Searching for beauty

“Seek and you will find” – Jesus

It is hard to believe that over three months ago, I wrote my last post on Covid-19. So had did you do? Were you able to embrace your new found time and nourish your soul? or like most of us did you fill your time with meaningless activity and anxious thoughts?

Well, if you were able to give yourself even just a little of quality soul time, I would like to congratulate you! However if you find that you did not do as well as you would have liked, I have good news – a second try with a different great challenge!

Thankfully at this time most of the lockdown has been lifted, however that does not mean the level of anxiety is any less. We are allowed and capable of getting out and about, however we are constantly barraged with constant reminders of possible infection. The myriad of various sometimes comical facial gear, the monotone words of “please maintain social distancing” echoing from all the stores p.a. systems and all the little round stickers on the floors marking off six feet. (If, after this whole pandemic passes you are not quite adept at measuring of six feet while blindfolded to within an inch, it means you never ventured outside your home.) Oh and let’s not forget the myriad of travesties the media loves to constantly throw at us. The truth is, we are living in quite stressful times, I think even more so than we realize. I believe a cure to this stress, and I’m sure you would agree, is to manage what it is we think and see and contemplate upon. So what does this have to do with being an artist? I’m glad you asked.

The job of an artist, is to find what is beautiful and show it to others. Not everything is found in plain site, and we all need people with their eyes open to show us where the beauty is. One great artist, Vik Muniz actually finds beauty among the worlds largest trash heap in Rio de Janeiro. He creates very large scale works using garbage, to show the beauty of the people who actually earn very little money by sifting through the garbage at the landfill. Vincent Vangogh painted the dignity of the hardworking “Potato Eaters “ as well as most artists through time painting landscapes, sunsets and beauty they could find anywhere. The truth is, beauty is literally all around us. Whether it is found in nature or in the character of people, beauty is healing to the soul. Sometimes it can be hard to find, but it requires someone with an artists eye to find it. My challenge to you is this, take some time every day and search for beauty. Whether you draw it, paint it, or just sit and appreciate it, your soul will be glad you did. And by the way, you may want to start by turning off the news😉

https://youtu.be/Nyu8bLw9F8M – Vik Muniz “wasteland “