Animals and Art

(art by dianne curtis / all rights reserved)

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Animals and Art

I always wondered how animals see art. I've had so many pets watch me paint and they seemed indifferent to what I'm doing. I've read articles about animals collecting shiny objects which hint that they have an aesthetic sense but one day I changed my mind when I was painting out at Big Bend National park. It was early morning and the campground had cleared. I was alone, sitting on a park bench and painting an image of the mountain named Casa Grande. I noticed a shadow to my left out of my peripheral vision. Since I was in the middle of painting a large background area, I couldn't stop to look up and see what the shadow was. I continued painting till I came to a stopping point and then I turned to my left and saw a deer looking over my shoulder. I jumped and so did the deer. She then took off across the terrain.  I couldn't believe she was so close to me and I didn't even notice. The amazing part about this experience was that when I first saw her, she was not looking at me. She was looking at my painting and watching what I was doing. Was she curious or did she like it? I guess I'll never know for sure but I'd like to think she was interested in the process of painting.

This art is available on ebay.