How to appreciate art. Art makes life interesting. Learning how to appreciate life in general does not happen, it takes commitment and effort. Art is mainly how you observe and interact with life.

You don't even have to know much about painting, sculpture, or other activities to learn how to appreciate nature, the world of beauty around us, or the art of life itself. Even creating the guide, where I selected other writers and other views on art appreciation, took a certain amount of learning. How do you create a page where other views are also shown. How to make the page as attractive as possible, and meaningful, and instructive.

It takes teamwork. After a few weeks of struggle, the ways and means of guiding others in the art of appreciating art, the guide began to take shape. Without the help of others, it would have been nothing.

Although I do know a little some about painting, I have dabbled in the past, I do not consider myself adept at painting pictures. That does not mean I do not appreciate my past efforts, nor does it keep me from seeing art wherever I go. As I said, it makes life more interesting.

Actually, the astonished little face in the picture is nothing more than a ball of yarn the size a cap fits over. It was a happening that was instantly constructed on a whim. I had rolled a ball of yarn from yarn scraps. Then when it was finished, I noticed a face like appearance. The dark blue eyes were made from two spots of yarn peeping out from below the beige yarn. The mouth was nothing more than a few skewered pieces of yarn along where a mouth should be.

Pleased with the look, I made the eyes a little larger with my fingers, and tried to carve out a mouth. Seeing a hat on a window ledge nearby, I placed that on the 'head'. The hat was a donation from my grandson who had recently returned from Washington DC where Pope Benedict XVI had been visiting. The cap designated that meeting with the pope. I took a picture of the work of art, then lost both the hat and the picture for a year or so.

It is important to me, not because of the yarn, nor the accidental art of the construction, but because of the cap and my grandson giving me the cap. He knew how much it would mean to me. Now when I see that picture, I think of my love for my grandson.

When I found it, I fell in love all over again. Oh, of course, I know The Pope deserves better art than that, but I am sure he will understand the thought also has a lot to do with art. He will be visiting England in a few days and I will be watching. This is an important time for us all. I dedicate my How to appreciate art guide to him and to my grandson. I wish them both success in whatever they undertake. (The ball of yarn in no way resembles either of them, despite the quizzical look often seen on both of their faces.) And both of them I love very, very, much.