Confession: I don't appreciate art...Can you help?

[WTMindy]

I really want to be moved by great paintings. But I don't feel anything when I look at artwork. I LOVE music. I can be moved to tears by the beauty of music. I get that. I hear the emotion and the passion and I can feel it and taste it! But, I don't get that when I look at great art. I can appreciate fine technique and I can understand intellectually that something is good, but I can't FEEL it.

 

Is there anything a person can do to "get" it or is that something that is just born into a person? I want to feel art.

[Mamagistra]

Have you ever seen Sister Wendy? Or Simon Schama's The Power of Art? Both series are worthwhile IMO and they helped me feel more when looking at art.

 

:001_smile:

[Jen500]

I feel the same way- I am much more moved by music than paintings. I took a drawing class in college which gave me a better appreciation, and seeing some famous paintings in Museums in Boston and D.C. was wonderful. The size of some of the paintings was so surprising for me. And I have a few paitings that really 'speak to me', so I have prints of those.

[Plucky]

Have you ever seen Sister Wendy? Or Simon Schama's The Power of Art? Both series are worthwhile IMO and they helped me feel more when looking at art.

 

:001_smile:

 

I second Sister Wendy.

[Doran]

I really want to be moved by great paintings. But I don't feel anything when I look at artwork. I LOVE music. I can be moved to tears by the beauty of music. I get that. I hear the emotion and the passion and I can feel it and taste it! But, I don't get that when I look at great art. I can appreciate fine technique and I can understand intellectually that something is good, but I can't FEEL it.

 

Is there anything a person can do to "get" it or is that something that is just born into a person? I want to feel art.

 

I think my appreciation comes from two angles. First, having dabbled in artistic endeavors on and off, I have a huge respect for the kind of talent and emotional control it takes to actually create a "masterpiece". I am friends with a number of artists (albeit, not world renowned), and their level of sensitivity to the world around them inspires me.

 

Second, I think studying the lives of a few of the masters has helped me appreciate their work. I can't say that I'm tremendously knowledgeable about many of the greats, but I definitely have richer respect for the artists whose lives I have looked into more deeply. Learning about them, I realize that many are just average people, like us, who happen to have a specific talent for visual arts. When I look at their paintings and wonder about the circumstances taking place when they did the work, I can imagine stories to partner with the image before me to make it more personal, so it takes on more meaning. Does that make any sense?

 

I am reminded of a quote I found on a greeting card purportedly by Grandma Moses: "If I hadn't taken up painting, I would have raised chickens...it's all art."

 

Like you, though, Mindy -- I am more easily affected by music than by fine art.

[Kate CA]

I really want to be moved by great paintings. But I don't feel anything when I look at artwork. I LOVE music. I can be moved to tears by the beauty of music. I get that. I hear the emotion and the passion and I can feel it and taste it! But, I don't get that when I look at great art. I can appreciate fine technique and I can understand intellectually that something is good, but I can't FEEL it.

 

Is there anything a person can do to "get" it or is that something that is just born into a person? I want to feel art.

 

I don't know that that is something one learns. I think we can learn to appreciate art and to enjoy it, but to "feel" it - what does that really mean? Do you mean you want to be brought to tears by it or something else? I guess I am not sure what you mean.

 

Music is an entirely different kind of experience than viewing artwork because it can touch our soul via the emotion it can create. It can be immersive and overwhelming. Art study is not an immersive thing unless you are the artist. I suspect the artists themselves felt it, but for the observer, I think it is different. I am awed by art, stunned by the artist's capabilities sometimes, but I can't say I have ever wept over art yet I really truly love and appreciate it and enjoy studying it a great deal.

 

This is just my opinion. I am sure there are many who do weep over artwork, but that is just not me. I am not sure something like that can be learned though. :001_smile:

[Crissy]

Isn't that interesting? I love silence. Well, maybe not complete silence. I do leave my windows open so I can hear the birds, but a day without music is something I could live with.

But I LOVE art. The emotion in the colors and the scene. The composition and the technique...

I think we're all just wired a bit differently.

[percytruffle]

I think it just means you are much more of an auditory person than a visual person. You take in info from the world around and react to it more naturaly when it is auditory.

 

I am both. Music and visual art move me. Music can really mess with my emotions and move me to tears very quickly. With art it is more of an inner quiet or joy or melancholy. Music can sometimes overwhelm me.

 

I don't think this is anything you need to worry about.

 

ETA: How have you experienced art? Has it been in a museum, gallery, books? There is nothing like seeing it in person. How about beautiful stained glass windows in an old church with the light streaming through them? Perhaps you need to experience some art that is political in nature. Have you seen the charcoal drawings Käthe Kollwitz did of of people during the time of the Holocost? Some people react more to art that makes a statement against cruelty in the world rather than art that is just "pretty". kwim?

 

Another link

[percytruffle]

Isn't that interesting? I love silence.

 

 

I love silence too. I also love a completely blank room with soft white walls. It is like cleansing your visual palette.

[Sugarfoot]

I love art, but my favorite types to look at are the ones where I'd like to just jump into it, like paintings of garden parties where the women are in beautiful dresses and hats, and the flowers are gorgeous. Or paintings of ballet dancers that remind me of my own ballet shoes and the feeling of wearing a pretty tutu on stage. Those are the things that move me. I like to just look at them for awhile in complete silence and let my thoughts wander...Maybe you just haven't found the right kind of art to suit you yet?

[WTMindy]

Isn't that interesting? I love silence. Well, maybe not complete silence. I do leave my windows open so I can hear the birds, but a day without music is something I could live with.

But I LOVE art. The emotion in the colors and the scene. The composition and the technique...

I think we're all just wired a bit differently.

 

Yup, you're probably right about that. I just wondered if there was something I could do to help. I want to help my kids appreciate it too. I was surrounded by music as a child, (piano lessons, violin lessons, guitar lessons, singing lessons, choir, solos) but not really art. I think I am have passed down a love of music, but not of art. We have been to a few museums and seem some great works of art, and I tell my kids about the artists (I try to study up a bit), but I don't feel anything, and I know I'm missing out on something special.

 

I do love color. I love the colors of Mexico. Terracota and brick red...I love the colors of a open air vegetable market. But, I still can't get that feeling from paintings.

[Crissy]

We have been to a few museums and seem some great works of art, and I tell my kids about the artists (I try to study up a bit), but I don't feel anything, and I know I'm missing out on something special.

 

 

Have you ever visited an art fair? We have several throughout the year in our area, and they are so much more fun than a museum.

I like museums, and l love seeing famous works up close and personal. But even better is to see an artist surrounded by her own work, and to watch them in action.

There is one particular fair that I love in Bellevue every summer. We are usually lucky enough to see artists painting, one or two carving wood, some drawing and others making jewelry.

[percytruffle]

I do love color. I love the colors of Mexico. Terracota and brick red...I love the colors of a open air vegetable market. But, I still can't get that feeling from paintings.

 

 

But, art doesn't have to be paintings. How about Mexican pottery or architecture? Maybe you need art you can experience. You can hold a beautiful pot in your hands and feel the texture. You can't experience a painting in the same way. Have you ever walked into a magnificent architectual space and just been awed?

[HollyinNNV]

I really want to be moved by great paintings. But I don't feel anything when I look at artwork. I LOVE music. I can be moved to tears by the beauty of music. I get that. I hear the emotion and the passion and I can feel it and taste it! But, I don't get that when I look at great art. I can appreciate fine technique and I can understand intellectually that something is good, but I can't FEEL it.

 

Is there anything a person can do to "get" it or is that something that is just born into a person? I want to feel art.

 

As a music major, I went through periods of despising certain composers. I still don't like some major ones like Mozart:001_huh:. But, I'd usually begin playing a composition, dislike the composer, become more intimately familiar with the composer/composition and then change to liking the composer. Familiarity, understanding, education seem to breed a respect for art. So, I'd suggest that the best thing you could do is learn about art. Maybe pick a period of art or a certain artist. Limit yourself somewhat.

 

I agree with the others; I like Sister Wendy. Maybe you'd enjoy a teaching company art course. When we visited D.C. and visited the National Gallery of Art the best part was listening to a lecture on walkmans while actually seeing the art.

 

Now, all that said, there are still composers I don't like (Mozart & Handel) and others I love like Shostakovitch and Brahms. You can say the same thing of artists. You won't like them all.

 

Now as to the whole "feeling" thing. What exactly do you mean by that? What do you hope to feel? There are feelings I've had in orchestra that I've never felt in front of a piece of art. But, I guess I never felt like I was missing something about art. I just thought it was normal. Art, to me, is more cerebral than emotional.

Holly

[newbie]

I really want to be moved by great paintings. But I don't feel anything when I look at artwork. I LOVE music. I can be moved to tears by the beauty of music. I get that. I hear the emotion and the passion and I can feel it and taste it! But, I don't get that when I look at great art. I can appreciate fine technique and I can understand intellectually that something is good, but I can't FEEL it.

 

Is there anything a person can do to "get" it or is that something that is just born into a person? I want to feel art.

 

Art is in the eye of the beholder. What appeals to you, may not appeal to another. Perhaps you havent found your niche. What really speaks to you.

 

I enjoyed art , but not passionate. Than I started painting and found what spoke to me. It is fauvism. Which is very modern/ impressionistic. The paintings I do are spiritual, which moves me. Some people will look at my work and go incredible, go professional. But my dh will say, I dont get it, too abstract,give me a rustic landscape.

 

You just have to find what speaks to you.

 

JEt

[Tracey in TX]

I hear ya', girl! I felt the same way until four years ago when I got drafted to teach (volunteer) an art appreciation course called "Go Van Gogh". I'm hooked now!

A group of volunteers were instructed by the Dallas Museum of Art on four pieces of art per grade level. We learned about each piece, what it means, the story behind it, the artist's personal story, and how to relate it to our children. Then we explained this to the children and had each child do some form of art to represent their version of X. ie: DCs visited Rome in December. We viewed many museums and we appreciated the mosaics most. When we came home, they did a torn-paper mosaic to represent something they experienced in Italy.

See if your local art museum has a travel or kids' program. If it doesn't, maybe they can take a local class. I detest artsy, craftsy projects, so they're few and far between.

[Ashleen]

Hmm. I'm in the opposite boat. I grew up with a dad whose an artist, who took me to his Art Association meetings and the museum etc. I own several lovely paintings. But music. Well, it just never sounded like much to me. I mean, I honestly never really noticed a soundtrack at all in most movies (except musicals; I did have the power of observation to notice when the characters actually broke out into song ;)).

 

I started correcting this by listening to a course from The Teaching Company. I got it free from the library and lecturer Robert Greenberg literally explained basics like rhythm and timbre. He was very entertaining and he told stories about how Beethoven had indigestion and some of his music has hiccups. Anyway, when I was walking through the library one day and heard Ode to Joy coming from a computer game and actually recognized it, I nearly leapt for joy myself. I was so excited that I actually heard that the background noise was not only music, but famous music. And *I* recognized it!

 

So while I haven't listened to any of their other art courses, I definitely think that if you find the right teacher who explains it the right way, you can come to appreciate it more. Maybe the library has one of the Great Courses from the teaching company. My library has several and the library in the town I used to live in had even more (I listened to a great one on cosmology by Neil DeGrasse Tyson and learned a lot).

[Jenny in Atl]

I think it just means you are much more of an auditory person than a visual person. You take in info from the world around and react to it more naturaly when it is auditory.

 

I am both. Music and visual art move me. Music can really mess with my emotions and move me to tears very quickly. With art it is more of an inner quiet or joy or melancholy. Music can sometimes overwhelm me.

 

I don't think this is anything you need to worry about.

 

ETA: How have you experienced art? Has it been in a museum, gallery, books? There is nothing like seeing it in person. How about beautiful stained glass windows in an old church with the light streaming through them? Perhaps you need to experience some art that is political in nature. Have you seen the charcoal drawings Käthe Kollwitz did of of people during the time of the Holocost? Some people react more to art that makes a statement against cruelty in the world rather than art that is just "pretty". kwim?

 

Another link

:iagree::iagree::iagree::iagree:

 

I know many who finally "get" art when it means something to them. Art that has a purpose, whether a protest or a teapot. Folk art or fine craft art is a good way to get art exposure before trying to tackle Monet or Rothko

[Peela]

My entry into art appreciation was an ex boyfriend who was an artist, and who used to take me into bookshops and browse through huge coffee table art books and show me stuff and talk for hours. He was passionate about Impressionism and I learned a lot from him- I dabbled in art too and it was fun to try different techniques, particularly playing with light. But he also told me stories about the artists and the background of Impressionism, and that is what opened my eyes to a lot of art. Just by knowing, having basic familiarity with one singe area- Impressionism- not in an academic sense but learning about Monet and Seurat and light and rebellion and Picasso and what the artists were thinking and where they were coming from- I feel it opened doors for me into all painting, because it gave me a reference point, even if I move backwards in time to earlier works.

Maybe there is a lecture series you could listen to, or a book you could read, that would give the stories behind the art and the artists and why they painted what they painted, because for me, context is everything, even though I can also appreciate beauty in art. Without the background, it's just pretty colours and shapes to me, and I may or may not find them aesthetic.

I am still no art connessoir, but I do feel passionate about some art, so I guess I have a relationship with it, an entry into it, in a way I certainly didn't gain in childhood.

[Spy Car]

A photo of me with my Dad taken in 1958 by the renowned photographer Bob Willoughby. Yes, I grew up loving Art

 

 

 

[Melissa in Australia]

I really want to be moved by great paintings. But I don't feel anything when I look at artwork. I LOVE music. I can be moved to tears by the beauty of music. I get that. I hear the emotion and the passion and I can feel it and taste it! But, I don't get that when I look at great art. I can appreciate fine technique and I can understand intellectually that something is good, but I can't FEEL it.

 

Is there anything a person can do to "get" it or is that something that is just born into a person? I want to feel art.

 

I have never been into art either, until I looked at some Raphael drawings. and thought hey, those naked ladies look a bit like me. they have saggy stomachs. I now don't feel so out of shape anymore.:lol:

[Jenny in Atl]

A photo of me with my Dad taken in 1958 by the renowned photographer Bob Willoughby. Yes, I grew up loving Art

 

 

 

 

Great photo.

[Doran]

A photo of me with my Dad taken in 1958 by the renowned photographer Bob Willoughby. Yes, I grew up loving Art

 

 

However, at that age, it looks like you had more interest in the photograher! :D What an amazing upbringing you must have had. So, spill the beans, Spy Car. You're really somebody quite famous, aren't you?!?

 

I assume you've already seen this? The man is my mother's age. Wow! Spectacular.

[Christine]

I love silence. Well, maybe not complete silence. I do leave my windows open so I can hear the birds, but a day without music is something I could live with.

 

But I don't feel anything when I look at artwork.

 

Well, here ya go. Silence is music to my ears and "art" well, is in the eye of the beholder (and I don't behold much).

 

I will say I enjoy functional art moreso than artistic art. Quilts, I enjoy; fabric arts, interior design type stuff. Paintings, sculptures, etc. . . well. . .

 

Oh, and I find museums "painful". To go around and just look at things. . .not my dealy-o. Kids museums on the other hand. ;)

[Camy-7 boybarians 1 lady]

Oh, Mindy, as a passionate art history major (long ago), I think I could persuade you to be swept away by the Modern Art movement as well as the War Art times of the Weimar period.

 

If only we could have tea and chat!!

 

Blessings,

 

Camy

[Janna]

First let me say, Mindy, that I feel the same way. I just don't understand art - in the form of sculptures and paintings. My dh's favorite place is the art museum in Chicago. We went there on a date once (we met while living in Chicago) and I hated it. I couldn't wait to get out. I have some books on art to teach my dc, but I haven't done it yet because it's hard to teach something that you yourself know nothing about and have zero interest in.

 

So I have a confession. I also don't care for poetry. I don't get it. Now, I love Robert Louis Stevenson - the Children's Book of Poetry - because I get it and they're cute (and ironically I love the pictures, LOL).

 

Here's why I think these two things aren't my cuppa. I'm not a creative person in that way. I am too organized. My thoughts are too organized. I'm a very linear person. Most art and poetry is non-linear. It's too abstract and I just can't get it. It feels like a mess to me.

 

I wonder if you're not the same? Seeing your cabinet of organized and labeled staples and condiments makes me wonder (LOL). To you, that is art, no? You enjoy the clean lines, the organization, and you know the work that went into it. For some reason, I'm also thinking you're a math person - a former teacher? Accountant? something like that? Or maybe you just enjoy math? Am I totally off? Math would be linear too, imo.

 

I also wonder if you're not more of a relationship person. I am. So what Doran had suggested would be what I would need - and that is to get to know the person behind the art. If I knew the story behind that drawing I would more likely admire it. Or at least pay attention to it. Which reminds me. As I was typing that out, I thought about hymns. There are many hymns that are written with powerful stories behind it: Amazing Grace, It is Well With My Soul, What a Friend We Have in Jesus...and I very much consider hymns to be art. But that's music, which you have already said can move you to tears (as it can, and has, for me as well).

 

So much is considered art. I just don't limit myself to paintings and sculptures. I make sure my kids appreciate music (all forms) and my dd is very creative in many ways (incl. organization) which I tell her is art... my dh and ds recently made a toy box together - that's art. They are about ready to go hang up peg board out in the garage and all the paraphernalia that goes with it, to hang tools - that's art.

 

I agree with those who said, it's in the eye of the beholder.

[WTMindy]

First let me say, Mindy, that I feel the same way. I just don't understand art - in the form of sculptures and paintings. My dh's favorite place is the art museum in Chicago. We went there on a date once (we met while living in Chicago) and I hated it. I couldn't wait to get out. I have some books on art to teach my dc, but I haven't done it yet because it's hard to teach something that you yourself know nothing about and have zero interest in.

 

So I have a confession. I also don't care for poetry. I don't get it. Now, I love Robert Louis Stevenson - the Children's Book of Poetry - because I get it and they're cute (and ironically I love the pictures, LOL).

 

Here's why I think these two things aren't my cuppa. I'm not a creative person in that way. I am too organized. My thoughts are too organized. I'm a very linear person. Most art and poetry is non-linear. It's too abstract and I just can't get it. It feels like a mess to me.

 

I wonder if you're not the same? Seeing your cabinet of organized and labeled staples and condiments makes me wonder (LOL). To you, that is art, no? You enjoy the clean lines, the organization, and you know the work that went into it. For some reason, I'm also thinking you're a math person - a former teacher? Accountant? something like that? Or maybe you just enjoy math? Am I totally off? Math would be linear too, imo.

 

I also wonder if you're not more of a relationship person. I am. So what Doran had suggested would be what I would need - and that is to get to know the person behind the art. If I knew the story behind that drawing I would more likely admire it. Or at least pay attention to it. Which reminds me. As I was typing that out, I thought about hymns. There are many hymns that are written with powerful stories behind it: Amazing Grace, It is Well With My Soul, What a Friend We Have in Jesus...and I very much consider hymns to be art. But that's music, which you have already said can move you to tears (as it can, and has, for me as well).

 

So much is considered art. I just don't limit myself to paintings and sculptures. I make sure my kids appreciate music (all forms) and my dd is very creative in many ways (incl. organization) which I tell her is art... my dh and ds recently made a toy box together - that's art. They are about ready to go hang up peg board out in the garage and all the paraphernalia that goes with it, to hang tools - that's art.

 

I agree with those who said, it's in the eye of the beholder.

 

Yup! You described me perfectly (very organized, former math teacher). (And, my civil engineer dh is even more linear than me!!) I do have some of the same feelings about poetry also, although I think because I love to read so much, I can be moved by poetry more than art. Although, the two are definitely related!!

[WTMindy]

Thanks for all of your thoughts. I am going to be thinking about these things and I will check out the resources you have all suggested. We are going to be going to the Art Institute of Chicago next year and I really want to prepare myself and the kids for the experience, so it isn't just wandering from room to room.

 

We had an Impressionists exhibit come to our town with some Monet's and I had done a unit with my kids before we went. We painted Monet's bridge and talked about why they were painting the way they were, etc... We also brought a sketch pad and the kids sketched their favorite picture. So, we have done some of the things suggested here.

 

Perhaps the thing I get the least is more modern art. Camy, I'd love to let you help me with that over a cup of tea!

 

So, I guess I need to do some research about what is at the Chicago art institute and do some learning and projects related to those artists, etc. If anyone has any great ideas, I'd love to hear them!!

 

Thanks again for all the great responses. I appreciate the help.

[WTMindy]

Have you ever seen Sister Wendy? Or Simon Schama's The Power of Art? Both series are worthwhile IMO and they helped me feel more when looking at art.

 

:001_smile:

 

Both of these series were at our library. Thanks for the suggestions.

[Spy Car]

However, at that age, it looks like you had more interest in the photograher! :D

 

What...I didn't mention I also grew up with a love of photography? :D

 

I assume you've already seen this? The man is my mother's age. Wow! Spectacular.

 

I only found Bob's site last night, but I'm very familiar with his work. He is an amazing talent. Bob Willoughby and my father became friends at Cinema school at USC back in the early 50's and have been close friends ever since.

 

My father is an "art nut" so my childhood was filled with visits to art museums and gallerys. The 1960's was an amazing time for the "art scene" here in Los Angeles, and as a kid I got to meet many of the important "Pop Artists" of the day including Claus Oldenberg, Andy Warhol, Jasper Johns, Ed Ruscha, Billy Al Bengston, Duaine Valentine and Roy Lichtenstein. It was a fun time.

 

Bill

[Happy]

Isn't that interesting? I love silence. Well, maybe not complete silence. I do leave my windows open so I can hear the birds, but a day without music is something I could live with.

But I LOVE art. The emotion in the colors and the scene. The composition and the technique...

I think we're all just wired a bit differently.

 

Yes! Oh, yes!

 

I'm a visual, tactile person, not at all auditory.

[Happy]

I enjoy art, but not all equally. Some art is merely interesting or pretty and I usually prefer photography since I spent so many years studying it. My son is a very musical person. I often feel as if we speak different languages. ;)

 

But there are some art pieces or artists or time periods that make my skin tingle. The first time it happened was my first sighting of a Van Gogh. I kept thinking this man didn't think like you and I do. Love at first sight. I might add that I do not have that kind of reaction to a Van Gogh reproduction or in a book. It must be in person where I can see the texture. A stroll through an exhibit on the Dutch Golden Age also made my skin tingle...those portrait painters would have felt right at home in my photography studio. Over four centuries separated us and yet I knew they would understand me and I them. On the other hand, modern art leaves me cold, even vaguely sick to my stomach. Blech.

 

The more I know, the more I appreciate.

 

Don't beat yourself up. Enjoy fully what you do enjoy. Try new things and if you don't like them... at least you tried.

[Jenny in Atl]

The 1960's was an amazing time for the "art scene" here in Los Angeles, and as a kid I got to meet many of the important "Pop Artists" of the day including Claus Oldenberg, Andy Warhol, Jasper Johns, Ed Ruscha, Billy Al Bengston, Duaine Valentine and Roy Lichtenstein. It was a fun time.

Bill

 

My folks both went to Chouinard in the early 60's in LA. Their teachers were some of the artist who worked on Fantasia and classmates included Bob Mackie. It was an exciting time for the arts.

[Spy Car]

My folks both went to Chouinard in the early 60's in LA. Their teachers were some of the artist who worked on Fantasia and classmates included Bob Mackie. It was an exciting time for the arts.

 

I remember going to events there. Funny to think I may have seen your parents there...its possible.

 

It's hard tot to sound like a nostalgic old geezer when you try to explain how "magical" that time was in Los Angeles, but what a moment in time that was :001_smile:

 

Bill (who's eyes were wide open)

[JumpedIntoTheDeepEndFirst]

I think Sister Wendy and the Teaching Company are great resources. Find someone who is passionate about art/art history and have them share their passion. It is contagious! Try a Community College course or docent guided tours at a museum.

 

Relax and enjoy-find what speaks to you.

[Mrs Mungo]

I really want to be moved by great paintings. But I don't feel anything when I look at artwork. I LOVE music. I can be moved to tears by the beauty of music. I get that. I hear the emotion and the passion and I can feel it and taste it! But, I don't get that when I look at great art. I can appreciate fine technique and I can understand intellectually that something is good, but I can't FEEL it.

 

Is there anything a person can do to "get" it or is that something that is just born into a person? I want to feel art.

 

I think seeing paintings or sculpture in real life is a lot different than looking at photos in a book.

 

When I saw Michelangelo's Pieta in the Vatican I cried. It was so incredibly beautiful and touching.

 

Seeing Van Gogh's brushstrokes and the sense of space and scope he managed to created on small canvases was another experience.

 

Here's a image of Wedding at Cana by Veronese.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Paolo_Veronese_008.jpg

 

One of the famous things about this painting is that Christ is the only person in the painting looking at you.

 

Here's a photo of my dad and eldest (when she was tiny) in front of that painting in the Louvre:

http://scrapbookingforhire.com/weddingatcana.jpg

 

As you can see from the photo, the figures in the painting are almost life-sized. Imagine the difference in impact.

 

Somewhere I have a fantastic photo of my sister looking at The Gates of Hell by Rodin with her face just a few inches away from the sculpture.

 

I think learning about art and art history are a good start. Then, as others have said, go to churches or museums and experience art. You won't like, enjoy or understand *everything* people choose to call art but start somewhere. :)

[Jenny in Atl]

I remember going to events there. Funny to think I may have seen your parents there...its possible.

 

It's hard tot to sound like a nostalgic old geezer when you try to explain how "magical" that time was in Los Angeles, but what a moment in time that was :001_smile:

 

Bill (who's eyes were wide open)

 

Just how old are you? :lol:

[Spy Car]

Just how old are you? :lol:

 

Just turned 50 in May.

[Jenny in Atl]

Just turned 50 in May.

 

Then there is a strong chance you did! Both my folks stayed in the art biz. Pop has worked the ad game (JWT, McCann Erickson, EPB, and his own agency BKV) since the mid 60's. Mom has done the studio thing, and for the last 25 years with the Spruill Center in Atl. I be having art in me bones! One of my brothers too. :D