Welcome to Brush with the Law!
This blog aims to bring together two seemingly separate worlds that could learn a lot from each other: the world of art and the world of law.
It's easy to see why people assume art and law are worlds apart. After all, one is a world of briefcases and suits, cases and deals, statutes and rules, courts and juries, documents and contracts - a verbal world where words are the prime medium. The other is a world of brush and palette, paints and canvas, artful seeing and picture-making - a nonverbal world where images rather than words are the language.
But what if we looked at law through a different lens - with an artful eye? Is there common ground between art and law? Are there principles they share? Inspiration, composition, focal point, balance, craftsmanship, design - these visual arts principles have been around for a very long time...some 30,000 years of art-making...much longer than law-making so far as we know. If the roots of law and art goes deep into common ground of humanities and creative endeavor, let's explore.
Why this topic? I've been a lawyer and a painter for the past 30 years. Liking both, I'm interested in how the brush relates to the briefcase. I think artists and lawyers, along with others interested in such interdisciplinary learning, have something to teach each other. After all, both lawyers and painters work to craft something purposeful and whole from elements that may not piece together without a bit of craftsmanship.
And so this blog is about creating, through our dialogue, something new. Let's piece together the worlds of art and law.
It's easy to see why people assume art and law are worlds apart. After all, one is a world of briefcases and suits, cases and deals, statutes and rules, courts and juries, documents and contracts - a verbal world where words are the prime medium. The other is a world of brush and palette, paints and canvas, artful seeing and picture-making - a nonverbal world where images rather than words are the language.
But what if we looked at law through a different lens - with an artful eye? Is there common ground between art and law? Are there principles they share? Inspiration, composition, focal point, balance, craftsmanship, design - these visual arts principles have been around for a very long time...some 30,000 years of art-making...much longer than law-making so far as we know. If the roots of law and art goes deep into common ground of humanities and creative endeavor, let's explore.
Why this topic? I've been a lawyer and a painter for the past 30 years. Liking both, I'm interested in how the brush relates to the briefcase. I think artists and lawyers, along with others interested in such interdisciplinary learning, have something to teach each other. After all, both lawyers and painters work to craft something purposeful and whole from elements that may not piece together without a bit of craftsmanship.
And so this blog is about creating, through our dialogue, something new. Let's piece together the worlds of art and law.
