THE BEAUTY OF DETAILS

Details interest me. An object or view can catch you attention, but then take a closer look and it becomes a whole other world of shape, color, pattern, and texture. This is a photo is a close up of a drainage spout that pours into a canal in New Orleans. This canal is near one that gave way and flooded the city of New Orleans during hurricane Katrina.

I find such beauty in nature and man made objects worn and changed by use and weather. There are colors that one could not recreate if one tried. There is a vignette of a moment captured by time and light. Later in the day, the water may not flow, the light will change the color of the leaves and mold, the water would reflect differently. The impressionist knew this, they painted light. Monet, Van Gogh, Degas, Manet and others knew this. They studied one field, on crop of trees, or vineyard at different times of day and different season.
The closer I look I see gorgeous red orange dust, silvery green, white, tan, dark greed, blue green and more...I see leaves that look like koi in a Japanese garden, the edges of the spout take on a feeling of a shell. Now I am feeling as if on the edge of a tidal pool looking down.
As I back away I see a delicate sculpture that speaks to me of Henry Moore and Nancy Graves.

I begin to see the possibilities in my own work, the what ifs. There is such beauty in this world if you take time to look, even in a drainage canal in New Orleans! Look around you, look down, now slow down and look closer. What do you see?