The Simple Things in Life

 

I am oft reminded that it is the simple things in life that matter most. We can have lofty ideals and ambitions, we can be in a hurry to achieve or just be too busy with the stuff of living, we can amass material things, but the essence of life is the unguarded simple moments we all to often take for granted. It is common that not until someone is ill or we have a loss in our lives that we look back and think if I had just treasured that moment. When I look at old masters paintings I am amazed at how they captured and honored simple things....like a loaf of bread, a jug of wine and cheese, a hunters table with the days catch, a fallen leaf, ......these still moments make up the movie that becomes our lives.
  

But one of the gifts artist have is the ability to pay attention, to catch the glint of sunshine on a lilly pad in a peaceful pond, or looking closely at a squirrel nibbled pine cone that a snail finds roost on, or look past all the fall leaves to find the one nestled in the perfect setting, 

                                                               pine cone with snail

                           nestled fall leaf

Van Gogh's Sunflowers

Or notice how a closeup of flowers in the field could be Van Gogh whispering in our ears, look how the light touches the daisies....

Or perhaps the kitchen becomes a Vermeer still life as the afternoon sun highlights the contrast just so......





















Or the details of the simplest of things like leaf shadows making a mural on a cypress trunk or rusted metal with a turquoise patina in the French Quarter of New Orleans....

Or the love and delight of a Grandfather for his Grandchild, age looking back at youth........

Perhaps, just perhaps, these moments are the best part of what life is about and when we pay attention, when we call it others attention with our artists view, then we are saying live in the moment, appreciate even the ordinary things and honor their being.