Why Art?- Isabelle Rinker

Art is passion. The purpose of art, in all its forms, is to express. A feeling, a moment in time, hardship, happiness, what have you. Claudia "Lady Bird" Johnson said, "Art is the window to man's soul. Without it, he would never be able to see beyond his immediate world; nor could he see the man within." As an audience, we are able to identify with another artist's work by interpreting the piece the way we view it. And as artists, we are able to express the feelings we want to communicate through masterpieces. Personally, I find myself identifying with musical works more than anything else. There is almost nothing more satisfying to me than finding a song with lyrics I can relate to completely. However, other forms of art (i.e. film, drama, literature) have touched my soul as well. The role of an artist is to portray the images and feelings he/she wants to express to an audience, and his/her responsibility is to inspire an audience. Literary forms of art put those thoughts and feelings into words that may be difficult to express through other forms of art, or even in real life-- this I've discovered through my journey as an amateur novelist). The beauty of literary works is the ability include a concrete plot and well-developed characters as well as underlying meaning through symbols and motifs. I would, indeed, consider myself an artist, as I posses the ability to express my thoughts and feelings through word.