Welcome to the World of ART

Greetings on this first day of blogland for the LDSneighborhood. I'm excited! grin. Today I wanted to talk about the word Art, and what it means to me. Have you ever thought about what that word entails?

I used to think that it meant only physical things; paints, brushes, canvas, paper, pencils, charcoal, pastels – the list is endless. But it's so much more than that. There are lots of different aspects involved in art. There is dance, music, theater, etc. Since I’m sure there will be different blogs on music, as well as perhaps the other aspects I’ve listed, I’m going to focus mainly on the visual art – painting, sculpting, and photography. Yes, Photography is art too. Ever hear about Ansel Adams and his black and white photos? Pretty cool stuff.

I’m sure you’ve heard of masterpieces, and 'the masters'; referring of course to those who created amazing pieces of art during the early years of man's development. Some of the people regarded as masters aren't really someone I'd emulate, (such as DaVinci, and don’t stone me) but I think it gets to the point where one person's taste is different from another – especially when we are talking about abstract art. That’s definitely not my taste – something along the lines of ‘beauty being in the eye of the beholder' and all that.

Take the new age art work – sculptures out of garbage. Personally, that wouldn't interest me, but there are people who think that any art is worth it's price.

Talking about price – how many people can really afford to purchase large paintings or sculptures? The average Joe, such as myself and my family, can't. The most I can get is the 5X7's or 8X10 that they sell in bookstores.

In the future, I hope to highlight several of the LDS artists that we are privileged to see in our culture. We have many that are really talented and do glorious works of art.

If you are unable to afford going to the museum downtown, there is an alternative. I love the LDS Church Museum. It's a great place to browse and absorb the presence of art. It's a quick ride on Forerunner and Trax to get there now -- which if you have a large family like I do, is a bargain -- especially with gas prices the way they are.

Anyway, we have some artists in the LDSneighborhood too -- you might want to look around and check them out. It might enlarge your perceptions and enrich your spirit.

Be sure to look at this CD about President Hinkley...it's a form of art that someone else will be covering -- music!

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