Essay Sample: There is Art in All Aspects of Life

Art is a word with many different variations of meanings. Art can be both finite and infinite. It can defy boundaries, leave one awestruck at its magnificence, and comes in many forms. Examples of such forms are restoring an old car back to its former glory, forging beautiful tools to last for centuries to come, and designing hundreds of thousands of incredible tattoos to be inked on peoples skin for life. All need a creative eye in order to make whatever it is, the best they can be. I would like to experience these incredible art forms. Some of my dreams are incredibly expensive, but what you get out of it is worth more than you can imagine. A couple of  things I have on my bucket list, to hopefully complete before I die, are owning a gorgeous custom katana, restoring a classic 1967 Chevy Impala SS, and getting my arms covered in tattoos.

The art of forging weapons is a beautiful thing to witness. Katanas have been around since 700 CE. They’re a superior style of sword and have many qualities they need to to be authentic. Author for Manofmany.com, Jacob Osborn, writes that “Authentic katana swords are forged from two types of Japanese steel: high-carbon and low-carbon. High-carbon steel is supremely hard, thereby allowing for a sharp edge. By contrast, low-carbon is strong and tough, enabling shock absorption. A sword made of one type of steel would be ineffective, which is why both types work together to create authentic battle-ready katana swords”.  Owning a battle-ready katana is one of my dreams. Authentic katanas are beautiful and can look an infinite amount of ways. My sword obsession started with anime and when I wanted to get replicas for conventions as well as just looking insanely cool. I was going to buy a version of Grass Cutter, the blade that belongs to Sasuke Uchiha in the show Naruto. I decided against it and I would like to, instead, save up to customize my own katana so the sword is unique to me. Looking into what types of steel and all other materials is something I need to do before I commit to buying a sword.

Another one of my dreams is getting  tattoos. Tens of millions of people around the world have tattoos. However, most do not stop at just one. Many  people have more than one tattoo, or would like more than one. That is where sleeve tattoos can come into play. Sleeve tattoos are basically what they sound like. They are a collage or mural of tattoos covering one's entire arm or arms like a sleeve. Jodie Michaele states in her article that "’Some artists work really dark, and some are really bold,’ he says. ‘If you see their style and it’s more on the softer side, they’re probably going to be able to work with you as far as delicacy so it doesn’t look too harsh on you’". There are many different types and styles of sleeves that you can design. You can go very dark and cover most or all of your skin, or you can go light and spacious. I would like to commission a stickering type of sleeve. Some tattoos I've had in mind are manga panel tattoos and a bunch of little designs all over my upper body that are to be determined. I do not want one cohesive tattoo like most stereotypical sleeves. I still need to plan what I want my tattoo placements to look like.  “The most difficult part about getting a tattoo is planning the theme, the motif, and the design. Planning is even more important when it comes to sleeves because they are elaborate works of art that take a long time to draw”(Nguyen).  Planning a sleeve and finding the right artist that can execute your vision takes a lot of time. It will take multiple sessions to even just finish the sketches.I think a sleeve should represent a piece of you. Things you love and enjoy that you want to (literally) bear on your sleeve forever. It doesn’t mean that everything has to have a deep meaning, it should be you. For example, you're not going to get an anime tattoo if you don't like anime, or a football tattoo if you hate football. It is going to be something entirely you, and I find that beautiful.  I want my sleeves to be full of beautiful pieces like panels from my favorite manga, red spider lilies, spiders, a skeleton bursting into small birds and leaves, etcetera. I want to design some of them myself so my tattoos are unique. My tattoos are going to be more delicate and thin lined as compared to thick and dark so I need to find an artist that can create something that I love. All of this will require a lot of planning and sessions. My pieces should express who I am and what I like and I cannot wait to take this advice and use it to create beautiful pieces of art for my body.

Another thing that I love is the 1967 Chevy Impala SS. I binge watched all 15 seasons of Supernatural three times during quarantine and online school and consequently, fell in love with the old cars they used in the shows. Specifically the black 1967 Chevy Impala named “Baby” that the main characters drive. That car is one of my dream cars, however,  they cost a lot to repair or to buy completely restored. Tom Glatch writes that. “The 1967 Chevrolet Impala SS 427 takes living large to a whole new level. At just under 18 feet long, it will barely fit in a contemporary garage. Its gracefully sweeping fastback roof must have set some kind of record for its length. Even under the hood, the massive 427 big-block V8 seems lost. This is not your typical American performance car by any means, and cars of this size are not for everybody”. Now I am not someone who knows a lot about cars.However, I want to learn all that I can about fixing up cars so that I can get my dream car one day and restore it all by myself. This 19 foot car guzzled down 9.5 mpg back in the day, but went from 0 to 60 in 8.4 seconds. I would love to experience the thrilling ride of this limited edition car one day.. “1967 Chevrolet ‘Impala’ SS 427. I used quotes because a real (rare) SS427 was not actually sold as an Impala, but as its own model, the SS427 (RPO Z24) as opposed to an Impala SS which could be bought with a 427. There were only 2,147 SS427 models built in ’67 so you can imagine how rare it is to find one that’s triple black as well”(Lopez).These cars only had a few thousand models made. This makes the parts, as well as the cars themselves very rare. They are very costly and cost well over 50 grand. I'd have to save up a lot for it, and I have other priorities in life, like college, but it's a nice dream to have. I can't imagine I'd ever get to it, but one can always just appreciate nice cars. I'd love to own this car one day, or something like it. I may not ever get the chance to drive one, or own one, but I will never stop appreciating this gorgeous classic car model. The classics are absolutely beautiful and you can see the love people put into restoring them.