true power of an artist. see the best. beauty. hope.

I’m a big fan of magazines. I get inspired by color combinations, photos of beautiful home furnishings and the way art lights up and grounds a home, and other forms of rich input on a printed page.

Last night, I spotted a marvelous Alex Katz floral image in a home (I love seeing what other artists do with flowers— and how fabulous art looks in a frame), found an inspired forest mural painted on a staircase, and cut out Moroccan tiles for collage material, plus I ran across this iteration of the uplifting value of art in an interview in the Nov/Dec 2020 issue of Veranda Magazine, pages 50-51:

“For me, the true power of an artist is to be able to see the best and the most positive things in life. Artists have this capacity to reveal beauty even in the worst darkness…. There is no hope without beauty.” Merida Art Director Sylvie Johnson

Photo of Sylvie Johnson courtesy of Merida for Veranda Magazine.

Yes, it’s all about focusing on and creating beauty in spite of how there is so much in the world that is profoundly disturbing….

I loved this photo of weaver/textile designer/creative director Sylvie Johnson’s marvelous Paris studio in an Architectural Digest interview:

I found more from Sylvie Johnson on the creative process in a Design Milk interview: “Creation is all the time. It is everything I love and it also happens to be my job.”

— Which reminds me of a favorite quote from writer Ntozake Shange:

“Creation is everything you do. Make something.”

…which includes preparing food! I just fixed a beautiful lunch of roasted asparagus with tarragon, mozzarella, and roasted Japanese sweet potato. (Did you know I’m also writing a cookbook?)

I’ll back in the studio to make art after my meal!

November 2, 2020 blog post