Art today covers so many things. The choices that you have are endless, so there is something to suit everybody’s taste. So much we can learn about it from looking at the Masters. However, you can appreciate art even if you are a beginner to it all.

As an example take art from the Orient. The Japanese and Chinese use brushes both for their lettering and painting. Often you find their work is just in black or white. Brushes from the east are usually made of hair and they go to a definite point, ideal for the fine work they go on to produce.

These brushes go on to encapsulate interesting fine works, fragile silk paintings and yes, of course, calligraphy. Obviously this takes me back to the fantastic paintings of Zen. He often used an ink over a wash. These seem to be painted with a delicacy.

Trees etc. just seem so lifelike, as if they are really moving, flowing naturally as it were. A good example is the patterns produced on the famous Willow Pattern plates. These same brushes are also used for Calligraphy and no doubt silk painting.

Expressionism as we know it is not necessarily a true representational art form. Really I would go as far as to say, it is how you express your inner feelings on a given subject emotionally.

To the eye of a beginner particularly, I am sure this art form would appear to seem unbalanced and even distorted, with unusually created shapes. Take Van Gogh for instance.

The painting is often brought together by a series of dots and dashes, which when viewed from a distance can be really appreciated like the artist Monet.

Probably this art style dates back to the 19th Century. The light plays an important part of the completed picture and this style works well with landscapes.

Still Life painting often is often done with simple everyday life objects. A few examples to name are; a bowl of fruit, bread and cheese, a glass of wine and a carafe, or even a cauliflower or onions.

Simple items are not always easy to reproduce and you need a good backdrop for this type of work. I think that this dates back to about the 17th century and the famous Dutch Masters. How fantastic some of these artists from a bygone age were, and so forward thinking.

The works of Toulouse-Lautrec and his wonderful pictures of the Parisian nightlife. The Can Can dancers etc. all brought to life. Generally he seemed fascinated with the theatricals of the ” Moulin Rouge”, the Montmartre and the Bohemian lifestyle.

Monet with his humorous caricatures, but also his beautiful luminous coloured trees, lakes, flowers etc., with lovely country scenes portrayed amongst others.

There is so much that could be said about these artists and their foresight and actual talent. These are just a few I have named but I could also add Matisse, Picasso, Constable, and many more.

His works appear to be from another world – so innovative- what a brain that man surely had, terrific insight and amazing incredible talent. If you are fortunate enough to have visited Barcelona his work abounds there, for everyone to appreciate.