Does Art have to be conscious? 
This is actually a serious question. I have always said that some gardeners can be artists, some builders are artists, a zooped up old car can be art, my bedroom table can be art, a perfect line of shiny mens shoes in the wardrobe can be art. Is a perfectly mown lawn, a sculptured tree, a patchwork quilt, a beautiful ball gown, or a perfect suit – art? A worn out frayed holey farmers coat on a hook, left there for years because it looks like a story. Or does it only become art when it is captured and rendered and framed for display?
I grew up with artists. I know some wonderful painters. I long to hang the photography of some of my stunning blog friends. My most difficult but compelling boyfriend was an artist. I worked for artists when I was modelling. I work with animators and film makers and writers and designers. And they are driven and true and Art is their lives. On many social media platforms I see paintings and drawings and sculpture displayed for comment. These are accepted forms of art because they are considered and there is struggle and decisions are made and talent combined with skill is needed then they display them as Art. Many of you get up in the morning have their coffee and walk into your studios to work for the day. You produce art.
But what if you create a stunning vegetable garden. If you hang your laundry on the clothesline so it catches the wind and the colours and pegs are balanced and true. I am wondering if when a child makes a snowman, or I doodle a huge flower in the sand and watch the waves wash it away, or I plate a meal with flair, or you produce a perfect loaf of bread and we all sigh when we see it – is that art. It is transient, almost accidental. But art? And by those terms – are you an artist.
Many of you are Real artists, trained artists. Maybe I need a new word for what I am describing. Maybe that is the real question. 
But can you be an artist without struggle, and practice and training? Can seven stones lazily balanced on top of each other on the side of a desert road, while waiting for someone else to pee behind a cactus, be an Installation? Is art only art if it is captured and presented as art? 
You remember Picasso and his toilet. It was only a toilet until he took it into a gallery – then it was art. But was it art before he found it and put it on a pedestal for inspection?
But he was an artist and the toilet was designed by somebody.
If you are not thinking to yourself “I am an ARTIST”. Then are we Life-ists? 
I do not consider the work I produce here as art – it is documentation – pretty record keeping. But sometimes I can capture other art. Life’s Art.
And on another subject why can I never find a hammer when I need one. 
I will tell you why. Because I leave them in really strange places. Then totally forget where the strange place was. My memory is definitely not a work of art.
Anyway – back to work. I finished the new electric fence for the middle sized pigs yesterday. This area is part of Daisy’s paddock and runs parallel with the drive and will be this summers new vegetable garden. The pigs will hopefully spend the winter rooting up every single plant in there. Pigs do much of their rooting in the autumn and winter, in the summer months they tend more to grazing the grass. In winter the protein levels are so low, or nonexistent, in the grass above the ground that they are compelled to dig up the roots and eat those instead.
This is a useful skill, when properly managed, and their task for now is to clear this plot, then I will have fewer weeds to deal with when I create the garden. Well, that is the plan anyway. I am fairly sure that once they realise they can Do a Poppy and slide under the non electric fence side we will have an escape on our hands. But until they notice the flaw in my plan they will do good work.
Or maybe they have packed a lunch and are already on their way down the drive! TonTon is hot pursuit no doubt.
The high for today is 34f/1c. Not too warm and very windy. Glad I got that fence finished yesterday.
I hope you have a lovely day.
Love celi
The Kitchen's Garden 
88 responses to “Is that art?”
I find your habit of using yesterday’s photos with today’s thoughts very artistic. I mean, what could be funnier and more thought provoking and strangely beautiful than you talking about intentionality and art as the pigs run around seeming to dig and root and “construct” with great purpose. Pig Art. It works for me.
I never thought about it that way. Yesterdays photos with todays thoughts! Lucky you are all clever enough to keep up with such a split from convention. Pig Art!
They say that you have to learn the rules in order to break them. In Art Schools these days one is supposed to go through a thought process including sketches before producing a finished piece of work. Then there should follow a written critical evaluation 🙂
Yes. I have worked in a few art schools and this is something that always bothered me – the written critique. Not bothered exactly but made me wonder. Unless the discussion was about the actual execution of an idea or the technique. I loved to collect people exploratory sketches – often these were my favourite works.
The marking is done based on the evaluation. It’s easier than marking a piece of art and explains what the artist was thinking. However, as art is also emotional, it’s very hard to qualify that part. As an exasperated ex lecturer, these days it’s hard to get them to make sketches, do any work or write an evaluation! Most come in late, check their FaceBook and then ask to go home early. That’s why I quit. When I was at art school we were all very excited about what we were doing and it was an incredible 3 years that I would go back and do again in a heart beat. Several of my fellow alumni have expressed the same sentiments.
Do you remember Federico? he lectured in Architecture in BA, Argentina and said exactly the same thing – that’s interesting and sad – really sad. c
It’s very sad and hard to understand, but I’ve taught at St. Martins (as a guest lecturer), which is very hard to get in to and the standard and work ethic is much higher – phew!
…and I think the lack of enthusiasm/work ethic is down to being wrapped up in cotton wool at school. They don’t get to think for themselves.
Couldn’t agree more. One of my step daughters teaches elementary school kids, 5th & 6th grades. Then consensus among her fellow teachers is the the kids have no ‘grit’. For the most part they’ve never had to suffer the reactions of their actions and push through something unpleasant.
It obviously depends on how you define art but I tend to think that it has to be a product of consideration, skill and practice. That’s not to say that a non artist could not produce something of beauty randomly or carelessly executed. But art by its nature is something contrived isn’t it? It’s not natural. A thing of beauty does not have to “qualify” as art to claim its place in the world of nature or otherwise. What an intriguing subject. I don’t normally comment but do read regularly and do so enjoy your documentation of farm life. M from Sydney
Hi M, welcome to The Lounge and thank you for adding your comment! And very good additions to the discussion too! c
I have a broad view of art. I see it everywhere… it’s beautiful and it can be ugly. It is often misunderstood. And many times it goes unseen. One of my favorite blog posts was, “The Artistry of Ice in a Bucket”. Art is a big part of my everyday life, but I couldn’t say that when I was young and too busy to notice.
You are an art form yourself I think – a nympth in the woods
Aw, thank you!
I love this post. My daughter in law is a trained artist, but she is not the only artist (I like your term Lifest) in our clan. I love the peeks into your past that you share through your writing. Our high today was in the wee early hours. It is on a downward spiral with wind today. The overnight rain has ended.
I hate days when it starts at the High then dwindles down from there – hope you can stay indoors for some of it – c
Perhaps art is not so much what we make or do. We all make and do things. Is art something in the eye of the beholder? As is beauty. A hammer on a fence rail is a good example. When you put it there, it was likely a mindless act during another task. When I see it in this photo, it has qualities very different to me.
Maybe this is art, when we relook at something, frame it whether with out eyes or camera or brush.. it really is a discussion of semantics but an interesting one. c
I think you have to be an artist to see the art, but you don’t have to be an artist to create it, but then that leaves a lot of things undiscovered. You definitely capture life which to me looks like art, but then I’m not an artist so….
I’m going to have a cup of tea, my head hurts 🙂
Have the cup of tea looking at The Door. Because it was out chat about your door yesterday that sent me down this wave of thought.
I see art in many different things.
A perfectly cooked poached egg, a roast chicken, a delicious creamy cheese. Art is everywhere around us all the time. We must just open our eyes and look.
I LOVE the look of a perfectly poached egg.. c
It’s great that the pigs are helping you with the new gardens! The tough part here is that after our pigs turn over the soil, and eat all the roots, we must pick up the stones and ferry them away in wheelbarrows….and there are many big ones, as we are in the mountains. Then with a hoe and rake, try to smooth back over the land before replanting it in pasture grasses. And of course this is after we use electric fences to cut off the areas to be replanted. But then again, nobody said farming was easy!!! 🙂
NObody said farming was easy in Missouri either. Do you build rock walls with the rocks? Or mini mountains for the goats to climb on?
No, the pig walls must be electric fences, which, fortunately, are fairly easy to put up, take down and move around. The rocks in the goat year I am chucking into a big pile until I decide what to do with them. Rock walls….. a great option! 🙂
Artists have an eye for art. They recognize and therefore can create the artistic. But I don’t believe the have a corner on the market. Those stacked stones you mentioned– art. Lined up men’s shoes–art. Whatever its source, if we see the beauty in it then it is art.
Great words Mac. Thank you for chiming in. c
Nature itself is an arthouse. Whatever is the result of the creativity of an open mind is art of some sorts. It might not be recognizable by others, but this doesn’t matter. Beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder, the saying goes (I think) ;-). An artist foremost needs to please him/herself, not others. Whatever he considers of his output is art, is art.
Also the street – as is proven in your street photography. You are so right about pleasing yourself – i went in for wedding photography for a while – pleasing families full of strangers sure took the fun out of photography! c
O yes, its art.. baking a good loaf of bread, plating food to present it, looking at gardens, plants and how you plant it.. so very much art.. its all in the eye and in the feelings it gives.. the other day, I was leaning on my horse, just leaning.. enjoying that together moment and it was damp, and I looked at the flank and realized that I could “see” tall waving flowers in his hair and coat.. I had to get just the right angle, just the right lighting and cropped and printed.. everyone would think its a sand drawing or a impression artwork of flowers..
I remember the first time I did tiny micro photos of different things after I meet my hubby an then I would print them off and use them as the base to make amazing watercolor paintings.. so if you want to give it a different word, I am good with that.. but my vote.. o yes.. its art!
So art for you is when you create a piece of art from something you see. This is good! Thank you for adding your voice. c
The definition of art is the expression or application of human creative skill and imagination, typically in a visual form such as painting or sculpture, producing works to be appreciated primarily for their beauty or emotional power. Although it is typically in the form of painting or sculpture, art can be any expression of creativity. Therefore, I would say the farmy is full of art.
Lili loves art in the form of drawing and painting. I recently posted a picture of a painting she did in her art class. If you get a chance, go take a look at it here https://worldofweeks.com/2017/01/23/needed-update/. It’s the last picture on the post.
Naomi also loves art, but her creativity is in the form of acting. Another art form I know you love. And by the way, she got her next script. She is Thing 1 in her acting’s class short version of Seussical.
Lovely to catch up on what your artistic children are doing. c
Okay – good ole’ dictionary: Art – the expression or application of human creative skill and imagination, typically in a visual form such as painting or sculpture, producing works to be appreciated primarily for their beauty or emotional power.
I think ART is what you appreciate or find beauty in. And Art for you maybe not be for me. I go to the modern museum often here in Fort Worth. It is a beautiful building – which the building is Art on its own. Some of the “Art” looks like finger painting to me – is it ART – well yes – I’m just not a person who appreciates it I guess. But I do love anything by Andy Warhol. Is a cartoon, say Peanuts, art? It was hand drawn by a true artist. In my eye – YES it is. And I really do appreciate some of the great hand drawn cartoons like Peanuts, Mutts and all the early Disney.
I think we are all artists because we all seek to create something.
True that appreciating a certain type of art is very personal. Your last sentence is great! c
I am a trained artist and an environmental designer, but I know so many people with that spark of aesthetics that I consider them artists as well. I believe it has to do with the ability to actually be in present time and see that fine wavelength of aesthetics in things, which is the eye of the artist. Then the trick is to bring what we see out into the world so others can see what we see. Then the product of that is art. But to be an artist only requires seeing! Celi, you are an artist my friend, with the heart and talent of a poet. I see it in every post. It’s a matter of art media or art form. For me life is my media, my art form. And I see that in you too. Just because there are other things in that life form, like mucking out the stalls, or digging in the dirt (which can also be an aesthetic experience) it’s all part of the reality.
My grandmother passed on some wise word to me once in one of her gentler moment she said “all women should put their hands into the soil every day. even just to pull a weed, every day feel the soil”.