What is art?

Rant begins here

Art is anything I say it is. Art is not sitting around with other artists in coffeehouses or newsgroups arguing endlessly with each other about what art is. I may not know much about art, but I know what I like, and for the most part so do the people who actually buy art.

I know what kind of art I don't like ...
I don't particularly feel like being challenged all the time to rethink my definition of art, or society, or Man's Inhumanity To Man. Particularly coming from some young sprout who hasn't yet lived long enough to experience art, society or Man's Inhumanity To Man. When you're no longer listed as a dependant on someone else's tax return, perhaps we can talk.

I don't quite see the point of art that requires a lengthy written "artist's statement" to differentiate it from any other pile of rags, discarded construction waste, old grocery lists, or preserved animal remains. Art is by definition a visual medium. If an artist's creative output consists more of words than artwork, perhaps it's time to consider abandoning art and taking up writing instead.

Most of what people consider art, whether it's velvet paintings in a furniture store, or the latest bright young thing to dazzle the New York art scene, does very little for me.

and what I do like ...
A few times in my life, I've seen a drawing, a photo, a painting or a print that took my breath away, and I knew I just had to have it. I feel the same thrill every time I look at those pieces again, even decades later.

These pieces run the gamut from "realistic" to "abstract." Sometimes I can explain why I like them, sometimes I can't. If I get a feeling that the artist has involved the viewer in the art, or shows a glimpse of the artist's soul , I tend to like it more than if the piece feels like it was created just to pay the bills, even if both pieces are equally "good" in a technical sense.

I'd like to make the kind of art that makes someone else feel the same way I do about the treasures I've found through the years. Wish me luck.

[Links] Nicole Saint-John, my favorite real-life artist.

This is neat: AAA Collections Visual Thinking Sketchbooks. The rest of the site is really interesting too. Be prepared to spend a lot of time there. I still have sketchbooks from my art school days, back in the early 70s. I'm scared to look at them though.

A wayward webmaster found his way here awhile ago, and asked me to add a link to his art-related web site in the United Kingdom. It's an interesting site and well worth an extended visit. Here's the link: http://www.howe-bzar.co.uk/