ART

4 a: the conscious use of skill and creative imagination especially in the production of aesthetic objects ; also : works so produced b (1): fine arts (2): one of the fine arts (3): a graphic art

A friend asked me the other night why I majored in art history since I am a self-proclaimed Word Girl. It gave me slight pause. I've never thought of the two things as being contra-indicators. I've loved books for as long as I can remember and I fell in love with art in the ninth grade when I went to Spain, saw El Greco's The Burial of Count Orgaz and toured The Prado. Since I hadn't given this question thought before, the answer I gave then was that my major actually taught me a lot about writing. It was an intensive liberal arts education and I spent a lot of time learning how to communicate my thoughts verbally and in writing. If anything, I think majoring in art history enhanced my love of words because it forced me to articulate what I saw, what I knew and, occasionally, what I felt about a work of art.

After giving this a bit more thought, I think the connection for me between words and art is even deeper than one enhancing my enjoyment of the other. I think both art and words are frameworks for me to understand life. When I visit a museum, the very act of standing before something created by someone makes me stop and think about what life is really about. Not every work of art moves me. To the surprise of many and consternation of some, I do not like representational art much at all. I much prefer abstract art because it lets me interpret and reinterpret it for myself. Even so, I can leave an exhibit of nearly any type of art with my head swimming with ideas.

Words are much the same. A well-written book is fodder for endless thoughts, soul-searching and deep conversations with friends. I have asked J how people who don't read books can get enough distance from their own lives to even understand their lives. A good book takes me far enough away from my daily life to examine it. Without books, how would I even be able to really live?

I think the power in both visual art and books comes from our Creator. We were made in his image and our appreciation and need for art is a reflection of the fact that we are both created and creative beings. I unaplogetically think that art is a vital part of our life, our culture and our very existence. I guess one of my deepest held hopes is that one day, I'll write something that makes someone stop and ponder their life and see it more clearly through the lens of something I have written.