see mj write: day 17 {an art piece}

i love all things art history. i find it so fascinating to learn how paintings, drawings, sculptures, architecture and even music intertwine throughout the ages. how they influence each other. how new inventions or trends in society can drastically change how we think and feel about our environment and thus how we choose to portray it in art.

it's interesting to me to learn about artists who were way ahead of their time or really pushed the limits with whatever new technique they were trying. and yet, many of those pieces are so commonplace for us. so normal.

i think it's incredible that some of the now-famous artists and musicians were relatively or completely unknown or unappreciated in their time.

i have lots of favorites. after learning about many pieces in depth in my AP art history class in high school {i got a 4} and an art history class at brigham young university {i got an A}, i have lots of favorites to choose from. althought i do love the work of some not-so-well-known artists, i think some of my favorites are from vincent van gogh.

i love the colors and the brushstrokes. i love the depictions of every day life. i love that the titles were super easy to remember for tests {starry night, wheat field with cypresses, sunflowers, wheatfield with crows, woods and undergrowth...you get the picture}.

i think my favorite is starry night over the rhone. i've always loved the night sky. i love being the passenger in a car at night and just staring up to see tiny bursts of light scattered across a black abyss. this particular night sky reminds me of sleepovers as a young girl with no cares in the world. we used to curl up in our sleeping bags on my friend mindee's trampoline. we made up songs about the big dipper {"the big dipper, those little stars. oh how they shine, against the blue, blue sky"....pretty original, no?} and felt the cool utah breeze on our faces. the reflection on the water reminds me of lake merwin on a still, summer night in washington. sitting on the dock reflecting on god's creations. even as an adult, with cares and stresses and worries, the night sky seems a comforting and safe place to be. a close second is almond branches in bloom. love the turquoise and the new signs of life. just a painting about the every day. something i might walk by and not even notice if i was in a rush, but when i take time to notice, it's almost breathtaking. if i were to choose an architectural piece or sculpture, i'd have to stick with the corinthian column. always loved it. none of this doric or ionic nonsense. it's corinthian for me. serves such a common purpose, but i think the designs are just incredible. the fact that people not only have the physical ability to carve so intricate a design out of stone, but that they actually have the foresight to imagine what it might look like before they start chipping away is incredible to me. definitely not a critic. i can appreciate most pieces of art. just the fact that someone took time to create is oftentimes enough for me.