Artificial Thoughts

I heard a famous singer and composer discuss art while listening to the car radio recently.  She suggested that the word "art" comes from the word "artificial."  I stopped listening at that point because I was caught up in her statement about art and artificiality.  I've never thought of art as having to do with anything artificial.  Rather, I think of it as providing us with a glimpse of reality as seen by the artist, a reality that I may not have considered before, but that was created and offered up for others to enjoy.  I think of the haunting music, the exquisite dances, the majestic paintings and they give me reason to believe that art is the full expression of the artist's interpretation of reality, whether I fully comprehend it as intended or not.  So, for me, art is far from being artificial.  If there's anything to be real, it is the art that breathes a new breath into my life.