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The Art Spirit

My students are having a fit that I am forcing art history down their young throats, but one day they will thank me for teaching them that art is the outgrowth of the lives people live, from earliest cavemen forward.I hope that they will also carry with them my attitude toward art, which can be summed up in the following by the famous art instructor and painter, Robert Henri, from the book The Art Spirit...

When the artist is alive in any person... he becomes an inventive, searching, daring, self-expressing creature. He becomes interesting to other people. He disturbs, upsets, enlightens, and he opens ways for better understanding. Where those before him have closed the book, he opens the book and discovers more pages possible.

With just three days to go with students and two more years to retirement, I am finding that the impression I make on these young minds is more important to me.

Art, like life, is an attitude. If you just do what you must, life can be oh so boring. But put before yourself challenges of your own making and it becomes an adventure worth living. I admit though that the choices run through my head and I now ask myself which ones I think God would want for me...part of the wisdom that comes with age and the feeling that there are fewer years ahead to screw up!

Have a great weekend. Chat at the end of next week when I move from one lifestyle to the other.

Marilyn

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