. Quick.
We also live in a world flooded with quick images. Need to know what something looks like? Just google it and you can find anything under the sun.
So in such a world, why bother with the time and energy it takes to make beautiful art? And even if we do, since we live in such a “quick world” will people around us even appreciate the effort it took us to make a work of finished art? Why bother?
Creating art is a two-way street; it is a conversation.
There is the artistic journey and what happens within ourselves as we take that one slow step at a time to produce art…and then there is the communication with the viewer.
We are impressed by a thought and learn to translate that idea through an artistic medium – drawing, painting, photography or whatever. In the process we learn and grow cognitively through the experience of creating. And sometimes we end up with something with which we are pleased and we are moved to share it with our corner of the world.
In doing so, we open up the door for discussion. As we express something meaningful to us through artistic means and as we translate those thoughts and images into art, we communicate these visual ideas to others. What and how we paint or draw or create says something about us as individuals, and since it has so much meaning to us we want to share it with others. There is a desire to not only create beauty in art but to also connect with other human beings. And therein lies the value. Positive ponderings, inspiring thoughts, expressions of beauty, nobility, common connections and glimpses of hope are worth the time and effort of our labors. It is worth it for what we learn within ourselves and how by expressing our thoughts through visual means we have the opportunity to provide something uplifting for the enjoyment of others.
The process of learning art is not quick, it takes one slow step at a time, but if used for positive purposes, it is so worthy of our efforts.
penfrea. com Nehemiah's Art 