|
Discovering Art, Part 1 of 5: Used Bookstores Dear Art Lover, This morning I’m going to share a little bit about my discovery of art I love, the processes and practices that refresh my spirit with new or already beloved artwork in my life. This will be the first of a series of emails this week, 5 in total, M-F. A small note before I dive in - if you haven’t noticed, I’m sending emails daily, M-F. I see this continuing, because it develops an ongoing writing skillset for me and helps keep me sharp in articulating my thoughts, feelings, and interactions with art. I’ve also been told by people reading these emails that they enjoy receiving them. If you do, I’d ask that you think, right now, of one other person who might enjoy them as well, forward this message to them, and ask them to consider signing up with their email on my website. Cheers, and onto Discovering Art, Part 1 of 5:Used Bookstores Seeing art when I was growing up in Seattle was less accessible than it is today. There was no internet to speak of, no big databases of masterpieces to sift through, and only a few art museums in town to choose from. I remember having very little awareness of what “fine art” was or meant, surrounded mostly by contemporary late 80s and early 90s culture. I loved to draw, but it was mostly fantasy creatures, vehicles, movie monsters and the like. I first became truly curious about paintings, sculptures, artists and their well-known or obscure masterpieces during a very special school exchange program in Russia in 1999. I got to see, firsthand, the surreal treasure-trove of artwork that is the Hermitage in Saint Petersburg. On that trip (3 weeks or 4 in total, to Moscow as well) my eyes were opened to the infinite emotionally expressive possibilities of art. I was not a very socially adept 7th-grader at the time, just quiet, shy, but always drawing, and feeling quite a bit, not fitting in, unable to share how I felt. Suddenly, in some of the paintings I saw, especially the portrait work by artist Ilya Repin, I saw the kind of power and emotional release that masterful artwork could communicate. I stood in front of one painting in particular, “Ivan the Terrible and His Son Ivan” by Repin, for maybe 30 minutes, just in total awe, in shock, really. Ivan Sr. has just struck Ivan Jr. a fatal blow in anger, and clutches his son as he dies in his arms, eyes wide with horrible guilt and regret. The painting cut me to the core! I thought, how did a painter convey that level of emotion with his art? Is that something that, one day, might be possible for me to do, to express myself like that, to share a moment like that, a moment that stays with a viewer and changes their life? I thought of what stood in my way between where I was and the potential to paint like Repin… I saw more than anything the reality that I wasn’t even close to as facile with the medium itself, despite feeling so intensely what the piece was telling me. It was incredibly inspiring, and intimidating. Trips to Europe or elsewhere to see such masterpieces are not an everyday occurrence, but I knew I wanted to know more about art, so much more, to immerse myself in it, to expose myself to as much great art as possible. I was in a used bookstore, and headed for the first time to the art books section, and immediately found myself overwhelmed with titles featuring so many great artists that I had and had not heard of. And the best part - the books were so cheap! The world is full of art coffee table books that someone bought new, barely read, and are now $7.99 or less, just waiting for you at a used bookstore. I remember that day I bought a Time-Life book, spine frayed, with its original outer box, on Michelangelo’s work. I still have that book today, and that night I tore through it, loving the work, not sure how I would ever get to the point of being able to draw, paint, sculpt like that, but with every enthusiasm and intention of starting down that path. Check your inbox tomorrow (Tuesday) for Discovering Art, Part 2 of 5: Figure Drawing I’ve been told by people reading these emails that they enjoy receiving them. If you do, I’d ask that you think, right now, of one other person who might enjoy them as well, forward this message to them, and ask them to consider signing up with their email on my website. Cheers, David
|