Art is the visual expression of what the soul sees and feels. It is a personal response to what the artist experiences through the medium of his eyes, and does not necessarily represent the actual likeness of what is observed by them. It has been said with some degree of accuracy that if one wants to create a picture of the exact image of what one sees then he should simply use a camera. There is some truth in this statement. I formerly felt the thrust of this statement and grasped it with a sense of responsive agreement. However, one must be careful, when they are agreeing with the thought expressed in that statement, that they are not betraying the fact that they are unknowingly revealing a somewhat less than an artistic spirit. It may also reveal a remarkable lack of real appreciation of the originality which comes into play by the photographer, not to mention that of the artist who paints in the realistic style. No two photographers will see the subject of their shot at the same angle, nor take the picture in the same light, and so forth. And the artist, seeking to portray the same subject, even though very realistically, will not use the same color scheme as another, nor the exact amount of light, or place the same emphases on any aspect of his work as someone else would. Every person, be they photographer or artist, will express what and how they see an object in just such a way as they are governed by their own unique originality. In this inexplicable sense, every human being is an artist in some degree of meaning of the word.

A person can be enslaved by the reality of what his eye sees while not allowing his soul to feel the wonder and intricate beauty of what he is observing. "Beauty is only skin deep", and some people never see more of any thing than what is on the surface.

People are often heard to say, with absolute veracity, "I know what I like." And this is the prerogative of every indiviual. But the one who says this should be careful not to fall into the narrowness of thinking that expects others to like the same thing when it comes to an object of art. It is one thing to know what one likes, but it is quite another to expect everyone else to like the same things. How true this is in regard to life in general. We are prone to judge others simply on the basis of "surface" information about them, such as the way they dress, the color of their skin, or their nationality, or the beliefs they hold dear, or even by such things as the accent of their speech.

The true artist is an observer, by far above all else. He sees what most other people never see until it is, at least, pointed out to them by someone else. And this is another thing that a true artist is good at doing, causing others to look at something in a different way than they would normally see it, or by getting others to look at something which they have never "seen" before. In other words, things they have, indeed, seen, but which they have never, indeed, seen before. Of course this happens on a greater or less scale, depending upon the artist and what he was trying to accomplish and, on the other hand, by the one who is observing his work. Good art sets up a line of communication between the artist and the observer of his art work.