Feeling it Now: Texture All Around Us

I work with children. Lots and lots of them. We talk about art and life and cartoons and all sorts of things. I'm beginning to realize more and more that no matter who we are and how disparate the topic, there are links that connect us globally and individually, both in the present and to those whose shoulders we stand on.

My daily dialogues revolve around art. It is my purpose, in the past it has been my salvation and it has put a roof over my head and food on my table my entire adult life. I am never bored and am frequently amused by all the things I see and experience on my journey.

I ask the children at every visit what is their favorite thing about art. Thousands (and I mean that literally) of times I hear "because I can express my thoughts and feelings." YAAAAAA! That's my favorite part, too. Art is not like arithmetic: there is more than one correct answer. There are as many answers as we have ideas, and every single one is as unique as a snowflake.

Art is all that and so much more. I don't know what happens in people's brains when they grow up or how crappy their art teacher was, but I am here to tell you that we all use and reference it all the time. It isn't all just for people with piercings and funny clothes. Like building a house, there are certain elements and principles that come into play that must be recognized in order to successfully compose all the separate components into a functioning and aesthetically pleasing whole.

The elements of art and design are the building blocks: the foundation. They are line, shape, form, color , texture, space and value. Knowledge of these elements and how to manipulate them is necessary for thoughts and ideas to be expressed, and for all kinds of things to be interesting and functional. Everything benefits from good design: paintings, fashion, surfboards, football uniforms, golf clubs, shoes, cars, video games, movies, etc. You get the idea.

For the last couple of months the children and I have been discussing texture. In art, texture is defined as the surface quality or "feel" of an object. The fun part about texture is finding all the words to describe how something feels. Another kind of texture is "implied" texture. That is a kind of texture that looks like it will feel a certain way but it is an illusion and is actually made out of something else. . Artists and designers use both real and implied texture for a variety of reasons: to make their work more interesting, to illustrate a point or a story, as a symbol, to aid in an optical illusion and the list goes on. Think snowflakes and leopard print polyester mini skirts.

No matter how they utilize texture or how much texture influences their art, artists and designers are aware of the nuances and effects of texture on themselves and everyone else.

We all utilize texture in a number of ways. One of my favorites is food. I'm not the only one and culinary arts people know this. Texture is one of the primary ways they make food and taste combinations interesting. Texture is one of reasons why I can eat a pound of saltwater taffy from Zeno's in 3 days but will never in my life eat a Lima bean willingly. Texture is a big deal in advertising, too. Did you know that burgers in in print and TV ads are really raw and painted? They look better that way.

How about fashion? We have driven entire species to extinction with our lust for the texture of their fur or feathers. I'm pretty sure we we ate our way through some of them for their texture, too. Certain fabrics are status symbols for their texture. Leather, silk, lace, cashmere, linen, marble, snakeskin, beaver, egret, etc. are a few examples.

Then I really took it to the limit and began to think about how we use texture to describe our relationships. "it's a bit rough right now" or "things are going smoothly." Like some fabrics, a relationship may become so worn and frayed that it disintegrates. If it's true that there are seasons to our lives, then is it also true that just as we change the textures we surround ourselves with for warmth and comfort seasonally will also be true for the relationships we surround ourselves with as we progress through life?

I'm thinking that it may be possible to take what I know about texture in art and apply it to other areas of my life. It's said you"can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear." That may be true. However, I am an optimist and I've seen what sheep's wool looks like on the sheep on the hill (talk about matted and muddy) and what that same wool looks like when it's been carded and spun and woven into something that's soft and smooth and fabulous. Maybe it really is possible to take an awareness of texture and use it to "smooth out" some of the rough edges in life along with making things more emotionally and aesthetically pleasing. What I do know for sure is it's too cold to get in the water and thinking about all this beats the hell out of doing housework.