Art

It’s January 31.  The last day of January already. Seems like Christmas was yesterday.  Sort of.  According to the crazy calendar, Today is Inspire your Heart with Art Day.  Now art is a broad category.  One definition says that art includes the "various branches of creative activity such as painting, music, literature and dance." For our purposes today we'll focus on visual art created "to be beautiful or to express important ideas or feelings."  The kind of art we see in galleries or in our home.  Art is something very personal.  What one person views as being artistic - well another person might view as junk!  If we expand the view of art to those things in our environment that we use to decorate and to give us pleasure, we include even more things.  True art may be defined by some as "one of a kind" unique creations. Visual art can include paintings, drawings, sculpture, photography, fibre arts, carving, and even metal work.  Technically, every photo someone takes is a unique creation - so anyone can be a photographic artist.  But not everyone can be a good photographic artist!  Still, I think there is an inner artist in all of us.  And at very least, we know what we enjoy and often surround ourselves with art that we enjoy - in whatever form.

My human enjoys dog art.  All kinds of dog art.  And some of it is far from what some what consider art.  Some of it is called "kitschy "- which is defined as being in poor taste, but having some sentimentality.  A prefect example is these  chalkware dogs.  They were sometimes given away as prizes at fairs.

While many would NOT consider them art - as they are mass produced AND kitschy- they ARE unique...

Another kitschy example is paint-by-number art.  They are not "art" in the true sense, but because many people remember making them as a kid, they have sentimental value, and believe it or not, have become collectible.  Here is a Bernese example 

and an example on velvet that my human did when she was a kid.  Beauty?  Art?  I’m not so sure....

Then we have print art.  Some of it is mass produced so some would argue that it’s not art either. But some prints are done in limited editions, and depending on the process used, can have value and ARE considered art.  It’s very confusing!!

  

And then there are older prints or etchings.  Some are hand coloured, like these. 

 And some are just black and white.   Older versions like this from  the 1700's are cool to see the differences in the breeds.

This old print is a bit reminiscent of the FG and his cornflake catching...although this girl make actually be teaching a trick where she WANTS him to keep the treat on his nose!

Other art mediums include oil paintings, like these old guys...

Charcoal...

Pastels - like this one done by a local artist of three dogs who once owned my human - that's Barney, her first dog who was a "multi-breed", Guinness, her second Bernese, and Beamish, her Labrador.

And we have colored pencil - with a sketch done by my human of her Bernese, Harper...

We have fiber art, like this little framed needlepoint...

This wall hanging...

And this hooked rug done my my human's mother....

We have pottery and sculpture...

And wood carvings...

Including this primitive guy...

And this one done by my human's father...

We have old photos...

And funky photos which my human made once...

We have metal art...

And let's even include this which you have seen before...

So that's a short tour of some of our dog "art ".  The bottom line, if you love it it doesn't matter if it is one of a kind, worth 2 million dollars or 2 cents.  Remember the name of the day- Inspire your HEART with Art - and that's the most important thing! Art in whatever form should tug at your heart - and be something you love!

Have a good one!  Peace and paws up!

Seizure-free days: 19