Art and attention

For me, making art heightens the experience of living. When I see the world through my watercolor lens, I discover things that would otherwise pass by unnoticed in my day-to-day life. An insignificant weed by the side of the road that, when you make the effort of looking closely, is actually just as intricate and beautiful as anything you’d grow in your garden. Or the sunset behind some trees on the way to your kid’s school that you drive by every evening without noticing it.

The watercolor lens makes me notice. It shifts my perspective, from ”don’t-forget-to-buy-milk-on-the-way-back”, to ”holy crap, that’s a burning ball of gas and we’re all sitting on a spec of dirt in space, orbiting it”. And here I am, nearly missing it all. Worrying about a carton of milk.

So that’s why I paint. To remind myself to pay a bit more attention and to remember to enjoy the unlikely ride that we get to be part of for a while.