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Art comforts when the world gets turned upside down.  So, what art is comforting and how can art calm and soothe you?  The answers vary with the beholder.  Art has always offered succor.  Yet, comfort is a two-sided coin and an issue that some artists feel ambivalent about.

We live in a society of extreme comfort and excess and to live comfortably means to have too much stuff.  In deciding how art comforts us, there are some viewers who are heartened by attractive abstract paintings or lyrical representations.  Still for some beauty and spiritual relief are obviously important choices.  It has been argued by scholars for the past decade that beauty is an admirable, genuine quality found in cultural artifacts both high and low from Raphael to graffiti.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.  If a person doesn’t like Grandma Moses, well the rhythms of farm life will not give them comfort.  Norman Rockwell has been accepted by the general public for his representational style art.  After September 11, Rockwell’s art began to be looked at in terms of his visuals having patriotic American values.  His paintings are filled with patterns and detail and cramped spaces and it is his compositions that make his art interesting to look at.  Matisse said he wanted art to be like a comfortable armchair and looking at Norman Rockwell’s paintings one feels a little that way.

Mark your calendar for an art exhibit to view different kinds of art that comfort us.  The public is invited to in the Santa Clarita Artists’ Association 18th Art Classic to be held on Saturday, October from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the COC Art Gallery located at 26455 Rockwell Canyon Road.  Come and celebrate this annual event and enjoy an evening of art and entertainment.  Complimentary wine and hors d’oeuvres will be served.  Live and silent art auctions plus award-winning artwork for sale.  Members of the SCAA will be exhibiting their artwork of different mediums, including sculpture.  A time to see what kind of art you choose comforts you.

For more information contact Jaylene Armstrong, retired art educator and Santa Clarita Artists’ Association Member, at 661-255-3050.

Santa Clarita Magazine

Santa Clarita Magazine