Still, Life..

Lately, I have been contemplating the idea of Abstract art, versus the merits of Still Life. I enjoy them both equally, and I think I finally understand why..

Still Life-which can be accomplished through mediums such as sketching or painting is an attempt to recreate and capture the world as it appears. As hard as a person may try, it is impossible to create a tangiable copy of something that exists in the world. But this is why artists try. Because the idea is to come as close as possible to this recreation. And the closer we come to this recreation, the more we feel we understand the beauty it holds.

But the world is more complex than that. You cannot simply draw or paint what you see and have it mean anything close compared to the orginal subject.

When I create something, it is not about copying some inert, meaningless object. No...
It is about that particular subject, in that particular space, at that particular time..each line containing as much significance as the subject itself. The beauty we seek to capture as artists is in each and every line we make, eeyelash, shade and hue, strand of hair, dimple and smile.

As hard as we try to control and create a two-dimensional representation, the more we learn about ourselves. So the meaning and emotion of a painting or a drawing is not in the finished product, but in the process of creating it. Because when we look at what has been created, we see ourselves, and what's important to us.

They say art imitates life...Id like to think it works both ways.