Eva Antonel
It took a slab of granite to be reminded
of the fact that art is, just is, all around us. And
in art, like love, there's no accounting for
taste. In case you don't know, I've been on a
fruitless search to find "the one" piece of
granite to grace our countertops for longer
than I care to talk about. After all, how hard
can it be to choose a piece of polished stone
that will take a beating and tie in all the
colour elements that surround it? A lot harder
than it seemed at the beginning of the quest.
Off we went, the hubby and I, to a
handful of stores that specialize in providing
customers with a multitude of choices in
every surface appropriate for counters. We
dutifully brought along a sample of the floor
and cabinetry that will accompany the new
counter for the foreseeable future. We were
prepared to talk pros and cons of different
surface material as it applied to the kitchen
environment. We were also prepared to talk
colour combinations, what "went" and what
"didn't go." What we weren't prepared to do
was fall in love.
Have you ever looked at a piece of stone
and had it take your breath away?
Unfortunately, what managed to stop me in
my tracks was never the same as what had the
same effect on my better half. Because art as
love are subjective experiences, agreeing on a
piece that spoke the same way to both of us,
has so far proven to be impossible. Yes, the
colour element is definitely there, but so is the
way that colour blends with the swirl, jagged
edge, sheen, opacity, translucency and the
way it all comes together to form a work of
art only Mother Nature had the divine
inspiration to create. Do you choose what you
love or do you settle with what will "go"?
Like hanging that photograph that you
took while on vacation, or your eight year
old's art class effort instead of the picture at
the department store that "went with" the
sofa, it makes your home a reflection of who
you are and what is meaningful to you.
Becoming aware of the intrinsic beauty of
everything around us and giving ourselves
permission to choose what we love, makes us
all artists in the most fundamental of ways.
Art just is, as is love. And that makes it
mysterious, elusive, indefinable and
unjustifiable but when it speaks to you, you
have no choice but to listen. On goes the
search. We might just have to resort to
stainless steel. There's no falling in love with
that, is there?
How do you support local artists?
Tweet us @TheHubWE #artmatters
May 2016 - The HUB 9