Art and Music

I have been thinking about both recently. Art because I recently have encountered a couple of people who are talented artists but I had no idea. Like me, they have some ability (possibly, if not quite likely more than me) but they haven't put pencil to paper in ages. Their lives have taken up too much of their time, a situation I well understand. I recall taking a drive last year (last year!!) and finding some sights that inspired me to sketch for a while, but I haven't taken that trip again since that day.

"art" versus "Art" is another of those topics that I have been musing over recently. Having spent a little bit of time vacationing in the museums of the renaissance and onwards, I have an appreciation -- although not always a real understanding -- for Art. I admire the skill and the talent it takes to put something together. I enjoy the impact of a well-crafted piece. But, even though I have taken a few fine arts classes, I tend not to overthink the meaning and symbolism said to be inherent in the thing.

Maybe it's because my own personal version of art tends towards the simple. I wish I had the imagination of others that are able to design something from the mind's twistings, but I tend to be more inspired and more interested in the real that surrounds me. And so, I go in for "art."

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Music is my sanity.

I was once asked by a friend (not always the most tactful or well-thought friend) why I like music so much. It's not as if I play an instrument, he remarked. I hadn't realized he was such a musical snob.

I love it because of it's ability to fade into the background as my own soundtrack, or it's ability to bring me directly into the emotion of a moment. The desire it can create in me for spontaneous eruption of song or dance. The energizing, or the equally calming, effect it can have.

And I love the accessibility of it to so many. And that it takes no membership card to do so. Apparently my point of view and my friends don't quite sync up.

It is this love of music that drives me to share it with people. For a friends birthday, I gave him music. But I had such a hard time choosing, I ended up giving him 11 CDs worth. When I get asked to DJ, always I end up trying to narrow down fifty or sixty songs to a mere twenty or twenty-five. My passion runs a little too deep maybe.