Art has been around about 6000 years, in the sense that pictures and sculptures have been created depicting what our senses detect. There have been various manifestations of art including cave drawings, pottery, sculptures of various materials, and paintings. By far, our interaction with art in the last five hundred years has been with paintings. All of us have seen paintings. Most of us have obtained paintings, and almost all homes around the world may have some type of picture hanging on a wall. This is true because, for some reason, we like to look at art. I say for some reason, but really, we usually do this because it pleases us. Many have been to museums where art was displayed, and most have some familiarity with the history of art. The longest running large empire is Egypt, which produced markings on walls (hieroglyphics), giant sculptures, and pyramids; which should be considered art, not just a giant office building. I am going to reach you about how you see art. In other words, what you are seeing, not necessarily what is there. To do this I must teach you a little about the conscious mind and the unconscious mind, and how they interact. Most people have a favorite color. If you ask them why this color is their favorite, they have some difficulty answering, even though this may have been their favorite from a young age. You hang a piece of art mainly because it pleases you. It is more difficult to answer why does this please you. I am going to use the model of a conscious mind, that is the internal narrative that goes on when you are thinking, and the unconscious mind, which is the seat of memory and emotions. We can take out your brain and look at it under a microscope, but we sill never see an idea, an emotion, or a memory. We know they exist, but we cannot see them. We must use a model to describe them. To appreciate art, I must get you to increase the relationship of the conscious and unconscious mind. There is nothing new about this and many different techniques, such as meditation or mindfulness have been developed. We do this to better understand our emotions and our relationships. The ultimate goal is a quite and peaceful life. Art assists us in understanding and enhancing this partnership. It likely not only increases peacefulness by diminishing fear, it also may the key to greater creativity and problem solving. This is book is a primer on how your mind works, which will increase your understanding and appreciation of art, which I hope will get you to buy art from my art gallery. SLGArtGallery.etsy.com