The artist in us all

I spent many hours this week viewing art books in my attempt to explore the variations in interpretation of the visual. Think about art, and not just visual art, but music, writing, crafts, and more. Think about Picasso vs DaVinci. Think about Elvis Presley and his rendition of ‘Hound Dog,’ not the first artist, but the one most remembered. The first artist was Willie Mae Thornton with a rhythm and blues hit. Elvis was the rock hit artist remembered to today. Think about all the great books and later interpretations of their material.

What am I getting at, you may wonder? The material for any aspect of art is all around us. In writing, authors often use material that has been written about for centuries, but how it is used; how the interpretation of the material hits the reader. Art in any form is there to be appreciated. There are over 7.7 billion potential readers, listeners, and viewers in the world. They don’t read if they are not interested, for whatever reason, in that writer, style, or subject. They don’t view the vision/art/production if they are not interested, for whatever reason, in that artist, style, or subject. They don’t listen if they are not interested, for whatever reason, in listening to that music, style, artist, or lyrics.

The audience is interested in the particular form of art or the audience would not be there. The artist must seek the audience, because artists must express. Perhaps we are all in this together.

K. B. Pellegrino