Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do, so throw off the bowlines, sail away from safe harbor, catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore, Dream, Discover. —Mark Twain
For some reason or another, lately I seemed to have regressed to listening to songs that were favourites of mine when I was a child (a time when I was usually found finger painting or sticking glitter to things with too much PVA glue- I can’t say much has changed). Of course, the ever popular Disney featured pretty much exclusively in that little play list, which got me thinking about one story in particular- Alice In Wonderland. I think that in a lot of ways Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland has a surprising relevance to how it feels to be an aspiring artist. I should know, I am one. By this I do not mean that aspiring artists typically have the strange misfortune of literally falling down large and mysterious rabbit holes into fantasy worlds populated by hilarious anthropomorphic creatures. That would be highly inconvenient. I just mean that I can really relate to many of the popular quotes and themes from the story, and I would not be surprised if others shared my associations (aspiring …
”There may be a great fire in our hearts, yet no one ever comes to warm himself at it, and the passers-by see only a wisp of smoke”- Vincent Van Gough Inspired by this thought, I set out with the intention of painting my vision of how happiness makes me feel in my latest piece ‘Each New Day’. People always say that creativity is one of the best ways to express oneself, and that when an artist paints, they dip their paintbrush into their soul which ultimately shines through on the canvas. With that in mind, I hope I have succeeded (even if only a little) in portraying feelings of happiness through my artwork. “And now here is my secret, a very simple secret: It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye.” – Antoine de Saint Exupery http://www.emilylouiseheard.com
‘Moving objects, like asteroids and Twitter tweets, come and go in short order. Art is stationary and it doesn’t change, except in how it is beheld’- Perry Fisher Not only have I always loved art, but I’ve also always been immensely curious about it. More specifically, why do humans like to look at and create art? What is it about viewing a certain image that generates a particular emotion, or desire to create within us? So I decided to see what answers the vast world that is the internet has to offer, as well as provide my own little thoughts… Before I begin, I think it is important to note that these speculations are only covering humans in general, and do not account for individual differences in taste. Although I am equally interested as to why it is ‘one man’s trash is another man’s treasure’, I think I will cover this in another post to keep this one to the point 🙂 WHY DO HUMANS LIKE TO LOOK AT ART? We are social creatures. Art provides an …
Inspiration (literally meaning “to breathe into”) refers to an unconscious burst of creativity in a literary, musical, or other artistic endeavour – Wikipedia (of course). But where do we find it, and what can we do to facilitate it? From my point of view, there is nothing more satisfying than being completely absorbed in painting something beautiful and watching my own little colourful world come to life on a previously blank canvas. Having said that, creative inspiration is magical when I have it, and frustrating as can be when I don’t. As a part time artist, I have committed myself to spending as much time as I possibly can in pursuit of my work. But sometimes, when I get in from the day job it can be a struggle to switch into ‘arty mode’ and force myself to paint. No matter how hard I remind myself that I HAVE to stay focused and I HAVE to paint if I want to make my dream a full time reality, sometimes a stern word is just not enough. I …
Emily Louise Heard 