PAINTING ORDINARY THINGS

This painting of Vermeer is so great because it celebrates the ordinary life. A little street, house fronts, people working, clouds. Everything is so normal and that makes the painting so special. 

This shows, that art does not have to be complex or complicated. It does not need special effects, fancy colors or crazy brush strokes. We do not need to travel far to find inspirational moments and subjects.

If we open up and learn to enjoy the normality of our surroundings, we find hidden nuggets of truth and beauty that can fill up a whole artistic life. People like Vermeer and Andrew Wyeth and contemporary artists like Nicolás Uribe were/are great in giving glamour to ordinary things. This is an important mission and gives us the peace of mind we need in a world flooded with new things, updates and special editions.

CHANGE YOUR VIEWPOINT

What artists often forget is that places, people and objects that seem so normal for us, are exotic for people around the globe. So try to see your world through the eyes of a far traveled visitor and reboot your view of what is close to you. This is a very practical lesson for artists and art admirers.