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I don’t know art … and it shows

Write Angles
Dale Shrull
Glenwood Springs, CO Colorado
Dale Shrull
ALL |

Art is something that impacts us all ” and in different ways.

On a recent trip to Washington, D.C., I popped into the Smithsonian Art Museum and gawked at some Rembrandts , Monets, a Van Gogh and even a Da Vinci. It was amazing. From a historical perspective, seeing these centuries-old, majestic works of art is quite awe-inspiring.

I’ve never been an artist. The closest thing to art I’ve created was when I accidentally spilled house paint on my cat.



It was quite good, actually,

But for some reason, I decided I wanted to paint something.



Like a diabolic third-grader with too much paint and not enough time, I went to work.

My mom was the artist in our family. Her works still hang in homes and businesses around the area. She could paint and she could craft. She was talented.

For years, she would always get a painting or two ready for the Fall Arts Festival. I can’t remember if she ever won or not. But I don’t think she really cared. She sold a few paintings and reveled in her role as a New Castle amateur artist. She just loved seeing her work hanging at the art show. She looked forward to it year after year.

I don’t really know what prompted me to do this, maybe it was thinking about my mom and how much she loved to paint, but whatever the reason, I decided to put paint to canvas and enter a piece of work into the Fall Arts Festival.

What I love about art is there are no rules. Except for those pesky paint by number canvases, the artist is in total control of the creative process. The colors, the strokes, the concepts, the creation is completely in the hands of the artist.

Two sayings that I’ve always liked are ” beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and I don’t know art but I know what I like.

Art is always open for interpretation. One person’s masterpiece could be another’s hideous eyesore.

Looking at my creation, I’m not sure if I should laugh or cry. I do think that it could frighten a small child into crying.

Looking at it I can’t decide if I should be proud or embarrassed. Looking back, I’m not sure what I was hoping to accomplish exactly. But I wanted to create a piece of art, and that I did.

With any art show that has the range of artists from professional to raw beginners (that’s me), you’re going to get the great, the good, the bad and the ugly.

But that’s art.

Looking at it, I can honestly say, I did not inherit my mother’s artistic ability when it comes to canvas creations. But I knew that going into this endeavor.

I love looking at great art. It amazes me. To create is one of the great attributes of humans. How else can you explain everything from the automobile to the computer to the cell phone to the dryer sheet? Creativity takes many forms. For me, I’ve always been amazed at works of art, because I don’t have the ability to create something amazing.

But like I said, another one of the special things about art is the lack of rules and conformity. Is there a right or wrong to art? Is there a good or bad to art?

Looking at my piece of art, I think I know the answer to the latter.

To the question, should I be embarrassed or proud ” I’m conflicted.

I’ve entered the piece under my alter ego nickname. Maybe that’s a sign that I’m not overly proud of my creation titled “The Ride.”

It has a bicycle theme, and it’s entered in the abstract-mixed media category.

Abstract ” I like abstract.

But there are two undeniable facts about my work ” it is art, and I created it.

And yes, a guy named Stoney Shrull is a little proud.

I think my mom would be a little proud, too. And she will always be the talented artist in the family.

Post Independent Managing Editor Dale Shrull’s artistic talents are best represented on a journalistic canvas.


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