charcoal & ash: "what is art?"... Quality vs. Quantity

First and foremost these are just my thoughts some may not agree and thats ok but here is what I think about the question... What is art?

Over the last few months I have faced the age old question time and time again..."what is art?" and I now have my answer.

"art is any form of self expression of high quality, consistency, and portrays a clear message (even if that message is to remain unclear) "

qual·i·ty

noun

Character with respect to fineness, or grade of excellence: food of poor quality; silks of fine quality. High grade; superiority; excellence: wood grain of quality.

con·sist·en·cy

noun

Steadfast adherence to the same principles, course, form, etc. There is consistency in his pattern of behavior. Agreement, harmony, or compatibility, especially correspondence or uniformity among the parts of a complexthing: consistency of colors throughout the house.

To me art is any form of self expression... it is not mass produced (even though I thoroughly believe Mr. Warhol's work is art) to gain a profit ie. Chihuly and Kinkade, but rather an outlet for people to express themselves and be understood.

Quality plays a huge role in whether or not something can be called art. To me quality in the everyday sense means it is well built, well designed, and overall well executed. To me the only way to gain good quality in a piece of artwork is TIME and more time. This is how good artwork is weeded out of the crowd. It is plain as day the painting, sculpture, or whatever it may be that has time involved and even an attachment to the artist. Obviously a piece you have worked on for a day versus ten years will look completely different and this fortunately is very clear to any viewer.

I would like to take a moment to recognize art work that I feel deserves the title as such click on the artist name to view more of their information... there is: