Today’s Image
Texture
We’re so used to thinking of art only as something someone had painted, sculpted, or drawn. We think of artists only as the people who create art, that is, those who create paintings, sculptures, or drawings.
I will toss out a premise here. Art and artists are all around us. This has nothing to do with angels or those who believe angels are sitting on our shoulders like Jiminy Cricket, at the ready to jump in and help us out.
Artists are not angels. Do I see a smile or two out there? Please.
The point of my premise is that art is way broader, more encompassing, and more pervasive than most of us imagine. We’re used to seeing art as a “picture,” framed and hanging in our homes or in museums or maybe as that bronze statue in the city park.
However, you just have to take off your cultural blinders to be able to find it and to see it.
Here are just a very few examples of everyday art I ran across:
- The un-earthed bottom of a wooden fence post encased in concrete (and removed when the fence is rebuilt). When it’s turned upside down and an ornamental element is added (or not), it becomes a modern, abstract sculpture.
We’re so used to thinking of art only as something someone had painted, sculpted, or drawn. We think of artists only as the people who create art, that is, those who create paintings, sculptures, or drawings.
I will toss out a premise here. Art and artists are all around us. This has nothing to do with angels or those who believe angels are sitting on our shoulders like Jiminy Cricket, at the ready to jump in and help us out.
Artists are not angels. Do I see a smile or two out there? Please.
The point of my premise is that art is way broader, more encompassing, and more pervasive than most of us imagine. We’re used to seeing art as a “picture,” framed and hanging in our homes or in museums or maybe as that bronze statue in the city park.
However, you just have to take off your cultural blinders to be able to find it and to see it.
Here are just a very few examples of everyday art I ran across:
- The un-earthed bottom of a wooden fence post encased in concrete (and removed when the fence is rebuilt). When it’s turned upside down and an ornamental element is added (or not), it becomes a modern, abstract sculpture.
- The intricately designed marble and tile floor in the lobby of a convention center hotel. The ornate swirls and filigree are beautiful. Of course, it was designed to be eye-appealing and durable, but few probably would think of it as a work of art.
- The giant “dental molding” motif added to newly constructed overpasses on a freeway near here and painted an environmentally friendly contrasting earth tone. Thanks department of highways.
- The art deco façade of a retail establishment designated an architectural historical site. Its tower and marquee once trimmed in neon lights with aluminum bands sweeping around the corners remain for all to view and enjoy.
- The random texture of a re-surfaced ceiling. It's somehow similar to the random expansion of fractals, and it can be seen as art. (It's Today's Image.)
- The view, or better yet, the photo you captured of the egret slowly rising, wings expanded, from the banks of the meandering creek on a misty morning.
Let’s not forget the everyday “artists” either--the laborer who poured the concrete around the fence post; the designer and installer of the marble flooring; the architect of the 1930s building; the craftsman who is a master of his trade in applying texture; and you.
Open your eyes and your mind to the possibilities of art that surround you. It can make your day. Art, like love, is all around us (just like in the song--thanks Wet Wet Wet).
Cheers!
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