As many of you already know, our eldest daughter and family have bought a boat to live on here in Coconut Grove. It seems that among the many other undesirable qualities of our decaying society, support for the arts has been deemed unnecessary. As a result, anyone like my son-in-law Brian who is driven to produce art is cast aside and trampled on by the money machine. Graduating from one of the top MFA programs in the country with a 4+ GPA, excellent recommendations, an exhibition history, and community involvement did still not yield an opportunity for employment. There were 26 jobs nationwide and over 400 applicants for them. "Emerging Artist" residencies were applied for, only to be told that they are for artists with more experience, more kind of "Established Emerging" artists. So, since Mom and Dad are on a boat in one of the premier art communities in the country, the kids decided to follow suit and live cheaply on the water while they try to establish themselves in the art community here in Coconut Grove and Miami.
This trend of dissing the arts is pretty disturbing to me. One of the most remarkable differences between our lives land bound and our lives cruising is the nearly constant exposure to beauty, color, sounds, and sensory experience. It is one of the biggest reasons I have come to love this life. When I think back about what life was like when I was working in a cubicle in an office with no windows and only varying shades of gray furniture, I literally become ill. So if you're land bound, be sure to take in some beauty around you every day. Not only will your mind thank you, but your body will as well.
Ed Note: You can see some of Brian's recent work on his site.
He was also chosen for the Artist A Day site and has a dialogue about some of his recent work there.
This trend of dissing the arts is pretty disturbing to me. One of the most remarkable differences between our lives land bound and our lives cruising is the nearly constant exposure to beauty, color, sounds, and sensory experience. It is one of the biggest reasons I have come to love this life. When I think back about what life was like when I was working in a cubicle in an office with no windows and only varying shades of gray furniture, I literally become ill. So if you're land bound, be sure to take in some beauty around you every day. Not only will your mind thank you, but your body will as well.
Here's a start for you today.
Ed Note: You can see some of Brian's recent work on his site.
He was also chosen for the Artist A Day site and has a dialogue about some of his recent work there.
3 comments:
We have been living aboard and sailing for 4 years now. Strangely enough we were commenting the other day on how we have started to take the natural beauty of our surroundings for granted. Sometimes even in this cruising life you have to really sit back and look around you to see how natures beauty is second to none. We really are so lucky.
I couldn't agree more Mark. At least when you live on a boat the weather so rules your existence that it forces you to take a fresh look at nature each and every day.
Very inspiring, Deb. One of my biggest goals in our cruising adventure is to find and enjoy beautiful places. And I want to become a decent photographer, so I will be practicing as we go along.
In fact, the biggest differences that Ron and I have when we discuss itineraries is that I fear some of the ICW is going to be too built up, when I'm dreaming of unspoiled nature. Not that he doesn't appreciate beautiful places, just that his dream is to do the whole loop, and I wouldn't mind if we found a lovely area and stayed a month.
Anyway, thanks for the post and the beautiful photos.
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