Art isn't all about drawing?!

When I was about nine, my mum signed me up for art classes on Saturdays. I remember the first day, the teacher asked me, “what kind of art do you like to do?” and not knowing what to say, I had looked at my mother to answer for me. I didn’t draw or paint, which I assumed were probably the correct answers. For some reason, I will always remember her answering, “she makes art out of anything! She always seems to be creating”. I always thought that being an artist meant you had to be good at drawing.
We did all sorts of art in that class and when we got to the unit on drawing, I had wished so hard to be able to create still life sketches of fruit bowls like my teacher. My horizon lines never looked like his (I remember thinking c’mon Alexandra! It’s a line!!) and my bowls of fruit never looked like fruit. I suck at drawing and yet it has always been a skill I have wanted to possess. Today in class we were discussing how photography is like painting because you are drawing and creating with your eyes, your body and your mind.
I still have so much to learn when it comes to photography, so maybe I can’t call myself a real painter yet. But I do know that this art form produces a  fluttering feeling in my tummy which I always imagine as passion just brewing down there, passion that I want to share with lots of people. I think I sum up this passion best in my grade 12 artist statement which inspired this post:

What continues to fascinate me about photography is its ability to make anything look beautiful; I have fallen in love with the way it can, with the accidental click of the shutter, capture an awkward moment and make it look beautifully faultless. I am passionate about traditional black and white photography because of the way it captures moments in true and unaltered honesty. Its beauty enables us to look past the flaws of a subject, things we so often get preoccupied with, and instead see the beauty these imperfections so often hold. It is these imperfections that I thrive on when photographing- the abnormal curl of a tree branch, the crinkly lines of an old person’s face or the moles on a body. Photography has allowed me to re-define beauty, to observe these flaws as works of art. It was this re-definition of beauty that caused me to develop a passion for portraiture. Photography has allowed me to grow both as a person and as an artist. It has taught me to slow down amidst the bustle of everyday life we all experience, for I do not want to miss any of the tiny details this world has to offer, the ones that so often get left unnoticed. There is something new everyday that catches my eye and makes me realize all the feelings, shades and details the world has to offer us. Photography gives those who are too busy to stop for a moment and appreciate them, the opportunity to see what a work of art this world really is.

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Some images that inspired me today:

                                                     David Hilliard, Rising, 1998

Miyako Ishiuchi 1906 To the Skin, 1993