What's your favorite spice if I may ask? I have a feeling that you may be thinking of which to mention, the likes of Curry, Kitchen Glory, Spicity, Thyme and whatever cooking spice you like so much... Lol, I bet I'm speaking the minds of the great cooks who know their way around great spices but...? Take a chill pill! Oh yeah. Gulp it down with a glass of water.
I'm not in anyway referring to our cooking spices. ‘Then what is she talking about?’ I can imagine this is the question running through your minds right now. Sit back and relax, we're about to unravel the mystery.
What exactly is called a spice? I'll define spice in my own words as something that attracts, adds beauty, something that makes something complete. Yes, it could be a bit of chicken flavour to give your food a great aroma or an extra idea that gives your business a better outlook, and in this piece of writing I want to draw our attention to the unique spice called ART
It's quite sad that a lot of people do not really understand what ART really entails neither do they appreciate works of art. Some people even question the necessity of arts.
First, art is all about creativity! Art is the barometer that measures levels of cultural sophistication. Art is the conscious production or arrangement of sounds, colours, forms, movements and other elements in a manner that spawns beauty.
Art makes life more tolerable and enjoyable.
There are lots of things that people do not think have any link to art but taking a keen look into these things we figure out that art plays a vital role in their productions.
Take few minutes and think deeply about the iPhone, flashy and sophisticated cars of different models,Versace furnitures, military uniforms, Magazine covers and lots more. Now take out the elements founded in creativity , art and design, and all that remains are piles of materials that require human imagination and visual thinking.
I once read an article on Wikipedia about Art and it said “Arts are vehicles through which human beings cultivate distinct social, cultural and individual identities, while transmitting values, impressions, judgements, ideas, visions, spiritual meanings, patterns of life and experiences across time and space” wow!!!! This is deep.
The term Art encompasses diverse forms.
The Visual Arts
Image source
The visual arts comprises of painting, sculpture, architecture, drawings, print making, photography etc.
Literature Arts
Literature arts examples are poetry, drama, story etc.
Performing Arts
Performing arts includes music, theatre, opera mime and other art forms which human performance is the principal produce.
Can you imagine a world without art? It will be horrible!
It is an indisputable fact that earth has many beautiful wonders and nature has produced some stunning work, but there's something about the individuality of humans and our creative minds.
To clear the doubts still lingering in the minds of many as to if art is really important or not, here are some solid reasons why art is important to our world.
=> IT'S A MEANS OF COMMUNICATION
It is said that a picture is worth a thousand words and I couldn't agree more.
Art, whether a painting, sculpture, dance routine or your favorite song speaks a language of it's own. A language that anyone from anywhere can understand and be inspired by. Art is able to say things that words sometimes can't.
This pencil art above portrays a person who to the world puts up the impression that he/she is fine but within he/she facing a thousand challenges and crying silently for help.
Often times, we are like this too. We find ourselves in situations which are very overwhelming and in our minds we're screaming for help but that's just how far we can go. Our minds are screaming for help but our lips are saying the opposite. Maybe sometimes we're not just bold enough to share, or it's because we feel we will be judged by people if we share our concerns.
Reminds of the scripture when Jesus said "the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak" (lol).
Art is so unique such that it can illustrate this and we just understand it.
=> IT'S VITAL TO HUMAN DEVELOPMENT
Art is important because creativity is the foundation of a child's education. It plays a great role in developing a child's motor skills, eye and hand coordination and has a large impact on children's social and emotional growth.
It equally enhances their cognitive development which can have a positive effect on math skills and other related subjects.
=> ART EVOKES EMOTIONS FROM PEOPLE
Art is one of the powerful forces I know. It has the ability to move people and perhaps an entire nation.
Think of films or songs that has gone viral and created awareness or inspired you to do something great too (feel free to share with others in the comments section).
Let's review the movie Titanic for instance... A tragic romance story of Rose and Jack who met in a ship, fell in love, risked so many things to be together and after everything tragedy strucked! The ship hit' an ice badly, creating huge cracks and water went flooding in everywhere...
Image source
Pencil sketch of Jack and Rose
Long story cut short, Jack died after fighting so hard to escape from the ship into the sea and only Rose survived. Rose, after risking everything, from the loss of connection with her family due to her refusal to marry the rich and educated suitor her mum wanted to loosing Jack, the love of her life just when the struggle was almost over-such tragedy!
Above is the pencil art of Rose looking dejectedly at an almost dying Jack😭💔 I wept for days after seeing this movie.
I did not only cry, the movie inspired me to pray desperately that I'll never risk everything for one important purpose and end up loosing it all.
That is the power of art!
Also, there are qualities we all possess that we must have learnt from a movie or a song. I for one was inspired to love myself after listening to Tatiana Manaois song titled Yesterday Everyday Always and this has been one of my favorite songs since then.
There are couples of intriguing gospel songs that has inspired me to trust God even in the midst of great tribulation too, not to mention great books written by amazing authors which has helped improve my well-being too.
Isn't it just great?
=> ART IS THERAPEUTIC
No one would disagree that art is a great way to calm ourselves and decrease stress levels. The therapeutic effects of art are so profound that it's also used in more serious cases by professionals to help people deal with mental illness and other emotional challenges.
I can remember vividly a Mexican movie I had watched 5 years ago with the title For Love And Justice. In the movie a little girl named Roxana was traumatized after she saw her aunt Liliana shoot someone dead. She couldn't talk to anyone for fear of being killed by her aunt too. A therapist was assigned to her to help her recover and get her to talk and while she couldn't speak, she drew and painted the scene of her aunt's violence in a drawing book. Overtime the therapist began to make meaning of what the picture said and gradually Roxana was able to speak again and later recovered totally.
This is exactly how it is in reality. Art helps people heal in diverse ways.
In conclusion, we can all see and agree that art is very essential to humans and our planet as well and should be supported and appreciated in everywhere possible as the world would be boring without creativity.
So make out time in your busy schedule to be creative and enjoy it.
And next time you hear anyone say ‘oh please! What's good about art anyways?’ do well to tell him or her that art is a natural human behaviour, it increases creativity, it creates vibrant scene in communities for tourists, it makes drab places look amazing and most importantly it's more than a spice!
Please your corrections and contributions are very much welcomed. I'm looking forward to reading your comments on your favorite form of art. Thank you in advance to all who'll take their time to read this.
Your's Truly
Wonder Girl D♥️
Passionate Educationist🌹