Down the Rabbit Hole

Art in all its Forms

30 Day Blogging Challenge
PROMPT May 7th
They say art is subjective. What is art to you?

Okay...I will try to get through this but it is only 8:45am in my corner of the world and I am already done adulting for the day. My spirit animal is clearly going to be the Honey Badger today....all day.



So at the risk of launching into a rant about how much I loathe some people today..."What is art to me?"

I am the granddaughter of an artist. My grandmother is a painter and a poet. She is a crafter of fantastical worlds. She raised me to appreciate art in its many forms, on canvas, in clay, in dance and music and in the language of words. As a result, I think anything that someone creates that can provoke an emotional response from an audience or observer can be considered art in some form. Even though I am not of fan of shock art, I understand the purpose of such installations and performances because I do believe art is subjective. All the same, I believe artists should be self-governed in that their art shouldn't harm or hurt with intention and participation should be wholly optional. People should be able to opt out of art that makes them uncomfortable or is offensive to them.

I enjoy art that makes me think, that gets my gears turning when it touches off something inside. One of my favorite artists is Jack Vettriano. He has several paintings that have become very commercialized, like the Singing Butler, but I'm a bigger fan of his larger, less well know body of work. He paints scenes as rich with tension as they are with vibrant colors. He shrouds his subjects in shadows and hints at a darker side of life that compels me. He is not a darling of critics and his back story is as interesting as some of his paintings. Not all of his paintings would be acceptable to hang on the walls of your family room...and a quick google search would show you why. I have a lot of his prints though, and have several of the tamer ones on my walls. There is such life in the every day scenes he paints and they all speak to me in some way. I could use so many of them as prompts for my writing...like this one for example. It's called The Temptress and seems to just beg for a story...



Or this one...my ultimate favorite, titled the Narcissistic Bathers.



Beauty, like Art, is subjective and not all art is beautiful by design. I happen to find beauty in Vettriano's work but others might not. I think that is the point of art...it can evoke things in one person but not the next. It can inspire and it can also offend. There is a wonderful power in art that way.