Finding Beauty

There is the easily accessible beauty of some subjects: bright, happy, cheery and straight-forward. On some days, I can see it’s appeal. And then there are subjects whose beauty is harder to get at: the mundane, the slightly disheveled and the downright falling apart. They’re what I am attracted to the most.

The mess on my desk has to be my muse-of-the-year. In a year in which I have spent so much time at home, I’ve returned to this everyday subject over and over, always enjoying seeing it slightly differently, and mostly just celebrating the mess in different ways.

Here is a closeup of a part of the piece above, with some of my favorite sketching supplies.

Forgotten strip malls with old signage and lots of wires. How could I not pull over and sketch?

If you spend enough time sitting with anything or anyone: an object, a place, a person, just being there and letting the time go by, your subject will speak to you. And a story just might unfold on your page. And that is always beautiful.