August 25, 2012
I was in New York at Manhattan's Metropolitan Museum of Art, and I fell in love. This was the type of love that ran deep to one's inner core. Tears, sweet tears of appreciation and admiration. Why tear over a painting or a bunch of them? It's way more serious than that...it's not just about our world, culture, history, style, design, innovation, but it's about imagery and a purpose. Although I enjoy pampering at a spa, this is way more meaningful to me, because it can awaken something interesting about yourself. I understand paintings, because I can read it.
What does it mean to read a painting? Before you laugh, consider a painting is like a book, except it's captured in one image. First see the painting as a whole. Second, slowly look for shapes, then colors, design, style and a setting. What did you see? Where did the artist take you? What did the artist provoke you with? Next, feel deeply in your heart...what it means to you. I understand, it might take a while, however once you feel the, 'ah ha' moment, you might not ever be the same. You'll probably see beauty or art differently...you'll probably see or feel an emotion you have, whether good or scary, it provoked you to learn something about yourself, a concept, or a statement. You probably even thought about the artist and the message; probed into understanding the story or meaning behind the painting. Sometimes, no one knows. If you don't feel it at all, than art is an object that naturally enhances a room, in which is just as awesome!
One of my favorite artist of all time is Claude Monet. I know, very typical of me, however - he innovated a style of painting that was not only new, different, intriguing, natural, historic, but it captured what was in his heart. Plus it took his time, talent and effort to create artwork that 'moved'. He saw that movement or light can be captured through brush strokes.
When I see landscapes, I feel the magnificence of life and it's delicate biology. I have to say that I feel God's spirit and that feeling is amazingly enlightening. I feel the way Monet saw it, in any condition, at any time. His style, although different and criticized - it opened doors to many more artists. It reminds me of modern dance - it broke the rules of ballet and created a free yet elegant style of dancing. Monet captured a style and a natural beauty in a free form.
I understand art continues to change, however, if you ever run into a piece of artwork that draws your attention, just allow it to connect with you and find out something interesting about yourself. Tell someone about it. Fall in love, have fun and enjoy!
Cheers,
Anna Nguyen
