My Art Notes: Your Life is Your Work of Art

Monday, October 1, 2012

Your Life is Your Work of Art

©2012 Mary Rush Gravelle. My Life as a Work of Art.
Digital Photograph, 3000 x 4000 pixels, 180 ppi.
Enhanced in Photoshop. 2012.

Getting Back to My Blog

It has been three months since my last post. Deadly mistake for the blogger. However, life has been full. I am reminded that our life is our work of art.

My Art

I have not painted in a very long time. I have not done any new clay work for months. Photography remains the art form of the moment. My camera is readily available. I love making photographic images. I long to get back to painting and ceramics. For now, I am happy carrying out my artistic spirit's musing with photography.

Lack of Doing Art

Sometimes I entertain feelings of guilt or regret about my lack of "doing my art". This morning: however, I turned on a positive spin on it. What if I went back to my old theory that life can be a work of art?

My Masterpiece

My life as a work of art is becoming a masterpiece of my own making. I make new choices, new decisions. There are new beginnings, endings, and changes of scenery. This is how we make art, right? We begin with the blank canvas, the raw materials, we throw something down, change it up, mix it up, and voila, a masterpiece.

And YOU?

Do you consider your life to be a work of art? How so? What are the elements that make up your composition?

Action: Do this Exercise

Try this exercise. Imagine a blank canvas. Now, make a list of categories that make up your life. How many are there? Can you imagine them on the canvas? Where would they be located on the canvas? Would they be on the top, bottom, center, or sides? Which category would be the largest, the smallest? What is the geography of your life?

What Media Best Describes Your Life?

Does your life look like a landscape painting? Or perhaps it looks like an abstract painting, or mixed media? Maybe, it is not 2d, not a painting. Maybe it is a clay piece: is it functional or decorative? Is your life made out of steel like a sculpture? Maybe it is soft like fabric quilts or soft sculpture. Begin thinking of your life in these terms. I will bet it will tilt the way you think and live from this point forward.
I love what Misha Lyuve says on his blog post

“A work of art is something admired and looked for; it is special and unique; it requires a skill and inspiration; it exists inside of creation and appreciation. What if we were to apply this high standard to living our lives?”[1]

Action: Continue the Dialog.

Please leave a comment. What do you think? How does your life feel or look like a work of art? Contemplate this idea for awhile. Get back to me.

Contact me

[1] Lyuve, Misha. Living Your Life as a Work of Art. TheHuffingtonPost.com, Inc. 2012. 11/01/11 05:03 PM ET.