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

Last Friday, A, B and I went by FairyTales on our way home. If you live in Nashville and haven't been there - go. It's so much more than a bookstore. And I'm not one to complain about anything being just a bookstore! Anyway, while I was there, I was chatting with a woman who works there. Every time I go, she and I have great conversations about art, life, books, etc. This time, I was there to pick up a bracelet that she custom made for me - it says WORDS on one side and CREATE on the other. I like that it can read both as a command "Create Words" and as a reminder "Words Create." I can't remember exactly what prompted it, but we started talking about art and how part of art is the sharing of it. If someone paints a canvas that stays in the back of the closet, is it art until it's viewed by someone else?

My daughter B gets this completely. She wants to share everything she creates. For Valentine's Day, she created 13 ceramic hearts, one for each girl in her class (including herself!). They were beautiful in their variety and on their own. And if the beauty of the hearts wasn't enough, she had colored each envelope containing a heart to match the heart inside. She had put thought into who would receive each heart and when I gently tried to convince her to maybe give one to A and the remainder to her teachers, she was adamant. She created these for her friends. While a tiny selfish part of my heart really wanted to push her to change her mind because I wanted some of these beautiful objects to linger in our home, she was the artist and I felt her vision for these should be honored.

If B gets that art must be shared, I find this the hardest and most compelling part of creating. I do want to share what I write, but I'm also terrified to do so. It's one thing to write non-fiction that isn't trying to set a mood, shape a character or lead a reader in. But each thing I write - even a little post - is a part of me and that's hard to put on display.

I'm a modernist when it comes to determining the meaning of a work of art. By that I mean I don't think the artist has any more say than the viewer or reader in determining what the art means. While that is great in theory, it means that I give up control of my words when I share them. I can do the best I can to write clearly, articulate myself well and choose my words carefully. But the way you read them is what gives them meaning. To me, that's beautiful... and a little scary. Read carefully.