every production of art...

Here in Eureka Springs we are in the discussion stage of launching a cooperative gallery for artisans. In order to bring to light the values inherent in such things, I quote the following from Leo Tolstoi:

"In order to define art exactly, we must first of all cease to look upon it as a means of gratification, and consider art as one of the conditions of human life. Considering art in this way, we cannot but see that art is one of the means of communication of people with one another.

"Every production of art brings it to pass that the recipient enters into a certain kind of relation with the person who produces or produced that object of art and all of those who, at the same time with him, before, or after him, receive or will receive the same artistic impression.

"As speech, which conveys peoples' thoughts and experiences, serves as a means of uniting peoples, so art acts in exactly the same way. The characteristic of this kind of communication, distinguishing it from communication by means of words, consists in this, that by words one person conveys to another his thoughts, while by art people convey to one another their feelings.-- "What is Art", Leo Tolstoi

National Geographic magazine this month addresses traumatic brain injury, and the cover image, and many of the images inside are of masks designed by injured veterans to illustrate their feelings about circumstances that cannot be readily seen from the outside.

Every piece of art, every production of art brings us more closely together and helps us to explain things to each other.

Make, fix and create...