That's the Place

There is a painting in one of the departments in our office building that draws me into it.  Although it depicts a rural farmhouse in autumn, it doesn't matter the season.  That's the place where I want to be.  Every time I stop in that office, I gaze for a few minutes at the painting, thinking of how much I'd like to live in that house on that property.  There's nothing particularly remarkable about the house. It is old and white. The surroundings aren't remarkable either, just a yard subdued in late fall brown. Yet, I feel a kinship with the place and I want to move there...right now.  I can picture the house and grounds in every season.  Spring would be lovely with wildflowers in bloom and curtains flapping in the breeze through open windows. In summer, the grass would be green and the dandelions bright yellow.  There'd be a croquet set in the yard and some lemonade nearby. In winter, the gentle snow would envelop the white house and all would be tranquil.  Does the place exist or does it only exist in the painter's eye?  I'll likely never know, but I do know that if it existed, I'd knock on the door and ask if it was for sale.  And I'd live there happily ever after.  Yes, indeed.  That's the place.

Artificial Thoughts

I heard a famous singer and composer discuss art while listening to the car radio recently.  She suggested that the word "art" comes from the word "artificial."  I stopped listening at that point because I was caught up in her statement about art and artificiality.  I've never thought of art as having to do with anything artificial.  Rather, I think of it as providing us with a glimpse of reality as seen by the artist, a reality that I may not have considered before, but that was created and offered up for others to enjoy.  I think of the haunting music, the exquisite dances, the majestic paintings and they give me reason to believe that art is the full expression of the artist's interpretation of reality, whether I fully comprehend it as intended or not.  So, for me, art is far from being artificial.  If there's anything to be real, it is the art that breathes a new breath into my life.