How I First Fell in Love with Art
This month I'm teaming up with Art.com, firstly to give you a little heads-up about an awesome Pinterest contest that they will be launching any day now. Word on the street is that someone stands to win a $500 shopping spree to fill their home with the art they love. Awesome! Be sure to hop over and follow Art.com on Pinterest right away so you'll be poised and ready to win.
Secondly I'm also helping Art.com spread the word about the extensive collection of Americana artwork that they have available on their site. On top of that...did you know that all Art.com frames are also handmade here in the United States?! Pretty cool. Side note: this video totally made me misty-eyed when I first saw it. Is that silly?!
Now on to the art. Instead of just babbling on about random pieces of artwork (which could still be interesting if I do say so myself), I thought that it might be nice to instead quickly share my first memory with you of falling in love with art.
When I think of American artists, one of the very first that comes to mind is Norman Rockwell. I don't remember how young I was (maybe 5), but one year during my childhood my grandparents gave my sister and me a gigantic book of his work. I'm sure it was actually just slightly larger than an average book in size, but at my diminutive age it seemed enormous and magical. I've probably embellished certain memories about it...because I swear I can even remember it taking both my younger sister and me to carry the thing to the living room. But whether it took one or both of us to accomplish the task, once there we'd start at page one and slowly begin travelling through the chapters of art. My sister and I were not known to do many things peacefully together, but with the book as our tranquilizer we could happily lay there on the carpet side by side for hours creating stories to go along with the characters Mr. Rockwell painted. I would lose myself in the depiction of a family happily crowded around a holiday dinner table in Freedom from Want. I dreamt of one day getting to be the pretty teenager in After The Prom or the sophisticated lady in Going Out. And my animal-loving heart swelled as the page turned to At the Vets. So many paintings...and even more stories to go with them!
Norman Rockwell's overtly sweet depictions of American life no longer hold me quite as captive as they once did, but to a young kid growing up they were perfection. Even better than that, the love for art that they fostered in me is something that I will keep with me always!
Do have have your own art love story to share? I'd love to hear! xo Ez
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Full disclosure: This post was sponsored by the lovely people at Art.com. However all opinions and views expressed are my own.
Thursday, October 18, 2012 
Reader Comments (8)
I was quite captivated by Norman Rockwell as a teenager. Very identifiable pieces. Stunning if you see any of them in person.
I can't remember a time when I didn't feel a real personal connection with art. My first experience falling in love with art was very much like your's we had a Norman Rockwell book that I loved flipping through as a child. Additionally my dad's parents had paintings of my dad and his sister that my dad's stepmother painted hanging in their dining room when I was a kid and I loved those painting so much. My grandmother died before she ever had a chance to paint me, but when I was a little girl I loved to imagine someone, my grandma or Mr. Rockwell painting a picture of me.
yes! norman rockwell was my first introduction to art as well.
though i can't deny that lisa frank was a contender...
I still love Rockwell. If you ever get the opportunity to see his paintings in person go- you would not believe how different the colors look- they are much more vivid.
When I was in junior high, my grandmother, who lived across the country from us in DC, was dying of cancer. We made several cross country trips to see her, and it was always difficult, both very sad, but also very claustrophobic being trapped in a house where someone was very slowly withering away. My mom took us on trips to the National Gallery when we needed to get out of the house, and that is the first time I remember feeling nourished by art. There was one Raphael painting, that I had seen in a book before, but I remember stumbling lost through the galleries, and looking up and there it was, and it was just the most beautiful thing I had ever seen, like it hurt my heart it was so beautiful. And then one time there was this exhibit of Indonesia religious art, and I just remember being captivated by this one little statue of a goddess - the goddess of exuberant dance. I just couldn't pull myself away from it. I even made my mom buy the book that accompanied the exhibit. So, that is when I remember first really, truly loving art.
I too have fond memories of growing up with Norman Rockwell - my parents had some of the plates displayed in the hallway of my childhood home. My husband's grandfather has a rather impressive display case in his music room which houses both the plates and accompanying figurine statues of the scenes - it's incredible and so fascinating how beloved they are, these depictions of a simpler time, of cherished moments, and the emotions and nostalgia.
About myself in love and appreciation of art, it wasn't until a few years ago as my grandfather was cleaning out his now smaller home that I was gifted/hoping for a painting that my grandmother had hung in their grand home many years before. When I was young, my grandmother watched me a lot while my parents worked and their home was such an adventure with many rooms to explore. I often looked at these paintings of young, doll-like french faces and thought they were a bit creepy but now when I see them they remind me of beautiful, eyes-wide-open childhood, of exploring the rooms of that house in a similar way. My parents have a few of the paintings and I have one hanging in my living room. I found out that my grandmother purchased a bunch of them pretty cheaply and had the set of them all framed to match and it makes me happy that, like me, she loved to find things that weren't necessarily expensive in value or recognized as treasured art, but she saw beauty and found joy in finding her own treasures to adorn her home.
Yes, they gave us the same book as well and I love it! To assure you that your memory is working perfectly, I just now went out and measured it and it's enormous! A full 12 1/2 x 17 1/2" and it weighs a ton! I think I might need to go page through it now....
OMG. I think I had (and still have) the same book. I collected Norman Rockwell greeting cards when I was in my late teens and early twenties. I just used less than a month ago, one of my favourites cards featuring "after the prom" and used it to create a handmade gift for a 50th wedding anniversary. So happy to have found this new source for art prints! Thanks for sharing.