How we Communicate Emotion through our Art

At its most basic level communicating is all about letting people know how we feel.

Take the simple act of preparing a meal for your family. It may seem rather basic but in making the meal you are also communicating your feelings of love and your desire to give.

An artist does the same thing. He will communicate his inner thoughts and feelings through his paintings.

Joy and depression are easily discernible in a painting. Just think of the emotion in Van Gogh’s paintings. His dark depression is quite palpable in his portrayal of these brooding dark clouds and black ravens hovering over a cornfield; while his happiness is clear to see in his paintings of lovely fruit orchards covered in a profusion of pink blossoms.

Musicians communicate their feelings through their music and as we listen we respond by experiencing similar feelings too. It’s a two-way stream – which is the essence of communication.

Just think of how we respond to Beethoven’s emotive music, or Chopin’s sad music or how the music of Scott Joplin makes us feel happy and carefree.

And not to be forgotten is the art of handwriting. We send and receive messages through our handwriting.

We don’t only communicate our feelings with the words we have written but the very art of handwriting is a conduit of communication expressing what we think and feel about life in general.

It can be very revealing.

You can check out the categories on the top right hand side for more about the revelations and hidden meaning of handwriting – which you may have noticed is one of my pet interests!