In August of 2012 I began to put together a small gallery to show my photographs. I didn’t plan to do anything fancy and hoped to be open by Labor Day. This project took longer than expected primarily because I spent a lot of time traveling back and forth to the hospital to visit my mother. Round trip was just under 200 miles and over a five week period that added up to a lot of miles. I’m not sure exactly how many but it was well over 6,000.
Everything was finally in place just after Columbus Day -walls built, painted and lights installed, and I could open the doors, and this image among all of the initial twenty or so that were displayed intrigued my visitors the most. Inevitably I would be asked how it was made.
Just down the road from my house is a small recreation park. Close to the road is a rectangular slab of concrete about 25 by 60 feet which in winter is flooded with water and used as a skating rink. One early summer morning while on a walk I noticed that this seasonal skating rink had turned into a reflecting pool and in it was reflected the top of Ball Mountain and the clouds surrounding it. What appears as stars are actually pebbles and sand sitting just below the surface of the water. The water was only a few inches deep.
The appreciation of beauty touches us in a more meaningful way than an appreciation of function. Appreciating the beautiful may not put food in our belly or save our life, but it feeds the soul like nothing else. How many times has a beautiful painting or piece of music moved you to tears? How about a well-designed product? We crave beauty. That’s why it’s valued.” –Kristian Olson
Photo: © john sutton 2012
{ 0 comments }
