The Practicality of Art

Art. To what purpose does it serve? 

You can Google that very Question and receive 169,000,000 results and if a person was to ask another person that very question, To what purpose does art serve?, there would be more answers than a person might care to count.
Art should cause a person to think, to relax, to feel affirmed, to appreciate beauty, to pause and ponder, to encourage, to appreciate the sheer talent and vision of another. I'm sure you can add your own description of what art does. 
And I would love to hear your thoughts!

With the re-evaluation of Life has come the re-evaluation of my art. To what purpose does my art serve. 
In the beginning, I wanted my art to bring a smile to a face, to make the audience feel like they had met an old friend. I enjoyed creating small folk-artish figures and other tokens of realms unseen by the mortal eye. And while I still want that, I have found myself questioning the actual items I was creating. 

As I clear the clutter, I look at things with a new eye. I have come to realize that so much of what I have made was 'dust collectors'. Items that were fun, that brought a smiles to faces. But they were small bits and bobs that could somehow make themselves at home with the dustbunnies and cobwebs. Was my art collecting dust? Does it sit on a shelf visiting with its neighbor whilst the vestiges of time marched on?

With a more purposeful LIFE, I have felt a need to make more purposeful creations. So, I have begun to delve into something I have always wanted to try. Concrete. My interest began decades ago whilst lusting after garden ornamentation. I gathered books and read.  A few times in those many years, I had tried my hand at some aspect of the craft but without a bit of guidance, I became frustrated and didn't delve much further. 
Until recently. It began last autumn when I made sculpts of leaves for a local decorative concrete guy. This then led me to being taught the art of mold making and the art of decorative concrete work.

My main focus is Faux Bois. Here are two benches which I recently made. My very first two faux bois benches. They were fun. And even though these are a bit primitive, an artist needs to start somewhere.  While the guy I work with has no experience at Faux Bois, he does know his concrete and that is what I need to learn.
Concrete is going to fulfill that need I feel in my art - to be creative but yet functional. I foresee a lot more work in my future.

Wire Worx

The Art of Derek Kinzett

Babes In the Woods

A new type of daycare has opened in the heart of London - an outdoor nursery located within Highgate Wood. At Into the Woods Outdoor Nursery, the children spend most days outside enjoying fresh air, imagination and a unique education. 

The benefits of outdoor play have a positive impact on children's lives - 

1. There is a certain freedom in outdoor areas. Children playing and learning in an outdoor environment are more active, more motivated, and have a more motivated attitude towards learning. 

2. Children are less inhibited outside. They are more willing to join in discussions and play and come out of their shells.

3. The Out-of-doors is the perfect learning environment. It lets children utilize all four of the means by which they learn - movement, play, talk and sensory exploration.

4. The outdoors allows children to receive the physical exercise which is so crucial to healthy bodies and minds!

The daycare is for children between the ages of 2 1/2 and 5. They spend the majority of their time outside, even in inclement weather! The only time the children will be inside is if there is high wind or extreme cold. 

I saw first-hand how outdoor classrooms assist children in learning. When we lived in Arkansas, we lived next door to a small country school. The school owned 10 acres which they utilized as an outdoor teaching aid. All teachers - math, history, science, english - would bring their students outside to experience Nature. The teachers all said how the kids retained the knowledge learned while outdoors and the lessons taught indoors would sometimes go in one ear and out the other side.

I wish more schools would follow the lead of the Into the Woods School.