Thursday, 25 June 2009

Does Anyone Experience Contemporary Art?

By Anna Meenaghan

Nowadays art is available in a great many variations. I usually find them all very interesting and sometimes even mind blowing. At times you might not enjoy what you are seeing, but you would still be able to acknowledge the hard work that went into it.

As I am a contemporary artist, I only know too well how my emotions guide me on my various paintings. If perhaps, I had a hard day, it normally shows in my art. It can range from dramatic to tranquility.

I would say that art is something that is very personal. A work of art that one person loves may have the complete opposite reaction for another. Art is something that is very individual. Thankfully in our modern days there is a such a huge variety of art around that there surely has to be something for everyone. Take Graffiti for example. What one person calls vandalism is anothers work of art.

You only need to visit the Montmatre area of Paris to experience unconventional forms of art. Pavement artist sketching out their paintings in chalk or art students putting their easels out in the street to earn a little extra money by drawing caricatures. Neither yields a lot of money for the artists, but surely this is talent.

More unusual perhaps are sand sculptures which feature in the Canary Islands and I am sure other places. They range from biblical scenes to dragons with real fire breathing out of there nostrils. Mosaics too are very interesting and colourful as these designs can be used on plant pots, walls, gardens etc. and in oh so many ways.

Posters - somebody has to design them so they are thought provoking and catch the eye. This is a great challenge for children too, who are encouraged to do posters for any number of things from road safety to recycling the environment. I love to see what sense can be made of driftwood collected along the beach. I think a special type of person is needed to do this with a very good imagination and creativity.

On this theme also delightful paper weights can be made from nice pebbles once they are cleaned, painted and varnished. It is also fun searching for the pebbles in different shapes and feeling how smooth they are when you run your fingers over them.

Other things that are either getting very popular or making a strong resurgence are scrapbooking, felting, needlepoint and patch working. Or what about the great individual gift that are cards? Fantastic artists design and make their own cards in a great variety of ways. Getting enjoyment from creating their art and also from the knowledge that the recipient will greatly appreciate it.

With so many different forms of art surrounding us there surely has to be something for anyone. And if you really want to get involved and learn more then there are a great many workshops that are being run in art stores or at schools. The satisfaction and enormous joy that art can bring to people is something that can never be measured, at least not in monetary terms - thank God for that.

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