We could also subtitle this one “Learning my craft”. As I pursue the topic of Fine Art Tuesday, I find myself learning more and more about the many schools and variations of art.
Today, I learned that there is “fine art” and “decorative art”. It would seem that Leonid Afremov falls into the category of decorative rather than fine art. I had no idea, but it’s interesting to know.
As I said when I started this, I really don’t know much about art other than I like what I like. I suspect that many artsy folk would say my tastes are “pedestrian”. That’s fine, I like the Three Stooges, too.
I am, however, learning. We saved a textbook from one of Mrs. Freeholder’s overly-numerous degree programs, which I’m unable to lay hands on at the moment. I’m sure it’s on a bookshelf somewhere. I remember that I kept it because it was, per the Whole Earth Catalog, supposed to be one of the best introductions to art and art theory. I guess I need to find it and get started reading. Beware of a Sunday Reading post in the future.
I suppose, even though this series of posts are a tribute to our brother Ol’ Remus, it is both proper and inevitable that I will make the subject my own. I expect that he would smile at this realization of mine.
In the meantime, I want to leave you with an artist and one of his works that I discovered while researching the subject of art.
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| Forest Reflection, Andrew Michaels |
Andrew Michaels seems to be in the decorative art category. Michaels was a British artist, born in 1928 and died in 1995. He studied at the Norwich School of Art and the Slade School of Fine Art in London.
In his career, he was associated with the School of London. In his later life, he worked on 4 different landscape series and a series of “luminous fish in water”.
And I hope I’m not making a fool of myself with this Andrew Michaels. I can’t find a definitive list of his works, and this landscape doesn’t really square with many of the galleries of his work I’ve found. I’m not sure that there aren’t two Andrew Michaels floating around on the Internet art sites.
Whether I have or not, I’m going to continue stretching the boundaries of “fine art” per my own likes. I may even be motivated at some point to paint some happy trees of my own. Wouldn’t that be a hell of a thing. 🙂
Note: Fine Art Tuesday was started by Eaton Rapids Joe in memory of Ol’ Remus, late proprietor of the Woodpile Report. If you’re a blogger and are so moved, please feel free to join us with your own Fine Art Tuesday post.
I agree that every thinking person looks at art differently. Some are fascinated with the methods and materials used by the artists. Others are interested in the biographies of the artists. Some like viewing pictures as a panoramic sweep of history. I like sifting out information about the every-day "technology" that the artists captured in the images.
There is nothing "right" or "wrong" about any of these viewpoints.