Response to "Life-Changing Art."

Response #18

In Katherine Marchand's response to my blog port about life-changing art, she states how there are no specific works of art that have greatly affected her life but there are artists who have had an impact on her. She gives the example of the poet, Taylor Mali, who has inspired her as well as made her feel other varying mixes of emotions. She states that she finds Mali to be "incredibly talented and fascinating" and has changed her life in some ways. She asks, "What is it about artwork or a particular artist that is powerful enough to have a lasting effect on one's life?"

Art is influential. It has the potential to really move a person and make them feel something they may not usually. It is capable of communicating all different kinds of messages and getting the observer to understand something he or she previously did not know. Art is powerful. It's moving. Why is this? I think it is because art is personal and emotional. The combination of colors, techniques, messages behind the piece, and the subject all are combined to create a work of art that can possibly have a large impact on a person. With art, not only is a message communicated but it is done so aesthetically so this appeals to the observer. The works of art I see as powerful show a lot of passion and feeling.

A good artist gets the observer to feel what he or she felt when creating the piece. A successful piece of work gets the observer to understand why the artist created such an object. If there is true meaning behind it, the observer to appreciate it and relate to it through his or her own life experiences. Basically, artists use art in such a way to get an observer pondering and connecting to his or her surrounding world. Art is suppose to be moving, in my opinion. It can show an array of emotions; anger, stress, chaos, love, sadness, etc. As long as an artist shows his or her true talent and gets the observer to connect with what was created, then he or she can have a lasting affect on the observer. This can only be done is the observer is willing to embrace the emotions within a piece and connect to what has been created. It is like a partnership; as long as the observer is appreciative of the work and able to take as much as he or she can from the piece, then the artist can do whatever he or she pleases to express a certain message or thought about the world, in an artistically pleasing and appealing way.

My question to you is: Is there really such thing as a bad artist or is a bad artist not actually an artist at all?

Paul Cezanne, The Forest. (I love this painting)