Miriam Young. Casey Templeton | The Roanoke Times

You're breathing, you can read, you've made time to read the paper. You're living a life! Congratulations. I'm a "culture vulture," a "museum rat." I seem to be some kind of animal when it comes to art and artsy-fartsy things. I can sniff it out, coax it out, uncover it and, at times, I even facilitate.

I'm here to find out how many of you are living in color and to help some of you cross over that color line into the "real world" - a world dizzy with beauty and joy. A world that satisfies a certain hunger inside and soothes the battering that other parts of life can inflict on a soul.

Never mind those of you who have genetically inherited colorblindness. We're not speaking entirely literally here. One of the world's most prominent underwater photographers is colorblind, but that never stopped him. He color-corrects photos with the best of them.

It's not so much what you see as how you see it, what you focus on and what you make of it. You do have some control over these things, and if you already see things differently, you're not handicapped - you're probably at an advantage.

You're living in full color when you realize you are creative - a creator - and you recognize that YOU have something to do with how the world around you looks and feels. It's no good passing it off to someone else, someone with a degree in art, or someone who is a bona-fide, card-carrying artist, someone who can draw. That's not what we're shooting for here.

I'm not looking to empower those already secure or successful in their talents. I'm here to let the rest of you know that the Emperor of Art is actually not wearing any clothes. And if you wanted to, you could design him an outfit, or sketch him just as he is, in all his naked, corpulent glory.

Future articles will shine the light on lesser-known segments of the art world, will reveal the leveling effect the Internet has had on art and artists (including offering links to some fascinating online galleries) and should have you viewing things around you differently.

You'll see how others have created art, sometimes unwittingly, sometimes obsessively, and you'll realize that art can be found in some very strange places, indeed (once, I nearly stepped on some art, but that's another story).

Mostly, this is about loving what you see and seeing things you love. Sometimes, it's about making or doing things that other people will love to see, and seeing what else is out there. There's a party going on in your head and some of you need to be driven to that party. As your designated driver, you can be sure we'll be taking the scenic route. Please buckle up. We're definitely going off the beaten path on what should be an amazing journey.

Culture vulture Miriam Young is a creative director living in color in Roanoke. Send e-mails to CultureVultureVA@gmail.com.

Note: Some Web links provided by the Culture Vulture may contain art featuring nudity, strong political content and bizarre visions. Parental guidance is suggested. Respect the copyrights of the owners when visiting online galleries and obtain artists' permission before downloading any images.

Look for Miriam's next column on Aug. 11.