Life as Art

Drawing and  painting  has always been  an insightful and energy producing adventure in my life.  The process of creating it is as fruitful as the product!  I  have come to realize that all creating uses the same skills as making artwork..... including shaping my life! Using the process of creating can give  a template  to transform your life.

So what is "art" anyway?  According to Eric Booth, in the  extraordinarily insightful book  the everyday work of art

"At he birth of the word"art" it was a verb that meant "to put things together." It was not a product but a process. If we can reclaim that view of art_ as a way of looking at and doing things, as a series of experiences and experiments_ all of us gain a fresh grasp on the proven practical ways to construct the quality of our lives."

So let's look at the definitions of both work and art to divine the process!

According to the Visual Thesaurus the verb "to work" is to 

"exert oneself by doing mental or physical work for a purpose or out of necessity; apply through; think through"

and defines"art"   as

"the products of human creativity; works of art collectively; the creation of beautiful or significant things; a superior skill that you can learn by study and practice and observation"

Michael Kimmelman, art critic for the NY Times and author  of the book, "The Accidental Masterpiece; On the Art of Life and Vice Versa"  clearly articulates the process of art making in our daily lives! He integrates stories of artists in his book, demonstrating how their way of working  can easily be applied to our lives.

"...art provides us with clues about how to live our own lives more fully... creating, collecting, and even just appreciating art can make living a daily masterpiece."

 I have come across blogs that are created with the attitude of an artist.   "The Happiness Project" by Gretchen Rubin is one.  Her journey into the ways of attaining happiness share depth and  balance. I always leave her site with at least one new perception. It is definitely worth checking out!

Live life as if creating a work of art!

You can look at life as if you are an artist working at creating...at making visible your ideas!I find that humdrum and repetitive tasks such as morning ablutions, folding the laundry , setting the table, making and eating breakfast, reading the paper and driving to work, provide a pattern and structure on which to build dreams for the day.  In the midst of the structure I can find time to  balance the elements of my day, notice and choose color and tone and find the lines that connect events and places. Although I feel that my life as a  "work" of art in process, it was further articulated and richly defined in "the everyday work of art" by Eric Booth.

I will be exploring the idea that the work of creating art is not limited to paint, canvas and clay about once a week on this blog, simply because I find  such a freedom and inspiration to think of my own life this way! I will also s feasibility of each person to develop a way of thinking to create art from the stuff of his life.

I then begin to notice when other people are treating there lives with the creativity and discipline usually associated with the creative process. I see the creative "work" of art in small acts such as setting a table or huge, highly visible efforts such as Barack Obama's journey by train to Washington!

So I wonder, where do you find that you exercise your creativity  in your daily life?