What are your guidelines in the appreciation in the work of art?

Creating is bringing something to life. In the case of an artist it is the creating of something new, unknown, something that wasnt there before. It is this quality that differentiates artistic creation from handicrafts. A regular craftsman knows exactly what he is making, while to an artist the process of creation is full of secrets and surprises - till the work is finished. This process can't be planned in advance - it is made up of a series of flights of imagination of the artist as well as his trials to express in the best possible way the vision formed in his brain. This process is very complicated and never runs the same way.

It is essential to remember that the process of creation doesn't just come down to the perfomance of some movements by the artist (eg. moving with a paint brush or hammering a piece of marble), but it is mainly what happens in his mind. He has a certain vision, but it isn't an entirely finished painting - the vision goes through a series of alterations. It often happens that the creation of a work was initiated by a short flash of inspiration, an idea that doesn't require long preparations or a load of work (this refers mainly to modern art, for example works made from already existing objects, but then in an unusual context, i.e. ready-mades). Artistic creativity is such a delicate matter, that we cannot be specific, as every piece comes to life in a different way. One thing is certain - when creating the artist drifts in places that are inaccessible to normal humans. * http://library.thinkquest.org/20868/ang/cp/cp.htm