Art as Fulfillment

Art: the expression or application of human creative skill and imagination, typically in a visual form such as painting or sculpture, producing works to be appreciated primarily for their beauty or emotional power.

Why produce a piece of art? Why invest time and energy into attempting to produce a thing of beauty or elicit an emotion? It's definitely something difficult to explain and is likely unexplainable. Why does a person wake up one morning and decide to paint a vase of flowers? I have the feeling every person wants to express themselves in some way, but most do not answer that call. Most will set it aside and focus on their day without ever listening to that voice. Watching TV or having a glass of wine becomes the focus because they are the easy thing to do. Creating art is difficult, challenging, frustrating, but ultimately rewarding. The most difficult things are the most rewarding while those that require no effort, require no training have the least meaning. How difficult is it to sit and watch a movie or binge watch a series on Netflix? We waste our lives one click at a time. 

And then there are those that answer the call of art and try to produce something of quality, something of beauty. What is the difference between those two people: the producer and the consumer? One continues and allows their individual voice to die while the other listens and responds to the desire to produce something unique, meaningful. Meaningful to whom? Since it's difficult to understand what might be meaningful to others, the artist must produce art that is meaningful to the artist. The beauty of art comes from originality, from what the artist sees and wishes to represent. All art is not equal. The intention of the artist is important, but falls far below the execution, the quality of a piece. Children have intentions when they produce a piece of art, but they don't have the ability to execute. An adult can work to execute a piece while learning how to use the tools needed to deliver their vision. 

What is art besides the definition that started this entry? It is the delivery of an artist's vision via the tools that artist has chosen to master. Vision is fine, but the mastery of the tools is what separates a poorly executed piece from a masterpiece. A work that requires no mastery is the work of a child. 

Joan of Arc - Jules Bastien-Lepage