# Art and you



## Darity (Dec 17, 2009)

What kind of relation do you have to art of any form? Do you look at paintings in the webs or watching cheap theaters at the intertube? Do you visit museums? regularly? Are you interested in the background? Are you an artist yourself?

I've never really been into art, but I need to fulfill another stereotype and therefore need some information about how to tackle that subject :tongue: 
Okay, actually museums were always fascinating places to me, but I stayed away from them so far and pretended to find them boring in school. Now I'm missing all the fancy paintings in my life and I'm a bit clueless how to find a relation to a topic I denied to like for way too long.


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## Tkae (Oct 15, 2009)

I write.

So my only relationship to art is studying literature, or reading literature to help me write stories better. 

If you mean true "art", then my only relationship with it is studying it in relation to the literary versions of those movements. 

Such as, to study modernism, we studied modernism in painting. Picasso, the guy with the pipe, etc.


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## Wanderling (Dec 27, 2009)

Darity said:


> What kind of relation do you have to art of any form? Do you look at paintings in the webs or watching cheap theaters at the intertube? Do you visit museums? regularly? Are you interested in the background? Are you an artist yourself?
> 
> I've never really been into art, but I need to fulfill another stereotype and therefore need some information about how to tackle that subject :tongue:
> Okay, actually museums were always fascinating places to me, but I stayed away from them so far and pretended to find them boring in school. Now I'm missing all the fancy paintings in my life and I'm a bit clueless how to find a relation to a topic I denied to like for way too long.


I couldn't live without art. I don't have a lot of time to "create" art these days (stories, poetry, songwriting) but I need to feel, hear, breathe heart 24 hours a day.
I was lucky to have a father really into literature and music, and a mother into painting, so they both introduced me to those aspects.

A good start for painting is to go to a local art gallery. Look at the paintings or photographs or sculptures, just let it all flow towards you and "hit" you. Try to see which ones you like better, and why. You might find out that there's a certain era, or style, or painter you like, and you can then look it up on the internet or find a book. Orelse you can also do it the other way around: buy a good art book with plenty of pictures (_A Basic History of Western Art _by Janson is a good place to start). For photography there's Sandler's _Photography: an Illustrated History_. If you're a hands on person you can even try it yourself.
Theoretical knowledge of art (or background) isn't essential to appreciate art, but I think it can really enhance your enjoyment of it, especially for art forms which don't at a first glance seem to conform to traditional standards of beauty.
Sometimes I read up before going to an art gallery or a beautiful building, but at other times I just go and enjoy the experience without knowing anything about it. It depends on my mood really!

The theatre is great...street theatre is fun, it's very Bohemian and often interactive, a real experience. But "sit down", indoors drama is great as well. It takes some getting used to if you've never been, but it's a very different experience from TV or even the cinema. In some places you even get to meet up or interact with the actors or the playwright afterwards.

There are so many different art forms, and within those so many different styles, that you're bound to find something you'll like. Just get out there and start looking, listening, watching and feeling!


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## Darity (Dec 17, 2009)

Tkae said:


> I write.
> 
> So my only relationship to art is studying literature, or reading literature to help me write stories better.
> 
> ...


I like to write and read or listen to music myself and it's a very appreciated kind of art and there's still lot of space to explore for me. Writing and reading appeals more in an intellectual way to me though, and I'm looking for something to stimulate my emotional side. Music can do this very well, but I realised that paintings can do the trick too. I'm looking for advice in that direction, but I am interested in how you experience art yourself - no matter if it's through music, writing, paintings et cetera.



GroovyShamrock said:


> I couldn't live without art. I don't have a lot of time to "create" art these days (stories, poetry, songwriting) but I need to feel, hear, breathe heart 24 hours a day.
> I was lucky to have a father really into literature and music, and a mother into painting, so they both introduced me to those aspects.
> 
> A good start for painting is to go to a local art gallery. Look at the paintings or photographs or sculptures, just let it all flow towards you and "hit" you. Try to see which ones you like better, and why. You might find out that there's a certain era, or style, or painter you like, and you can then look it up on the internet or find a book. Orelse you can also do it the other way around: buy a good art book with plenty of pictures (_A Basic History of Western Art _by Janson is a good place to start). For photography there's Sandler's _Photography: an Illustrated History_. If you're a hands on person you can even try it yourself.
> ...


Sounds great, I'm fascinated by your love to art and I'm a bit envious - in a good way! I wish I wouldn't live in house full of philistines. Now I have to compile everything by myself, just because my parents prefer chart songs and TV soaps (It sure hasn't anything to do with me staying away from art for no specific reason; blaming everybody else is always the best solution). I'm going to go to Zürich by train tomorrow and visit an exhibition called "from neoimpressionism to fauvism". The pictures I got out of google for this terms look interesting, I'm really looking forward to it! I think I have to research the different movements a bit. I enjoy the abstractness in the paintings from Picasso, so I'll wikipedia him and go on from there...
I hope it "hits" me tomorrow.


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## whisperycat (Aug 9, 2009)

*Artful existence*

'Art' is a label for so many things. Like beauty, it's entirely subjective, residing in the heart and soul of the beholder. Art can be any of the sights, sounds, tactile impressions or smells delivered to our awareness by the senses. Art is an inner dance of of perceived impressions and triggered responses. Nobody can tell you what art is. If you want to experience art, open your senses and your mind to being alive, the rest will follow.


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## Hiccups24-7 (Oct 17, 2009)

I used to work in records management and one day it took me to an art gallery. As I was waiting I was looking at some of the art there then the person I was meeting came and I pointed out what I could see in some of the pictures. He asked me if I was a fan of that particular art and I said no but it blew me away and I was buzzing the whole time I was there like I'd seen a ghost or something.
Art took on a new meaning for me after that, this was a point of my life where I was noticing doubles in a lot of things.
I'm not obsessed with it but I appreciate it and use it to express my creatively from time to time, not as much as I used to as I'm not in the right frame of mind these days but it is in my future for sure.
http://f.imagehost.org/0962/dawn010109.jpg
Maybe not in the form of painting lol.. maybe.


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## cardinalfire (Dec 10, 2009)

*I couldn't live without art*

Not that I am a famous artist or musician etc, or even a particularly skilled one, knowing about art and being involved some how means a lot to me. Without it, there doesn't seem to be a lot other hobbies or anything that seem worth doing (to me). I don't have an interest in fishing, sport, camping, etc. Without the entertainment industry, or art industry what would a lot of people do? lol besides work and eat and procreate? Study I guess, which isn't very appealing.

anyway here is some of my history and relationship with art:

My dad likes Hendrix and Santana, and other bands like Texas, and though I've only known him about two years I can tell we are very different when it comes to art. Don't get me wrong I love Hendrix and Santana, though they are just a small portion of the art that I like, the musical part of art. My mother again has musical and poetical taste ( she introduced me to eighties bands like Prince and U2, as well as poets like Larkin, Keats and some others) and much like your parents, she likes TV soaps and doesn't explore much fine art either.

Growing up I always had a natural curiosity for things that took my interest which were stories, books, art, music, literature and video games and movies. I was never into sports, cars or anything traditionally boyish, I would rather have read a book then play with toy guns for example. 

As I got older I went into more philosophical and mystical stuff, Plato, Jung, Astrology, Tarot etc, then when I began university I weren't so interested in finding the 'answer to the universe, life and everthing' I overcame my teenage existential crisis (which I am sure is a common thing to go through) and then just settled down and went back to the stuff I loved before on a simplier level.

Now I don't care so much about 'deeper' meanings, though that doesn't mean I won't have a discussion with friends if they are having one, my discussion topics are more like 'what superpower would you like to have?' rather than 'so why are we here in life?'. 

I have always been into what may be called the intellectual side or theory of art, (though not so much recently) and am fortunate enough to be able to get some of the concepts. The skill side of art, actually creating, I am not that great at, though getting better all the time. I draw quite often, usually of me, or a copy of a masters drawing, or some object in my room, and I intend to keep going until I am at a level I like. I play guitar, and had some piano lessons once, though the theory and reading I weren't so keen on so I haven't been back since I got my Grade one in piano (once I am actually proud of!). I don't feel obliged to finish learning piano because I don't like the sound of the keyboard I have and may pick it up again when I move into a place of my own, but we'll see. 

I know a lot of names from literature, music, and fine art, even if I haven't heard/seen/read their work. Lets see I am twenty one and I have 'discovered' the following:

Literature:
- Shakespeare (currently reading the complete works)
- Oscar Wilde (read most apart from four or five essays and some other things to finish the complete works)
- 1001 books to read before you die ( which has LOTS of various authors and its a beginners guide to periods etc)
from which I have read
Harper lee to kill a mockingbird, Kerouac On the Road, Melville Moby Dick, Orwell Animal Farm, White Sword in the stone, Salinger Catcher in the rye. 

So I have always known people who do read, are into reading and show me new authors as well as the classics, which I am slowly going through.

Music:
we could be here for a while, I was always curious about music, which is still true, though I know what I like now in terms of 'the big names in music' so its just a case of finding the odd indie band and expanding my musical range in terms of classical, romantic, modern etc styles. I know a lot of rock and pop, and blues and jazz. I don't care for much R&B and hip-hop now.
some favourites from different genres/eras are Bob Dylan, Mozart, Miles davis, Ryan Adams, Nick Cave, Bruce Springsteen, Radiohead. There are some others, though it gets to a point where I have heard them so much that I like finding new bands for my playlists. I might wait until I am in my fifties and sixties and go through some people like Tchaikosky/Beethoven/Handel/Mendelsson/Brahms/Bach etc, you know all those big names in western music. Honestly though some of it is just boring lol (does anyone else find that? no matter how 'great' they are 'supposed' to be or how much we are told we 'should' listen to them, they still sound crap sometimes?) I do like Fur Elise and Beethoven was about to make things sound catchy, like a pop song, in my point of view, though some compositions don't hold my attention. I would rather listen to True Romance until the end of days:





 
Side topic-

Is it an ISFP thing to be more interested in pop music, rather than classical of something? Because we like being in the present moment and 'current' rather than find out about the past?
I might put that into another thread.

Fine art:
I love Van Gogh, Picasso, some Da Vinci (prefer his drawings to his paintings, which are a bit boring to me), Albrecht Durer's drawings, Rembrandt's self portraits (wow in a word), Glenn Brown. I'm sure there are loads more I am aware of and know about, these are some that come to me. I also visit the tates in london quite frequently when they have an exhibition about some movement or artist I am into or want to know more about.

Your exhibition in Zurich sounds interesting. The Fauvist movement I remember, they are quite abstract and have bright colours and shapes in their paintings if I remember right. There is also that famous sculpture by that guy whose surname is something like Umberticllo or something like that.

ANYWAY...

The long and short is that yes I love art and love knowing about it and could easily tell you what I like and don't like. Without art I would have a boring life and not much would hold my interest. I'd learn to put up shelves instead of drawing in my spare time.


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## Darity (Dec 17, 2009)

> Your exhibition in Zurich sounds interesting. The Fauvist movement I remember, they are quite abstract and have bright colours and shapes in their paintings if I remember right. There is also that famous sculpture by that guy whose surname is something like Umberticllo or something like that.


First of all, thanks for your detailed post! The exhibition was awesome, I spent 3 hours in there and got myself a 1 year membership. The few paintings from Van Gogh in their general collection were stunningly beautiful. The main exhibition was about Georges Seurat. Some great work there, especially the pointillism paintings. I'm looking forward to mid february, when the main exhibition will be about Van Gogh, Monet et Cezanne - I'm sure I can't wait that long before I visit the museum again, though.


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## cardinalfire (Dec 10, 2009)

Darity said:


> First of all, thanks for your detailed post! The exhibition was awesome, I spent 3 hours in there and got myself a 1 year membership. The few paintings from Van Goth in their general collection were stunningly beautiful. The main exhibition was about Georges Seurat. Some great work there, especially the pointillism paintings. I'm looking forward to mid february, when the main exhibition will be about Van Goth, Monet et Cezanne - I'm sure I can't wait that long before I visit the museum again, though.


Oh wow, what Van Goghs do you have there?

In the UK we are being treated to this The Real Van Gogh: The Artist and His Letters - Exhibitions - Royal Academy of Arts by the royal academy of arts in two weeks time and I'm also looking forward to this by the British Museum, Fra Angelico to Leonardo: Italian Renaissance Drawings The British Museum.


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## Darity (Dec 17, 2009)

These exhibitions look really interesting. I could imagine that the letters give a whole new dimension to Van Goghs art. 

Van Goghs in Zürich:

















plus a selfportrait and 2 more landscapes iirc (didn't find them with google).


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## cardinalfire (Dec 10, 2009)

I like the bottom one of the two pictures. It looks kind of flat, and cartoonish, though I am sure he knew what he was doing and was happy with the results, having said that I still like it.


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## Cookie Monster (Nov 6, 2009)

Haha, you said intertubes 

Yes, I do enjoy art (both creating it and viewing it). I think that anything can be a work of art...cooking, music, writing, crafting, dancing...

Even the people at Subway are called "sandwich artisans"...some people who make subs makes what I believe to be true works of art .


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## Wanderling (Dec 27, 2009)

Cookie Monster said:


> Haha, you said intertubes
> 
> Yes, I do enjoy art (both creating it and viewing it). I think that anything can be a work of art...cooking, music, writing, crafting, dancing...
> 
> Even the people at Subway are called "sandwich artisans"...some people who make subs makes what I believe to be true works of art .


I love you for for citing "cooking" as a form of art! It totally is. Edible art is awesome!


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## addle1618 (Oct 31, 2008)

I try to avoid whatever art I am making at all costs when making that form of art. Lol. It makes me depressed to see other's art. If I am not in a particularly making mood I love to look at art, I don't get out of the house much. I really want to go to some nice museums. :laughing:


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## cardinalfire (Dec 10, 2009)

Oh Darity, you may enjoy reading this:

Van Gogh: in his own words | Art and design | guardian.co.uk


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## Darity (Dec 17, 2009)

cardinalfire said:


> Oh Darity, you may enjoy reading this:
> 
> Van Gogh: in his own words | Art and design | guardian.co.uk


Thanks alot, I'll read it tonight. I will spend this afternoon in the museum again, there are still so many pieces of art I hadn't enough time for


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## Miyuki (Jan 5, 2010)

the best advice i can give you with art is be genuine and honest because it's all about having fun... in the beginning for some at least. it's like a form of play. oh, and don't try to be pretentious!! those are the art vv.. skanks.

I've only been to art museums twice and on the same day. it was a bad experience, but i think it had to do with the guide explaining everything. still it was better then choosing to go to school. and either i haven't developed a sophisticated taste, or some of those paintings were awfully pointless. seriously? throwing paint on a canvas! a circle on a blank canvas. what should i do, admire the technique? i wonder if it's design.. gahh, i don't know. but i'd rather look at the night sky or go to the beach/library. though i did like some of the paintings.

Art to me has become a habit. i'm glad to say it has become second nature and i will never forget how to create artroud:. I just do it. like, I doodle always (but I try not to because it's kind of embarrassing to) in school. most of my doodles are in school cause there's nothing to do. like in the margins, during tests, homework. (i get so distracted with a pencil and paper right in front of me.) i probably have thousands and thousands of doodles that are lost. i don't keep track of them. i'm not sentimental about them since they are just practice(i don't know if i should say practice, i don't intend to practice when i do) so doodles drawn repeatedly mostly after i am impressed by something or an idea or to a lesser extent some creation/idea i have. i tend to draw the same thing over and over (you know how people draw stars and hearts on their paper? mine are faces. people comment that i draw faces very quick) and I don't finish anything. -i have a big problem with that-

sometimes I get this idea-fountain at night then i keep running back to my desk to write it down or draw a little sketch of it then lie back down then get back up cause the ideas don't stop, but i don't really have any urge to finish the idea on paper. i daydream about it to develop it in my head. i don't want to draw imperfectly. like, i will just write/sketch it down with any details i want to remember as a memory cue so it can just take me back to that place. i've tried to stop the idea-fountain temporarily so i don't get too crowded with too many ideas because i just need to focus and concentrate so i don't become overwhelmed and forget the past ideas. i still want to daydream about fairytales.. and horror stories<3.

i'm not one of those people who are very sophisticated and powerful and devoted about art (i admire them)..... you know, those who live and breath art, but i do get a sense of .. just real enjoyment. but at this time my art is mostly too personal to be anything like theirs. like at most a fairytale or children's book, but the art sense way.. -fumbles with wording-


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## Miyuki (Jan 5, 2010)

cardinalfire said:


> Is it an ISFP thing to be more interested in pop music, rather than classical of something? Because we like being in the present moment and 'current' rather than find out about the past?
> I might put that into another thread.


For me, it was like... I couldn't tell that classical was technically so much better then pop-music as a little kid honestly. They both, N'SYNC or Beethoven, just sounded nice to me, i liked both. i liked anything i saw and heard actually. but i wasn't inspired by pop or classical, like what statement can you make with that? the only thing both do to me is sound nice for some while. the only music i was ever truly inspired/revolutionized was by was ROCK. it was just too cool. like i don't mean pop-rock, it is nice to me, but i mean like.. rock. not just for the looks. it was because rock had a meaning to it. i suppose i could genuinely somehow incorporate that into myself.

i suppose currently I have a greater appreciation for classical music then for pop-music. but i will never like classical music more then rock, i don't know if it's too distant or in the past. maybe i would have liked classical music back in the day when it was revolutionary maybe, but now it doesn't have quite that feeling... so that's what you could mean by isfp and current.

i'm terrible with brevity:crying::crying::crying::crying::crying:


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## cardinalfire (Dec 10, 2009)

Miyuki said:


> For me, it was like... I couldn't tell that classical was technically so much better then pop-music as a little kid honestly. They both, N'SYNC or Beethoven, just sounded nice to me, i liked both. i liked anything i saw and heard actually. but i wasn't inspired by pop or classical, like what statement can you make with that? the only thing both do to me is sound nice for some while. the only music i was ever truly inspired/revolutionized was by was ROCK. it was just too cool. like i don't mean pop-rock, it is nice to me, but i mean like.. rock. not just for the looks. it was because rock had a meaning to it. i suppose i could genuinely somehow incorporate that into myself.
> 
> i suppose currently I have a greater appreciation for classical music then for pop-music. but i will never like classical music more then rock, i don't know if it's too distant or in the past. maybe i would have liked classical music back in the day when it was revolutionary maybe, but now it doesn't have quite that feeling... so that's what you could mean by isfp and current.
> 
> i'm terrible with brevity:crying::crying::crying::crying::crying:


When I said pop I was thinking of new music in general whatever the genre. I have changed my mind though, I like some old and current music depending on genre and artist/track. Yeah I get where you are coming from. I just meant would an ISFP more likely go with something recorded recently or new to their ears then something old and that they have heard before?


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## Aßbiscuits (Oct 8, 2009)

My mother was an artist and since I was little I've wanted to be like her. I drew a lot and people were always impressed by me, I remember always winning art competitions and getting first place and being so proud that when I got to take the pictures down off the display I'd stick them to the windows of my dad's car for everyone to see :blushed: I was such a retarded child. Ever since I was yougner art has been my "thing", people would always get me to draw their pictures for them in school so they'd look good, teachers always chose me to do the drawings for poems in the poetry books, even though I loved writing poems even back then that was ignored. They'd get me to do a lot of work to, I was always painting the backgrounds for plays, then I designed the cards for our confirmation and I even had to do the writing on it and all I got was a kitkat.

All the work I had to do  when I went to a new school in an art class where nobody knew me I took it easy. I was only twelve, I thought it was a good idea just in case I was heavily relied on again, I never entered art competitions or did my homework much, I'd draw it quickly before class, but I'd stillget marked 8/10 so that was good enough for me to continue like that. In this school I haven't flourished one bit, I haven't tried to truly express myself, I've taken the teachers orders instead of drawing and doing what I want and only every now and again do I recieve the praise I got when I was younger. But that hasn't stopped me from painting and drawing, I'm in my best mood when I'm doing something artistic, whether it be drawing, painting, designing, taking pictures, poetry, writing. But it's hard to make time for it all and do my art homework.

But I have done two proper painting and I don't know what to do with them and I have sold a picture to a pub in my town of a picture of every pub in my town merged into one, I got 30 euro and everything :happy:

I visit the art gallery all the time because I love Nano Reid and Ged Dillon, two artists from my town so we have plenty of paintings. 

I'd love to go to an art college and do something to do with being an artist, photographer or art teacher.But I have many other dreams, art teacher seems easy to achieve though. I really want to make it but I've never been confident in my art and I don't know why. I've been confident with everything else in my life but I can't even form my own opinion of my works anymore, I need validation because mine is confused, I can't judge my own stuff and I don't know what that means 

Oh and when it comes to art in its music form I was told I was gifted when I was younger, in playing the piano and I got into this school when I was eight but I was never passionate enough about it, I didn't want to play piano or recorder or any instrument. I play voilin though, I'm in grade two but I never go to practise, I can read and understand music but I'd rather not because that's I'd rather music be mysterious to me, to be blown away by it because I can't understand it, do you understand what I mean? It's hard to explain.


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## cardinalfire (Dec 10, 2009)

Do you mean that learning the theory makes it become a bit routine and ruins the magic of what could happen because theory implies that there are certain rules to follow to make the music and you prefer not to know what is SUPPOSED to be played to sound "correct" you want to find out for yourself.


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## Kevinaswell (May 6, 2009)

I'm obsessed with music.

I like to compose/produce it a lot. Check those links in my sig, or I just put up a new track in the music review section of the forum. 

I look at pictures through stumbleupon of fascinating projects people have done. Generally they aren't just standard art concepts, but innovative or inventive or even just uncommon methods or materials that are used that these people make amazing things out of. I like things like that.


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## bwood348 (Jan 22, 2010)

*art*

Art is great it so forgiving anyone can be good at it, and any one can be bad at it has anybody ever seen bob ross paint


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## silverlined (Jul 8, 2009)

Art is very much a part of my life. I just take in the beauty and the deeper meaning of it. Art usually has a personal meaning to me too and I try to find that.

I occasionally go to museums but I found that I can find beauty and art all around me, sometimes in everyday things.

I write poetry, play music and do some amateur photography. I like creating something beautiful and full of personal meaning and like expressing myself and art is a great outlet for this


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## Alima (Mar 28, 2010)

I've always loved art. I'm a pretty good drawer, but I get frustrated easily. If what I'm drawing doesn't turn out EXACTLY the way I want it to I will sit there for hours trying to make it "perfect." So I haven't drawn anything in a long time. 
My favorite is paintings, mostly renaissance and impressionist. I love the ballerina paintings by Edgar Degas. I don't even like dancing or anything like that, but I just love them for some reason.


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## bwood348 (Jan 22, 2010)

*painting*

i've been painting for a couple of years now and it seems to be a satisfing outlet for me I'm just not as talented as i would like to be but i'm geting better:happy:


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## Wanderling (Dec 27, 2009)

Alima said:


> I've always loved art. I'm a pretty good drawer, but I get frustrated easily. If what I'm drawing doesn't turn out EXACTLY the way I want it to I will sit there for hours trying to make it "perfect." So I haven't drawn anything in a long time.
> My favorite is paintings, mostly renaissance and impressionist. I love the ballerina paintings by Edgar Degas. I don't even like dancing or anything like that, but I just love them for some reason.


I love Degas. I love the Impressionists in general... Have you ever been to the Musée d'Orsay in Paris? They have one of the best Impressionist and Post-Impressionist art collections there.


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## Alima (Mar 28, 2010)

GroovyShamrock said:


> I love Degas. I love the Impressionists in general... Have you ever been to the Musée d'Orsay in Paris? They have one of the best Impressionist and Post-Impressionist art collections there.



I haven't unfortunately. I would love to though.
I have never been outside the United States.


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## Sizzorhandz (Jan 25, 2010)

I am an art whore, I love creating things. I love looking at beautiful things, mostly Sunsets and rises, no two are alike:laughing:


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## Wanderling (Dec 27, 2009)

Alima said:


> I haven't unfortunately. I would love to though.
> I have never been outside the United States.


Hopefully someday you'll get the chance.


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