"GOOD ART"

"Good Art" - Here is a phrase as contentious a subject as religion or politics.
Neophytes who rant about art, having never studied it, are a source of frustration to me. Visual art, as any subject, requires extensive study to be understood and, as with any major field, it has so many branches and types that one could never 'finish' learning.
To have a base knowledge of visual art, one must study at least some of the history, gain a comprehension of the elements of design, learn a variety of media and techniques, gain a base understanding of science, physics, geometry and mathematics, and, most importantly, one must learn to take the time to see. One must view art as it exists everywhere naturally and as it is when manufactured through a unique human viewpoint.
Please remember, next time you are in front of a piece of art, contemporary or otherwise, while you may find it visually appealing or repulsive, you may benefit from learning what led to the creation of the piece before you are able to pass intelligent judgement on its validity as an art object.

Summer Images

This is a shot from my old home - Salt Spring Island, B.C.

The island is a cross between hippy and yuppie culture.
Some call it Hollywood North as many Americans from the film industry have decided to call Salt Spring home.

I took this on the way back to Victoria from Salt Spring - Jesus rays and all!

Cedars in Mount Douglas Park

One more shot from yesterday
- I couldn't resist!

Art is Everywhere

These are a few of the moments from my walk to the beach at Mount Douglas Park this morning. I hope you can gain a sense of the sweetness of my day.

Trunk of an Arbutus tree
Beach at Mount Douglas Park

Leaf on driftwood

Rocks and Mother of Pearl
in a stream to the ocean

In the forest on the way to the beach

Art is everywhere.

In nature you needn't stand on your head to see it
...but sometimes it helps.

Beacon Hill Park Cedar Grove
by
Gillian Cornwall
c 2005
Oil Pastel on Paper
22"x30"

Twosday - August 9, 2005 - Funny Phone?

Is being funny an art or a craft?
Depending on who's being funny it can definitely be just a small craft - a virtual peddle boat's worth of amusement. I wonder if I am in fact funny or just nuts - suppose it doesn't matter really.
Making people laugh is a form of medicine. I definitely don't need to "beak" at you on the restorative powers of laughter. Though being gorped at by someone who thinks they're funny, someone who's actually not funny at all, is pretty much like being pecked to death by a duck.
One does wonder about the physical and emotional state of the comic though. Are we really all crying on the inside or is that just because we are never getting paid for our ...Art ...Craft ...thingy?
I think walking around with a banana as a phone has become re-funny with the invention and popularity of the cell phone. I still want to get one of those Fisher Price giant plastic phones for the car - I think those phones were on wheels actually so, ahhh, who needs the car.
Let's make giant phones that you can drive instead of really small phones for giant cars.
I gotta go, my car's ringing....

At Luminara, July 2005

This is a shot I took at Luminara a couple of weeks ago here in Victoria. Luminara is a lantern festival but I don't think there is any particular reason we have the festival except to make the lanterns and go to look at them - no spiritual conotations, no sacrifices, just good old-fashioned fun. Anyway, this one represented a floating village and I thought for sure it won out as the coolest exhibit there.