Tattoos: Art on a Flesh Canvas

Tattoos have been an important part of many societies for thousands of years and have become a very popular from of art in modern times. The styles and images range from everything to portraits of loved ones, to verses of songs that have deep meaning. Every tattoo tells a story, whether the person to whom it belongs loves it, hates it, or even remembers it happening there is something behind how that particular work ended up on a particular body. What I love most about tattoos is that they can be an expression of yourself; you create the idea, you choose colors, placement, size, and detail and pay for someone to make it a reality. It is a very unique way to say something to those around you about who you are or what you opinion is on a certain matter, all while still being a beautiful work of art that was created by an amazing artist.

What is my definition of Art?

Over the course of the semester I have witnessed several reactions of classmates to different works of art and heard a variety of reasons explaining their feelings toward those pieces. I've been struggling to find a definition of my own of what I believe Art is but I have come up with a basic criteria. I believe that to label something as a work of Art it must first prove some level of skill. This skill may be one of physical action, such as a painter or sculptor who has the ability to create by using their hands as tools to build their work. It could be a mental skill of concentration and imagination that photographers and poets have naturally dwelling within them. There will always be a certain level of skill presented with every work, even if you cannot readily place it when you stand in front of the piece on your own. The next critical part is creativity. One must be able to dream their image or structure with fierce clarity or see the beauty and meaning in something ordinary. The world of Art is dominated by incredible minds that managed to keep hold of their childhood imagination to embrace and perfect their art. Oh, and no art is art without a message. Even if the artist denies the presence of a message in their minds as their creation came to life there is still one piece to the world of Art that the artist will never be able to control and that is, the perspective from which their art is viewed by others. Every work of art will have moved at least one person in the world and sent them a message, whatever the message may be is not up to the creator once it leaves their studio.........

I have formed a new opinion...

I had never really looked up any of the works of Banksy even after having my best friend tell me about how much he liked him. I guess it was someone's presentation, I can't recall who but whoever it was that did the Christian Hahn/Banksy powerpoint, that really made me start to research him a bit. I love the fact that he sends, maybe uncomfortable, but obivous and truthful messages. The sarcasm and humor also seems to be another driving source for my feelings about his work. It reminds me almost of the tagging and picketing of the 60's movements or a group of rebel teens looking for fun at 3 am, just a simple goal to change the ways the world is run.

Interesting Ceramics

I am currently also taking a Ceramics class, if any of you don't know, and I came across an artist the other day that I have come to respect for her incredible ability to create thin, delicate pieces of art that stand beautifully unharmed, void of flaws. Eva Hild captures the essence of differentiating realities from both the outside and inside with her twisted yet, elegant forms. As I have been challenged recently with the difficulties of building with thin clay, I understand how much great patience and skill is needed to construct something so intricate.

Inspiration from the Denver Art Museum!!!

When I went to the DAM to choose an artist for my presentation I was amazed at all the beautiful artwork it had to offer but the museum itself was such a work of art that I sometimes found it difficult to concentrate. The angles were wild and abundant yet somehow, no matter how I looked at it, there was always beauty and grace to the lines and the light would bath the shapes with delicacy that would captivate me. I know that entire class went to the museum but if you didn't think to stop and look at the building itself, I have included a couple of images to demonstrate what I saw.

The Blog Thing....

So just writing my first blog in here to get a feel for it. Still not entirely sure exactly what I am supposed to use this for aside from the vague concept of just saying something about art. I did have a conversation the other day with a friend of mine about who his favorite artist is and why he loves his work so much. He showed me alot of interesting images that I believe were paintings, but they were unlike anything I had ever seen. Beautiful work really; so much detail and elegance to his ideas, yet the images hold messages that are wildly intense. Considering it moved me so much I decided to post one of my favorite images on here for you to enjoy as well....