As I stand at my work table in my office, I pause. I look up from the art piece I am working on. There is soft ambient music playing in the background. I look at the images that I have on my shelves, on my pin boards, and framed work hanging on my walls.

Most of the work is work that I have made, some are works from other artists, some are works ‘of’ other artists. Some artists I have know personally, others are icons of the art world, such as a portrait of Frieda that sits on a shelf right at my eye level.

I don’t often take time to look deeply at my own work. Today I did, and it took me by surprise. As I look at each image I can remember almost every detail about that moment in time, that ‘Decisive Moment’ as Henri Cartier-Bresson called it. That moment when the shutter clicked.

One of the things I noticed about the photos that I have, for whatever reason, displayed in my office all have a common characteristic, there is a sense of calm simplicity. Whether it’s a Polaroid of flowers in a vase, a portrait of my Zulu, a portrait of a farm couple, of a still life of a rusting car, that sense of calm is ever present.

While I was looking at my work, it gave me a sense of peace in this crazy world we are living in right now. Art is important. Our own art is even more so. Art making can be a place of refuge, and returning to that art when it’s finished, after a week, a month, or even two decades later can bring back that feeling of peace and refuge.

I encourage you to go make your art, whatever that is. We need it. I will try to do the same.

Wishing you all peace and good health,

Ken