Art

I have grown up around art all my life. And I am not just talking about going to museums and the what not. My mother was an artist, so I remember growing up around paints and pastels, giants easels and everything that you could possibly imagine. I loved it! I remember I used to sit and do water colors for hours, or those things you used to bake in the oven! I still love to draw and I am currently working on a couple of pieces at once. One I am currently struggling with that hopefully will work out once it is completed, so cross your fingers for me!

I would draw and sketch and color and paint anything when I was younger. I still have all of my sketch books and they are hidden the the depths of my old toy chest in my bedroom. You can catch me every now and again looking through them and laughing wondering what I could have been thinking when I drew that particular scribble. I often look back on the chances and opportunities that I had to be an amazing artist. But alas I am stubborn and often refused my mothers offers to teach me. I guess you can say that is a regret of mine, to not take advantage of the talent of my mother to teach me how to draw better, how to understand depth and shading techniques. All of this I have had to learn on my own. Now there is nothing wrong with that but I sometimes wonder if there wasn't some potential lost in all this. My mother constantly told me that I have a sense of color that most artists would kill for. I still to this day do not really understand what she meant by that because to me it just makes sense to me when I am painting. She always told me I wish I could see the world in the colors that you see it. I wish people could too...

Going to museums was also a huge thing in my family! Sometimes it would just be my mother and I. Sometimes we would drag my sister but what shocks a lot of people that know me is that my father loved a good art exhibition. It was great we would make a day or an evening out of it and then go out to dinner in Philadelphia which generally lead my mother and I to beg my dad to let us go to Pearl Paint and stare at all the pastels and colored pencils.

I have seen many different exhibitions over the years and I enjoy it. If you haven't guessed already I am a raging nerd and dork in many different areas! I traveled to many different museums in Europe when I studied abroad. There is just something about a museum and being surrounded by such wonderful works of art that is just so peaceful. One museum that I do not find peaceful is Louvre in Paris it is totally and completely over whelming! I love art but when paintings are so jammed in a space that the frames could be touching will put even the most seasoned museum goer into overload! Now granted art is something I feel is in the eye of the beholder and everyone likes and dislikes different things.

For instance, I do not love modern art. I especially did not like Jackson Pollock for those of you that do not know what I am talking about he painted by throwing paint on a canvas. I was infuriated by this concept. I often told my mother I could do that why aren't I a famous painter. She would just laugh and shake her head at me. I was always told it is better to have an opinion whether it be good or bad. It wasn't until college and a modern art course that I really began to understand this type of art. My mom and I went up to New York City to the Museum of Modern Art(MOMA) and stood in front of one of Jackson Pollock's paintings that my mother unleashed the meaning and the technique behind the art. I left loving those works. Now he is not my favorite artist, I love the impressionist movement artists like Monet, Manet, Van Gogh and many others. I guess where I am going with this stream of thought is even if you don't like art or going to museums, take a second look you might be surprised by what you find.

You can wake up now, and wipe off the drool!

Till next time!
Meg