“Curiously enough, we think we truly appreciate long before we do. We find later we did not even see the things truly, because
we had not yet arrived at the station that made true appreciation and
consequent “vision” possible. As a
result, we are forced to a gradual change of mind about things that we once
thought “wonderful.” Because
growth is so gradual, we are correct in suspecting the virtues of anything that
comes to us “overnight.” If divine
truths could be handed down from the old to the young, we would have arrived at
the omniscient perfection eons ago.”
---John R. Carlson, Carlson’s Guide to Landscape Painting
A few weeks ago, a friend and landscape painter, Scott Boyle (www.scottboyleart.com), loaned me a
copy of Carlson’s Guide to Landscape Painting. I see why Scott was excited about this
book. Carlson’s insights have made
me see that I have not seen things clearly. I am growing to appreciate things
about the landscape that had previously escaped me. But Carlson is also a philosopher of sorts. Not only does he
make me see more clearly, but he
also makes me think more
deeply about all of life. His book has been a healthy dose of reality check.
