Art may be a way to explore your world or your imagination. Art may inspire a beginning painter to take steps into learning a new medium, or an accomplished artist to experiment with a new technique. Art is teaching, art is learning. Art can be exciting, empowering, and an expression of love.
Art can be a challenge: both frustrating and rewarding at the same time, leading to a sense of accomplishment — or a determination to do more. Art can be a message: of politics, of peace, of brutality, or beauty. Art can be an escape, an idealization, or simply a means of play. Art can be anything and everything you let it be!
So pick up that pencil, that paintbrush, that pastel, and let art take you where it will. Explore and experiment, do something different: draw a picture upside-down, paint en plein air, try a new medium you think you hate, make a collaborative piece with a fellow artist — push your boundaries! Art is a way to grow as a person, so take advantage!
Art is genuinely a gift to the world. It's what we crave in the human experience. Art gives meaning to our lives and helps us understand our world. It is an essential part of our culture because it allows us to have a deeper understanding of our emotions; it increases our self-awareness, and also allows us to be open to new ideas and experiences. Art, therefore, continues to open our minds and our hearts and shows us what could be possible in our world.
ART ALLOWS US TO
CONNECT WITH OUR INNER SELVES
Art can transform our lives. When we connect with art, we are ultimately connecting with our inner selves. Art enables us to look within and to listen to ourselves, realize who we are, and what we care about. It connects us to our thoughts, feelings, perceptions, and our outer realities and experiences.
When we connect with a work, it is possible to encounter a rise in emotions because it introduces us to new experiences, provides us with a deeper understanding of our emotions, and shines light on questions we never knew we even had. As a painter, I love to create because I connect with who I am to my inner core, and I continue to learn more about myself and what I am truly capable of.
But as humans, it is essential to surround ourselves with art created by others. Art introduces us to a whole new set of experiences and ideas that we may have never witnessed before. These experiences allow us to look within because as people, we decide what we’re seeing and feeling based on the emotional connection that we have with that work of art. As people, we tend to make emotional choices that are passionate to us, which allows us to realize what we care about and what we stand for. When we are aware of this, we tend to be happier and healthier as individuals because we are able to figure out our purpose in life.
ART CAUSES US TO HAVE AN APPRECIATION AND GRATIFICATION FOR WHAT WE HAVE IN OUR LIVES
We tend to be happier when we are able to look at life through a standpoint of appreciation and gratification - when we are able to view all of the wonderful details that are going well in our lives instead of focusing on the alternative.
When we give ourselves the opportunities to connect with art, we are able to take a step back, reflect what's going on in our world, evaluate our lives, and reflect. That is why I believe it is so important to gift yourself with opportunities to incorporate art into your life on a daily basis. This could be through visiting an artist's studio, a museum, seeing a live show, watching a movie, or even reading a great book.
ART BRINGS MORE CREATIVITY, SATISFACTION, AND HAPPINESS INTO OUR LIVES
Have you ever had an emotional connection to a work of art? Have you ever experienced a wave of emotions while standing in front of an amazing painting? I surely have.
Have you ever experienced a work and could not seem to explain the feeling that it gave you? This experience ultimately comes down to intuitively connecting with the artist's story, their voice, and their experience. You are being welcomed into the artist's world.
Art gives us meaning and helps us understand our world. Scientific studies have proven that art appreciation improves our quality of life and makes us feel good. When we create art, we elevate our mood, we improve our ability to problem solve, and open our minds to new ideas. According to Dr. Shelley Carson, arts ability to improve our mood broadens our attention and allows us to see further possible solutions to creative problems.
Professor Semir Zeki, a neurobiologist at the University College of London, affirmed that when we stare at great art, our brain is stimulated as when we fall in love. Art brings increased levels of dopamine, a neurotransmitter that aids in controlling the brains reward and pleasure centers. That's why I believe it is so important to invest and bring art into your home.
When you invest in a work of art, you are investing in a visual story that will decorate your walls. Almost every work of art has a story behind it or within it because nothing is ever created in a vacuum. It's essentially a part of the artist's life.
You are learning about the stories of different people, the lives the lived, the story behind the artist, and what they went through to create that type of work. There was a story or a life experience, a meaning or an intention that inspired that artist to create that work. There was a mission or an idea behind that drawing or painting. When you collect art, those ideas begin to decorate your home. And you're bringing those stories and experiences into your sanctuaries.