“Monet is only an eye. Yet what an eye.” – Cezanne
My youngest daughter swam in a meet over the weekend. We parked our chairs at the side of the pool where the swimmers pull themselves out of the water and walk back around to the blocks during warm ups. I was wearing a tee shirt depicting a human hand and a dog paw engaged in a fist bump. A hundred kids pulled themselves out of the water in front of us and walked past. But there was one boy, who I guess was about 10, who stopped to read the line on my tee shirt, “My dog is my dog.” He smiled, but didn’t make eye contact, and then went on his way.
My oldest daughter, sitting next to me, turned and smiled.
“That boy is an artist.” I said.
Only artists and crazy people see things that others don’t. Important things that exist in the periphery of life. Because of this, it’s the responsibility of the artist to point things out to regular people who are all so busy keeping up with each other that they don’t notice otherwise. There’s almost no commercial value in this artistic ability, however. On the contrary, those who *do* have commercial appeal teach the masses how best to keep up with, and even pass by, everyone else by focusing exclusively on things directly in front of them. Not things in the periphery. Silly, useless things that don’t add up to anything.
***
Addie K Martin
Oct 28, 2015
Pretty great stuff. Do you think that people are born artists or do you think we have the ability to cultivate that talent from essentially nothing? I’m in the second camp because I’m seeing it happen in myself. Sure, I’ll never be a “Big G” Great artist, but I do enjoy expressing myself and pointing out those rarely seen things to others, as you so astutely noted above. Great perspective on the artist’s eye, by the way. You always have me thinking, Jim! 🙂