We couldn’t draw! We are not artists! How dare we start a blog about art?
Yet our process of arting gave us fresh experiences of seeing, looking and discussing. It proved we did not have to be experts to have pleasures and insights from exploring new art.
Our regular adventurous conversations helped us find our fuller selves. They enriched our friendship. They also expanded our curiosity and willingness to join in spontaneous conversations without judging ourselves or one another. As we discovered new aspects of the world around us and one another, we had fun and thrived.
Shari and Ruth have always been interested in art and learning about it. So, when the pandemic started, we decided to visit museums online and discuss what we saw. Sometimes we chose a theme such as women artists. Other times, we went on art adventures just to discover new things and see what else was out there.
Within a few years, we ran out of museums and galleries to visit, but we enjoyed our weekly discussions so much we experimented with new ways to do it. After a few false starts, we decided to create our own mini exhibits by putting together art in ways we might not find in a museum or gallery. Each week, one of us would choose three pieces of art and the other would have to match each piece in what we referred to as a mash-up to see what comparisons and contrasts emerged. Then we added poetry to expand our insights; some Ruth wrote, others we chose to add dimensions to our conversations.
You may think that coming up with such choices for Zoom conversations is difficult or not accessible to most people. We disagree. Anyone can do this. It starts with curiosity. Nothing more. Then watch how curiosity spurs or enhances a spirit of adventure and playfulness and a lack of concern about being right.
Arting As Conversation is just a willingness to go into the unknown. Using art is a risk-free way to build that spirit. We are long-time friends who do not judge one another, which frees us to be open about what we see and share personal and professional meanings. Through those conversations, we move to additional insights and have a lot of fun doing it. We open windows and even doors to see inside ourselves and the world around us.
As Shari said when we started, so much art is autobiography, obvious and not. That is both the autobiography of the artist and how our own journeys filter how we see and interpret art. So is Art as Conversation that teaches us about ourselves and our world. And it’s best done in community. Join us in enlarging and enriching this process. Share it with others. Play with it. Enjoy it. Learn about yourself and others by looking and truly seeing. Listen to yourself and one another.
And remember to be vulnerable. To be willing to be surprised. And to laugh.
Always to laugh.