Good Old Fashioned Field Trip

I was skeptical of our Saturday afternoon field trip to the Dayton Art Institute and wasn't really sure what to expect. I think going in with no expectations really helped me have an open mind throughout the day. Starting off the morning with some good old crafting and basically an art class really loosened me up and I thought to myself, this is gonna be fun! And boy was it! :)

The tour of the whole museum really helped me take in a wide spectrum of art types from all over the world. While I learned a lot about art that day, I learned a lot more about myself and what I'm drawn to, what captures my attention and makes me dig deeper to find out the message the artist was trying to convey. It was interesting how, when we had free time to ourselves, I found myself coming back to this painting by Janet Fish entitled "Embroidery from Uzbekistan". I couldn't take my eyes off of it! The vibrant colors drew me in and when I looked at it I just thought, "this is me". The other painting I loved was of the woman standing in the doorway of her house in the middle of an open field looking out - I actually got to wonder what she was thinking and what or who she was looking at. The whole rest of the day, I wasn't particularly struck by any of the art that had faces in it. I don't like to over think art and wonder the deeper meaning behind it, sometimes I just like to soak it in for what it is! That's what Janet Fish's painting did for me, as well as a lot of the other modern paintings. 

For me, I didn't really have any sort of "spiritual" experience at the art institute, it was obvious to me how much of a math/science brain I have, but I definitely appreciated our time there and had a great time stepping out of my comfort zone and trying something new! I haven't been to a museum since high school, that was really awesome!