What is art?

Language is an amazing thing. That we are able to communicate with each other, that we struggle to use sounds and marks on paper and computer screen to express feelings, emotions, and ideas is miraculous. And yet, it seems that some words fall short of achieving a universal understanding. I think that “art” is among those words that mean different things to different people.

So, here’s my own working definition of “art,” subject to change pending further growth:

Art is a means of expression by which we externalize feelings, thoughts, and visions concerning our experience of life, the world around us, our internal world, and imagined worlds. It is also a way for the divine to enter into the world.

At our best as artists we are working in a collaborative relationship with the creative force, inviting and allowing the energy to flow through us. We are participating in incarnation.

The concept of “creative force” differs across individuals, cultures, and belief systems. Call it God, higher power, universe, nature, Qi, or good vibrations. It’s the force at work in the universe that is moving all things in the direction of what is good.