“It isn’t until the painter has no idea what he’s doing that he makes good paintings.” —Edward Degas
"Life is a work of art—if you don’t like what you see, paint over it.” —Zenshine
After lunch and a nap yesterday, Cecile and I decided to attend the Annual Rotary Art Show at West Valley College which continues through today from 10 AM to 5 PM. They are celebrating their 63rd annual Fine Arts Show which has been produced since 1957. It is the setting for 200 fine arts and fine hand crafts booths. The artist booths are set on grass along the campus walkways creating a stunning open-air gallery for this re-imagined exhibit. They offer light music and specialty beers and wines, as well as on-site food booths, pottery making demonstration and a fund kids activities corner. There are not entry fees. It is a great way to spend part of your morning or afternoon. These images I took were art and settings that caught my fancy. I love art that pokes me to slow down, to look, see and think and ultimately something that speaks to me, such as the colorful image of the person playing a guitar while sitting on a bike.
So what draws people to art shows? "Art is essential to the human spirit. It makes you think about what the artist is trying to say. It can take you places,” says Maria Rodale, Author, CEO and Chairman of Rodale Inc. Maria Rodale makes her point by describing: "A huge color photo of a South African man and a little girl. She was resting her head on a hyena. He was pulling back the hyena’s gums to show its teeth. I could almost taste the dust, sense of heat and the smell. I was almost there.” Speaking of South Africa, and having spent time there during my travels, I enjoyed the mixed-media work of Fortune Sitole, a self taught artist who began making sculptures out of clay and cars out of wire since the age of 12. He had no idea he was making art. His current work shown here depicts townships of South African showing activities of everyday life.
As someone who painted plein-air watercolors with the Saratoga Community of Painters for over 7 years, having begun with no real experience except attending an indoor watercolor class for a year at a local recreation center, I can tell you that art makes you feel something. It makes you think and wonder what the painter was thinking. It makes you realize that throughout time, people are fundamentally the same the world over and throughout time. Even if you do arts and crafts, you’re an artist. Even if you plant an outdoor garden, you are an artist. You don’t need to even understand art. Art shows you things that word’s can't say. One can make their life an art form. Art-making is meditation in action. Forms of exercise like yoga, running, swimming can be an art-form. Blogging can be an art form. When I studied to be a podiatric physician and surgeon, we were taught that medicine was both an art and a science.
What would your life and work look like, be like, feel like, if it were a work of art. Psychologist, researcher, and author of creativity and flow, Mihaly Csikszentmhhalyi, said it best: “How we choose what we do, and how we approach it…will determine whether the some of our days adds up to a formless blur…or something resembling a work of art.”
Postscript: The Rotary Club of Saratoga, the Arts Show is the primary fundraising event supporting local and international charities.
