More Than Just the Usual

"There are moments in our lives, there are moments in a day, when we seem to see beyond the usual. Such are the moments of our greatest happiness. Such are the moments of our greatest wisdom. If one could but recall his vision by some sort of sign. It was in this hope that the arts were invented. Sign-posts on the way to what may be. Sign-posts towards greater knowledge." - Robert Hernri

The world is a most beautiful place by design, but sometimes it is shrouded in a thick coat of "the usual".  You know... the usual dirty streets, the usual filthy air, the usual concrete buildings with no sense of aesthetics, the usual people who never smile, the usual garish billboard ads, and the usual folks who have settled with "just getting by". I find all this "usual" to be very depressing. What's worse is, it seems to be contagious.

It is in these most "usual" circumstances in which I truly begin to realize the value of art. Art, as the pursuit of beauty, stands as an ideal for more than what is simply necessary to get by. It separates us from the beasts of the Earth, evokes our passion for living, and defies mortality. Where there is all function without form, there is only life without living.


-Lane



PS- My art is most often inspired by the beauty of the world, and therefore it is to my great benefit that there is much beauty to be found in creation!