Your piece stirs up the reader’s own thinking and emotion, and clearly, you’ve put thought and soul into what you say, so I’d have to say that by your definition, it is art, also!

I think you’ve raised the right questions.

My own take:

Because each of us responds differently, one person’s emotional response may qualify a piece as “art”, while another, who is totally indifferent may provide a different definition. On the whole, I think time will tell what is art and what is not—that which is widely responded to with interest and valuation will ultimately become a part of a “canon” which is called “Art”. All artistic efforts may be attempts to find a place in some sort of canon—from a friend’s wall to an aficionado’s collection, a museum’s collection, a mega-bucks art auction, or an entry in an art history textbook! Or even one’s own “body of work”. One individual’s sensibility may or may not define a work as “art”, but a larger community of sensibility probably does—whether “I” like it or not!

Critics who write for publication are another matter, and theirs (it seems to me) is often an attempt to set the standard for what other people’s sensibility “ought” to be. Those who accept the critic’s opinion (sensibility plus classification-ability) as authoritative may dismiss their own emotional response and accept the judgment of authority instead. (Not, in my opinion, what real art is about, but there it is.) Those who can say,” I don’t know if it is ‘art’ or not, but I know what I like,” (and don’t like) may be a more authentic audience. But beyond intellectually accepting authority and ignoring one’s own feeling response, and beyond a mere “liking” or “disliking,” I believe it is possible to grow in sophistication of sensibility as well as intellect, and art appreciation can be “learned”. The sensibility must be stimulated to appreciate the full spectrum of artistic endeavor—intellectual “appreciation” alone is not sufficient. Therefore, in my opinion, categorizing an effort and dismissing it out of hand (as in “Photography isn’t Art”) is evidence of stunted development in art appreciation.

Pat

You’re the second person to suggest black walnut today. I will have to wait until this summer for that one.

I’ve been thinking about poke berry. They have a nice, deep purple stain that doesn’t last long at all. In dyer’s terms it is a “renegade dye.” It should be very quick to make a print. Question is, will the print still be there in a week? Stay tuned and find out!

Today I made test sheets of cranberry skins, blueberry skins, holly berry and red bell pepper. I tried skinning the holly by blanching and turned a sickly orange-brown in the pan. I may try pulping them whole next time, but I’m done for today. Red bell pepper made a very nice, even coat of bright orange. Cranberry made a messy, muddy purple when it touched the paper. Some sort of reaction because the pulp in the bowl didn’t change color. I tried 4 kinds of paper and got the same reaction each time. The blueberry, by contrast, turned brown on paper and in the bowl in about an hour.

Yesterday’s batch of tests is still all the same colors they were when I first brushed them on. I’m waiting another two days to try printing to make sure they are really, really dry.

And, of course, there’s always black walnut next year, and poke berries.

Have fun!

Lynn