WHAT IS ART, ANYWAY?

The late great Louis Armstrong said: “If you have to ask what jazz is, you’ll never know”. Does that apply to visual art––That you either know the real article in your bones, or you don’t?

THAT IT SPEAKS TO YOU OR IT DOESN’T?

 What I find so exhilarating and life enhancing about art in all its forms is that it‘s an ongoing collaborative effort. We stand on the shoulders of past and present masters.

 WHAT AND WHO MAKES ART HAPPEN?

1. THE AUDIENCE: The person who eats the gourmet dinner, who swoons in front of a Van Gogh, who joins in thunderous applause when the curtain drops–– who goes through a life-altering Art Experience. 

2. The community of artists who share their ideas, their techniques, their “good eye” in support. 

3. The eloquence of the subject matter–– whether it's the wonders of this tiny blue planet, or the human landscape occupying it.   After the quake in Port au Prince, I was  moved by the spirituality of the Haitian people––how they lifted up their arms in prayer and were there for each other.

When I painted “Haitian Prayer” I found myself swept away by the passion of these beautiful people, awed by their humble humanity. And in the painting process, I felt myself attuned to the root of the dynamism that permeates Haitian Art.  Whatever the merits of the painting, I am grateful for that experience.      

WHICH BRINGS ME TO THE ARTIST’S JOB.

What’s that? In my opinion, the artist’s calling is to continually educate one’s self for total artistic integrity, and then to know how to let the work go where it must go. And to never, ever, ever fake it.

 IN THE END, THE GREATEST ART HAS TO BE THE ART OF LIVING: TODAY IS A WORK OF ART IN PROGRESS.

I would like to leave you with this (I wish I was the one who thought it up!) : “Each moment is a bead on the invisible wire of God’s Grace”- Kamenetz. 

Wishing you good moments,

Ruth Rifka.

FUTURE BLOGS:

*THE ART SPIRIT  IMPULSE

*EXPERIMENTAL EXPRESSIONISM

TECHNIQUE–– WITH THE GRAIN/ AGAINST THE GRAIN

*GREAT ARTISTIC THEMES

*KABBALAH AND THE ART OF EVERYTHING

*ZEN AND THE ART OF EVERYTHING

*THE ALLA PRIMA PORTRAIT

                                                               Haitian Prayer