Cheetah Cubs

Welcome to My Drawing Board
a few words about art . . .

We Believe That Great Products Begin With Great Art | "For longer than we've had the written word, humans have created and stared at images drawn onto walls (often animal images) in the hope of invoking something — story, awe, remembrance." (Kevin Loria, Business Insider)

Our industry specializes in gifts, novelty items and souvenirs. We purchase souvenirs as a reminder of a place visited or an occasion. It's a memento . . . a memory. Viewing art triggers responses in our brains associated with visual understanding, our very thoughts and emotions. Art can change the way we see the world. Writing for the National Endowment of the Arts, Maria Popova described this phenomenon as "the power to transcend our own self-interest and relate to the world and each other with more integrity, more curiosity, more wholeheartedness." (Kevin Loria, Business Insider) These are the outcomes institutions aspire to promote.

Art as a Product of Love | "One Touch of Nature Makes the Whole World Kin." - Shakespeare Misapplied [Context: "One touch of nature makes the whole world kin, That all with one consent praise new-born gawds . . ." - Troilus And Cressida. Ulysses, author of the phrase, was hoping to goad his compatriot Achilles (who had been sitting out the Trojan War) back into action by delivering an unflattering lecture on human nature. The one "touch of nature" isn't warmth or generosity or a love of nature. Ulysses was commenting only on humans valuing superficial novelties ("new-born gawds").]

As many have, I'm twisting 'one touch of nature' to communicate that in spite of our differences, nature has a special place in the human heart. Researchers have discovered that creatures great and small also have a special place in our heads. A Caltech team found individual brain cells that respond when we see an animal, but not when we see another person, place or object. (Katie Neith, Caltech: Captivated By Critters) The cells were found in the amygdala, a part of the brain involved in emotions. We respond to any kind of animal, large or small, fluffy or scaly. So effective art design for zoos, aquariums and other animal related venues, has the opportunity to reflect that 'special place in the human heart' - the love we feel for animals and the natural world.

 

These cheetah cubs are currently being created with colored pencils. Need Art? Have an animal you want added to the Drawing Board? Let us know how we can help!

January 21, 2020 by Laura King

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