A Two Penny Post

Today’s Art quote is credited to Wilson (“Bill”) Mizner, who was quite the character and dilettante. Born in 1876, he was one of 8 children and spent part of his childhood in Guatemala. As an adult, he covered a lot of ground from Alaska, to New York, to Florida to California often taking advantage of the unsuspecting in his varied entrepreneurial endeavors. One might even consider him a scoundrel. However he is best known as a playwright and for his clever sayings and witticisms.
Today, Mr. Mizner is cited as having said, “It is not in life, but in art that self-fulfillment is to be found.” Immediately, I want to disagree because I find self-fulfillment in my close relationships with family and friends, and in and through living a faith-filled and faithful life. So, my experience tells me that self-fulfillment can indeed be found in the everyday living of life.
However, after reflecting on his sentiment a little longer, I have to say that creating something artistic in my shop does make me come alive inside in a way that nothing else does. Even being able to gaze at a particularly appealing work of art from another artist can cause a joy to bubble up in my soul that satisfies a longing I didn’t even know I had. So there is most definitely a special type of fulfillment that comes from both the creation and appreciation of art.
I dare say that our ability as humans to create art and to appreciate its creation by others is a distinctive human quality, much like our free will, that separates us from the other animals and connects us in a special way with the divine.
Well that’s my two cents worth. I look forward to hearing your thoughts on this subject in the comment section below.