"I don't know much about art, but I know what I like".
This cliché is an expression that has been said in many ways by many people.
Knowing what you like is a good thing...
being unknowledgeable is not.
I want to make the case for educating yourself about art in order to better enjoy it.
I'll start with an experience I had while in a painting workshop taught by Donna Watson.
Donna is an accomplished painter who started her career painting scenes of clapboard houses and the lovely azalea bushes of her Northwestern town near Seattle.
She changed her direction to one of nonobjective abstracts that may include a small animal skull or birds nest as part of its mixed media ingredients.
She is a knowledgeable artist and her goal in the workshop was to make us more knowledgeable artists.
One of the exercises she put us through underscored that goal.
Donna grouped us around a projector and told us that we were to imagine that we were judges for a local art show and would be deciding which paintings submitted by artists would be included in the show and which ones would be "juried out".
(This is a process used in most local and all regional and national shows to insure that the quality of the show is substantial.
) Donna would project a slide of a piece of artwork and we would vote by a hand raised if we thought this piece should be included.
After the voting, we had a short discussion during which those who voted the piece in would express their reasons for including the work and those who voted it out would explain why they thought it should be excluded.
Every piece had its supporters and naysayers, often split 50-50.
Then the last slide was shown.
It was a rather mundane painting of an art studio sink.
Every hand went up.
For the first time we were unanimous in our approval of the piece.
That slide was a "ringer".
Donna had inserted among all of the amateur pieces, a little known painting of a world renowned abstract expressionist, Richard Diebenkorn.
None of us recognized the work.
We had no idea that it was by a famous artist, but we all saw the value of the piece.
What was it about this painting that made it stand out from the rest? Why did we all vote it in? The group of people "judging" were all amateur artists.
We work at creating art.
We look at a lot of art.
We study art.
We have developed a palette for recognizing excellence in art.
We approached this exercise with at least some education about art and our education gave us some common ground on which to judge.
Allow me to make a comparison from another creative endeavor, winemaking.
I live in wine country.
A typical weekend pastime for my husband and I and friends is to visit wineries for tastings.
At the wineries, we often receive instruction on what to look for in the wine, how to smell it and taste it, and how to enjoy it.
We also drink wine often; all kinds of wine, from "two buck Chuck" to some fairly pricey brands.
Without even being aware of what we are doing, we are educating ourselves about wine.
I don't think of myself as a wine connoisseur; my limited sense of smell probably precludes that avocation, but I had an experience that let me know what I had gained from my wine tasting experiences.
I opened a bottle that had been a house gift, poured a glass, and took a sip as I was preparing dinner.
To my surprise, I could taste the oak of the barrel, cherries, and a touch of pear just like the wine pourers often say.
The wine sang to me.
I totally enjoyed it.
This is what can happen when you look at abstract paintings after you take the time to educate yourself about art.
Knowing what goes into a great painting can make that painting sing to you.
You will be able to say, "I know something about art, and I know why I know what I like.
" My next article will begin exploring the necessary ingredients that go into creating a great abstract painting.