TO SEE is not seeing but perceiving. I once had a woman come to me at the information desk at the Norfolk Botanical Garden, she said nothing is in bloom. It happened to be mid April. She asked “what is the best time to see the garden because nothing is in bloom.” I responded “today is the best time to see the garden.” She was very eager to tell me that nothing was blooming. I was happy to explain to her that many of the azaleas are blooming and the flowering trees. She told me three times that nothing was in bloom. Around her neck hung a gigantic camera with a fairly expensive lens from what I can see.
Materials and expensive devices and products mean nothing to the artist. If one cannot perceive the beauty or aesthetic nature, then one can never gain the creative inspiration. Never wait for the beauty to hop on your train. An artist views the wonders through the windows at a fast or slow pace. The excitement of darkness, rigidity, desolation, beauty, and color is always in our view. I believe if one can take the time and slow down their thoughts they may notice the complexity, curvature, and simple form of the tiniest flower. There is art that hits you on the head like a 2 x 4. There is also art that slips into your nostrils like the faintest fragrance of a dainty flower.
To master these fundamentals one must first master the ability to drink in the information and therefore perceive an object with symbolistic projection, form articulation, and spontaneous energy. If the artist waits around for a special type of inspiration to fit the desire of the untrained mind, then the artist may wait forever. It is more productive to begin the journey of perceiving the view then waiting for assumption of beauty. Beauty is around us all the time, every time, and right now. Never wait for what we “know” is beauty. Always look for the beauty that is yet “unknown”. This is the root of creating something special and never seen before. The root of a divine singularity. The unique design is in you. Don’t settle for the happening of an “inspiration”. A true artist is worth so much more.
