Art Surrounds Us... Do We See It?

I have become a huge fan of using recycled paper in my art. I find this amusing since I am the owner of enough background paper to wallpaper my whole house. There is something satisfying and challenging about using those pieces of paper sitting around on my desk. These days I see mailing envelopes and packaging in a whole new light.

I recently received a gift from Mo and Wee Man, my friends from Scotland. Their gift to me was mailed from Amazon. As I looked at that orange envelope with the one sided smiley face, I thought about the artist who spent time and energy developing just the right gift logo for Amazon.

That reminded me of Al, my brother-in-law. Al was an artist. He did wonderful metal sculptures and great wild life paintings. He also designed wrapping paper and packaging for toys. I remember my sister taking me to the toy department of a store to show me one of his package designs. My brother-in-law died in the late 1990s. I really miss him. I started art journaling a few years ago. I've reached for the phone many times to ask him questions since I did that first page. I also realize that I didn't really appreciate his work as much as I could have. I thought it was pretty and that he was talented but I didn't understand the feeling that went behind the process of creating art until recently. I have a great respect for him these days. It must have been very challenging to have to create a package design for a client. I create what I want because it calls to me. I would think it would much more difficult to create for someone else. I really miss you, Al.

I am finding that I view things with new eyes. We are surrounded by other people's art constantly and we may not even realize it. For many years I've thought of art as pictures hanging on walls or sculpture displayed on a shelf. My new sight is helping me see that the fabric on my co-worker's shirt, the decorative napkin at dinner, the wrapping paper on a gift, the design on chair fabric, to say nothing of the hundreds of ads we see, are all forms of art. 

As a collage and recycle artist, I often use bits and pieces of ads, paper napkins, background paper and envelopes that arrive in my mail. I don't know who designed the half smile logo for Amazon or the paper napkin I might use in my next project... so I would like to say thank you to all of the artists out there who work so hard to give us beauty each day.

If you would like to see the rest of the piece the above photo was taken from, please my other blog Art Journal Feel.