The oldest art objects in the world: a series of tiny, drilled snail shells about 75,000 yrs old, South Africa. Cave paintings date back 40 thousand years. Art predates agriculture and the invention of tools! We’re talking " prehistoric "”.

Suggested ages of traditional arts
Painting 40,000 years
Jewelry: 30,000 years
Sculpture: 25,000 years
Pottery: 11,000 years
Metal work: 8000 years
Textiles: Weaving, Dying: 5000 years
Glass: 4000 years
Printmaking: 2000 years
Calligraphy: 1000 years
Photography: 200 years

Can’t relate? Think cavemen: painting and drawing. Egyptians: statues, architecture, clothing. Chinese dynasties: pottery, bronze ornaments. Aztecs: jewelry. The Renaissance: Di Vinci’s Mona Lisa, Michaelangelo’s David. After that Monet, Mucha, Tiffany, Picasso, Dali, Rodia’s Watts Towers, Ansel Adams.

That’s thousands of years of experience without fancy technology.

Lastly there is us. You and me. Every thing before us was done by hand by skilled craftsmen. Many of us are still doing " traditional " art TODAY. Don’t ever forget that every art form has evolved from traditional art: everything we have learned prior to computers!

(Oh and the age of computer art: 47 years –but let the record show I love fractals and dig art too)

What’s a news article without some fine examples? Paint, paper, pen, ink, clay, beads, metal, photos...